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Jamf Pro vs Microsoft Configuration Manager comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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

Jamf Pro
Average Rating
9.6
Reviews Sentiment
8.1
Number of Reviews
107
Ranking in other categories
Mobile Device Management (MDM) (1st), Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) (2nd)
Microsoft Configuration Man...
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
81
Ranking in other categories
Server Monitoring (6th), 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 29.5%, up 28.7% compared to last year.
Microsoft Configuration Manager, on the other hand, focuses on Server Monitoring, holds 6.0% mindshare, down 8.6% 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 The password management tools are fairly outdated.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.
MikeNelson2 - PeerSpot reviewer
Deployment recovery works well but requires configuration improvements
While I do not use the product frequently, many issues were due to configuration rather than the product itself. I cannot give an exact recommendation as it is not my area of responsibility. The team that uses it finds it adequate. It is presently good enough for us not to investigate other options. Overall, I rate the product a six out of ten.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Self Service empowers the user and allows them to install the software they need when they need it."
"The Self Service feature, which allows us to make apps available to our staff and students was essential."
"The zero-day support regarding new Apple hardware and Apple operating systems is very good."
"Jamf Pro allows us to manage all Apple devices from a single interface, making it easy to deploy and configure software, set policies, and inventory devices."
"Patch management and associated policies help us manage and update our fleet's software."
"To have a zero-touch setup for the Macs and iPhones is more valuable than one can think."
"Microsoft SSO integration allows us to set up email remotely for users without them having to do anything other than entering their password."
"With the countless API integrations and Jamf Marketplace add-ons, Jamf is customizable and is a total device management tool for Apple's ecosystem."
"Microsoft Configuration Manager gives different tools in one solution."
"The initial setup is fairly straightforward."
"Provides great insight into the functionalities of the data scope."
"The dashboards have information about our assets."
"The most valuable feature of SCCM is the application distribution."
"The solution effectively handles inventory management, deployment, and reporting."
"The initial setup is straightforward and not too complicated."
"The product is very stable compared to older versions."
 

Cons

"I would like to see Jamf add more training tutorials and documentation."
"A dark mode would for sure be appreciated."
"I wish there was a profile that could be created for configuring Apple software updates on a global basis for our devices, via a configuration profile."
"Jamf doesn't make the Cloud file system visible so there are rare occasions where the local repository and Cloud repository get out of sync."
"I think that there should also be more integrations with Jamf that could better the intelligence-gathering when making business decisions."
"The patching can definitely use a little bit of improvement. They should make it a little bit more automated."
"Jamf Pro should be standardized into one MDM product to make it more affordable and accessible."
"The new remote support tool is still lacking features compared to other industry solutions."
"There is a reboot issue with the patching. Sometimes, if patching runs into any issue whatsoever, it doesn't reboot but it doesn't tell you it errored out. It just sits there and we don't find out until the next day whether it patched or not. That was a big issue for us. We're working through that. They added some stuff in there now where you can actually tell reboot is pending. But we still need some kind of notification that if something fails or is pending, we know. We shouldn't have to go in and look. They don't have anything for that right now."
"It is not easy to get good technical support, especially at level one."
"Built in PowerShell cmdlets would be a nice feature because managing clients remotely can be a pain without knowing the WMI calls to run."
"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 should provide the ability to remotely connect to mobile devices. There are some solutions that are doing that, but with Microsoft Intune, the only way to remotely connect to devices outside the organization and mobile devices is by using TeamViewer. It is pretty strange for a big company like Microsoft to not have something for that."
"SCCM can improve on third-party application support."
"The analysis is something that can be integrated. Their report analysis can be improved a little bit due to the fact that most of the time complaints policies are saved by the admins. It's something that we need to look into and search for."
"I would like to see some improvements in WSUS and control of other, non-Microsoft, product updates."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"I think it pays for itself to let Jamf host the server."
"Jamf Pro is on the expensive side and could be slightly cheaper."
"The cost of any licensing is certainly outweighed by the time saved from manually managing Apple devices."
"Setup and licensing prices are getting to be too high."
"The cost of Jamf is certainly worth the investment."
"I know that as a school we get a discounted price, which is good because without it we would not be able to afford it."
"The price difference between Jamf Pro and VMware Workspace One is not very much, but when counting the cost of my time, Jamf Pro is clearly much better."
"Along with buying a license for MECM, we also have to buy a service called CMG (Cloud Management Gateway) which is a virtual machine in the cloud with which you can link your MECM to the Azure tenant so as to manage teleworkers."
"There is not a license needed to use the solution."
"Overall, I think it's fine. It's pretty much in-line because there are ways to offset it with the Office 365 licensing."
"The price could be better."
"Presently, I am using a free trial version."
"SCCM comes with its own version of SQL Server. If you use that SQL Server with SCCM and don't use it for another applications than you get an SQL Server for free."
"The solution is expensive. Microsoft Configuration Manager would likely be considered high-priced for small businesses because they may not fully utilize all of its features and capabilities."
"I rate the price of Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager an eight out of ten."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
40%
Computer Software Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
7%
University
6%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Computer Software Company
11%
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?
The pricing structure is one of the cons. However, the licensing model is simple and easy to manage from an MSP perspective. Licenses are annual, and any changes are communicated effectively.
What needs improvement with Jamf Pro?
The biggest area for improvement is the price and the structure of Jamf's onboarding process, especially the mandatory JumpStart consultation, which can be costly for small organizations. The solut...
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 )
 

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: March 2025.
848,716 professionals have used our research since 2012.