2019-02-07T12:28:00Z

What advice do you have for others considering BigFix?

Julia Miller - PeerSpot reviewer
  • 1
  • 9
PeerSpot user
Get the report
Helped 765,234 peers since 2012
57

57 Answers

Abdul-Jabbar - PeerSpot reviewer
MSP
Top 20
2023-11-09T08:50:09Z
Nov 9, 2023

BigFix provide a comprehensive set of device monitoring features. BigFix can monitor not only the device's hardware and software, but also its security posture and performance. This information can be used by the IT team to troubleshoot problems, improve performance, and maintain security. Overall, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.

Search for a product comparison
ChristianDominguez - PeerSpot reviewer
Real User
Top 10
2023-07-04T07:07:27Z
Jul 4, 2023

I’d like to advise them to learn, be certified, and hold a lot of discussions with the vendor. Overall, I would rate the solution an eight out of ten.

JS
MSP
Top 5
2023-06-23T09:48:55Z
Jun 23, 2023

I would say that with great power comes great responsibility. As a BigFix admin, it is crucial to be careful and use the tool wisely. You have the ability to bring positive outcomes, but one incorrect deployment can have severe consequences and potentially disrupt the entire network. Overall, I will give BigFix an alpha ten out of ten.

GS
Real User
Top 20
2023-03-27T05:30:26Z
Mar 27, 2023

I'm an avid BigFix fan, and we use it in my company quite a bit. We're the biggest vendor in New Zealand, and we have it installed in our organization and fed out to clients. This is our patching product of choice. All new customers get BigFix implemented, and existing customers are encouraged to have it as well. We're an integrator. We're completing a new client install and working on the configuration of patching, and this is the best tool we've ever implemented for this customer. I love this tool. It could just be a bit more accessible. I'd recommend the solution. I'd rate it nine out of ten.

DocBurnham - PeerSpot reviewer
MSP
Top 5
2023-03-09T20:45:59Z
Mar 9, 2023

I am using the latest version of the solution. I am not sure of the exact version number. I help different companies. Some are on the latest, and some aren't. I'd advise people to understand what data they need and that the solution can actually pull that data in the right format for them. I'd rate the solution eight out of ten.

SG
Real User
Top 5
2023-03-09T13:35:00Z
Mar 9, 2023

For those considering the use of BigFix, my advice is to pay close attention to the deployment phase. This involves identifying the necessary firewall ports and ensuring that the servers are configured to communicate with the internet to download patches. Proper deployment is critical for ensuring smooth operation in the future, as troubleshooting can be difficult once the solution is fully deployed. I rate BigFix an eight out of ten.

Learn what your peers think about BigFix. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2024.
765,234 professionals have used our research since 2012.
SG
Real User
Top 5
2023-03-09T12:33:21Z
Mar 9, 2023

I give the solution an eight out of ten. In the deployment phase, we need to get the firewall ports that are required and open ports to the Internet for the DNC-based servers to communicate and download patches. These tasks need to be taken care of during the deployment phase, as it will be very difficult to troubleshoot and fix things once they are implemented. Therefore, the deployment phase needs to be covered effectively. Thinking of the features at a later point in time will not solve all the problems. When evaluating solutions, there were very few in the market that provided most of the security features. When we evaluated BigFix, it was the VMDR functionality that stood out compared to the others. We would have to use a piecemeal solution or multiple products to be configured in the system. The effectiveness of BigFix was secondary, but we at least had some basic information available regarding security, VMDR management, detection, and response.

SanthoshKumar8 - PeerSpot reviewer
Real User
Top 10
2023-01-17T10:22:46Z
Jan 17, 2023

I give the solution an eight out of ten. BigFix is not going to give us the data automatically. As a system integration, from a technical vendor, we have to go onsite and look at the information, and then arrive at a solution, which is what we do. BigFix gives me a lot of drag revenue also. I would recommend partners and customers use this solution because it makes them compliant, and in terms of security, levels are being upgraded. Last but not least, this is all part of security and compliance procedures, and keeping our system up to date. I recommend BigFix very strongly to my customers. The most important thing is the solution is a nice and stable product.

IS
Vendor
Top 20
2022-11-16T10:18:44Z
Nov 16, 2022

I would rate this solution as 10 out of 10.

JS
Consultant
Top 20
2022-09-20T09:27:01Z
Sep 20, 2022

I rate BigFix nine out of 10. I wouldn't recommend it to everyone. It depends on your infrastructure. If you have a pure Microsoft shop, you can probably get by deploying and managing endpoints their way. However, if you have a mixed environment of any kind, BigFix is good at what it does. Patch management is vital for security posture, so I wouldn't be surprised if BigFix is becoming increasingly popular.

SA
Real User
2022-09-20T09:26:53Z
Sep 20, 2022

While we are using the on-premises deployment, we are moving towards the private cloud. I'd advise new users to read a lot of the documents before subscribing to their licensing. Read much of the documentation and know what use cases would work for you. Before you get into it, try the trial version, as it might help to test it out to see what it is. I'd rate the solution eight out of ten.

Ali Dahbi - PeerSpot reviewer
Real User
Top 10
2022-07-26T12:42:03Z
Jul 26, 2022

My advice to others is for them to take a holistic approach while designing. Don't look at one functionality, but look at the environment as a framework. View it from all aspects and merge operation with security. Don't let your focus be on the compliance of your environment or on the operation element alone, take other aspects into consideration, such as the security aspect, which is fast remediation, vulnerability management, and end-of-life management. I rate BigFix an eight out of ten.

BS
Real User
2022-07-21T13:22:56Z
Jul 21, 2022

I am working with the latest update. I'm an end-user of the product. I'm totally satisfied. For the use of the product that we have, it's totally working. It's fine. I would recommend the solution if you are using a lot of IBM software in your company. If you are using BigFix and you have the client installed on every machine, you are nearly always audit-safe from out of the box. I would recommend it to everybody who has to take care of a lot of IBM product licensing. For everybody who has a lot of IBM products to be licensed, I would recommend using BigFix. I'd rate it eight out of ten.

Rafael Mello - PeerSpot reviewer
Real User
Top 10
2022-07-11T17:02:00Z
Jul 11, 2022

The extent to which we use the different features of BigFix depends on the needs of our customers. We often propose new features when the need arises. BigFix is one of my favorite tools. I would rate it an eight out of ten.

Anuj Verma - PeerSpot reviewer
Real User
2022-05-13T14:10:10Z
May 13, 2022

I have been recommending BigFix to my friends and different companies. We are very happy with BigFix. I would rate it a nine out of ten. It is an excellent product, but there is always room for improvement.

PA
Real User
Top 20
2022-05-06T09:26:24Z
May 6, 2022

I would recommend this solution to others. I would advise others the solutions are suitable for small to medium-sized companies, and enterprises. I rate BigFix a ten out of ten.

JimSkidmore - PeerSpot reviewer
Reseller
Top 5
2022-03-30T15:38:51Z
Mar 30, 2022

I would rate it an eight out of ten. It does everything reasonably well. There are so many competitors who do just one piece of this, or they're not really head-up competitors because some are into mobile security, and some are more into mobile endpoint management and patching.

MI
Real User
Top 20
2022-03-29T10:40:13Z
Mar 29, 2022

I rate this solution seven out of 10.

MY
Real User
2021-12-01T14:00:00Z
Dec 1, 2021

Everyone should give in Turkey a try. Our services are easy to manage with BigFix. It is a quick and easy-to-use tool.

Pankaj Das - PeerSpot reviewer
Real User
2021-06-15T11:27:33Z
Jun 15, 2021

I would recommend the solution to others. This said, it is important to understand one's architecture and to have a knowledge of how one's endpoints are scattered and what the deployment and network architecture will look like. Once this is clarified, the solution would provide a good option. The same can be said for any product. The design of the implementation of the solution is of especial importance.

JH
Real User
2019-02-18T10:06:00Z
Feb 18, 2019

BigFix is way better than SCCM. SCCM doesn't do MAC OS or Linux. It takes a lot of time to manage, it's a lot of work, there are all kinds of ports that you need to open, and it's just a pain to manage. I would rate BigFix a nine out of ten because I really enjoy the tool but there's always room for improvement and there's always something to add. I've been really happy. There's a close-knit community. It's super easy to get help. They're always adding new features. I'm very happy with it. I would advise someone considering this solution to try it out. Set up a demo, give it a shot, turn on some auto-patching, and then just watch as your organization self-heals.

OU
Consultant
2019-02-11T08:11:00Z
Feb 11, 2019

I would advise someone considering this product to go for it. It's easy to use, cheaper than the value, and there is tons and tons of support from the BigFix community. With almost every challenge we have someone who has encountered it, and we will have a solution right away. I would rate it an eight out of ten. To make it a ten they should improve on the issues stated above

Ravi Khanchandani - PeerSpot reviewer
Reseller
Top 5Leaderboard
2022-02-04T05:59:17Z
Feb 4, 2022

BigFix supports all well-known operating systems with a very simple and easy-to-use interface, thereby requiring fewer skills to manage operations for multiple OS. 


The client processing is the most important aspect of the BigFix solution, unlike other solutions where the server has to run periodic scan on all clients. This make BigFix report accurate data and not s per the last run scan.


Another aspect that makes BigFix stand-out is the "Relevance" language that removes the pain of the administrator by automatically identifying the relevant or applicable patches.

VivekSaini - PeerSpot reviewer
Real User
Top 5Leaderboard
2021-12-14T12:29:00Z
Dec 14, 2021

I would recommend this solution to others. It is a very good tool for Windows and for reporting. I rate BigFix an eight out of ten.

AG
Real User
2021-11-18T22:41:20Z
Nov 18, 2021

I recommend BigFix as long as they have the budget. If they don't have that much money, they can use ManageEngine, which is satisfying for small and medium companies. For example, companies that have 250 computers. I have used ManageEngine at companies that had multiple locations. You can use some ManageEngine on one central location and then deploy it to all your branch offices. I rate BigFix a nine out of ten.

NS
Real User
2021-06-08T15:19:58Z
Jun 8, 2021

I would highly recommend this solution and advise everybody to use it in their organization. I would rate BigFix a nine out of 10. I am super happy with it. It works well and surpasses what you expect.

NE
Real User
2021-04-12T22:26:51Z
Apr 12, 2021

I would advise taking some of the training so that you can use the product to the fullest potential. It is a huge and flexible product, and you can take advantage of a lot of stuff if you know how to do it. If you don't know, you're never going to take advantage of it. I would rate BigFix a ten out of ten.

MF
Real User
2021-01-23T08:19:14Z
Jan 23, 2021

I would recommend BigFix to new users. On a scale from one to ten, I would give BigFix a seven.

TR
Reseller
2021-01-12T15:56:36Z
Jan 12, 2021

It's a good solution. We have sold many solutions for clients. We don't have any project running at this time but expect that to change in the coming months. I would rate BigFix a ten out of ten.

AY
Real User
2020-12-19T18:59:33Z
Dec 19, 2020

On a scale from one to ten, I would give BigFix a seven.

PA
Real User
Top 20
2020-12-10T17:13:38Z
Dec 10, 2020

BigFix is value for money - You get a simple, robust, dynamic and very powerful solution for a very reasonable price. Don't for get the hidden cost compared to other tool - How many ports do you need to configure by very expensive network assistant when running SCCM? With BigFix it's enough to open only one port. With BigFix you have a multitenant solution that make is possible for you as an service provider to use BigFix to manage many customers at the same time with same server, without setting up trust between different networks. Because BigFix has it's own secure comminication between the server and the clients.

FD
Real User
2020-10-26T21:45:27Z
Oct 26, 2020

I'm not using the latest version of the solution. I'm actually using the version before the latest. I would advise that, before you buy the solution, you do a POC. You can do a 48-hour challenge where, if you start at 9 AM, you will be able to give patch compliance by 12 noon (for 1,000 endpoints). You've got three hours to install the product, get it up and running, deploy the agents, et cetera. Basically, take some time to test drive the product. Overall, I'd rate the solution ten out of ten. I think it's a phenomenal product.

BC
Real User
2019-02-18T10:06:00Z
Feb 18, 2019

I would rate it a 9.5 out of ten. It's pretty close to being perfect. It's stellar.

SM
Real User
2019-02-18T10:06:00Z
Feb 18, 2019

My experience is that you can get really deep and detailed with this solution and the sky is the limit in terms of how complicated you can get if you're willing to dig in and spend the time to learn how BigFix works and invent some of your own processes.

MP
Real User
2019-02-18T10:06:00Z
Feb 18, 2019

I would rate it a ten out of ten. It's very useful, very powerful, and you can do a lot with it. I would tell a colleague who's considering this solution to check it out, it's great.

NU
Real User
2019-02-18T10:06:00Z
Feb 18, 2019

I would rate it an eight out of ten. The applications are stable, although at times a little dated on how they display information or how they chunk through information. It's stable and it functions. The best advice I can give is to reach out to the user community when you're running into trouble. You'll find a lot of the answers have already been asked and answered for you on the forums.

JM
Real User
2019-02-18T10:06:00Z
Feb 18, 2019

I would rate it a nine out of ten. It's incredibly flexible. I've managed and worked with several endpoint management solutions like ITMS, or ZENworks. I haven't worked with SCCM, but it's like if SCCM was a Ferrari, BixFix is an incredibly tweak-able, tunable, indie car. It can do a lot of cool stuff but you have to tweak it, and you have to know how to use it. I would advise someone considering this solution to throw out all of your expectation on how you think things need to work. Throw out how you did things before. Don't try to shoehorn what you did before into a product you might move to because it's probably going to do things better than you did before.

DM
Real User
2019-02-18T10:06:00Z
Feb 18, 2019

I would rate it a ten out of ten. It's worked for what we wanted. It's provided one screen to look across different OSs. It's also provided speed and flexibility. We're able to integrate it to all of our tools, do things to other servers and automate things that aren't done on one platform. My advice to someone considering this solution would be to find a tool that can span as many OSs as possible. If you're using three different patching tools to approach three different OSs, you're probably lost.

JS
Real User
2019-02-18T10:06:00Z
Feb 18, 2019

I would rate it an eight out of ten. Not a ten because of the training aspect of getting new users up and going on the technology. That would be the only downfall because it does take quite a bit of time to train new users. As far as the power, it's by far the best. If you're considering BigFix look at the power that it allows you to have visibility into your system. If you don't have visibility into your systems, it takes a lot longer to get something resolved. Whereas if you can instantly get that information back from your client that's having a problem, being able to know that that issue needs to get fixed on that client's machine and being able to fix it instantly, could save you hundreds of hours.

SS
Real User
2019-02-18T10:06:00Z
Feb 18, 2019

I would rate it a seven out of ten. You can see all of the code of the custom content that is created for you. That's huge. With a lot of proprietary solutions, it's a black box where you can't see what they're doing and when it messes up you're on your own. With BigFix that was huge because if something goes wrong then you can create your own copy and start troubleshooting it. I would advise someone considering this solution to have a developer on staff to fully leverage the features of it.

JT
Real User
2019-02-18T10:06:00Z
Feb 18, 2019

I would rate it a solid eight out of ten. It's definitely not better than that, because it has a lot of Legacy code, a lot of early design decisions that it's still limping along with. On the other hand, I haven't found anything better out there. There are other competing products in this space, but nothing has convinced me that there is any compelling reason to switch. A lot of the value that we've gotten comes from the people that we're involved with, and the relationships that we've built with the community and vendor over time. I haven't found something that has a better security design. I'm a security guy, and a lot of the decisions that were made very early on in the BigFix product translate to enforcing good security practice, which I have not seen in other vendor solutions. I would advise organizations looking at BigFix to not try to do everything all at once, but to get one process in place really solidly, and then move on to the next, all the while working on increasing coverage, and getting it on all of the systems. Both of those things take a long time. Don't try to build everything all simultaneously, because you will fail and it will probably take several iterations to get it right so make sure to take a very measured approach.

BO
Real User
2019-02-18T10:06:00Z
Feb 18, 2019

I would rate BigFix an eight out of ten. It's powerful, has low administrative overhead, it's reliable, and not too expensive. Not a ten because there's always room for improvement.

SL
Real User
2019-02-18T10:06:00Z
Feb 18, 2019

I would rate it an eight out of ten. I would advise a colleague considering this solution to definitely understand what your needs are and see if the product meets those needs. Don't try to shoehorn your needs into a tool.

L
Real User
2019-02-18T10:06:00Z
Feb 18, 2019

I would rate it ten out of ten for reliability, dependability, and being able to get the job done the first time around. Try it in a test run, you'll be really satisfied with the results.

MM
Real User
2019-02-18T10:06:00Z
Feb 18, 2019

I would rate it an eight out of ten. An eight because of the stability and the ease of use. Not a ten because I'm looking for more modernization, but I do have to give the BigFix community credit because they seem to listen to us. I would advise someone considering this solution to talk to the community. Talk to the BigFix users, ask their honest opinion on what they think is good and bad about it.

TG
Real User
2019-02-18T10:06:00Z
Feb 18, 2019

SCCM was a product that was originally designed to deploy Microsoft Office and to patch some of the underlying structures of the Microsoft operating system. It was never designed to be a large-scale security compliance or endpoint management tool. So when you look at it from those foundations, it doesn't compare. SCCM is a free product that's offered as part of an ELA agreement that can do those functions and features, but it's not designed to do it. I would rate BigFix a nine out of ten. It is a world leader in the patch management, vulnerability management, and security compliance space. Not a ten because the product still has room for growth and maturity to be a full-scale platform for agnostic management. I would advise someone considering this solution to start with the simplest thing that you need to be fixed, whether that's patch management or that's software-inventory, and learn how the product works. If you can conceptually understand that it's an agnostic platform, then what I would do for patching is the same thing that I would do for inventory, which is the same thing that I would do for compliance management. Then converting over those features until into a holistic environment is easy. If you're trying to eat the elephant all at once, it gets very overwhelming very quickly.

FM
Real User
2019-02-18T10:06:00Z
Feb 18, 2019

SCCM is a complex solution that needs a lot of licenses which means a lot of money. It only supports Windows and BigFix can be deployed across Linux and Microsoft operating systems. I would rate BigFix a nine out of ten. Not a ten because there are some improvements that can be done to the product and the support that we get from the vendor needs improvement. BigFix can do almost anything. You should know how to use it based on your specific requirements, but it can do almost anything.

CH
Real User
2019-02-18T10:06:00Z
Feb 18, 2019

I would rate it an 8.5 out of ten. BigFix has a great community, there's a lot of people that believe in it, it's whatever they advertise, and they listen to customers' feedback. We are heavily on-prem and with BigFix we have that option of staying on-prem.

MF
Real User
2019-02-18T10:06:00Z
Feb 18, 2019

I would rate this solution a ten out of ten. I'd give it an eleven but it's off the scale. It does what it says it's supposed to do. Once you get over the learning curve, it is pretty easy to use. Plugging in the endpoints is pretty simple. I would advise someone considering this solution to hands down use it.

AK
Real User
2019-02-18T10:06:00Z
Feb 18, 2019

I would rate BigFix an eight or nine. We've been using it for a really long time and we're happy customers. I would advise someone considering BigFix to split it up and compare it to what you're looking at. You'll see that it can do more than other competitors.

JL
Vendor
2019-02-18T10:06:00Z
Feb 18, 2019

I would rate it a nine out of ten. Not a ten because the reporting side of things could be improved and I'd like to see how they're going to fit it in with the cloud. I would advise someone considering BigFix to look at it and try it. It's really easy to say SCCM is free so you'll just use it but you don't know what you're missing until you actually give BigFix a shot and try it. It's dramatically easier. It significantly reduces the time and effort that it takes to do things and it's more certain. You know what you've got rather than getting in there and guessing each time.

BG
Real User
2019-02-18T10:06:00Z
Feb 18, 2019

I would rate BigFix a ten out of ten. It has saved me so much time in patching alone. The capabilities it gives me for very granular targeting of endpoints based on whatever criteria that I can come up with is great. It is very simply a tool that can do just about anything. There is always room for improvement. I want to see better capability in Mac software deployments. Apple changed some of their policies, so I'd like to see BigFix get up to speed with that. I would advise someone considering this solution to jump heavily into the community features. The BigFix forums are fantastic, we have an amazing user community that has been so helpful for me and it's a great learning resource for folks who are new to BigFix. It's a great community for people who are more experienced, people share that and help each other out. The community is fantastic.

RS
Real User
2019-02-18T10:06:00Z
Feb 18, 2019

I would rate it a seven or eight out of ten. The pain points that we have are particular to us just because of the size of our implementation, the number of endpoints, etc. Overall, I think it's a great product and a product that most people would really get a lot of benefit out of. The things that we struggle with are things that are particular to our organization. If you're considering this solution, get involved with the user community early, make relationships with the development organizations, learn how you can advocate for yourself. User group kind of things are the best way to learn. Learning from other people who have been using the tool for a long time is probably the easiest way to see the most effective implementation and best use of your resources using the tool.

MP
Real User
2019-02-18T10:06:00Z
Feb 18, 2019

I would rate it a nine out of ten. Not a ten because there's always room for improvement. I've been working with tools like BigFix for quite a while and it's one of the best tools on the market.

BG
Real User
2019-02-18T10:06:00Z
Feb 18, 2019

I would rate it a ten out of ten. It hasn't changed much since it's inception, so it's a superior product and it's just going to get better with the expansion of the API endpoint security and WebUI. If you're considering BigFix, you should look deeper than just what's on the retail box of patch and compliance and software distribution. Look at the platform, what it can do on the back, and the relevance language, and the reporting capabilities. There's a lot more to this that you can use in your DevOps org to accomplish automation tasks.

AL
Real User
2019-02-18T10:06:00Z
Feb 18, 2019

I would rate it an eight out of ten and I'd advise someone considering this solution to start with one relay. Remember that it is a root shell robot. If you can do it on the shell you can do it with BigFix.

it_user920145 - PeerSpot reviewer
Real User
2019-02-07T12:28:00Z
Feb 7, 2019

I would rate it an eight out of 10. It has great scalability and customization. It also has one console that can be used for many endpoint management tasks. I deducted two points because BigFix is not a brand that you can just use. It is not very user-friendly. You need to have some training before you use the tool.

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...
Download BigFix ReportRead more