BigFix vs SaltStack comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary
 

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Intune
Sponsored
Ranking in Configuration Management
3rd
Average Rating
8.0
Number of Reviews
168
Ranking in other categories
Remote Access (4th), Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) (1st), Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) (1st), Microsoft Security Suite (3rd)
BigFix
Ranking in Configuration Management
5th
Average Rating
8.6
Number of Reviews
91
Ranking in other categories
Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) (15th), Patch Management (3rd), Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) (4th)
SaltStack
Ranking in Configuration Management
14th
Average Rating
8.2
Number of Reviews
33
Ranking in other categories
Network Automation (7th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2024, in the Configuration Management category, the mindshare of Microsoft Intune is 12.3%, up from 10.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of BigFix is 9.6%, up from 7.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SaltStack is 2.8%, up from 2.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Configuration Management
Unique Categories:
Remote Access
4.5%
Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM)
36.2%
Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP)
0.9%
Patch Management
15.2%
Network Automation
3.4%
 

Featured Reviews

Alex Bazay - PeerSpot reviewer
Jun 4, 2024
Streamlines operations and reduces administrative overhead and attack surface
Microsoft Intune is helping to streamline operations and minimize administrative overhead. We are using the Enterprise Application Management features of Intune Suite. It is very well designed and very well suited for Microsoft-related applications. Third-party applications can require some workaround. They do not always organically fit into the solution, but, overall, it is a great option to have visibility into what the users are using and be able to set up some policies based on that. We can allow applications or deny applications. We can manage what users can onboard. Overall, it is a great solution. We can definitely simplify and streamline some security operations. Microsoft Intune is great for securing hybrid work and protecting data on company and BYO devices. What is more important is that it is not a static product. It is not that the product is very well established and not moving anywhere. It is constantly evolving. Microsoft seems to be spending lots of resources trying to improve and bring new features. That is great. We are starting with Intune's Endpoint Privilege Management feature. It definitely impacts productivity. It is great and definitely helps a lot. It helps minimize the attack surface because you do not have elevated privileges accounts available all the time. It helps mitigate or shrink the potential impact or potential entry points into the network. Microsoft Intune has helped us to manage the accounts with elevated privileges. We are a managed service provider. We sometimes have big turnarounds on the help desk. By their job definition, many of them are supposed to have access to different clients and different sensitive areas. It helps us to mitigate and manage these accounts, and, as a result, to be more secure. We can make sure that those accounts are not being distributed very freely. We have control over their actions. We have control over what they are doing. We have full visibility and accountability.
SG
Mar 9, 2023
Simple patching, useful patch reports, and good support
The solution is stable. The primary role of the solution is to patch the systems to the latest released security updates. We have not had any issues once we had deployed the solution correctly. During our exploration of available solutions, we found that very few in the market offer comprehensive security features. In our evaluation of BigFix, we were particularly impressed with its VMware functionality, which far exceeded that of other solutions we considered. Rather than having to configure multiple solutions, BigFix provided us with basic security information and VMware management detection and response all in one. While the effectiveness of BigFix is certainly a key consideration, its ability to consolidate security features was a major factor in our decision to choose it. I rate the stability of BigFix an eight out of ten.
BF
Oct 13, 2023
A strong and flexible solution that helps with configuration management
We use SaltStack for configuration management, where we maintain configurations of 150 servers. It also helps with file integrity monitoring.  We monitor the configurations against CIS standards. We run CIS benchmarks and maintain configurations with higher CIS values for each server.…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"We have a BYOD policy, and this solution helps us manage our devices."
"Fortunately, now everything is streamlined into a single, unified platform."
"The feature I like the most is that we can perform remote tasks. If we want to retire or wipe out personal data or corporate data from a device, we can use Microsoft Intune remotely, and with the click of a button, data is removed automatically. Nothing needs to be done from the end-user side."
"I like the fact that it's integrated with the rest of the Microsoft products, so customers can manage it from their Office 365 portal or Azure portal."
"Intune enables us to manage our devices from anywhere."
"One of the best features is Windows Autopilot because if you change any of your devices, whatever security policies and compliance policies that applied can be easily migrated to the new devices. Windows Autopilot gives you that flexibility."
"The policy and compliance monitoring of devices and the software deployment are most valuable."
"Its security is most valuable. It gives us a way to secure devices, not only those that are steady. We do have a few tablets and other devices, and it is a way for us to secure these devices and manage them. We know they're out there and what's their status. We can manage their life cycle and verify that they're updated properly."
"The most valuable feature for us is the ability to manage TWS, the relevance is really what sets it apart. Also, using it as a software deployment tool is the key for us."
"It is user-friendly."
"We are able to go from patching thousands of machines by twenty to thirty people to one person."
"What I like most is that it is a powerful solution."
"The patch management and the BigFix Inventory have been the most valuable features."
"It is pretty secure, and it gives extensive vulnerability features as compared to other applications. It supports multiple languages, and the security checks are pretty high as compared to other tools in the market."
"Having higher visibility on patching level, on patching successful, and non-successful has been a way that BigFix has improved my organization. Also, the ability to customize the content to do what we need it to do is very powerful and very flexible for us. Finally, in the area of custom interfaces like REST API really gives us the ability to provide for our external customers."
"I would advise someone considering this product to go for it. It's easy to use, cheaper than the value, and there is tons and tons of support from the BigFix community. With almost every challenge we have someone who has encountered it, and you will have a solution right away."
"I want to build automation that is intelligent, part of the fabric of our environment, and is somewhat self-sustaining. I think SaltStack can help me do this."
"The product’s most valuable feature is its ability to provide environmental security."
"We monitor the configurations against CIS standards. We run CIS benchmarks and maintain configurations with higher CIS values for each server."
"The ability to programmatically describe the desired state of a single, or an entire fleet of servers, on-premises, and in a cloud environment."
"The automation functionality has been most valuable. With a click of a button, we are able to automate provisioning, the build of new hardware and apply patches. These are all extremely important and differentiated tasks that can be automated in SaltStack."
"SaltStack has given us the ability to deal with systems at scale and rectify issues at scale."
"It is a highly stable solution."
 

Cons

"It would be beneficial to have a more straightforward understanding of Intune's capabilities, presented in a simplified manner."
"I would like some integration with the Microsoft reporting platform Power BI."
"Data leak prevention can be integrated into it. Currently, it does not have data leak prevention."
"I have a lot of Apple products in my environment. It would be nice to have an improved integration of Apple products with Microsoft Intune without Jam."
"Microsoft Intune fails a lot when it comes to device compliance."
"More integration with monitoring tools is needed."
"Intune doesn't provide much control over Windows servers. It's something we struggle with."
"Microsoft Intune lags market leaders, such as Apperian, in its MAM capabilities."
"I would like to see more custom content."
"We need a much better multi-tenant option."
"The deployment has room for improvement and can be more streamlined."
"I'd like to see better API integration with BigFix. We have some tremendous API capability inside of CyFIR and the ability to take textual search results, for example, and bring that back into the BigFix dashboard. This would be of extreme interest to us and our customers."
"I'd definitely like to see additional feature parody in the web UI versus the console. There are certain things that you can only do in the console and they're very cumbersome to do, like secure parameters, for example. That's definitely something that has a wide degree of utility but it needs to be easier to surface. At this particular juncture between the transition, between the legacy console and the web UI, it's hard to justify dealing with the cumbersome aspects of the legacy console when theoretically everything's been through the web UI."
"They don't have a proper mobile device management capability. They're working on it, however, that's the one thing that needs improvement so that you can have full unified endpoint management."
"The tool should be more friendly in terms of Web UI and should be having better vulnerability scanning mechanisms so a third-party application is not required to fulfill that aspect."
"The solution’s pricing could be improved."
"This solution could be integrated with more hardware for an improved offering."
"It is difficult to set up."
"Its configuration process could be better."
"SaltStack's features are minimal."
"There is a little bit of pain when it comes to libraries and what is needed to run the product."
"Web UI."
"A hardened set of tests would be much appreciated."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It's affordable for the protection it gives. There are no additional costs."
"The price of Intune is often included as part of a bundle with other Microsoft licenses, which makes it somewhat cheaper."
"It comes as a bundle, so you do not really know what the prices are. Microsoft does not break it down to the user cost for us. It is just bundled with our E5 license."
"If you're ever going to buy an Office 365 environment, then pricing is reasonable given all that it does, but if you're not, then you might find the pricing expensive."
"Intune is available as an individual product, but it also comes with Office 365 Premium or an Enterprise license, and the price varies for each version."
"It's affordable. It's cheaper if you have an Office 365, E5, or E3 subscription because everything is there."
"I would rate the price a four out of ten with ten being the most expensive."
"The pricing is not cheap, especially with inflation. They've had to increase their prices. It's not excessive, but alright."
"Compliance, inventory, and licensing are really pricey. They should lower the price. It discourages users from getting onboard."
"Its price is very reasonable."
"When purchasing, buying with other IBM tools provided us with a very good discount in pricing."
"It might be about $23 a client."
"It is too costly. It is one of the best tools, but because of pricing, not all clients support it. Its licensing is on a yearly basis."
"The product is less costly when compared to other solutions, and this is a good solid solution for what we have paid."
"I would stay with the Managed Virtual Server license model, which is a 1-to-1 license per OS whether it is virtual or physical."
"The price of the solution is high. There are not any additional fees from the standard license."
"The solution is free of cost."
"SaltStack is an open-source product."
"It is an open-source product."
"So much can be done with the Open Source side, and especially for smaller shops. I personally think the pricing for Enterprise is hard to justify."
"The pricing for this solution is roughly 20% lower than the competitive products in the market."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
24%
Computer Software Company
12%
Government
7%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Educational Organization
46%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Government
7%
Computer Software Company
7%
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Government
9%
University
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

How does Microsoft Intune compare with VMware Workspace One?
Microsoft Intune is a great tool for managing a mobile device fleet while keeping access control. The solution makes ...
What are the pros and cons of Microsoft Intune?
Microsoft Intune is a great configuration management tool and has a lot of good things going for it. Here are some of...
How does Google Cloud Identity compare with Microsoft Intune?
Microsoft Intune offers not only an easy-to-deploy data protection and productivity management solution, but also ...
What do you like most about BigFix?
The most valuable features of the solution are Windows patching and the hardware and software inventory.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for BigFix?
On a scale from one to ten, where one is expensive and ten is cheap, I rate the solution's pricing one out of ten.
What needs improvement with BigFix?
The solution’s pricing could be improved.
What do you like most about SaltStack?
We monitor the configurations against CIS standards. We run CIS benchmarks and maintain configurations with higher CI...
What is your primary use case for SaltStack?
We use SaltStack for configuration management, where we maintain configurations of 150 servers. It also helps with fi...
 

Also Known As

Intune, MS Intune, Microsoft Endpoint Manager
Tivoli Endpoint Manager
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Mitchells and Buzzers, Callaway
US Foods, Penn State, St Vincent's Health US Foods, Sabadell Bank, SunTrust, Australia Sydney, Stemac, Capgemini, WNS Global Services, Jebsen & Jessen, CenterBeam, Strauss, Christian Hospital Centre, Brit Insurance, Career Education Corporation
IBM CloudTD BankScotiaBankLinkedIneBayLiberty MutualTargetHyattCyxteraNetAppFacebookLyft
Find out what your peers are saying about BigFix vs. SaltStack and other solutions. Updated: June 2024.
787,817 professionals have used our research since 2012.