The most valuable feature of BigFix is the ability to manage all the clients that we have in our environment. So, every PC that we have has to come in and BigFix aids in all that so that we can record it, add software to it and also inventory it. So, just having that ability to see everything and inventory everything helps everybody from the technical aspect, to know what's on the PC; especially when it needs to be reimaged.
One of the improvements is the patching process and being able to get security patches out. We have 50,000 PCs in our environment and are able to patch those PCs in a relatively quick timeline.
Dynamic messaging needs improvement because one of the things that we deal with a lot is the messaging when pushing releases out. I know that there is a message we can display, but it's post-installation. On the post-installation, we have to either check on the PC or reboot the PC. We just want to be able to have a static message and to be able to take an action at any time, as well.
Documentation is always key. I like simple documents and also being on a team with a small amount of people. There is a lot that can be done with the product, and it needs good documentation to where you can see how the different pieces of the product interact with each other and what they can and can't do; but on a layman’s level.
It is very stable. We haven't had any issues on any downtime that inhibits our ability to get things out, so it's been pretty stable.
It seems to be very scalable. We went from roughly 24-25,000 assets to 50,000 PCs in five years. So, we're looking to grow and it seems like it's very capable to handle what we have in store.
Support is very awesome. Every time we have needed something from technical support, they have been on top of everything with a very quick turnaround in the issues that we've had with the product.
We were using an old IBM solution framework solution and some custom scripts that we had built around the framework solution to do our software distribution. When BigFix came along, we went right into the BigFix framework.
When choosing a vendor, one thing that is always critical is, how much does it cost? It needs to be cost effective. Support is also one of the things that we look for. We have a small team so when we are looking at vendors, we want to know if they provide any training. Also, can any kind of training dollars be rolled into the product or can experts come on site to train? We also want to hear customer feedback about how the company or the product are doing at another company's site that is similar to ours.
I was not involved in the initial setup. A coworker of mine actually set it up and got it going, and I came in on the back end. Right now, I'm actually going to be taking that over.
The setup was straightforward. I don't think it was too complex. I know that we have some complexities with the way some things are set up in our environment, but the product itself is pretty straightforward.
If they are able to get it into the environment and run some type of proof of concept and be able to kick the tires a little bit, that would be the best way go with any product.
This review is helpful because it states just the facts, no embellishments.