What is our primary use case?
Our primary use case is automated enrollment for clients. We use Apple Business Manager and leverage it for new computers. For existing computers, I created an automated enrollment process, enlisting machines that can remotely wipe and re-install the OS and bring down the entire suite of applications on enrollment, which is very powerful.
How has it helped my organization?
A good use case would be the end-user experience. The end-users are excited and happy that they're able to be more productive because they're able to access approved applications and self-service. They're able to submit tickets to the help desk, in which, if they need an application approved, it'll go through an approval process.
Anything outside of the core application suite, you'd have to get approval. At the same time, they like the aspect of being streamlined like that.
Overall, it's quite helpful and productive.
What is most valuable?
I found that automated enrollment is very powerful because you can bring standardization to the environment.
The restrictions are very powerful because you can block new OS releases, so you can vet them to make sure they're not going to break any legacy applications. That's very useful and powerful.
The ability to leverage self-service for a better end-user customer experience. You can categorize it to different aspects of your organization, be it HR, creative department, or legal, whatever you like.
What needs improvement?
The reporting needs to be improved so that generating them is more user-friendly. The reporting should have more of a graphical interface. For example, if you want to create a report on how many computers have been checked in the past 30 days you can produce it. However, it is not something that you'd like to give to a CIO.
It will export data into a spreadsheet, but executives don't want to look at spreadsheets. Rather, they want to look at bar graphs, charts, and visuals with percentages.
The prices are expensive and should be reduced.
When we paid for training, we could not have all five people training at one time. I thought that if we were paying $18,000 USD then we could have everybody training at once. However, this is not the case and it doesn't make sense to me.
The response time for technical support could be better.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Jamf since 2009 or 2010, with version 8.6.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Jamf is very stable. They have a 99.9% uptime in the cloud, and I use it on a daily basis. I would say that it's very robust.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
This product scales very well. There's a great use case from IBM that shows how they scaled in that environment. They bought 100,000 Macs and it scaled out very well. I've used it myself when I went from zero to over 600 computers in less than six months.
At this point, we're just implementing it with our clients. The Mac footprint is perhaps 500 end-users, total. We're planning to grow the environment and we're going to use Jamf to do it.
How are customer service and technical support?
I would rate their technical support a nine out of ten. They are good, although the response time could be better.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have always used Jamf, and start with version 8.6 in 2009 or 2010. At that time, there wasn't really another similar solution.
How was the initial setup?
If you're using a cloud-based deployment then it is straightforward and Jamf will spin that up for you. If you're on-premises then it's a $6,000 USD on-site visit. A technician will come on-site and spin up the on-premises solution for you. An on-premises version is primarily used by federal government agencies, more often than commercial agencies. Commercial agencies usually move to the cloud.
What about the implementation team?
The IT staff, including myself and several other individuals, are the ones who operate Jamf from an administrative perspective.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
This is an expensive solution.
The price of a training pass for five people was $18,000 USD.
What other advice do I have?
My advice for anybody who is implementing Jamf is to get the cloud version first and immerse yourself in it. The key is to always look at the admin guide, which can be very helpful. I would also suggest leveraging Google because if you search for Jamf Pro, there are a lot of videos where they show you how to do certain implementations. In summary, I would say that the best thing is to do your research.
I would rate this solution a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner