BigFix vs Perforce Puppet comparison

HCLSoftware and Perforce are both solutions in the Configuration Management category. HCLSoftware is ranked #9 with an average rating of 8.3, while Perforce is ranked #14 with an average rating of 8.0. HCLSoftware holds a 4.8% mindshare in CM, compared to Perforce’s 3.9% mindshare. Additionally, 97% of HCLSoftware users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Perforce users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 3, 2026

Perforce Puppet and BigFix compete in the IT automation and configuration management market. BigFix has an edge due to its comprehensive feature set, while Perforce Puppet is noted for its flexibility and affordability.

Features: Perforce Puppet provides strong automation in configuration management, notable for managing system configurations precisely across diverse environments and features adaptive automation. BigFix stands out with its endpoint management and advanced security features, offering comprehensive IT infrastructure monitoring and compliance management.

Room for Improvement: Perforce Puppet could enhance its user interface for more intuitive navigation and improve documentation for better accessibility to resources. Expanding integration with third-party applications and simplifying the learning curve for beginners would also be beneficial. BigFix could focus on streamlining its deployment processes to reduce complexity and make its solution more user-friendly for non-technical users. It can improve scalability features further and expand its customer support resources.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Perforce Puppet offers a simplified deployment process with a flexible architecture that supports integration across various infrastructures and provides reliable customer support. BigFix offers an extensive deployment model designed for large-scale operations and includes detailed customer service to assist with implementation, though it may present more complexity than Perforce Puppet's approach.

Pricing and ROI: Perforce Puppet generally has lower initial costs, providing quicker ROI for organizations focused on initial expenditure, offering significant value for its price. In contrast, BigFix requires a higher upfront investment but can deliver greater long-term ROI by optimizing IT operations with its expansive feature set and compliance capabilities.

To learn more, read our detailed BigFix vs. Perforce Puppet Report (Updated: June 2026).

Buyer's Guide

BigFix vs. Perforce Puppet

June 2026

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Review summaries and opinions

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

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Intune

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the Configuration Management category, the mindshare of Microsoft Intune is 4.9%, down from 10.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of BigFix is 4.8%, down from 9.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Perforce Puppet is 3.9%, up from 1.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Configuration Management Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Microsoft Intune	4.9%
BigFix	4.8%
Perforce Puppet	3.9%
Other	86.4%

Configuration Management

Featured Reviews

OluwashileAdeniyi

Senior Infrastructure Security Engineer at a outsourcing company with 51-200 employees

Centralized endpoint security has improved and supports hybrid work and BYOD policies

Regarding what I dislike about Microsoft Intune and its downsides, I would say that more Mac controls are needed because we have limited Mac and Linux control. When comparing controls and policies between Windows, Mac, and Linux, Windows has almost everything you can think of, while Mac and Linux have limited types of control. You cannot implement certain things on Mac and Linux that you can on Windows. The limited controls are a major issue. Additionally, if Microsoft could find a way to embed servers into Microsoft Intune, that would be beneficial. Microsoft Intune is not really designed for servers or Windows servers. It is more tailored towards Windows 11 and Windows 10 operating systems. Windows servers are not fully supported. Enterprise organizations usually have both servers and endpoints, which are users' workstations. For servers, most people look for other solutions such as SCCM, which is Configuration Manager. However, SCCM is what Microsoft Intune is trying to replace. Both SCCM and Microsoft Intune belong to Microsoft. Microsoft is trying to transition organizations into Microsoft Intune, the native cloud solution. However, because this update is still in process, servers are not fully compatible with Microsoft Intune and cannot be managed by it. The current policy that has emerged from issues with clients is what they call co-management, which is relatively new, and I do not know if adoption is significant. Many legacy or older customers who have been using these products for decades still have SCCM. When it is time for them to manage their Windows devices, they use what is called cloud attach. Cloud attach is a term whereby your SCCM is connected to your Microsoft Intune. Most people do not know about it, but I have deployed it for several organizations. Cloud attach and co-management work together so that your device is in SCCM, but some policies are pushed from Microsoft Intune. It is like two different solutions working hand in hand. That is what they call co-management. Microsoft Intune does not bring all of your endpoint and security management tools into one place, which is the goal and how it should be. However, as I mentioned, servers are not included. If we talk about end users, Microsoft Intune does bring all your devices together. In a typical enterprise environment, you have end users with workstations, laptops, company-issued phones, and bring your own devices. You can create policies for all of these. However, for the backend, your servers do not have much coverage. Servers are not really covered by Microsoft Intune in that way.

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Ravi Khanchandani

Founder Director at Techsa Services

Long-term partnership improves customer satisfaction and delivers efficient endpoint management

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. Their software distribution is very efficient because they use a pull mechanism rather than a push mechanism, allowing each machine to download from the closest repository and install themselves. The same assessment mechanism applies for real-time vulnerability remediation, allowing identification, evaluation, and automatic remediation across machines. Compliance metrics typically measure the patch percentages deployed against the number of endpoints, which could be various device types including virtual machines and mobile devices. Measurements are taken against each device type, looking into compliance percentages for browsers such as Chrome and Edge based on their versions.

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Saufi Salim

Unix Consultant at ExxonMobil

Have managed configurations efficiently with an adaptable tool

I am using Perforce Puppet in the IT industry. I have experience with configuration management tools, specifically Perforce Puppet. I am a user of Perforce Puppet. I have used modular architecture to customize and integrate with my current IT environment. It is flexible and able to address my specific needs. I have worked with event-driven automation, and it helps to identify potential issues when someone manually changes any configuration on the server. Perforce Puppet reinforces the intended configuration that we have set earlier. I recommend Perforce Puppet as it's a good tool for all kinds of business and easy to use. It takes less than three months to learn how to use Perforce Puppet. On a scale of one to ten, I rate Perforce Puppet an eight.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"On the cloud, you can manage everything; you can push policies, maintain patches, and maintain security because everything interacts on the cloud and a VPN is not required."

"The main benefit for us with Microsoft Intune is centralized management of all devices, allowing us to apply one policy across the company from one location."

"Intune's integration with Defender and other security solutions is valuable because it offers a view into different security vulnerabilities and enables us to secure them more effectively."

"It is a stable solution."

"The initial setup is easy."

"I can reach devices or computers over the internet. I don't need to worry about the network connectivity between the offices. I can manage any device. That is the most important part."

"Microsoft Intune is reliable, scalable, and user-friendly."

"The mobile device management is very useful."

More Microsoft Intune pros

"Altogether, help desk calls have been reduced by around 50%."

"Definitely, without any hesitation, I would recommend that you should implement and use it."

"I like the overall usage of it; it's easy to use, gives you great visibility into your environment, allows customization of your reports, and offers a community of users from whom you can pull experience and knowledge, which is one of the main advantages of using BigFix."

"The use of fast query has been extremely valuable providing insight in real time of the endpoints."

"Patch management is vital for security posture, so I wouldn't be surprised if BigFix is becoming increasingly popular."

"This solution is giving us the results that it's meant for."

"The most valuable point is when you deploy an application, you have to make sure that the application has been deployed to all computers and that is working perfectly. This solution works well at deployments."

"It's very straightforward."

More BigFix pros

"Puppet Enterprise has good functionalities."

"The main purpose for this automation tool would be: deploying, controlling, ordering change for the system and IT Infrastructure."

"Puppet Enterprise is a stable solution."

"The agent-based feature helps me by being stable."

"The organization of the overall product in terms of usage is very good."

"Before we began using Puppet, everything was manual; once we moved to Puppet, it opened up a completely new world of automated management, which was amazing."

"The most valuable features are the agent, high load balancing, and overall robustness and features."

"Anything that we manage through Puppet always runs perfectly."

More Perforce Puppet pros

Cons

"Those are the two features that did not impress me much, and currently with other customers I am improving them with Microsoft directly."

"Microsoft needs to strategize its licensing structure. When using Microsoft Intune, we bought a small scale of controls, only controlling part of the devices, though Microsoft Intune can do much more. The Intune Suite offers more features, allowing extensive integration with either internal or cloud environments without requiring third-party licensing. However, each feature has a separate license, making logistics and cost management difficult if not strategically bundled together."

"They need to add more group policies. Intune currently does not have many group policies that you can deploy. Its reporting, which is very limited at the moment, also needs improvement. It will be great if they can add report customization. Its stability needs to be improved. Sometimes, when you register a device in Intune, it doesn't show up instantly on the engine portal on the admin side. They need to provide better support for complicated issues. They also have a long turnaround time."

"It needs incorporation of Knox, ZeroTouch, etc."

"One thing I feel Microsoft Intune could improve is troubleshooting visibility. In many cases, when a policy or application deployment fails, the error messages are a bit generic."

"Microsoft support was not very responsive, and it took approximately one and a half months to get on a call to clear what the problem was."

"The reporting part needs improvement, and it would be beneficial if it could integrate with third-party tools instead of just Power BI."

"You can have a bad day where 80% of the enrollments failed. The next day it's running with the same devices without any changes, and you don't know why."

More Microsoft Intune cons

"While performing integration, we face many issues with IBM solution. We need detailed information about those issues that can help users to mitigate them."

"We have had scalability issues because we bend the laws of the physics for the tool."

"The console interface is not friendly, and requires training before using it in production."

"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 BigFix Inventory could have an increased scope regarding the tools that can be detected. It does not cover all the possible software installed in Asset."

"The reporting structure could be a little more simplistic. Currently, it throws too many vulnerabilities. Some of them are not needed because they are only informational and limitations, and they are not of much help. It doesn't need to show us these things."

"The solution needs to improve console speed. I would like to see one console that does everything. It doesn't need to have a big client console."

"Still, you have to dance around and probably do some voodoo in order to get that data back."

More BigFix cons

"The compliance side needs work. Puppet doesn't have much in terms of dealing with compliance."

"Puppet Enterprise should improve the general extensibility for places where they can't install it."

"The solution has really complex code, you have to understand the Ruby language. However, once you know the code then you can move ahead without any problems."

"Clients with less technical expertise may find Puppet complex to configure. Our team may struggle if technical team members leave the organization, leaving others uncertain about using the tool."

"Puppet Enterprise is more complex and difficult to configure."

"Puppet has a steep learning curve so you need to spend some time before you can use Puppet daily."

"At the beginning the initial setup was kind of complex."

"It needs GUI based automation. There is way too much command line work involved."

More Perforce Puppet cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"For Microsoft 365 E5 clients, cost is not an issue as this product is one of the benefits."

"Microsoft Intune's costliness stems from licensing fees and the overhead associated with its management, user experience, and device remediation."

"With one user base license, we can use Intune for up to five devices. However, with Soti MobiControl, each license is tied to a single device, meaning one license is dedicated to one device only."

"It comes with the E5 plan. We bought the E5 plan from Microsoft."

"The clients pay for a license and each can have a different type of license, such as an E3 or E5."

"Microsoft Intune is reasonably priced for large organizations that already have Microsoft Enterprise licenses, but it is less affordable for smaller businesses."

"Even if they charge a premium, they aim to provide equal value."

"My team members bundled it together with their Microsoft solutions, including Microsoft 365 and related products."

More Microsoft Intune pricing and cost advice

"You are charged per server and per workstation when using BigFix. ManageEngine is a lot cheaper than BigFix. There are some additional costs, such as support."

"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."

"The price is reasonable, but our customers find it expensive."

"Compliance, inventory, and licensing are really pricey. They should lower the price. It discourages users from getting onboard."

"When purchasing, buying with other IBM tools provided us with a very good discount in pricing."

"The license is subscription-based."

"I can estimate the reduced cost of servers maintenance to approximatively $500,000."

More BigFix pricing and cost advice

"Puppet Enterprise’s pricing is competitive."

"The main thing that we noticed when we switched from the enterprise version to the community version was the difference in cost — the infrastructure is pretty expensive."

"Depending on the size of the organization there is a point when the price of Puppet Enterprise should be lower. However, they provide really good functionality, features, and capabilities."

"Puppet Enterprise can be an expensive solution for smaller businesses."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

10%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Computer Software Company

Government

Financial Services Firm

13%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Government

Computer Software Company

Financial Services Firm

17%

Comms Service Provider

11%

Outsourcing Company

10%

Construction Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	192
Midsize Enterprise	62
Large Enterprise	185

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	30
Midsize Enterprise	12
Large Enterprise	67

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	10
Midsize Enterprise	1
Large Enterprise	5

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 ...

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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...

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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 ...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for BigFix?

The pricing is pretty good and now follows a subscription model similar to other major software solutions, making it ...

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What needs improvement with BigFix?

I have concerns about BigFix's pricing, which I find to be slightly on the higher side. While it may not be the most ...

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What is your primary use case for BigFix?

I have been working at Tech Data for the last 12 plus years.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Puppet Enterprise?

Regarding the cost, I find it expensive, always. I don't know how much the license would cost per year or per user ap...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Puppet Enterprise?

I don't know what could be improved in Perforce Puppet to make this tool better for the next release. I can't think o...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Puppet Enterprise?

My main use case for Perforce Puppet is for configuration management.

See all answers

Comparisons

Jamf Pro vs Microsoft Intune

Compared 10% of the time

IBM MaaS360 vs Microsoft Intune

Compared 10% of the time

Workspace ONE UEM vs Microsoft Intune

Compared 6% of the time

Microsoft Entra ID vs Microsoft Intune

Compared 4% of the time

ManageEngine Endpoint Central vs Microsoft Intune

Compared 4% of the time

More Microsoft Intune Competitors

Tanium vs BigFix

Compared 5% of the time

Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform vs BigFix

Compared 5% of the time

Microsoft Configuration Manager vs BigFix

Compared 4% of the time

Red Hat Satellite vs BigFix

Compared 2% of the time

HashiCorp Terraform vs BigFix

Compared 2% of the time

More BigFix Competitors

BMC TrueSight Server Automation vs Perforce Puppet

Compared 10% of the time

Microsoft Configuration Manager vs Perforce Puppet

Compared 9% of the time

Red Hat Satellite vs Perforce Puppet

Compared 8% of the time

AWS Systems Manager vs Perforce Puppet

Compared 7% of the time

Quali CloudShell Pro vs Perforce Puppet

Compared 4% of the time

More Perforce Puppet Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Intune

June 2026

Download Microsoft Intune product report

Buyer's Guide

BigFix

June 2026

Download BigFix product report

Buyer's Guide

Perforce Puppet

June 2026

Download Perforce Puppet product report

Also Known As

Intune, MS Intune, Microsoft Endpoint Manager

Tivoli Endpoint Manager

Puppet

Interactive Demo

Demo not available

Microsoft

HCLSoftware

Demo not available

Perforce

Overview

Microsoft Intune is a cloud-based service designed for device management, security, and compliance. It supports automation and facilitates endpoint management for Windows, iOS, and Android devices, ensuring data protection and efficient policy enforcement.

Microsoft Intune offers seamless integration with tools like Windows Autopilot to automate device setup and deployment. Integrated with Azure Active Directory, it enhances policy management while providing robust reporting and analytics tools for compliance tracking. Despite its intuitive interface aimed at simplifying navigation and device security management, there are challenges such as compatibility issues with Linux and Mac, limited policy support for Android, and demands for better third-party integration. It's widely used for both corporate-owned devices and BYOD scenarios in dynamic IT environments.

What are the key features of Microsoft Intune?

Windows Autopilot: Automates device setup for rapid deployment.
Azure Active Directory Integration: Enhances user policy management.
Reporting and Analytics: Improves compliance visibility.
Mobile Application Management: Ensures app security without compromising personal data.
Cloud-Based Management: Allows management from any location.

What benefits and ROI can users expect?

Time Efficiency: Automation reduces time in policy enforcement and configuration updates.
Enhanced Security: Ensures data protection across corporate-owned and BYOD devices.
Improved Compliance: Advanced reporting tools enhance compliance visibility.
Flexible Management: Cloud-based nature supports management from any location.

In industries such as finance and healthcare, Microsoft Intune is implemented to ensure data protection and compliance with regulatory standards. Manufacturing sectors utilize Intune for managing a distributed workforce across global locations, while educational institutions employ it to secure and manage devices in learning environments supporting both students and faculty.

Microsoft

HCL BigFix offers a Unified Endpoint Management platform that enhances security, reduces costs, and simplifies IT operations across hybrid, multi-cloud environments through a centralized control structure.

BigFix streamlines enterprise IT management by integrating infrastructure security, endpoint remediation, and employee experience automation within a single platform. It enables IT Operations and Security teams to function efficiently from a unified control plane, managing over 155 million endpoints. Its robust architecture supports continuous compliance and automated vulnerability remediation, closing the gap between detection and fix. It excels in digital employee experience by ensuring proactive monitoring and utilizing agentic AI for self-healing workflows and intelligent automation, thereby reducing manual efforts and enhancing productivity.

What are BigFix's key features?

Efficient Patch Management: Automates and optimizes patch distribution across platforms.
Compliance Integration: Ensures robust adherence to compliance standards through automated processes.
Scalability: Capable of managing and securing an extensive range of endpoints.
Multi-Platform Support: Provides management for various operating systems through a single console.
Customization Options: Enables API-based customizations and versatile reporting capabilities.

What are potential benefits and ROI factors?

Enhanced Security: Swift vulnerability management reduces risk exposure.
Cost Efficiency: Centralized management minimizes operational complexities and expenses.
Operational Resilience: Maintains compliance and security across distributed environments.
Ease of Management: Simplifies diverse environment management with robust tools.
Boost in Productivity: Reduces manual IT efforts while improving employee experience.

Industries such as telecom, finance, and industrial facilities leverage BigFix for comprehensive patch management, software deployment, and inventory solutions. They benefit from its capacity to support endpoint security, compliance, and diverse operational needs, using it for vulnerability assessment and custom content creation.

HCLSoftware

Perforce Puppet offers automated configuration management and diverse platform support through agent-based functionality, enhancing systems with real-time reporting and efficient process automation.

Perforce Puppet provides comprehensive management for both infrastructure and applications, primarily on-prem servers, enabling automation of server updates, security compliance, and IT operations. It supports Linux and is expanding to Windows, facilitating continuous checks and compliance monitoring. With robust Internet-based features, scalability, role-based access control, and exemplary community support, it streamlines processes like remote package installation, file distribution, and user creation. Using Puppet Forge modules enhances its capabilities despite its steep learning curve and reliance on Ruby and DSL. While GUI limitations necessitate command line proficiency, its integration features and high cost can be a deterrent, prompting some to consider alternatives or the community version.

What are the key features of Perforce Puppet?

Agent-Based Functionality: Provides real-time system management and reporting.
Automated Configuration Management: Streamlines server and network processes with a declarative approach.
Scalability: Adapts to changing infrastructure needs efficiently.
Puppet Forge Modules: Extends capabilities for enhanced performance.
Role-Based Access Control: Ensures secure and organized access control.

What benefits do users gain from Perforce Puppet?

Versatility in Platform Management: Supports diverse environments for seamless integration.
Efficiency in Automation: Reduces manual server configuration tasks.
Community Support: Access to a strong network of developers and users.
Enhanced Security Compliance: Facilitates continuous monitoring and compliance checks.

Perforce Puppet is widely adopted in industries requiring rigorous configuration management and provisioning for on-prem servers. Enterprises automate IT operations and security compliance, applying it initially to Linux servers and progressing to Windows. It aids in public configurations for nodes, enabling efficient network, package, and software integrations while automating configuration and patch management processes.

Perforce

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

Los Alamos National Laboratory, GitHub, IP Commerce, Cedexis, Spiceworks, Server Density, Swisstopo, Chockstone, Constant Contact, NICS, Citrix

Buyer's Guide

BigFix vs. Perforce Puppet

June 2026

Free Report: BigFix vs. Perforce Puppet

Find out what your peers are saying about BigFix vs. Perforce Puppet and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.

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