Jamf Pro Reviews

We are a small yet busy design studio. We don't have an internal IT department, so I needed a solution to standardize our Mac fleet. Jamf helped me manage our Macs, so I didn't have to install or update all the software manually. 

When the COVID lockdown came, I managed all the Macs from the Jamf dashboard. 

Everyone lives far apart, so being able to deploy updates was important. If someone needed a new computer, I could talk them through the process instead of doing it myself.  

Before Jamf, I manually installed all the applications, updated the operating system, and ran diagnostics. I would go from station to station, which took a long time. I also coordinated with each user to find time for their updates or maintenance. 

Now, with Jamf, almost all of it is managed remotely. I generally don't need to schedule time with the user. I program updates or new installations after hours, which works better for everyone. Now that we are working remotely, those tasks would be challenging. 

Smart computer groups are one of my favorite features. You can create a group based on specific features. 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. This also removes the possibility of forgetting to include one or more devices. Another feature I like to the ability to create and save a specific search that I need frequently. The customizable inventory page is also helpful, so you can see your inventory at a glance and sort it by a specific column.

Tool tip-type information would be helpful. Sometimes, when creating a configuration profile or policy, I'm unsure about a specific choice. It would be great to have a pop-up with links for more information on a feature. 

It would be great for Jamf to provide templates for commonly used tasks like updating an operating system, packaging commonly used apps like Office 365, or enabling FileVault. 

I envision a standard setup template where you could make simple choices. Since all the hardware is Apple, I don't see why that can't be provided. 

I've used the solution for five years.

The customer service could be improved. That said, the support has always been very helpful and responsive. 

I did not previously use a different service; I did everything by myself.

The initial setup was quite complex. Once the initial setup was completed, I found it difficult to remember the steps. 

We did the implementation in-house with a Jamf engineer. 

If you are new to Jamf, take a course, or hire an expert to teach you how to set everything up. The initial jump start they suggest isn't enough. 

I did not previously evaluate other options. However, we are looking at some now. 

Once you get it going, it's great. Their support is also very good. 

We are using Jamf Pro for iOS devices and macOS devices.

This product is very useful in the terms of creating and protecting security norms. Our security norms are very strict and this product is fulfilling all those requirements. For example, in macOS, we don't allow users to enable the root account. We have disabled it. We have disabled it with the help of a script. However, if users enable it, we have the script in place which automatically disables it again. This is the feature which I like most. This is one example of how it has allowed us to gain control within our organization. 

The policies by which we can trigger something based on some action have been very useful. The action and trigger is the main thing for us. We like the kind of repetitive script which we can use there.

With respect to the improvement there, since we are using AirWatch also if I compare both of these products, I would say that we are like an incentive. Sensors are something in the repetitive script. It checks the device if something changes on the device. As soon as something changes on the device, it triggers that thing. Now, this is already available in Jamf however, we find this functionality is more robust in AirWatch as compared to Jamf.

The solution only makes sense if you have a lot of macOS products in your company.

There are some hiccups here and there, however, that is true of any product. 

I've been using the solution for more than two and a half years. 

The solution is stable. We haven't had issues with bugs or glitches. it's reliable and the performance has been good. 

The scalability is great. I would rate it 4.5 out of five. 

We have around 40,000 on the solution currently. Users are varied. It's everyone from the CEO and CIO to CEO normal users, salespersons, marketing persons, et cetera.

We do not plan to increase usage at this time. 

Our team handles all of the troubleshooting. I've never been in touch with technical support. From my team members, I've never heard anything beyond sometimes answers getting delayed, however, they always seem eager to help. 

Positive

Earlier, the solution we were using was MobileIron. MobileIron Is almost the same. However, among the two solutions, Jamf is the market leader. That's why we thought we'd go with the Jamf and then try it out.

I would rate the implementation process four out of five in terms of ease of deployment. It's not a new environment. Although it was new enrollment, we moved from MobileIron to Jamf. And the migration was smooth. The implementation was also smooth. 

First, we did the POC. Then, we implemented the same settings, et cetera, whatever we had in the MobileIron. We implemented those things in Jamf. After that, we just moved the users from the pilot phase and started the rollout for the business users.

In terms of the term that handles deployment and maintenance, initially during the implementation, as we have to manage both environments, MobileIron's and the Jamf's, the number of team members were around seven or eight. Now, we have dropped down to four.

While Jamf and Apple did help us a bit, we handled the implementation ourselves in-house without a consultant or integrator. 

I have not seen a direct ROI. 

I cannot speak to the exact costs of the solution. 

We evaluated Intune also. However, Intune at the time was not the market leader. That was around late or mid-2019. At that time, Intune was not very mature as compared to Jamf. We were using AirWatch also. We evaluated AirWatch and Intune along with the Jamf.

I'm not sure which version of the solution we're using.

In my organization, we have lots of Mac devices. I always give the advice to my colleagues or my friends that if you have more Mac devices, then definitely go with Jamf, however, if you're not using Mac devices and you have fewer iOS devices it may not make sense. 

I'd rate the solution nine out of ten. It is a solid product.

Initially, Jamf Pro was primarily used to manage our all-Mac computer lab classrooms for one of our departments. Jamf Pro replaced a mix of DeployStudio, Munki, WorkGroupManager, and a couple of other antiquated tools which I'm sure I'm forgetting.  

Having one solution which replaced all those other moving parts has been a godsend. We are now expanding to managing individual faculty/staff Macs as well. It's going to be a bit of a process, but I'm excited to have Jamf Pro managing more and more of our assets.

Jamf Pro allows us to maintain an updated and consistent user experience in our classrooms while reducing the hands-on time required from our techs. Long gone are the days of running around (or even manually logging in via ARD) to update our classroom systems.

Jamf Pro is also helping our techs to more efficiently deploy new Macs to faculty and staff.  This is also a boon for security, as faculty and staff no longer need to have a secondary account for admin purposes - or worse, run as admin day-to-day.

Being able to easily deploy apps and patches to our client computers with minimal hands-on time from our techs has been huge. Being able to choose which apps and patches are deployed to which computer groups allows me to easily test on one batch of computers before pushing them out to the rest of our fleet.

The inventory reporting is also much more thorough than other solutions which just don't play nicely - or at least as nicely as they could/should - with Macs.  Due to the fact that it's all in the same system, we can get pretty granular about which apps/patches get pushed out to which hardware sets (Intel vs. M1, for example).

It would be nice if there was a built-in means of renaming computers that worked reliably.  This is a common problem I've heard many other Mac admins wish for as well.  

While Jamf Pro *can* rename computers, there are weird priorities based on when the computers check-in that can overwrite the desired name - particularly if your organization does not use any of the rather limited naming conventions that Jamf *can* recognize. Manually naming computers is one thing our techs still have to do. It's not a deal-breaker, but not ideal.

I've used the solution for about four years now.

Jamf Pro is designed to manage Apple devices. It allows you to oversee all your macOS, iOS, iPadOS and VisionOS devices from a single console. This unified dashboard simplifies device management, making performing various administrative tasks easier. Jamf Pro provides same-day support for new macOS releases, which helps avoid potential challenges when managing devices during updates. Unlike Intune, which supports multiple platforms, Jamf Pro focuses exclusively on Apple environments, except for WatchOS.

Jamf Pro is primarily a device management solution designed to manage and configure devices. It allows you to enforce restrictions, enable or disable features, and automate various tasks. While it does offer some basic security management options, like setting custom firewall rules at the device level, it isn't a comprehensive security solution. For broader security needs, other dedicated tools would be required.

Sometimes, the server gets slow. The dashboard is only getting loaded. 

Jamf Pro offers many features, but some improvements could make it even more user-friendly. For example, streamlining authentication controls would enhance its security value. Too many complex settings on the dashboard make it hard for users to navigate. Simplifying the settings would make it easier to use. Adding a more interactive and cleaner UI design would also improve the user experience.

Additionally, automatically categorizing policies and configurations by type would be helpful, making the dashboard more organized. Introducing auto-filtering based on categories would streamline configuration management.

On the security side, enabling two-factor authentication for console login would provide better protection than single sign-on. Only authorized users can access sensitive data, like the asset inventory stored in the console. 2FA would help keep the system secure, preventing unauthorized access even if login credentials are compromised.

Device management needs automation, and Jamf is likely to integrate Apple's Apple Intelligence into its framework once it's available. This integration is expected to be a significant enhancement for the Jamf console, potentially transforming the way device management is handled.

I have been using Jamf Pro for a year.

It was very stable.

Jamf Pro offers value for money when onboarding new devices. When a device is added to Apple Business Manager, it automatically syncs with Jamf Pro, allowing zero-touch enrollment. This means the device can be enrolled without any IT interaction. It is useful for organizations transitioning Windows users to a Mac environment, making migrating and managing these devices seamless. The scalability features are excellent, making it easy to manage many devices.

The size of the support team for managing Jamf depends on the number of devices in the organization. A team of three to four people is usually sufficient for a smaller organization with around 400 to 600 devices. For larger organizations with 12,000 to 13,000 devices, a team of about 15 members can effectively manage the workload. Supporting many devices doesn't require an overly large team; even with five to ten people, it's manageable. Teams can be structured based on roles and responsibilities to handle different tasks.

Support can be delayed, and the response times may not always align with the urgency of your needs. Often, support teams assign issues based on their availability and time slots, which can result in slower resolution. Face-to-face or direct calls might not always be an option, which can further impact the speed and effectiveness of support.

Neutral

Jamf Pro manages all your Apple devices, and Jamf Protect is an EDR solution.

Deployment is easy and efficient. User-initiated deployment takes around two minutes, while automated device enrollment typically takes about five minutes, depending on the size of the packages and policies being deployed. It's designed to be so simple that anyone can easily handle it.

It offers time and cost savings by automating device deployment and management. IT professionals do not need to be physically present to deploy devices; once a user connects to the internet, Jamf handles the deployment remotely. Applications and configurations are automatically installed on the user's device without manual intervention. This streamlined process leads to a high return on investment, compared to other solutions that might require more hands-on management.

Intune is a solid platform, but when compared to Jamf, it lacks deep integration with Apple's ecosystem. Jamf is fully aligned with Apple’s compliance standards and frameworks, making it more effective for managing Apple devices. On the other hand, Intune has limitations in some regions of Apple device management, which can hinder its capability compared to Jamf.

Aside from Intune, other solutions like Jamf Cloud and Kanji are also popular. One standout feature of Jamf is the Self-Service app. This company-owned app acts as a customized app store for users, making all relevant applications, configuration profiles, and policies available. Users cannot access the regular App Store but can download what they need directly from the Self-Service app based on their team’s requirements or role in the company.

If you’re using Jamf Pro, managing devices and integrating with Jamf Protect becomes easier. It simplifies device management and helps ensure compliance. You can easily configure the necessary settings regardless of your compliance standards.

Jamf provides an application called Jamf Compliance Editor, which allows users to manage and implement compliance standards such as NIST, CIS Level 1 and Level 2, or Jamf's compliance benchmarks. Users can create projects based on these compliance frameworks, and the tool automatically generates the required baseline policies in a separate folder within the Jamf Compliance Editor. The workload can be updated, or the Compliance Editor can be integrated directly with the Jamf Pro console. Once integrated, it automatically imports the compliance policies into Jamf Pro, allowing users to scope them to all devices and easily check their compliance against the baseline benchmarks.

Jamf is a device management solution that requires regular maintenance. You'll need to hire staff to support users when issues arise. It also has commercial considerations, as the licensing can be quite expensive.

Overall, I rate the solution a nine-point five out of ten.

We use Jamf to deploy our Macs and iPads. We have 700 Macs and 700 iPads that we manage using Jamf. We typically refresh around 200 new devices every year. This is a lot to manage.

We can give a user an iPad still in the box and when they open it, they log into the device using their network credentials and Jamf sets up and configures the device automatically.  For Macs, we have minimal set up prior to deployment. Jamf installs all of our company applications and then we use Jamf to keep the Mac up to date.

Without Jamf, it would be nearly impossible to manage 700 Macs and 700 iPads. With limited staff, we can manage this number of devices with ease. Imagine having to go to 700 devices to do a software or OS update. With Jamf, we don't have to touch each device. We can easily determine software and OS versions on the devices and push updates to the devices as needed. We also offer several macOS and iOS applications in Self Service, which is a repository where users can install company-approved applications with ease.

Quick and easy deployment is beneficial when deploying large numbers of devices. The time that we save in hours for new deployments, redeployments, application upgrades and OS upgrades more than makes up for the cost of the product.

Since my company falls under the scope of PCI, we can easily identify applications and OS versions that need to be updated, and we can push the updates automatically. This ability helps us to remain in compliance so that we can pass our annual PC audits with ease.

The only thing I sometimes struggle with is file management of our packages which resided on the Cloud instance of the file repository. 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. This is a minor issue, however. The few times that this has ever caused problems for me, I was able to reach out to Jamf support and during a quick phone call, the tech support team was able to identify my issue and offer a quick solution.  

Our company has been using Jamf for over ten years. I have been the Jamf admin for just over one year.

This solution is very stable.

Jamf is extremely scalable. We have around 1400 total devices under management. Other companies have well over 100,000 devices.

Tech support is top-notch. They are easy to access and extremely knowledgeable and helpful.

Jamf was chosen long before I started with the company.

I believe there was just in-house deployment.

The cost of Jamf is certainly worth the investment.

I was not around during evaluation.

I use Jamf Pro primarily for managing Apple devices in our organization, focusing on both shared and one-to-one iPads in classrooms. We utilize it to deploy apps and handle updates, although we faced challenges due to the previous technician's Band-Aid approach, resulting in a majority of iPads running outdated iOS versions.

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. This has been crucial when dealing with misplaced iPads or addressing security concerns. Additionally, the app library is a powerful tool, and we are exploring ways to make it more accessible for teachers to select curated apps. The classroom feature stands out, allowing us to push content to iPads and monitor student activities.

There is room for improvement with Jamf Pro, especially regarding updates. After a recent update, all app icons disappeared on iPads, requiring a manual refresh for each device. This affected system apps like Safari and Mail. This isn't the first time such issues occurred and it raised concerns about the update process and communication.

I have been working with Jamf Pro for almost nine years.

I have not had any issues with Jamf Pro's stability.

Jamf Pro is currently managing approximately 1,400 devices for us.

The installation process for iOS updates with Jamf Pro can be challenging. Upgrading from version 12 to 13, 13 to 14, and so on must be done in one go, taking hours and requiring a teacher's oversight to prevent issues. Pushing large updates increases the chance of errors, and iPads need to be at least 50% charged. Breaking updates into smaller chunks would be more practical for our over 800 iPads. Additionally, updating individual devices rather than the whole organization would offer more flexibility.

Jamf's reporting and inventory management features have been crucial in compliance and auditing processes. Particularly, for our school's replacement plan mandated by the law, the ability to easily identify and document every iPad and iPhone in our inventory was crucial. Jamf made the process seamless by allowing us to extract the necessary data, customize it in Excel, and present a comprehensive snapshot for each school. 

For new Jamf users, my advice is to prioritize training, breaking it down into manageable chunks to absorb information effectively. Before purchasing, focus on initial installation, app management, and system configurations. Recognize the importance of proactive technicians to ensure a smooth implementation. Be aware that even free apps may require purchasing within Jamf. Understanding options like one-to-one, shared devices, and Jamf Classroom is crucial. Sales pitches are valuable for tech departments, but communication with end-users (teachers and students) is equally important. Overall, I would rate Jamf Pro as a nine out of ten.

We use Jamf Pro to manage our Apple devices throughout our worldwide locations in both our offices and manufacturing factories. 

We deploy both iOS and macOS devices such as iPhones, iPads, Macs, and Apple TVs. 

Jamf Pro is essential to our IT and InfoSec teams. It is used to deploy applications, update software versions, and offer patch management. We also set restrictions or push custom applications via configuration profiles and policies depending on department and role. 

Jamf Pro inventory updates are also essential for meeting our metrics and security goals & standards.

Jamf Pro has improved our organization by offering a bird's eye view of our Apple devices. We are able to monitor our assets and ensure they are up-to-date, compliant, secure, and being used as intended. 

Jamf Pro does a great job of staying out of the way of the end user while remaining very hands-on for admins at the helm. 

Jamf Pro is very quick in the way it reacts to the device in question. Even for actions that have a large scope, Jamf works very quickly - almost in real-time. 

Thanks to Smart Groups and patch management, a lot of the work being done is via a hands-off approach.

The most valuable aspect of the solution is speed. As opposed to other management solutions we use or have used, Jamf Pro is instant. I can deploy an application, restriction, script, patch update, etc. in real time and monitor the results. Nothing comes close to the ease of use of Jamf Pro. Our non-Apple devices are managed by InTune. When compared side by side to Jamf Pro, it's easy to see why Jamf is so well-loved in the Mac Admins community. Rather than having no ETA, or a window of 15 minutes to 15 hours, you can rely on Jamf to work as expected in a short or instant timeframe.

We use Installomator for patch management. Installomator is a massive curl script that grabs the latest available download for an application and installs silently. We are using Installomator for all applications it currently supports.

For patch management in Jamf, two Smart Groups are required as patch policies cannot be scoped as of now. This is not a major issue, as there is a great workaround by using a wrapped "member of" duplicate Smart Group.  However, being able to avoid two Smart Groups for patch management would be nice.

Jamf Pro has been in our organization for five years.

It is easy to add licenses if need be. We have added many iOS devices over the years quite easily.

We previously used AirWatch. This was before my time at my current organization. I am glad we made the switch to Jamf Pro.

Jamf Pro is worth the cost. You will certainly find the value once you use it every day and try to imagine your role without Jamf.

I have taken meetings with Kandji and tested devices through demos. Jamf Pro is still the preferred MDM for Apple devices in my opinion.

We are using Jamf Pro to manage all of our macOS, iOS, iPad OS, and tvOS devices, which totals ~200 devices. 

We have just recently started using Jamf Protect and hoping to start using Jamf Connect. We are a small cybersecurity firm and all of our users are Mac users. We don't have any Windows end-user clients in our environment. Our users don't have admin rights on their systems, so all changes to the systems are being pushed out and managed via the Jamf platform. Jamf Protect is a recent purchase, however, it has been very useful in getting greater insights into the built-in Apple security tools.

Primarily, it has enabled us to manage all of these devices without the need for a large IT staff. We are a small organization and trying to manage these devices without a tool like Jamf would require significantly more staff or we would need to rely on end-users to manage certain things themselves. This has especially been useful as everyone has started remote work. Also, Jamf has made it possible to ensure that all of our endpoints are compliant with our IT and InfoSec policies, which is crucial in our industry.

The managed settings via configuration profiles are fantastic for enforcing certain settings, especially now that you can customize the payloads. 

The patch management has been a killer feature, and it's getting even better now that Jamf is adding so many new feeds.

The self-service is awesome for empowering end-users, especially if you don't allow admin rights (however, the UI still needs a lot of improvement).

The automated enrollment/Apple Business Manager integration has made the device onboarding process so much more efficient than the traditional imaging/manual enrollment process.

The self Service UI needs some real improvement; they recently revamped the app, but I don't know if those changes have been for the better. 

The App Store deployments are incredibly unreliable, however, I think this might be more of an Apple issue than a Jamf issue. 

The patch feeds are quite extensive. I would like to see the ability to create custom patch definitions and host those directly in Jamf Pro.

It's not specific to the product, however, I wish Jamf was more communicative/responsive to the feature requests section of Jamf Nation. They don't need to approve all of the requests, but offering response/feedback/status would be greatly appreciated by the community.

I have been using and managed a Jamf Pro instance for about 15 years.

The product and regular releases have been incredibly stable.

If you are using the cloud service, then it would be extremely scalable. Larger on-prem installs may need to look at clustering servers for load balancing or software package storage.

Generally, the support team is great, however, it's clear that they've been a bit overwhelmed throughout the COVID pandemic.

Implementation was done with the assistance of a Jamf jumpstart; the folks performing the jumpstart were extremely knowledgeable.

I'd advise that new users check out the Jamf Business Plan, which is user-based licensing. It is now available to any existing customers and makes it much more affordable for getting the suite of Jamf products.