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Jamf Pro vs Microsoft Configuration Manager comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary
 

Categories and Ranking

Jamf Pro
Average Rating
9.6
Reviews Sentiment
8.0
Number of Reviews
106
Ranking in other categories
Mobile Device Management (MDM) (1st), Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) (2nd)
Microsoft Configuration Man...
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
80
Ranking in other categories
Server Monitoring (2nd), Configuration Management (3rd), Patch Management (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

Jamf Pro and Microsoft Configuration Manager aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. Jamf Pro is designed for Mobile Device Management (MDM) and holds a mindshare of 27.4%, up 17.1% compared to last year.
Microsoft Configuration Manager, on the other hand, focuses on Server Monitoring, holds 9.5% mindshare, down 11.4% since last year.
Mobile Device Management (MDM)
Server Monitoring
 

Featured Reviews

Pete C - PeerSpot reviewer
Customizable with a self-service portal and a good security posture
Policies enabled for self-service should have keywords attached, so that multiple search terms can direct to a single preferred result, without having to clutter the description field. The new remote support tool is still lacking features compared to other industry solutions. There is no built-in functionality for tracking changes over time for multiple devices. All patch reporting is only a current snapshot. The password management tools are fairly outdated. The web console (GUI) is slow with maddening UI/UX inconsistencies.
Sachin Vinay - PeerSpot reviewer
We can specialize the policies related to each device group which ensures that each group has access to the applications they need for their work and non-work hours
I give the solution a nine out of ten. Maintenance is required for some client requests because a few of our cases involve clients reporting issues with their applications. We need to maintain their laptops because they usually run into issues while running other applications. However, in the case of personal computers, there is no problem. We can maintain them with only 20% of the typical maintenance requirements. I would recommend that everyone try out the Endpoint Manager solution from Microsoft. It is a great product because it integrates well with Microsoft products, which most organizations use. This reduces the number of integration and troubleshooting problems. Even if Microsoft products are not used in an organization, I still recommend this product. Other solutions are available but there may be some integration and troubleshooting problems.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Configuration Profiles from Jamf Pro are awesome."
"The full API lets us write custom scripts and apps to enhance even further the end-user experience."
"It's a great way to keep track of all of our licenses and the software we use daily."
"Automated Device Enrollment workflows are great for zero-touch deployments, vital in the current global context. With Automated Device Enrollment workflows, we can deploy new Apple devices directly to end-users without help from the IT support team."
"We can put certain devices into smart groups based off of device name, department, etc."
"I found that automated enrollment is very powerful because you can bring standardization to the environment."
"If I need to deploy an app to all the laptops, I can use the smart group I created for them instead of choosing each device one at a time."
"We are able to manage our full fleet of devices and can simply integrate with all of our systems."
"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager is it's incredibly simple to configure and execute changes in bulk, allowing for seamless deployment. With this solution, you can easily track the status of all modifications and send them with ease, making it a comprehensive and efficient solution for any necessary adjustments."
"The solution is user-friendly and easy to learn."
"I like Mircosoft's technical support. Microsoft has a few updates, like some of the critical KBs. They are published within the interval time, and in case of an escalation on the client missions, we will raise a ticket with the Microsoft team. They will create a hotfix or a critical update. They will chat with us, and that is one thing I like about Microsoft. Whenever any issues occur at my organization, they will help you out soon as possible within the SLA."
"I have found the solution to be scalable. We have around 50,000 users using the solution."
"The technical support is good."
"The dashboards have information about our assets."
"Microsoft Configuration Manager helps with patch management."
"It lets you know what your infrastructure is like and what state you are in."
 

Cons

"Jamf Pro could be improved by providing more out-of-the-box integration with other systems such as Active Directory, Single Sign-On (SSO) solutions, and other IT management tools."
"They need to alphabetize payloads."
"I would love to see an integrated ticketing system built-in, better reporting templates to help analyze the data (software usage, etc.), and integration with FREE SSL Cert (letsencrypt.org) with auto-renewal."
"The patching can definitely use a little bit of improvement. They should make it a little bit more automated."
"The patch management needs improvement in Jamf Pro."
"The cheaper Jamf School is also a product that has been acquired and decked out to meet more educational needs for a good price. Some features of Jamf School aren't (yet?) available in Jamf Pro and for educational users/customers of Jamf Pro, it would beneficial to have these available in the Pro version too."
"The new remote support tool is still lacking features compared to other industry solutions."
"I'd like to see Jamf add Unified Endpoint Management, but it's not going to happen. It's too complex. We tried that for so many years, and no one can do this for Windows and macOS. It can be done with iOS, but that's not the case here. If you want device management for a real laptop operating system, you need two systems. They're very different."
"Regarding this, I'd like to mention the agent situation. When the agent on an end-user device is not functioning correctly, it can be quite problematic. It would be highly beneficial if there were a self-healing mechanism in place. Essentially, if the agent becomes corrupted or encounters issues, it should be able to rectify itself autonomously. This is particularly critical because, in order to utilize a tool like MECM (assuming you're referring to Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager), we need to deploy agents, known as AsMs, on all the devices we use, such as Windows 10 or Windows Server. Sometimes, when we deploy configurations or updates, they don't apply properly due to agent issues. This issue has been present since we began using MECM around 23 years ago. Unfortunately, there is currently no built-in mechanism for the agent to detect its own problems and initiate self-repair. Microsoft doesn’t have any feature to scan vulnerabilities and hence, they could include those."
"It is a bit of an old and outdated product."
"The solution is a bit heavy on the sources such as RAM or CPU and the software needs to be a bit lighter."
"They should improve their anti-malware policies like the SCEP policies. For instance, you can't have different policies for different servers, there is only one policy in all the servers, and everything is covered under that. For example, say you want to scan one group of servers on Saturday, and then you want to scan another group of servers on Sunday, you can't do that. You have to scan all your servers, a regular scan or a full scan, on the same day and at the same time. That's definitely one thing they need to resolve. In the next release, it would actually be nice if they included Apple products. It will also help if you can use Intune again. Their compliance reporting feature could also be better. They can maybe work a bit on that for patching now. It would be better if SCCM came with the functions of Right Click Tools built-in. If SCCM would have all those functions already built-in, we won't have to go and spend $5,000, just as an add-in from another company to get those functions."
"I would like to see an agentless version of the solution."
"Its client interface should be more accessible, and the notifications should be more customizable from the console. It should be more user friendly and have some kind of customized notifications so that we can use it on the client side. These are the reasons why we restricted its use only for the server environment and didn't use it on the client side."
"The App to upgrades to the server needs to be improved."
"It would be nice to have everything in one place. Now they have Intune for the desktops and SCCM to handle their servers."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The setup cost is in the training, which is the most important step of your journey."
"The total ROI is worth every penny."
"It seems fair. It could be a little bit less, but you have to pay for a product. You can't get something for free. You get what you pay for, so if you put in a little bit of money, you're going to get a good quality product."
"The cost of any licensing is certainly outweighed by the time saved from manually managing Apple devices."
"I think it pays for itself to let Jamf host the server."
"Depending on how much support you require, it might make sense to add that to the licensing agreement."
"It would be beneficial if it could be reduced slightly."
"Licensing cost is dependent on the footprint and foreseen growth."
"For enterprises, there is an annual license required to use this solution. The price of the solution could be cheaper. However, this is mostly because of the exchange rate from the dollar to the Nigerian currency."
"We have a support license from Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager and the overall price of the solution is reasonable."
"The price model is different for every client."
"We use the tool's free license. It is expensive."
"The price of Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager is expensive."
"Pricing and licensing are horrible. You have to not look at dollar value to use SCCM. It's super-duper expensive but it works. The acquisition cost is expensive, it's labor-intensive. But it works."
"We have to pay for a license."
"When you compare this solution with other tools in the market you might actually find a lot of variation in the pricing and that's why people opt for the other tools rather than Microsoft tools."
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Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Mobile Device Management (MDM) solutions are best for your needs.
816,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
41%
Computer Software Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
6%
University
5%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Computer Software Company
12%
Government
11%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Jamf Pro?
The most valuable features of Jamf Pro for me are the device locator, which helps find missing iPads, and the ability to remotely manage and disable devices.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Jamf Pro?
Jamf Pro is considered a premium solution, and pricing can be a significant factor, especially in price-sensitive markets like India.
What needs improvement with Jamf Pro?
Jamf Pro should be standardized into one MDM product to make it more affordable and accessible. The App packaging process is time-consuming and could be improved. Additionally, the user interface i...
How does Ansible compare to Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager (SCCM)?
Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager takes knowledge and research to properly configure. The length of time that the set up will take depends on the kind of technical architecture that your org...
How to choose between ManageEngine Desktop Central and Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager (formerly SCCM)?
ManageEngine Desktop Central is very easy to set up, is scalable, stable, and also has very good patch management. What I like most about ManageEngine is that I can log on to every PC very easily a...
What do you like most about SCCM?
One of the standout features of SCCM is its application management capabilities. It allows us to create packages efficiently and deploy them to specific groups within our network. This streamlined ...
 

Also Known As

JAMF Software Casper Suite
Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager, System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM )
 

Learn More

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Xero, National Geographic, Oxford University, Via, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, Fallon, Cabela's
Bank Alfalah Ltd., Wªrth Handelsges.m.b.H, Dimension Data, Japan Business Systems, St. Lucie County Public Schools, MISC Berhad
Find out what your peers are saying about JAMF, Microsoft, Cisco and others in Mobile Device Management (MDM). Updated: November 2024.
816,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.