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BigFix vs IBM Tivoli Asset Management for IT vs Symantec Endpoint Security 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:
 

Mindshare comparison

Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP)
IT Asset Management
Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP)
 

Featured Reviews

Bella Yakoby - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers third-party patching feature, good scalability, and enhance endpoint management capabilities
From the perspective of the team that's handling the environment, it's not so user-friendly compared to other solutions, the competitors. We hire new teams from time to time, and they are complaining, look, although BigFix is very robust and cross-platform, it's not so fun to work with. The user interface for the technical teams is not so advanced. It's not so intuitive compared to SCCM, compared to ManageEngine. And this is the fact that they have, with the teams, because they have the rejection. The look and feel of the system are old-fashioned. For new employees, it's less easy to find someone I don't need to educate on how to work with BigFix. Although it's easy, it's not as intuitive as the other solutions, and the functionality of the other solutions is less advanced. Let's summarize: The user interface has to be changed from the perspective of the teams that are managing the product. It's old school.
HarshalDeore - PeerSpot reviewer
A user-friendly solution that has a good user interface, but its technical support is not good enough
Around 20 to 25 staff members are needed to deploy and maintain the solution, including two managers, one architect, and other implementers. IBM Tivoli Asset Management for IT does not adopt the latest technology. The solution can be integrated with our existing IT environment through some web services and connectors. Overall, I rate the solution a seven out of ten.
Kumbesh Rajagopal - PeerSpot reviewer
Management becomes easier with minimal complications, but improvement in support tools needed
Regarding areas of improvement for Symantec Endpoint Security, there are many changes, and the support portal tool is complicated compared to other tools. When trying to get service from Symantec, the process is complex. I'm not sure whether it's because of my project or something else. Though it is easy to manage, easy to get, easy to install, and works efficiently for managing policies, we faced a significant disadvantage. We wanted to add multiple hashes because of numerous new alerts coming, but we could only add them one by one, which is a considerable disadvantage in Symantec.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable feature of BigFix is the software deployment."
"It is user-friendly."
"Servers are patched more consistently than they have been previously."
"It has improved my organization because we can automate a lot of tasks. We went from manually patching machines or doing our best and having very little visibility into it to us being able to set it and forget it and getting really good results on first-pass patching."
"The most valuable features are patch management, software installation, and asset management."
"It's good for reporting hardware and software."
"It is a one-stop tool that allows you to do everything. It supports reporting, vulnerability management, patch management, and configuration. All things can be done in one tool."
"Vulnerability scanning and patch automation."
"IBM Tivoli Asset Management for IT is a user-friendly solution that has a good user interface."
"The product has been quite stable."
"Device control is most valuable. Symantec is providing all such features in the basic plan, whereas when we last checked, such a feature was not available in the basic plan of Malwarebytes."
"When they started they found it very easy; not easy to implement but easy to use. We started with the headquarters here and later we also implemented it for all the subsidiaries in the region, in other countries. They have a centralized solution, so they can help other countries in management."
"The features I find the most valuable are the protection, the encryption, and the DLP."
"It is a scalable product and is average stability-wise."
"The solution is very stable."
"Its response time is the most valuable. It is very quick."
"Symantec's detection capabilities are strong. It involves run protection and behavioral analysis."
 

Cons

"Implementing a business solution with BigFix has some issues, primarily concerning the time required for distribution to clients if there are too many."
"Sometimes there is a lag time for our users."
"I'd like to see better integration, with the different applications within BigFix. Instead of sometimes feeling like four or five different applications, they need to be integrated a little better within themselves."
"Its pricing should be improved. It is too costly."
"To make it a ten they should improve the licensing. Second, if they could have one environment for everything it would be nice. For you to install compliance you need to install the server, and then you add the modules. For you to install inventory you install the server and then you add the modules. It's not easy to do. When I was doing it before I learned it, it was not straight forward."
"Relay selection and availability needs improvement as an incorrect relay selected can cause network chokes."
"Sometimes the workstations communicate back to the BigFix server two or three days in a week or something similar. Sometimes there can be a delay reporting back to the server for a variety of reasons, such as users turning their computer off when they go home. When the user comes back and turns the computer back on BigFix needs to synchronize and sometimes it can take some time, approximately one week. The communication between the agent and the server should be faster, there is room for improvement in this area."
"The main shortcoming of BigFix was integration with vulnerability management. If you had a vulnerability in your software and BigFix on the endpoint, you needed integration with Qualys, Tenable, or another vulnerability management solution to fix that. It was like, "Okay, we can identify issues, and get that information back from the endpoint, but what are we doing about it?""
"The solution’s initial setup is complex and technical support is not good enough."
"Maybe Symantec Endpoint Security could amend their pricing structure, but they always offer a good product."
"The malware and ransomware protections could be improved, which was ultimately the reason why I stopped using the solution."
"They're just starting to get into this now, but I think they can do better - they're just starting out with I think is called the SEP Cloud Console. It has more limited functionality. It will be good once we can run SEP from the cloud. That would be good."
"There is no local support for Symantec products in Hong Kong."
"About four years back, Symantec's signature was very heavy and their signature patch was around 200MB or 300MB files."
"The areas that need improvement include scanning issues, application control issues, and the detection of malicious files."
"There are limitations because everyone these days has hybrid working; however, the endpoint does not work for us unless we are connected to a VPN, which is a major limitation."
"It would be nice to see more antivirus features for USB control."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product is less costly when compared to other solutions, and this is a good solid solution for what we have paid."
"The tool's price continues to go up. The cost per endpoint can vary, ranging from approximately 30 to 80 dollars per year. Compared to other products, pricing is in the middle. You need to buy an additional database license, but most users already have it."
"Compliance, inventory, and licensing are really pricey. They should lower the price. It discourages users from getting onboard."
"The license is subscription-based."
"Its price is very reasonable."
"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."
"It might be about $23 a client."
"I can estimate the reduced cost of servers maintenance to approximatively $500,000."
"IBM Tivoli Asset Management for IT is an expensive solution."
"The pricing is a little bit more expensive than other competitors, if you compare it to Kaspersky, for example, or McAfee."
"Zero-day threat or advanced attacks should be part of the endpoint. The product should not require you to buy a separate license."
"It could be cheaper."
"The price of the solution could be less expensive."
"It is cheap. It is especially cheaper than Malwarebytes, which is three times higher than this. It is also cheaper than Cisco. Its price is almost similar to Bitdefender, Gravity, and CloudZone."
"Symantec Endpoint Security is an expensive solution."
"I’d say SEP deserves the money."
"Symantec is expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
15%
Government
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
9%
No data available
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

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?
The pricing is competitive, but not the most competitive.
What needs improvement with BigFix?
While performing integration, we face many issues with IBM solution. We need detailed information about those issues ...
What do you like most about IBM Tivoli Asset Management for IT?
IBM Tivoli Asset Management for IT is a user-friendly solution that has a good user interface.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Tivoli Asset Management for IT?
IBM Tivoli Asset Management for IT is an expensive solution. The solution's licensing cost depends on the number of n...
What needs improvement with IBM Tivoli Asset Management for IT?
The solution’s initial setup is complex and technical support is not good enough. IBM Tivoli Asset Management for IT ...
Which is better - Cortex XDR or Symantec End-User Endpoint Security?
Aqua Security is easy to use and very manageable. Its main focus is on Kubernetes and Docker. Security is a very valu...
Which offers better endpoint security - Symantec or Microsoft Defender?
We use Symantec because we do not use MS Enterprise products, but in my opinion, Microsoft Defender is a superior sol...
What do you like most about Symantec End-User Endpoint Security?
Symantec have everything – documentation, videos, data sheets.
 

Also Known As

Tivoli Endpoint Manager
Tivoli Asset Management for IT
Symantec EPP, Symantec Endpoint Protection (SEP)
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

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
Migros Zurich, Tyr_ns AB, Port Otago Limited, BTC, Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V., AIG, Swedish Match, DTE Energy
Audio Visual Dynamics, Red Deer Advocate, Asia Pacific Telecom Co. Ltd., Kibbutz Ein Gedi, and AMETEK, Inc.
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, CrowdStrike, SentinelOne and others in Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP). Updated: August 2025.
865,670 professionals have used our research since 2012.