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BigFix vs vCenter Configuration Manager comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 16, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Intune
Sponsored
Ranking in Configuration Management
2nd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
250
Ranking in other categories
Remote Access (1st), Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) (1st), Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) (1st), Microsoft Security Suite (1st)
BigFix
Ranking in Configuration Management
6th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
96
Ranking in other categories
Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) (22nd), Patch Management (2nd), Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) (4th)
vCenter Configuration Manager
Ranking in Configuration Management
10th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
8.1
Number of Reviews
55
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Configuration Management category, the mindshare of Microsoft Intune is 10.2%, up from 9.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of BigFix is 9.1%, up from 7.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of vCenter Configuration Manager is 0.9%, down from 0.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Configuration Management
 

Featured Reviews

Joseph Merusi - PeerSpot reviewer
Everything has worked better since we started using it
Sometimes the syncing is inconsistent. I'm confident that the devices are checking in every eight hours, but sometimes the devices aren't picking up the settings as quickly as I would expect. Some features haven't been updated in a while, and Microsoft doesn't seem interested in developing them. Unless you talk to an engineer, you don't know whether there will be an update. There are communication issues, so you might start working with a feature without knowing if it will be deprecated six months from now. Some reporting areas still need development. For example, I noticed that the reporting for driver updates is still confusing.
Bella Yakoby - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers third-party patching feature, good scalability, and enhance endpoint management capabilities
From the perspective of the team that's handling the environment, it's not so user-friendly compared to other solutions, the competitors. We hire new teams from time to time, and they are complaining, look, although BigFix is very robust and cross-platform, it's not so fun to work with. The user interface for the technical teams is not so advanced. It's not so intuitive compared to SCCM, compared to ManageEngine. And this is the fact that they have, with the teams, because they have the rejection. The look and feel of the system are old-fashioned. For new employees, it's less easy to find someone I don't need to educate on how to work with BigFix. Although it's easy, it's not as intuitive as the other solutions, and the functionality of the other solutions is less advanced. Let's summarize: The user interface has to be changed from the perspective of the teams that are managing the product. It's old school.
Nikhil Nikhil - PeerSpot reviewer
Compliance management has improved efficiency but licensing changes pose challenges
I am not using any advanced features or AI. I am employing a basic VMware vCenter setup for my infrastructure. Scalability has no major limitations, and the solution is efficient. Overall, it's satisfactory. I would rate the vCenter experience as seven out of ten due to concerns regarding license, pricing, and AI features.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"Intune's most valuable feature is its centralized management capability."
"The Autopilot feature is the most valuable because it saves significant time on managing devices."
"Microsoft Endpoint Manager is not expensive overall, especially for small environments."
"What I like most about the tool is that it's now very easy to set up a device for someone to use. It also helps us tremendously in managing security. Before, we used on-premise management with a domain controller. It was difficult to manage security comprehensively. For example, it was hard to know which computers were updated. We weren't able to do that easily with our previous solution."
"The feature I like the most is that we can perform remote tasks. If we want to retire or wipe out personal data or corporate data from a device, we can use Microsoft Intune remotely, and with the click of a button, data is removed automatically. Nothing needs to be done from the end-user side."
"As an IT administrator, I appreciate Intune's ability to implement granular device-level policies for our organization's employees."
"The solution is easy to use."
"The most important thing for me is the autopilot feature."
"We are able to use BigFix through API connections to automate and reduce resources and time. The product's been great for us. It's increased the security posture ten-fold and it's increased our visibility across our endpoints enormously."
"Prior to BigFix we used Altiris, which was distributed. We had to manage multiple servers, and duplicate the tasks that we did on each server. BigFix tremendously reduced the amount of work that we had to do on each server in a centralized manner. We could minimize the work that we had to do, and we had a lot more control over the tasks and what machines they ran on."
"The most valuable feature of BigFix is the software deployment."
"Desktop patching is the most valuable feature, because with servers, we have complete control over them, and we can simply push patches to the servers."
"BigFix technical support is good."
"Ability to run custom reports and custom relevance."
"I would advise someone considering this product to go for it. It's easy to use, cheaper than the value, and there is tons and tons of support from the BigFix community. With almost every challenge we have someone who has encountered it, and you will have a solution right away."
"The best feature of BigFix is its multi-platform support."
"Beneficial patch management and template features."
"The features are easy to handle and straightforward."
"The market share of VMware is huge. It is not even necessary to prove the capabilities attached to the product."
"I like vMotion because it manages fault tolerance."
"The most valuable feature is the ability to see which virtual machines need more resources or are over-committed."
"My primary use case is for migration"
"This is the best solution for management for the server administrator. VMware has been on the market for many years, so they have a lot of solutions. For on-premises, VMware is the best available solution."
"I appreciate it because it's very easy to set up and configure new disks and servers."
 

Cons

"I rate Microsoft customer service six out of 10. While some technicians go above and beyond, there is inconsistency, and connecting with the most helpful representatives is occasionally challenging."
"A more incisive reporting tool with automated progress updates and graphical representation would be beneficial, as the current manual method lacks efficiency and visual clarity."
"Intune's privilege management feature, while beneficial, is less intuitive than other Intune features, making it challenging to use."
"Sometimes the syncing is inconsistent. I'm confident that the devices are checking in every eight hours, but sometimes the devices aren't picking up the settings as quickly as I would expect. Some features haven't been updated in a while, and Microsoft doesn't seem interested in developing them. Unless you talk to an engineer, you don't know whether there will be an update."
"I, as such, do not have any specific inputs or needs. However, there is always room for improvement when it comes to scalability."
"There are a couple of issues with stability."
"Intune has limited integration with non-Microsoft solutions."
"The product needs to upgrade itself when the server is overloaded."
"I self-taught for this online, so the initial setup was a little difficult to pick up at first. I had to create a couple of testing environments and destroy them in order to learn how to use it. There was a lot of trial and error, a lot of reading of the manuals."
"I remember doing restarts a few times. So, making sure that it is rock solid from an executable perspective is important."
"We need a much better multi-tenant option."
"BigFix is actually a little bit on the expensive side in Turkey because of the dollar's exchange rate in our currency."
"I would like to see much better web reporting because as it is now, it's convoluted, basic, it's not modern, and there are limitations to it."
"IBM has not focused on the Web Reports capabilities."
"I would like to see API connectivity, built-in API connectors to the standard toolsets, whether it's for your ServiceNow or your Qualys. More API connectivity to make it easier to integrate to other tools."
"I want to see a solution for being able to deploy automated software to a Mac running OS X 10.13, something that's going to deal with kernel exceptions and answering prompts for user permissions for data folders and whatnot. They need to really streamline and automate the Mac software deployment."
"The interface itself is not very user-friendly."
"The licensing model has shifted from socket-based to core-based licensing, resulting in increased customer costs. Moreover, if a customer utilizes software like VMware, which integrates seamlessly with ESXi, it becomes even more challenging to consider replacing ESXi. Hence, many customers, particularly in India, are actively exploring alternatives."
"The platform's certificate management functionality can be challenging, along with troubleshooting when issues arise."
"SAP CRM could improve by adding additional automation features."
"When vCenter is in a Microsoft environment, there is a lot of licensing involved, where we face some difficulties."
"I think the logging side should be improved because it's pretty difficult to keep up to date VMware and with vCenter."
"Regarding the licensing part, previously I was able to acquire the license with an eight-core configuration. Now it requires a 16-core setup, which is difficult for customers who have fewer connections to the servers."
"The Self Service Interface is not very good and it needs improvement."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of Intune is often included as part of a bundle with other Microsoft licenses, which makes it somewhat cheaper."
"It's affordable for the protection it gives. There are no additional costs."
"The licensing costs we leave up to the customer and these vary from one to another."
"For organizations that are a Microsoft shop, the pricing is compelling."
"I rate Intune an eight out of ten for affordability. It's bundled with the 365 licensing, which is competitive overall."
"Microsoft Intune is a cost effective choice. It is less expensive than other products on the market."
"The purchase of the product was handled by someone else."
"It's reasonable. They're not giving it away, but it's reasonable."
"The price is very fair."
"You get what we call the Platform Edition, which you get for free. The patch service is maybe $0.50 per workstation per month. Then there's the basic server cost, which is about $1.50 per server per month. You also get into Lifecycle which does power management, OSD remote control, and those types of things, and that might be about 10 times the price - which works out to about $13 per server and, maybe $5 per workstation per month."
"The cost is slightly high."
"When purchasing, buying with other IBM tools provided us with a very good discount in pricing."
"The product is less costly when compared to other solutions, and this is a good solid solution for what we have paid."
"The price of the solution is high. There are not any additional fees from the standard license."
"I would stay with the Managed Virtual Server license model, which is a 1-to-1 license per OS whether it is virtual or physical."
"We have a subscription-based contract with BigFix."
"I rate the tool's pricing an eight out of ten. The product has increased its cost by at least two to three times its previous cost."
"The price of the solution is expensive."
"I have a license to cover four hosts."
"The price of the solution is too expensive for us and we are looking to move to another solution."
"I am not knowledgeable with the pricing of the product."
"While the pricing is reasonable for large corporations, it presents a substantial financial challenge for medium-sized businesses."
"The solution comes with three-year support. We have to renew the support annually after the three years are up."
"Price-wise, the product is an affordable one. The additional expenses, apart from the licensing costs of the solution, are attached to the support a user wants to receive from vCenter Configuration Manager's end."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
21%
Computer Software Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Educational Organization
47%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Government
6%
Computer Software Company
6%
Computer Software Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
16%
Insurance Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

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What do you like most about BigFix?
The most valuable features of the solution are Windows patching and the hardware and software inventory.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for BigFix?
The pricing is competitive, but not the most competitive.
What needs improvement with BigFix?
Implementing a business solution with BigFix has some issues, primarily concerning the time required for distribution...
What do you like most about vCenter Configuration Manager?
Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for vCenter Configuration Manager?
Nowadays, it is a bit expensive. It's costly, primarily due to the licensing aspect.
What needs improvement with vCenter Configuration Manager?
Regarding the licensing part, previously I was able to acquire the license with an eight-core configuration. Now it r...
 

Also Known As

Intune, MS Intune, Microsoft Endpoint Manager
Tivoli Endpoint Manager
vCM
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Mitchells and Buzzers, Callaway
US Foods, Penn State, St Vincent's Health US Foods, Sabadell Bank, SunTrust, Australia Sydney, Stemac, Capgemini, WNS Global Services, Jebsen & Jessen, CenterBeam, Strauss, Christian Hospital Centre, Brit Insurance, Career Education Corporation
Bank Al Bilad, Thomas-Krenn.AG, Pronto!, Unimed Juiz de Fora
Find out what your peers are saying about BigFix vs. vCenter Configuration Manager and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
848,716 professionals have used our research since 2012.