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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:
 

Categories and Ranking

Jamf Pro
Average Rating
9.6
Reviews Sentiment
8.1
Number of Reviews
107
Ranking in other categories
Mobile Device Management (MDM) (1st), Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) (2nd)
Microsoft Configuration Man...
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
81
Ranking in other categories
Server Monitoring (6th), Configuration Management (3rd), Patch Management (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

Jamf Pro and Microsoft Configuration Manager aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. Jamf Pro is designed for Mobile Device Management (MDM) and holds a mindshare of 28.4%, up 28.0% compared to last year.
Microsoft Configuration Manager, on the other hand, focuses on Server Monitoring, holds 5.7% mindshare, down 8.6% since last year.
Mobile Device Management (MDM)
Server Monitoring
 

Featured Reviews

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 The password management tools are fairly outdated.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

"Jamf Pro is the only product we can use at the moment because they are ahead of their competitors in zero-touch deployment for the end-user. Jamf Pro has a self-service feature that has helped us minimize our support cases. That's a feature the customers like very much."
"Patch management and associated policies help us manage and update our fleet's software."
"There is support for Apple updates from day one. Jamf works closely with Apple, so they are ready to support new updates whenever Apple pushes them."
"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."
"One of the most valuable features is the ability to apply apply granular level restrictions to our machines, making them easy to manage remotely from the backend."
"There is also zero-day support to all new Apple OS."
"It is a first-rate product and well known in the industry as the gold standard for Apple device management."
"Policies are a great feature that allows us to push certain restrictions to devices that require them, such as the younger generation of students we have."
"SCCM does everything from A to Z for a Windows operating system."
"SCCM is a stable solution."
"Valuable features include configurations enforcement, compliance data gathering, and deployment of a standardized OS."
"This solution has made life easy with respect to patching, compliance, and OSD."
"Provides great insight into the functionalities of the data scope."
"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager is the software deployment. Additionally, Microsoft integrates most of the other solutions well with one another."
"I find the product valuable for deployment recovery and it has done much more than that."
"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."
 

Cons

"There is room for improvement with Jamf Pro, especially regarding updates."
"Jamf Pro could be improved by providing more out-of-the-box integration with other systems such as Active Directory, Single Sign-On (SSO) solutions, and other IT management tools."
"There are known issues with the mobile configs that need to be fixed."
"For patch management in Jamf, two Smart Groups are required as patch policies cannot be scoped as of now. This is not a major issue, as there is a great workaround by using a wrapped "member of" duplicate Smart Group. However, being able to avoid two Smart Groups for patch management would be nice."
"The reporting needs to be improved so that generating them is more user-friendly."
"Apple does block certain actions from happening or disallows Jamf from making certain changes."
"I would like to be able to see what policies and configuration profiles are tied to what Smart/Static groups."
"The reporting with PowerBI could be improved."
"The tool's deployment is difficult. Microsoft needs to improve documentation with videos."
"Management of Linux devices could be improved."
"It would be nice to have everything in one place. Now they have Intune for the desktops and SCCM to handle their servers."
"Regarding this, I'd like to mention the agent situation. When the agent on an end-user device is not functioning correctly, it can be quite problematic. It would be highly beneficial if there were a self-healing mechanism in place. Essentially, if the agent becomes corrupted or encounters issues, it should be able to rectify itself autonomously. This is particularly critical because, in order to utilize a tool like MECM (assuming you're referring to Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager), we need to deploy agents, known as AsMs, on all the devices we use, such as Windows 10 or Windows Server. Sometimes, when we deploy configurations or updates, they don't apply properly due to agent issues. This issue has been present since we began using MECM around 23 years ago. Unfortunately, there is currently no built-in mechanism for the agent to detect its own problems and initiate self-repair. Microsoft doesn’t have any feature to scan vulnerabilities and hence, they could include those."
"Built in PowerShell cmdlets would be a nice feature because managing clients remotely can be a pain without knowing the WMI calls to run."
"This solution needs to be supported on all Operating systems."
"The solution should be more compatible with different versions of Linux."
"The solution can be improved with the addition of a mobile device manager."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We have signed a licensing contract for three years. There is an option to buy an annual license subscription, but we opted for three years as it came with a 25% or 30% discount."
"I think it pays for itself to let Jamf host the server."
"The licensing costs for this solution are high."
"The only thing that is kicking us a bit is the rand to the dollar exchange rate. It is priced in dollars. Every time the rand goes worse, it just costs more. I would rate it a four out of five in terms of pricing because it is very unpredictable because of the rand to the dollar exchange rate."
"The cost of Jamf is certainly worth the investment."
"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."
"This is a pricey solution."
"If you have the in-house capability to support Jamf, then paying for onboarding / JumpStart training is a no brainer."
"The license price could be reduced for Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager They should make the price more affordable for smaller companies, most companies would be able to use the solution if it was priced better. There are more people on this cloud because you don't have to have either a server room or an on-premise server. You can have one IT person handle this without any local infrastructure."
"SCCM comes with its own version of SQL Server. If you use that SQL Server with SCCM and don't use it for another applications than you get an SQL Server for free."
"For enterprises, there is an annual license required to use this solution. The price of the solution could be cheaper. However, this is mostly because of the exchange rate from the dollar to the Nigerian currency."
"We use the tool's free license. It is expensive."
"The price of Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager is expensive."
"There is an annual license needed to use the solution."
"Its price is okay because it is part of our licensing."
"The solution is expensive. Microsoft Configuration Manager would likely be considered high-priced for small businesses because they may not fully utilize all of its features and capabilities."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
40%
Computer Software Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
7%
University
6%
Financial Services Firm
13%
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 Jamf Pro?
The most valuable features of Jamf Pro for me are the device locator, which helps find missing iPads, and the ability to remotely manage and disable devices.
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 perspective. Licenses are annual, and any changes are communicated effectively.
What needs improvement with Jamf Pro?
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. The solut...
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 the set up will take depends on the kind of technical architecture that your org...
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. What I like most about ManageEngine is that I can log on to every PC very easily a...
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 efficiently and deploy them to specific groups within our network. This streamlined ...
 

Also Known As

JAMF Software Casper Suite
Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager, System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM )
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

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.
849,686 professionals have used our research since 2012.