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BMC Client Management vs Jamf Pro vs Microsoft Configuration Manager 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

Mobile Device Management (MDM)
Mobile Device Management (MDM)
Server Monitoring
 

Featured Reviews

Cristian Testa - PeerSpot reviewer
A stable solution that allows you to manage IT clients from receipt to retirement
The initial setup is straightforward and easy to use, but you need to understand the different functionalities and modules. The console version and the Hub application are different, and you need some knowledge to make the process easier. Deployment typically takes about two months. You start with the initial setup and then continue with operations. The deployment process is straightforward. The master installation takes about thirty minutes. After that, you deploy different relays to discover the endpoints and create the credentials and sources to install the agents. Once the agent is installed on an endpoint, you can manage it as needed. The first step is always the installation. BMC Client Management can be deployed both on cloud and on-premises. After the COVID-19 pandemic, there was an increased need for remote solutions, so we have customers using both models. In BMC Client Management, I'd rate the initial setup as an eight out of ten.
Pete C - PeerSpot reviewer
Customizable with a self-service portal and a good security posture
Policies enabled for self-service should have keywords attached, so that multiple search terms can direct to a single preferred result, without having to clutter the description field. The new remote support tool is still lacking features compared to other industry solutions. There is no built-in functionality for tracking changes over time for multiple devices. All patch reporting is only a current snapshot. The password management tools are fairly outdated. The web console (GUI) is slow with maddening UI/UX inconsistencies.
MikeNelson2 - PeerSpot reviewer
Deployment recovery works well but requires configuration improvements
While I do not use the product frequently, many issues were due to configuration rather than the product itself. I cannot give an exact recommendation as it is not my area of responsibility. The team that uses it finds it adequate. It is presently good enough for us not to investigate other options. Overall, I rate the product a six out of ten.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"One feature I like, that was especially valuable during the pandemic, is remote control. Remote control grants administrators and support personnel access to the laptops and PCs of employees (who might be working from home) in order to fix any issues that come up as and when they come up, even without having to wait for a support request."
"It's a scalable solution. We have deployed it for customers using 3000 nodes to those using 300,000 nodes."
"The support from BMC Client Management is very good."
"The most valuable features of the solution are its patching capabilities and the help it offers when it comes to use cases, like prompting for the reboot after a certain period of time."
"The most valuable features of the solution are patch management and software license management."
"BMC Client Management is a stable solution and one of the best in the market. It allows me to manage all recipe endpoints, including iOS, Android, Linux, Unix, and Windows, all within the same solution."
"The inventory and patch management tools are very valuable."
"Jamf has made it achievable for us to easily deploy & manage Apple devices anywhere in the world, without the need for hands-on assistance from IT staff."
"One valuable feature of Jamf Pro is Jamf Connect, which helps synchronize passwords from Active Directory to Mac."
"Integration with Apple's DEP program and the ability to image systems quickly and efficiently is one of the best features. I use Jamf Pro to push out remote access tools that allow us to help our users with issues that require more "hands-on" than only MDM can provide, which is nice as well."
"We are able to configure the laptop with the security requirements needed, default applications, and so on without touching it."
"My team use this solution to provide end-to-end support on our managed Mac fleet. This includes doing OS updates and upgrades, application deployments, configuration settings and outlining."
"The zero-day support regarding new Apple hardware and Apple operating systems is very good."
"It offers professionals an endless amount of possibilities to keep users and the company happy."
"We are able to manage our full fleet of devices and can simply integrate with all of our systems."
"With the right administrator, application deployment can do wonders."
"Patching is the main feature because SCCM is made to control the entire environment without manually interpreting. So it is good to use for patching."
"It is a good choice for deployment that performs very well."
"SCCM is a stable solution."
"Automation of operating system, application, and update deployments massively reduces IT operations effort."
"The solution effectively handles inventory management, deployment, and reporting."
"The most valuable feature is the scalability."
"Patching is very effective and reporting is very good."
 

Cons

"BMC Client Management could improve in the area of integration."
"BMC Client Management supports only iOS devices. It would be good if they would support Android as well."
"In BMC Client Management, I would like to see more features for executing commands remotely. For example, with SAP, there isn't the capability to execute all the commands available in the console. The latest version includes more endpoints, but they do not cover everything the operations team needs. Additionally, I think improving the hierarchy for managing endpoints is crucial. Extending the endpoint capabilities would be highly beneficial."
"The solution needs to add whitelisting because many customers request it."
"It would be good if BMC Client Management can perform vulnerability assessment scanning at the endpoint on its own and mitigate that. Then, we wouldn't have to rely on a third party VA tool. I would like to see this application move to being a web-based one."
"The on-premises version of BMC Client Management has powerful remote control functionality and decent compliance features, but these features both rely on the discovery tool in order to gain a complete set of insights about the endpoint's environment. Now, BMC's discovery solution depends on having an agent installed in each endpoint and sometimes the agent doesn't work properly, making it difficult to get an accurate understanding of the environment (including special topologies) even with BMC's discovery tool."
"The solution does not offer the functionality of remote access to users."
"The biggest area for improvement is the price and the structure of Jamf's onboarding process, especially the mandatory JumpStart consultation, which can be costly for small organizations."
"There should be an option for exporting the data for reporting purposes so that we can give that to the higher-ups, such as CIO. We should be able to see bar graphs and charts on different data points. It would be great to have a good reporting tool to look at, for example, data points of how many versions of Adobe Acrobat we have in our environment in a bar graph or pie chart. They don't have anything like that. There is an application called Tableau Reader, which does statistics, and you can put a statistical or analytical aspect in there to extract data and share it on a graph or a pie chart. Such a tool would be great."
"Jamf doesn't make the Cloud file system visible so there are rare occasions where the local repository and Cloud repository get out of sync."
"There is room for improvement with Jamf Pro, especially regarding updates."
"An in-house chat room would be a great way to communicate with your team when you aren't physically present with them."
"There is still no feature for properly patching T2 Security Chip-enabled Macs."
"The self Service UI needs some real improvement; they recently revamped the app, but I don't know if those changes have been for the better."
"It would be great for Jamf to provide templates for commonly used tasks like updating an operating system, packaging commonly used apps like Office 365, or enabling FileVault."
"On some hardware, we'd like an easier way to get peripherals attached."
"Marketing: Our management doesn't understand that there is a piece of software which helps them automate and manage the entire network, as far as operating systems on computers."
"The downside of Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager is it's an on-premise-based solution. With the pandemic coming on board the need to support users across the globe has increased. For a while, we would use the in-built Microsoft Teams screen sharing feature but the disadvantage of that is you cannot perform privileged access. Microsoft does not give you access to that. That's where you need cloud-based tools, such as BeyondTrust or Freshservice."
"The operations could be faster and you need some patience with this tool."
"Not everything is readily available, and there are a lot of commands that are only executable via PowerShell."
"The solution can be improved by speeding up the synchronizing of the policies on the devices."
"There were misconfigurations by our team rather than issues with the product itself. However, it does seem a bit buggy from time to time, based on what I have heard."
"One area of improvement is regarding the patching of Office 365 products. We have some difficulties on this side, and it can be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"To use BMC Client Management they charge annually per node."
"BMC Client Management is a very affordable solution. There is one main server license which I believe is around $1,000 per year, and then there is the license for the actual solution. With the solution license, you can opt for a suite license where you get access to all the features and benefits, or alternatively you can buy any of the five main components of the suite license individually."
"BMC Client Management is a high-priced solution, but given its performance and capabilities, I think it offers great value. I don't have the exact number for the yearly licensing costs. I believe there is an additional cost of around two hundred dollars."
"The solution is low cost."
"It would be beneficial if it could be reduced slightly."
"This is a pricey solution."
"The setup is pricey upfront for support and setup."
"If you have the in-house capability to support Jamf, then paying for onboarding / JumpStart training is a no brainer."
"Depending on how much support you require, it might make sense to add that to the licensing agreement."
"JumpStart looks a little bit pricey; however, it is worth every penny."
"It seems fair. It could be a little bit less, but you have to pay for a product. You can't get something for free. You get what you pay for, so if you put in a little bit of money, you're going to get a good quality product."
"Don’t go into a sales call without knowing all the details of your system because Jamf has a ton of tools outside of Jamf Pro to offer and knowing them ahead of time is a must."
"When you compare this solution with other tools in the market you might actually find a lot of variation in the pricing and that's why people opt for the other tools rather than Microsoft tools."
"Pricing is negotiable with Microsoft, depending upon which of their packages you choose."
"We use the tool's free license. It is expensive."
"Microsoft provides a steep price for their enterprise products, but they offer very competitive pricing for their legacy customers."
"There is not a license needed to use the solution."
"As far as I know, it is an annual operating expense license."
"Along with buying a license for MECM, we also have to buy a service called CMG (Cloud Management Gateway) which is a virtual machine in the cloud with which you can link your MECM to the Azure tenant so as to manage teleworkers."
"The price of Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager is expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
21%
Financial Services Firm
15%
Government
8%
Retailer
8%
Educational Organization
38%
Computer Software Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
7%
University
6%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Computer Software Company
11%
Government
11%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about BMC Client Management?
The most valuable features of the solution are its patching capabilities and the help it offers when it comes to use ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for BMC Client Management?
BMC Client Management is a high-priced solution, but given its performance and capabilities, I think it offers great ...
What needs improvement with BMC Client Management?
In BMC Client Management, I would like to see more features for executing commands remotely. For example, with SAP, t...
What do you like most about Jamf Pro?
The most valuable features of Jamf Pro for me are the device locator, which helps find missing iPads, and the ability...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Jamf Pro?
The pricing structure is one of the cons. However, the licensing model is simple and easy to manage from an MSP persp...
What needs improvement with Jamf Pro?
The biggest area for improvement is the price and the structure of Jamf's onboarding process, especially the mandator...
How does Ansible compare to Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager (SCCM)?
Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager takes knowledge and research to properly configure. The length of time that ...
How to choose between ManageEngine Desktop Central and Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager (formerly SCCM)?
ManageEngine Desktop Central is very easy to set up, is scalable, stable, and also has very good patch management. Wh...
What do you like most about SCCM?
One of the standout features of SCCM is its application management capabilities. It allows us to create packages effi...
 

Also Known As

BMC Helix Client Management, Helix Client Management, BMC Fromdistance Mobile Device Management
JAMF Software Casper Suite
Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager, System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM )
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Charter Manufacturing
Xero, National Geographic, Oxford University, Via, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, Fallon, Cabela's
Bank Alfalah Ltd., Wªrth Handelsges.m.b.H, Dimension Data, Japan Business Systems, St. Lucie County Public Schools, MISC Berhad
Find out what your peers are saying about JAMF, Microsoft, Cisco and others in Mobile Device Management (MDM). Updated: April 2025.
851,174 professionals have used our research since 2012.