

BigFix and Microsoft Defender for Business compete in endpoint management solutions. BigFix excels in patch management and inventory control, while Microsoft Defender for Business stands out with its comprehensive threat detection and seamless integration with Microsoft's ecosystem.
Features: BigFix offers extensive patch management, robust automation capabilities, and detailed inventory management, providing strong endpoint visibility and control. Microsoft Defender for Business is known for its advanced threat detection, integration across Microsoft's services, and comprehensive security coverage.
Room for Improvement: BigFix needs enhancements in web UI, clearer documentation, and smoother deployment of new features. Microsoft Defender for Business should improve its customer support, integration capabilities, and threat protection.
Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: BigFix primarily supports on-premises deployment with dedicated though sometimes slow support responses. Microsoft Defender for Business offers more flexible deployment options, including cloud and hybrid solutions, receiving generally positive feedback on support but needing more promptness and integration help.
Pricing and ROI: BigFix provides comprehensive packages which may seem expensive but deliver strong ROI through streamlined patching and compliance. Microsoft Defender for Business offers competitive pricing within the Microsoft ecosystem, yet may appear costly for smaller enterprises. Both solutions provide significant ROI when applied effectively to different business priorities and budgets.
Using Microsoft Defender for Business results in cost reductions as it consolidates various features under one product, saving around 20% to 30% of the budget.
The value I see in Microsoft Defender for Business is in its ability to track and respond to application usage and security threats through its CASB and automation features, which are cost-beneficial.
On a scale from one to ten, with ten being the highest quality, enterprise support provides timely responses, typically within four to eight hours.
Technical support from HCL is satisfactory unless there are customization requirements.
It is rated ten out of ten for its quality and assistance.
The onboarding support is exceptional, ensuring seamless integration and implementation.
Faster support is needed for endpoint security solutions.
BigFix requires some minimum configuration requirements.
The cloud-based nature of the solution ensures high scalability.
The scalability of Microsoft Defender for Business is rated as ten, indicating it is very scalable.
In terms of scalability, I would rate Microsoft Defender for Business a ten.
No customer complaints about its functionality or reliability.
Although it generally works, there are occasional issues and errors that sometimes require a complete system format to rectify.
I would rate the stability of Microsoft Defender for Business with a three out of ten, where one is very bad.
Building a management console is quick and simple, taking only one to two hours for setup.
The problem was related to the hardware configuration and hardware specifications.
In addition to reporting improvements, there should be a feature for application control to allow or disallow certain applications from being executed on endpoints.
Microsoft should provide batch management solutions with the application, integrating pass management with roles.
Features related to Advanced Persistent Threat detection vectors and cyber kill chain integrations are not available out-of-the-box.
There can be improvements in the user interface to make it more intuitive.
The pricing is pretty good and now follows a subscription model similar to SolarWinds, making it easier for customers to subscribe and unsubscribe.
Single-year pricing remains good.
The pricing is quite affordable at the enterprise level with no extra expenses noted.
Although the cost can be slightly higher, it expedites deployment, which is beneficial, especially for startups.
The BigFix features that have proven most effective include inventory, software delivery, software distribution, software catalog, and both software and hardware management.
I use this mainly to capture inventory for IBM products, and as BigFix was part of IBM, it gets easily integrated with IBM solutions.
BigFix supports something known as Patch Policies, which allows users to define that whenever critical patches are released, they should get evaluated against machines and automatically deploy them.
The threat detection capabilities are robust, with a dedicated research team and a continuously updated threat feed.
Its vulnerability management is regarded as one of the best in the industry.
The most effective features of Microsoft Defender for Business include its threat detection and response capabilities in managing vulnerabilities and ransomware attacks.
| Product | Market Share (%) |
|---|---|
| Microsoft Defender for Business | 2.0% |
| BigFix | 1.1% |
| Other | 96.9% |

| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 30 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 12 |
| Large Enterprise | 66 |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 15 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 2 |
| Large Enterprise | 3 |
HCL BigFix is a powerful patch management tool that enables organizations to simply control their patch management operations. It is designed so that IT security and operations teams can collaborate in the most effective way possible. Users that employ BigFix can find and fix issues with their endpoints faster than those that employ its competitors. It comes with thousands of security checks that can be deployed quickly and easily. These enable users to safeguard themselves from a wide variety of digital threats.
HCL BigFix Benefits
Some of the ways that organizations can benefit by choosing to deploy HCL BigFix include:
BigFix Features
Reviews from Real Users
HCL BigFix is a highly effective solution that stands out when compared to most of its competitors. Two major advantages it offers are its auto-patching capability and its user-friendly tools.
Santhosh K., the chief executive officer of Catnip Infotech Private Limited, writes, “The second valuable feature is, BigFix also has an auto patch updating feature, where the latest patches, and what is required for my system are automatically downloaded and kept ready for me. The solution applies the patch and notifies me after applying the patch. BigFix also gives me a ping saying that I should reset my system within a certain period of time, while the patch is being applied. Let's say, the patch is being applied and if there's an issue, the solution can revoke the applied patch, and revert back to the old state.”
Benedikt S., an application administrator, says, “It's very straightforward. The usability is very close to everyday technical tools that you use as a systems administrator. So it's quite user-friendly.”
Microsoft Defender for Business is a new endpoint security solution that was designed especially for the small and medium-sized business (up to 300 employees). With this endpoint security solution, your company's devices are better protected from ransomware, malware, phishing, and other threats.
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