Jamf Pro Reviews

We use Jamf Pro to manage our 1:1 iPad and MacBook programs. We have over 3,000 devices and just two people to manage them.

We could not handle the volume of devices as an Apple school without Jamf Pro managing our fleet. It is easy to use, has great support and the best community of people working together that I have found. 

• Self-service on the Mac and iOS is a life saver. 
• It allows us to put software out there for users to install when they need it along printers for the whole campus — saves us hours of work.

There are some layout things that could be done to make it easier. For instance, allow us to go to a smart group and see what policies have been assigned to the group, then be able to assign and unassign them right there instead of going into each individual policy.

The primary use case of Jamf Pro is for managing Apple devices such as MacBooks, iPhones, and iPads. 

It allows us to deploy and configure software, set security and compliance policies, inventory devices and their configurations, and manage device deployments and updates. 

We are using Jamf Connect in our environment to provide a seamless, secure, and user-friendly connection to the company's resources for Mac users. 

It helps to manage user authentication, password synchronization, and the creation and maintenance of local accounts on macOS devices. It also enables users to easily access resources such as corporate networks, cloud services, and applications while ensuring compliance with security policies and regulations.

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.

It allows us to set security and compliance policies to help protect devices and data, such as requiring passcodes, encrypting data, and disabling certain features.

We can now easily deploy software and updates to all devices, which can help users stay productive and avoid interruptions due to software issues.

Jamf Pro helps to automate the management process of Apple devices and reduce the number of support tickets and the need for manual intervention.

The most valuable aspects include:

The self-service portal. With the self-service portal, users can install apps, handle settings, and even enroll their own devices, improving their experience and reducing the IT workload.

Reports and inventory. Jamf Pro provides extensive inventory and reporting capabilities, which allow IT administrators to track the device's status, compliance, software inventory, and many other aspects, this can help to identify trends, and issues and take proactive actions.

Automated Software Distribution. Jamf Pro can automate software deployment, updates, and inventory of software licenses, this can help users stay productive and avoid interruptions due to software issues.

Improvements could include:

Integration with other systems. 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.

Advanced Automation. More advanced automation options like scripting and API integrations could help to automate more complex processes, increase efficiency and reduce human errors.

Cloud Management. Some organizations may prefer to manage their devices through the cloud, and it would be beneficial for Jamf Pro to include cloud management capabilities.

However, Jamf already has a very comprehensive solution.

We have been using Jamf Pro since May 2021.

We did use Matrix42 with Empirum. It is no MDM.

We looked into Silverback from Matrix42. They offered bad UI.

We're moving from on-prem to cloud. It's a significant improvement because our previous on-prem solution for the Apple Mac we quite frail. But the kits we're using were out of warranty, so we were looking for a cloud solution that's easy to manage and partner up with.

For me, the most helpful feature is Jamf's smart groups. I also like the capabilities of the small groups because it gives you a nicer, cleaner, more polished view of your dashboard, and the dashboard is a lot more customizable for an administrator than Workspace ONE. With Workspace ONE, you have to navigate, and it isn't easy to articulate to leadership what it means if you're a non-technical person.

I would like to see Jamf add more training tutorials and documentation.

Jamf Pro, we just bought our own instance about three months ago, and for the last six months, I've been upskilling myself in that space. I think I'm convincing my colleague to reconsider our setup. At work, we use scanners in Workspace ONE because I know that Apigee also offers quite a bit of technology around that space as well.

Jamf is far more stable than Workspace ONE.

I think Jamf is definitely scalable. 

My experience with Jamf support has been quite seamless. When you load a ticket, you get support immediately.

Installing Jamf is pretty easy once you understand how DEP works and how to enroll devices. Zero-touch because we were aiming for a zero-touch environment, and it's entirely in the cloud. I'm not an expert in Jamf yet— I'm still learning— but for me, it was a lot easier to understand than Workspace ONE. Navigation is straightforward. It's not hard to create policies and manage the device. It's a lot simpler to create smart groups, view inventory, and see what the estate looks like. Jamf makes it easier to create a roadmap by giving me that view of where we need to be.

Jamf is quite up there. It wasn't the cheapest solution, but it's reasonable.  Apigee was cheaper than Jamf.

We were looking to put our Apple environment in Workspace ONE, and it didn't work well. It worked when we tried SCCM, but it wasn't something we were fond of based on who our partners were. So we looked at Parallels as well. 

I would rate Jamf nine out of 10.

We use this solution for device management. We have multiple locations, as well as remote workers. Our entire workforce use Apple tech. Therefore, Jamf allows us to manage all of our end-user technology from one place. This includes pushing apps, profiles (restrictions, settings, etc.), and more.

We were able to dramatically enhance our cybersecurity, and better support our users.

Through Jamf, we were able to enforce things like encryption (escrow keys), password policies, the firewall on the Mac, etc. We can also remotely wipe/lock devices as required.

The most valuable features are Inventory and Self Service.

Inventory is all about auditing your estate (super easy). You can drill into a specific device, check out the model, what OS it’s running, which apps are installed on it, and even basic usage stats.

Self Service is about empowering users to take control of their tech in a safe way, such as proving them with apps that they can install as required.

This solution would benefit from more focus on Self Service, such as Office 365 and GSuite integration. At the moment, if you want to display cloud-hosted content in the Self Service app for distribution to all staff then you have to add it as a web link (it’s a little clunky). Direct integration would make this better.

We’ve never experienced any issues from a stability perspective.

This solution is easy to scale. We adopted this after not being able to scale Profile Manager.

All ongoing support is in-house, and I’m not aware of any support calls raised with Jamf.

We previously used Profile Manager; however, we found that it was unable to scale as our business grew.

The initial setup of this solution is really simple. You commit to something called a JumpStart, which is basically a consultancy and training session to ensure that your Jamf meets your organization's needs from day one.

We implemented using Jamf Direct, who provided us with a JumpStart. All ongoing support is in-house.

This solution has been a huge timesaver. It also allows you to leverage and control a lot of built-in Apple services, which can help you save money on buying third-party software.

If you have the in-house capability to support Jamf, then paying for onboarding / JumpStart training is a no brainer. It will help you get up to speed on the product. It will not, however, cover the enrolment of all of your client devices into Jamf, so make sure to set aside time to do this.

If you don’t have a tech team, buy Jamf MSP. You won’t have access to manage the product yourself, but your Jamf MSP reseller can do that for you under some sort of contract / SLA.

We did evaluate other options including Xinca (they’ve since been purchased by Jamf as part of the ZuluDesk sale), and Meraki.

This solution is worth every penny! I don’t know how I got by without it.

I manage 1000+ Macs and 200+ iPads from Jamf. I am able to manage software and application updates, pull reports, and scope out certain policies and configuration profiles to a specific set of computers or mobile devices, all from a single pane of glass. I can also leverage a seamless enrollment for our computers when we onboard new employees within our company. 

I can leverage smart groups and API calls for certain automation workflows that help the overall goal of managing and maintaining our computers. 

We can manage software and application updates, pull reports, and scope out certain policies and configuration profiles to a specific set of computers or mobile devices, all from a single pane of glass. There is seamless enrollment for our computers when we onboard new employees within our company.

The features I find most valuable within Jamf Pro are:

- The dashboard. I can add policies, configuration profiles, patch management, and smart group membership to one single view, and this is very helpful at a glance. 

- The policies. I can deploy scripts and packages easily with policy payloads. This can range from applications to specific policies that I need to deploy to our users.

- The smart groups. Based on certain criteria, I can group computers and mobile devices and leverage that to deploy my payloads to those devices

The areas of the product I would like to see improved are:

- The universal searching with filters. It would be nice to be able to search smart groups and/or filter them. We'd like search packages or be able to categorize them a bit better by leveraging tags. Right now, searching is only on certain pages in Jamf and it is inconsistent. 

- Better reporting. It would be nice if Jamf could build out a reporting pane within Jamf to see better data. This can include patch management, smart group criteria, and so on. This would help when reporting to higher-ups. 

I've been using the solution for more than eight years.

The primary use case for us is MyChart Bedside, as we work to provide in-house iPads for different areas of our hospital. The iPads have entertainment apps, as well as tools to help improve their stay in our hospital.

We also use this solution for macOS deployment. We use the hosted Jamf Pro and cloud app shares. We internally use Jamf for the healthcare listener and the AD proxy. 

Jamf has improved patient care and our ability to be more productive when delivering our end-users a nearly zero-touch onboarding experience for their Macs. We have seen our patient care experience improve with the use of Jamf and the ability to take the work out of our nurses' hands.

Automating the refresh of the devices is huge for both sides of the end-user experience. 

The most valuable features are Smart groups, branding Self Service, Jamf Connect, and the health care listener. These tools allow information technology to automate services and improve our end-user deliverables. The self-service branding enables our end-users, the patients, to identify us when using our provided products. These include apps and other tools for them to use.  

Some improvement can be made in the customer service realm, while also making additional training level courses available for online study and exam-taking. For example, exams at the 200 level.

We have been using Jamf Pro for ten years.

The stability of the on-premises and hosted versions are solid. 

My impressions of the scalability are good. 

The support experience I have had with Jamf has been amazing. If you have an idea or a dream to make something happen with Jamf then their technical support and expert services can do it, or they will try very, very hard.

There is always a good explanation as to why something may or may not work. 

We did use a different solution and still do for other aspects of our deployments. We integrated Jamf to solve our MyCharBedside issues. 

The initial setup is easy to understand and is absolutely straightforward. 

In the very early days, we leveraged the kickstart option. The rate of knowledge and help was exceptional. 

Our ROI is superior patient care and improved end-user experiences. 

Licensing cost is dependent on the footprint and foreseen growth. I think another positive is Jamf's flexibility to understand what you need to be done while molding the product to be as successful as possible. 

We did not evaluate other options or solutions.

If I can give anyone advice, I would go with the hosted product. Jamf is serious about providing a secure and separated hosted environment, as well as working with your internal teams to see that the job is done to your liking and not just the way they want it done. Collaboration is key.

Otherwise, Jamf continues to make good improvements time after time.

We use Jamf Pro to manage 1300+ iPads for students and teachers, as well as 100+ MacBooks for teachers and several Apple TVs for classrooms. We push out apps and software, manage updates, and restrict content.

We keep our users working and focused on what they should be doing during school, while giving them freedom to do what they want to do in off-hours, in a safe environment. We get alerts when users violate policies and can take immediate action to disable a device if need be. We can also find lost iPads using Lost Mode.

Things are more automated, so we can be much more hands-off while having greater visibility into what is going on in our environment. We used to have to touch every iPad multiple times per year; with the innovations that Apple has come out with that have been implemented by Jamf, like volume purchasing and device-based app deployment, we can set things up to work automatically. Things that would have taken us weeks in the past now take us mere minutes.

With Jamf reset, we can save time at the end of the school year by having the end-users erase the devices for us. This is a recently-added function and the solution keeps getting better and better.

The most valuable features are the restrictions, Lost Mode, Self Service, and full implementation of anything Apple will let MDM manage. Some other MDMs don't offer the full range, but we know if it is possible then we can do it with Jamf. 

There are some features we use, probably not for the intended outcome, but they save us time and effort. We use Lost Mode to lock devices down and call students up to our office when they have violated a policy and we need to search their iPad. Prior to this, when we would call them up they would delete the evidence on the way. Now, we can catch them red-handed.

There are always ways to improve, and Jamf has a great resource called Jamf Nation, which is an online forum where users can report issues, submit feature requests, and vote and discuss issues and solutions. It's all there for Jamf to see.

I think that some of the feature requests on Jamf Nation have been sitting out there for a long time with no movement, showing as 'planned' for a really long time, and nothing seems to ever become of them. That is disheartening, but if it is an easy fix it gets done, and if it would benefit a wide variety of users they work to get it done.

Technical support is in need of improvement.

I have used this solution for more than five years, the length of time that I have been in this position. The school district I work for has used it for eight years.

This solution has become more stable over the last year or so. I remember problems a while back, but now it seems like they are fewer and farther between.

Scalability is great. It has allowed us to grow while saving us time.

Technical support used to be better; the company has grown a lot, and their support has taken a nosedive in recent history. I recommend requesting support through the website and as soon as they reach out, asking to get on a call to explain and show what is going on so there is no confusion and they can get on your page as quickly as possible.

We didn't use an MDM before Jamf.

The setup was complete before I arrived.

In terms of ROI, I think we get a good bang for the buck.

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. For us, it is necessary to have a good MDM as the demand for technology rises.

We use the solution for MDM and remote management. We have a very simple environment.

Jamf has allowed the company to have control and visibility over all the assets and it has helped us manage everything remotely and at a distance with a click.      

The remote wipe and lock features are by far the best tools. They help protect our data whenever we offboard people from the company. 

If I had to suggest an area of improvement would be the UI. It can be very all over the place and complex. This makes the learning curve for users far more complicated. Other than that, it is all good. 

I've used it since I joined the company - two years. It was being used before. I'm super happy with it!