PowerStacks vs Recast Software
A data privacy and architecture comparison. PowerStacks products run entirely in your environment — no customer data ever leaves your Azure tenant or Power BI workspace.
Where does your data go?
This is the fundamental question every IT leader should ask before adopting any management tool. The answer determines your compliance posture, your attack surface, and your data sovereignty.
Recast Software
Recast's Enhanced Inventory feature sends device hardware data through the Recast Management Server to Recast's external API. From their own documentation:
"Through the Recast Management Server, EI sends the Make, BIOS date, Models, Serial Numbers to Recast's API, which in-turn contacts each manufacturer for the information. Recast's API then normalizes the data and returns it to ConfigMgr using DDRs."
— Recast Software documentation, Enhanced Inventory
While Recast states that "no identifying information such as IP addresses, usernames, or computer names are sent," hardware identifiers like serial numbers are unique device fingerprints that leave your environment and are processed by an external service.
PowerStacks
No customer data ever leaves your environment. Period.
- ✓ BI for Intune, BI for SCCM, and BI for Defender run entirely in your Power BI workspace
- ✓ No external API calls with your device data
- ✓ No vendor-hosted cloud service processing your information
- ✓ Your compliance boundary stays intact
Feature-by-feature comparison
| Category | PowerStacks | Recast Software |
|---|---|---|
| Data Privacy | ✓ Zero data leaves your environment
All products run in your tenant | ✗ Device data sent to external API
Serial numbers, make, model sent to Recast's API for Enhanced Inventory |
| Reporting | ✓ Star-schema Power BI models
Point-and-click reporting across Intune + Defender + SCCM |
Focused on admin tools and right-click actions
Not a comprehensive BI reporting platform |
| Architecture |
Azure PaaS (App Service) + Power BI Service
Fully managed, no servers to maintain |
On-premises server + external API
Recast Management Server required |
| Infrastructure | ✓ No servers to deploy or maintain
Azure PaaS handles scaling, patching, availability |
Servers required for Application Workspace
Liquit Workspace requires dedicated infrastructure |
| Cross-Platform Data | ✓ Intune + Defender + SCCM unified
Common unique key across all datasets |
Primarily ConfigMgr-focused
Strong SCCM tooling, limited cross-platform reporting |
Reporting that works across your entire stack
Recast Software provides valuable admin tools for ConfigMgr — right-click actions, enhanced inventory, and console extensions. But when it comes to comprehensive reporting across your endpoint management stack, PowerStacks takes a fundamentally different approach.
Star-schema data models
PowerStacks BI products use a comprehensive star-schema data model that enables any report through Power BI's native point-and-click interface. No DAX coding, no custom queries — drag fields, apply filters, and get answers immediately.
Cross-platform unified data
BI for Intune, BI for Defender, and BI for SCCM all share a common unique key. This means you can merge data from Intune, Defender, and SCCM — or any combination — into a single unified view. See a device's Intune compliance status alongside its Defender threat detections and SCCM deployment state in one report.
Your workspace, your governance
Everything runs in the Power BI service — your workspace, your governance, your row-level security. Reports are Power BI datasets that your team owns and can extend. No vendor portal, no external data processing, no separate reporting tool to license.
No data ever leaves your environment
Data sovereignty is not a feature — it is an architectural decision. PowerStacks products are designed from the ground up to run entirely within the customer's environment. There is no PowerStacks cloud service that processes your data. There is no API endpoint that receives your device information. There is no telemetry that includes your organizational data.
With Recast's Enhanced Inventory, hardware identifiers — including serial numbers — are sent to an external API. Even though Recast states that IP addresses, usernames, and computer names are excluded, serial numbers are unique device identifiers. Organizations subject to data residency requirements, government security frameworks, or strict vendor risk policies need to account for this data flow in their assessments.
Recast data flow
- Device data collected by ConfigMgr
- Sent to Recast Management Server
- Management Server forwards to Recast's API
- Recast API contacts manufacturers
- Normalized data returned to ConfigMgr
Your device serial numbers transit through an external service
PowerStacks data flow
- Data stays in Microsoft Graph / SCCM
- Processed in your Power BI workspace or Azure tenant
- Reports and apps served from your environment
No external hops. No third-party processing. No exceptions.
Different tools for different needs
Recast Software has built a strong set of admin tools for ConfigMgr environments. Their right-click tools, console extensions, and Endpoint Privilege Manager serve a real purpose for SCCM administrators who need day-to-day operational efficiency.
PowerStacks focuses on a different set of problems: comprehensive cross-platform reporting with full data sovereignty. If your priorities include data privacy and cross-platform visibility — PowerStacks is purpose-built for those requirements.
Keep your data where it belongs
Try PowerStacks free and see the difference a privacy-first architecture makes. Every product runs in your environment — no exceptions.