BMC TrueSight Server Automation vs BigFix comparison

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between BigFix and BMC TrueSight Server Automation based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Configuration Management solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.
To learn more, read our detailed BMC TrueSight Server Automation vs. BigFix Report (Updated: March 2024).
769,599 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Q&A Highlights
Question: What is the biggest difference between BigFix and BMC TrueSight Server Automation?
Answer: I am not sure about roadmap for BigFix after it was sold by IBM to HCL. I have used it a bit only for small time for OS patchings. BMC on the other hand is a big player for a very long time and is having a clear road map. They have multi-cloud solutions available as well. You can use nsh script for custom jobs in BMC truesight Server Automation. The Compliance template code n BMC is workbench based coding so you can code only from the BMC console on it. For both tools, I don't see a lot of version control integration. Both are agent based solutions. Both are not made for CI-CD pipelines and don't offer json/yaml kind of code which you get in other automation and configuration management tools like puppet, ansible or chef. Infact, both tools are enterprise products with lot of solutions already built in with customization scope which is more suitable for Large scale standard infrastructure. BMC comes with a lot of a lot of offerings apart from Truesight server automation which you can use or might already be using such as Control-M, AO, discovery, Patrol monitoring etc. . BMC offers a bundle deal for ITSM some times depending on organization requirement. That integrates every bit of process very nicely. It gives you one stop shop for all your IT needs. (But in a way traps all your functions in a honeytrap. :) ). Both tools need a dedicated admin team and doesn't give the flexibility to Server Admin to develop and implement his own automation. They will be only end users. In a way they create a barrier. Both tools don't have much of support material available in Git etc for development support. They need your organization to be fitted in a box and will restrict transformation of your Server team into a Devops/sysops team which is need of the hour now days. Tools admin team are generally not very well verse with all operating systems and vice versa. Which make day-2day automation a bit difficult. Personally, I like Chef or Ansible kind of solution much better for server automation. Also, you can ask Application owners to use them for configuration management and share the cost with them as well.
Featured Review
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"One of the main features of the solution is it allows the management of many devices in different ways.""I can see that the patch management process is much improved with the bundled patch management option available in Microsoft Intune compared to the KPI deployment required by the other deployment solutions.""The device profiling which uses the official Outlook email enabled us to control the screenshot feature and prevent copying outside of the organization's application.""The most valuable feature is the UEM capabilities.""The ability to (somewhat) manage full Windows 10 computers including EXE-based or MSI-based application deployments using Azure Active Directory as Identity.""The initial setup is not overly complex or difficult.""Fortunately, now everything is streamlined into a single, unified platform.""The reporting and analytics features in Microsoft Intune have been a lifesaver."

More Microsoft Intune Pros →

"Having higher visibility on patching level, on patching successful, and non-successful has been a way that BigFix has improved my organization. Also, the ability to customize the content to do what we need it to do is very powerful and very flexible for us. Finally, in the area of custom interfaces like REST API really gives us the ability to provide for our external customers.""It's enabled us to have a highly successful endpoint patching program for the past decade. It's been enormously successful there. It's also become a core part of many of our business processes, from compliance monitoring of endpoints, encryption management, key escrow, and local administrator password escrow. It's built into our inventory. It's very much everywhere.""Vulnerability scanning and patch automation.""It is a one-stop tool that allows you to do everything. It supports reporting, vulnerability management, patch management, and configuration. All things can be done in one tool.""BigFix is a great product. The flexibility of putting together your own relevance and retrieving custom data from any one of your agents is a valuable feature. It is one of my favorite features because if a boss asks me, "How many of these devices do we have?", I can put together a report in two seconds.""This has very much improved our organization by saving time to deploy thousands of endpoints to our customers.""BigFix is incredibly fast and accurate in patching, reporting, and remediation.""The most valuable feature for us is the ability to manage TWS, the relevance is really what sets it apart. Also, using it as a software deployment tool is the key for us."

More BigFix Pros →

"The best feature of the solution is patch automation.""It gives us more speed to deliver services and applications, and we rely on security.""Technical support is good.""Server Automation's best feature is automated patching. It also helps us automate compliance and report generation. We can even integrate TrueSight Server Automation with a vulnerability management solution to remedy vulnerabilities by applying patches, deploying scripts, or changing registry entries.""BladeLogic lets users view the filesystem with minimal authorization to the server.""The solution is stable.""Among the most valuable features is its flexibility and ability to work across multiple operating systems. Being able to execute some form of data collection and not have to worry about whether I'm working on a Linux box, or a Windows box, or the underlying OS, I can do these collections, get these results, and put them together in a uniform format which makes it easier to present back to management.""Scalability is good."

More BMC TrueSight Server Automation Pros →

Cons
"The solution could be improved by the opportunity to connect third-party application databases, such as Chocolatey or another setup store, to Intune.""It doesn't economize when you scale up. We have over 14,000 employees, and we have between 7,500 and 8,000 city-owned or personal devices being used to conduct city business. Its price can be improved. It is not a cheap solution.""It would help if administrators could pinpoint the exact location of a stolen device to help law enforcement retrieve it and apprehend the suspect.""It would be nice to have a location tracker for the mobile device management tool. I'm not sure if it exists but hasn't been configured or if it's missing, but we've been unable to utilize the location features.""I would like to see the ability to deploy custom packages as a Windows 64-bit package, as opposed to the Windows 32-bit, which is the only one available now.""I would like to see micro VPN. I like the way that some of the other providers have done something similar where, as you open that app on an end-point device, it creates a micro VPN straight into your device, which is quite a nice little feature. Also, Microsoft Intune relies heavily on its fellow products in the suite. It would be nice if Microsoft Intune could stand on its own two feet.""Intune doesn't provide much control over Windows servers. It's something we struggle with.""There could be more wizard-driven policy development or creation. Some of the policies can get quite complex. If they have a wizard that assists the administrators in creating the policy, that will be a great job."

More Microsoft Intune Cons →

"I'd definitely like to see additional feature parody in the web UI versus the console. There are certain things that you can only do in the console and they're very cumbersome to do, like secure parameters, for example. That's definitely something that has a wide degree of utility but it needs to be easier to surface. At this particular juncture between the transition, between the legacy console and the web UI, it's hard to justify dealing with the cumbersome aspects of the legacy console when theoretically everything's been through the web UI.""To make it a ten they should improve the licensing. Second, if they could have one environment for everything it would be nice. For you to install compliance you need to install the server, and then you add the modules. For you to install inventory you install the server and then you add the modules. It's not easy to do. When I was doing it before I learned it, it was not straight forward.""I would like to see the integration of user security between the different products to be improved. There's separate security for compliance, separate security for web reports, and the console, and you have to manage those things separately.""I would like to see SDK for Web UI included in the next release.""Its pricing should be improved. It is too costly.""The main shortcoming of BigFix was integration with vulnerability management. If you had a vulnerability in your software and BigFix on the endpoint, you needed integration with Qualys, Tenable, or another vulnerability management solution to fix that. It was like, "Okay, we can identify issues, and get that information back from the endpoint, but what are we doing about it?"""The reporting structure could be a little more simplistic. Currently, it throws too many vulnerabilities. Some of them are not needed because they are only informational and limitations, and they are not of much help. It doesn't need to show us these things.""They need better integration."

More BigFix Cons →

"We would like to see this solution handle more multitasking.""There is no option to see all the servers we patch and we cannot find what the server status is. Of course, we can what has been completed and what is pending and which servers have failed, but we cannot find server status from the BMC tool. For example, is the RDP up or not. We are using separate scripts for that.""Provisioning needs to be more user-friendly. We were using BladeLogic for provisioning, but due to a lot of issues and complications, we had to stop using provisioning with this tool.""We encountered some reporting issues. Also, we needed to gather information from the backend before the product execution. The output's format is not good.""Without any knowledge of the product, we used the KB articles to start working. As a result, we definitely did not have full knowledge of BMC BladeLogic... They need to provide a minimum of knowledge with training on YouTube or somewhere else.""Another area for improvement is group scheduling if I'm trying to do all the servers. For example, if I want to do all the 2012 Servers - since the patches are the same for all of them - I can't do so.""Needs more use cases into compliance management and the remediation process.""The setup of this suite is very complicated. It needs to be simplified."

More BMC TrueSight Server Automation Cons →

Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "Consider the Microsoft Enterprise Mobility Suite rather than choosing specific sub-components, e.g. only Microsoft Intune."
  • "There is a cost benefit of using Microsoft Intune because of the packaging with other Microsoft products."
  • "Microsoft Intune is a cost effective choice. It is less expensive than other products on the market."
  • "The purchase of the product was handled by someone else."
  • "I have no comment on pricing of the solution."
  • "The product is offered as part of a Microsoft standard bundle. The pricing can be competitive to Airwatch, and Maas360."
  • "For Microsoft 365 E5 clients, cost is not an issue as this product is one of the benefits."
  • "The price of Intune is included with the license for Office 365, so we don't have to pay anything extra for it."
  • More Microsoft Intune Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "I can estimate the reduced cost of servers maintenance to approximatively $500,000."
  • "When purchasing, buying with other IBM tools provided us with a very good discount in pricing."
  • "I would stay with the Managed Virtual Server license model, which is a 1-to-1 license per OS whether it is virtual or physical."
  • "The product is less costly when compared to other solutions, and this is a good solid solution for what we have paid."
  • "Compliance, inventory, and licensing are really pricey. They should lower the price. It discourages users from getting onboard."
  • "You get what we call the Platform Edition, which you get for free. The patch service is maybe $0.50 per workstation per month. Then there's the basic server cost, which is about $1.50 per server per month. You also get into Lifecycle which does power management, OSD remote control, and those types of things, and that might be about 10 times the price - which works out to about $13 per server and, maybe $5 per workstation per month."
  • "The price is very fair."
  • "The price is reasonable, but our customers find it expensive."
  • More BigFix Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "Licensing is a bit pricey. Be mindful about the components that you need and buy as appropriate."
  • "We're looking at less than $100,000 USD for this solution."
  • "The solution is quite expensive compared to other vendors."
  • "The product's pricing depends on the number of servers."
  • "The product is expensive."
  • More BMC TrueSight Server Automation Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:Microsoft Intune is a great tool for managing a mobile device fleet while keeping access control. The solution makes it… more »
    Top Answer:Microsoft Intune is a great configuration management tool and has a lot of good things going for it. Here are some of… more »
    Top Answer: Microsoft Intune offers not only an easy-to-deploy data protection and productivity management solution, but also… more »
    Top Answer:The most valuable features of the solution are Windows patching and the hardware and software inventory.
    Top Answer:On a scale from one to ten, where one is expensive and ten is cheap, I rate the solution's pricing one out of ten.
    Top Answer:The solution’s pricing could be improved.
    Top Answer:The product's valuable feature is its ability to conduct patching for multiple servers simultaneously.
    Top Answer:The product is expensive. However, they provide all the essential services, including quick support solutions.
    Top Answer:BMC TrueSight Server Automation's scripting needs improvement.
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    Intune, MS Intune, Microsoft Endpoint Manager
    Tivoli Endpoint Manager
    TrueSight Server Automation, BladeLogic Server Automation, BladeLogic Automation Suite
    Learn More
    Overview

    Microsoft Intune is a comprehensive cloud-based service that allows you to remotely manage mobile devices and mobile applications without worrying about the security of your organization’s data. Device and app management can be used on company-owned devices as well as personal devices.

    In an increasingly mobile workforce, Microsoft Intune keeps your sensitive data safe while on the move. Microsoft Intune makes it possible for your team members to work anywhere using their mobile devices. Microsoft Intune provides both the flexibility and the control needed for securing all your data on the cloud, no matter where the device with the data is located.

    Microsoft Intune Device Management Key Features

    With Microsoft Intune Device Management you can:

    • Ensure devices and apps are compliant with your security requirements.
    • Rapidly deploy and authenticate apps on all company devices.
    • Remotely access devices to troubleshoot issues or to remove data from them.
    • Generate reports for all devices in the system.
    • Monitor the way users access and share information to protect company information.
    • Set rules and configure settings on personal and organization-owned devices to access data and networks.
    • Create user groups and device groups, allowing you to rapidly access many users and devices simultaneously.

    Mobile Application Management

    Mobile application management in Intune is designed to protect your organization’s data at the application level.

    With Microsoft Intune Application Management you can:

    • Configure apps to run with specific settings enabled.
    • Update existing apps that are already on the device.
    • See reports on which apps are used and monitor their usage.
    • Selectively wipe organization data from apps.
    • Add mobile apps to user groups and devices.

    As part of Microsoft's Enterprise Mobility + Security (EMS) suite, Intune integrates with Microsoft Entra ID for access control and with Azure Information Protection for data protection. It also integrates with Microsoft 365 Applications.

    Reviews from Real Users

    Microsoft Intune stands out among its competitors for a number of reasons. Two major ones are its ability to secure all devices under its management and the flexibility that the solution offers its users.

    A computing services manager notes, "Its security is most valuable. It gives us a way to secure devices, not only those that are steady. We do have a few tablets and other devices, and it is a way for us to secure these devices and manage them. We know they're out there and what's their status. We can manage their life cycle and verify that they're updated properly."

    The head of IT engineering at a financial services company writes, "The one feature we find most useful is the Mobile Application Manager. There are two types: we have the complete MDM and the Mobile Application Manager (MAM). We don't give our users phones, it is their own personal phone, and we need to allow them to have access to the company details on their phone. We need to create a balance between their own personal data and the company data. We deploy the Mobile Application Manager for them so that we won't be able to interfere with their own personal data."

    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 variety of digital threats.

    HCL BigFix Benefits

    Some of the ways that organizations can benefit by choosing to deploy HCL BigFix include:

    • Total visibility and simplified control. BigFix provides users with total system visibility while simultaneously enabling administrators to easily manage their networks. It enables organizations to run all of their patch management operations from a single user interface. This UI contains all of BigFix’s system controls. It also contains all of an organization’s network data. Users will never have to search for the features or information that they need as everything is centrally located.
    • Maximum benefit for reduced overhead. BigFix enables businesses to integrate with more than 100 different operating systems. Users can utilize the operating system of their choice without multiplying their overhead costs. They can keep costs down while still achieving their goals. 
    • Flexibility. BigFix is highly flexible. Users can integrate it with the top vulnerability management solutions on the market. This enables users to maximize their protective coverage and minimize the amount of time that they have to spend resolving issues. 

    BigFix Features

    • BigFix Insights. The BigFix insights feature gives users access to a powerful deep analysis tool. This tool enables organizations to gather data from all of their endpoints and compile them into reports that can aid administrators in their work. It can centralize an organization’s data and also enable it to import data from other sources so that it can make more informed decisions.
    • Task automation. BigFix has the ability to automate rudimentary tasks so that users can focus on tasks that require a greater level of attention. This can include tasks such as event remediation and data collection. This feature enables users to focus their attention on other more critical tasks.
    • Data loss prevention tool. This tool enables users to prevent critical data from being leaked or leaking accidentally. It creates policies that limit or prevent sensitive data from being transmitted. It also enforces the privacy protocols that are already in place. Organizations can leverage this tool to bolster the security protecting their data from malicious actors.
    • Web reputation tool. This tool proactively protects networks from malicious websites. It scans for potentially dangerous websites and opens a blocking page when one is detected. Users are also given the ability to set proxy server credentials for the system to recognize and authenticate. Users can use this to ensure that suspicious websites are unable to infect their networks.
    • Centralized UI. BigFix comes with a built-in UI that centralizes all of the solution’s features so that they can be accessed from a single location. It enables administrators to target specific portions of the network when issues arise without requiring them to take actions that will affect the entire network.

    Reviews from Real Users

    HCL BigFix is a highly effective solution that stands out when compared to most of its competitors. Two major advantages it offers are its auto-patching capability and its user-friendly tools.

    Santhosh K., the chief executive officer of Catnip Infotech Private Limited, writes, “The second valuable feature is, BigFix also has an auto patch updating feature, where the latest patches, and what is required for my system are automatically downloaded and kept ready for me. The solution applies the patch and notifies me after applying the patch. BigFix also gives me a ping saying that I should reset my system within a certain period of time, while the patch is being applied. Let's say, the patch is being applied and if there's an issue, the solution can revoke the applied patch, and revert back to the old state.”


    Benedikt S., an application administrator, says, “It's very straightforward. The usability is very close to everyday technical tools that you use as a systems administrator. So it's quite user-friendly.”

    BladeLogic Server Automation allows you to quickly and securely provision, configure, patch, and maintain physical, virtual, and cloud servers. 

    ·         Threat remediation: Combine with BMC SecOps Response Service to link vulnerabilities to identified patches and create a remediation plan

    ·         Compliance: Integrates role-based access control, pre-configured policies for CIS, DISA, HIPAA, PCI, SOX, NIST, and SCAP, documentation, and remediation

    ·         Provisioning: Supports unattended installs and image-based, script-based, or template-based provisioning

    ·         Configuration: Consistently manage change and configuration activities across a broad range of server environments with one tool

    ·         Reporting: Assess change impact or complete an audit using multiple dashboard views

    ·         Patching: Supports and follows maintenance window guidelines to ensure timely delivery of patches

    Sample Customers
    Mitchells and Buzzers, Callaway
    US Foods, Penn State, St Vincent's Health US Foods, Sabadell Bank, SunTrust, Australia Sydney, Stemac, Capgemini, WNS Global Services, Jebsen & Jessen, CenterBeam, Strauss, Christian Hospital Centre, Brit Insurance, Career Education Corporation
    State of Michigan, Fujitsu FSAS, Transamerica Life Insurance Company, SAP
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Financial Services Firm19%
    Computer Software Company18%
    Comms Service Provider10%
    Manufacturing Company5%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Educational Organization23%
    Computer Software Company12%
    Government7%
    Financial Services Firm7%
    REVIEWERS
    Computer Software Company16%
    Retailer12%
    Healthcare Company10%
    Manufacturing Company10%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Educational Organization44%
    Financial Services Firm9%
    Government7%
    Computer Software Company7%
    REVIEWERS
    Computer Software Company25%
    Financial Services Firm17%
    Government17%
    Insurance Company8%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Financial Services Firm28%
    Computer Software Company11%
    Government8%
    Wholesaler/Distributor7%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business38%
    Midsize Enterprise14%
    Large Enterprise48%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business20%
    Midsize Enterprise33%
    Large Enterprise47%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business25%
    Midsize Enterprise11%
    Large Enterprise64%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business11%
    Midsize Enterprise49%
    Large Enterprise40%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business5%
    Midsize Enterprise21%
    Large Enterprise74%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business24%
    Midsize Enterprise6%
    Large Enterprise70%
    Buyer's Guide
    BMC TrueSight Server Automation vs. BigFix
    March 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about BMC TrueSight Server Automation vs. BigFix and other solutions. Updated: March 2024.
    769,599 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    BigFix is ranked 5th in Configuration Management with 91 reviews while BMC TrueSight Server Automation is ranked 12th in Configuration Management with 18 reviews. BigFix is rated 8.6, while BMC TrueSight Server Automation is rated 8.2. The top reviewer of BigFix writes "Very stable and easy to deploy with excellent patch compliance". On the other hand, the top reviewer of BMC TrueSight Server Automation writes "Easy to deploy, automatic patching, and scalable". BigFix is most compared with Microsoft Configuration Manager, Microsoft Windows Server Update Services, Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform, Tanium and Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, whereas BMC TrueSight Server Automation is most compared with Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform, Red Hat Satellite, Microsoft Configuration Manager, HashiCorp Terraform and Parallels Mac Management for Microsoft SCCM. See our BMC TrueSight Server Automation vs. BigFix report.

    See our list of best Configuration Management vendors.

    We monitor all Configuration Management reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.