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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 (4th), 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 The password management tools are fairly outdated.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

"It is a great tool. Its ease of use is fantastic. It is very simple, and you don't really have a high learning curve with this."
"We have been able to keep our tech department lean and mean, maximizing our efficiency by utilizing Jamf to set up our iPads for us, rather than installing each app one at a time."
"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 self-service is invaluable to the user."
"Automated Device Enrollment workflows are great for zero-touch deployments, vital in the current global context. With Automated Device Enrollment workflows, we can deploy new Apple devices directly to end-users without help from the IT support team."
"We can set custom deployments based on every available parameter in macOS."
"The ability to put a device into a lost mode state that will report locations as it checks in has allowed us to retrieve so many lost devices."
"With the countless API integrations and Jamf Marketplace add-ons, Jamf is customizable and is a total device management tool for Apple's ecosystem."
"The solution doesn't require any maintenance from our end because it is a cloud-based solution and Microsoft takes care of everything."
"Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager is very scalable."
"You can remote control or RDP. That has been the most valuable because we can go into one console and can get to anything we want. Instead of going to all these different consoles, we centralized everything."
"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."
"The most valuable feature is the scalability."
"The product is suitable for our size, handling 800 devices."
"The technical support is good."
"It works well for the endpoints for the customer I'm consulting. It has a bunch of knobs, and you can tune it to do lots of things."
 

Cons

"I would like to see tighter integration with Jamf Protect in the future releases of Jamf Pro."
"Jamf needs to get an inbuilt remote support tool to allow the admin to remote into machines. At present, you can use third-party remote apps, however, a Jamf one would be better."
"The solution should offer beta testing for new products."
"The dashboard needs to be customizable."
"The solution needs cheaper training."
"It would be nice to be able to search smart groups and/or filter them."
"We need better reporting options."
"The reporting needs to be improved so that generating them is more user-friendly."
"Based on my experience with SCCM 2016, the main, big issue is not having a good user-friendly environment. It needs much better GUI."
"The solution is crowded with information."
"This solution needs to be supported on all Operating systems."
"A lot of experience is needed in terms of troubleshooting, as this is one of the most difficult tasks in MECM. We were seven people in a group and I was the only one that had the patience to do the troubleshooting at times."
"In terms of scalability, I believe there's room for improvement. While SCCM is capable of handling our current needs effectively, scalability could be enhanced to accommodate future growth and larger deployments."
"Microsoft should extend support for additional platforms."
"Not everything is readily available, and there are a lot of commands that are only executable via PowerShell."
"Devices like smartphones and tablets are managed very well on VMware, however, they are absent in SCCM. I could configure iPad from the VMware site and it was done very easily. It should be just as possible on SCCM."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"With respect to pricing, Jamf Pro is the better bet."
"The price of a training pass for five people was $18,000 USD."
"This product is surely worth the cost of implementation."
"Licensing cost is dependent on the footprint and foreseen growth."
"The licensing costs for this solution are high."
"The total ROI is worth every penny."
"If you have the in-house capability to support Jamf, then paying for onboarding / JumpStart training is a no brainer."
"The cost of Jamf is certainly worth the investment."
"Presently, I am using a free trial version."
"The licensing is good because they have various options, depending on what you are looking for."
"We use the tool's free license. It is expensive."
"There is not a license needed to use the solution."
"Pricing is negotiable with Microsoft, depending upon which of their packages you choose."
"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 SCCM depends on the size of the organization. The price is competitive."
"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."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
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 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.
851,604 professionals have used our research since 2012.