BMC TrueSight Server Automation vs Chef comparison

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7,149 views|4,752 comparisons
91% willing to recommend
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2,198 views|1,530 comparisons
90% willing to recommend
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Read 18 Chef reviews
1,296 views|874 comparisons
95% willing to recommend
Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between BMC TrueSight Server Automation and Chef 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. Chef Report (Updated: March 2024).
769,599 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Featured Review
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"The performance of Microsoft Intune is good.""The many policies available in Microsoft Intune for managing our devices are valuable.""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 Microsoft Windows Autopilot and Defender policies are the most valuable features of this solution.""Autopilot is the most valuable feature of Microsoft Intune.""Intune provides full visibility into all active mobile device users. If their devices are noncompliant with our security policies, I have the flexibility to update them remotely.""At the moment, Autopilot is the most valuable feature.""It's really easy to access."

More Microsoft Intune Pros →

"The product's valuable feature is its ability to conduct patching for multiple servers simultaneously.""It makes deployment easier and allows us to put restrictions on the server using role-based authorization.""Compliance is also huge... By tying it to Atrium Orchestrator, our workflow tool, we'll be able to have a closed loop where we identify a compliance issue, cut CRs, get them approved, and then be able to execute these CRs and more seamlessly fix these issues on the fly.""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.""The ability to script and create BL packages to perform various functions. This makes automating our environment relatively easy to do.""BladeLogic lets users view the filesystem with minimal authorization to the server.""With BMC, we even configured applications, like IE or things that were Java-related. When we scheduled the jobs, it worked fine. It saved us time and there was no need for resources to monitor them.""As this solution provides strong support and has multiple use cases, it is worth the cost."

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"The most valuable feature is the language that it uses: Ruby.""Automation is everything. Having so many servers in production, many of our processes won't work nor scale. So, we look for tools to help us automate the process, and Chef is one of them.""The product is useful for automating processes.""It streamlined our deployments and system configurations across the board rather than have us use multiple configurations or tools, basically a one stop shop.""Deployment has become quick and orchestration is now easy.""This solution has improved my organization in the way that deployment has become very quick and orchestration is easy. If we have thousands of servers we can easily deploy in a small amount of time. We can deploy the applications or any kind of announcements in much less time.""Chef can be scaled as needed. The Chef server itself can scale but it depends on the available resources. You can upgrade specific resources to meet the demand. Similarly, with clients, you can add as many clients as you need. Again, this depends on the server resources. If the server has enough resources, it can handle the number of servers required to manage the infrastructure. Chef can be scaled to meet the needs of the infrastructure being managed.""Manual deployments came to a halt completely. Server provisioning became lightning fast. Chef-docker enabled us to have fewer sets of source code for different purposes. Configuration management was a breeze and all the servers were as good as immutable servers."

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Cons
"Microsoft Intune has a latency response time issue. The latency has room for improvement.""From a new user's perspective, it may be a little overwhelming because there are quite a few things to look at in the console, however, once you are sort of acclimated and are familiar with your core functions, it's fairly simple and straightforward.""An issue we have run into with Microsoft Endpoint Manager is that we cannot patch third-party products like Adobe and Chrome with it.""A new Intune feature allows application packaging, but it incurs additional licensing costs for a significant number of applications.""Intune doesn't provide much control over Windows servers. It's something we struggle with.""I'm still playing around with it and haven't had any issues with the product yet, but support can definitely be improved.""The solution requires Mac support.""The product needs to upgrade itself when the server is overloaded."

More Microsoft Intune Cons →

"A better CLI Database cleanup tool would help us with our regular maintenance of BladeLogic Server Automation.""We would like to see this solution handle more multitasking.""I would like to see more container integration in the next release of this solution.""There is no other functionality available to patch the containers that we need to include.""BMC TrueSight Server Automation's scripting needs improvement.""The architecture is big, so the initial setup is not a straightforward task.""I would like to see a better methodology for handling REST calls and integration into the APIs. They add new APIs as they add functions, but they've missed some from older components which they still haven't added in. Some of the APIs are there but the CLI calls are not there.""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."

More BMC TrueSight Server Automation Cons →

"They could provide more features, so the recipes could be developed in a simpler and faster way. There is still a lot of room for improvement, providing better functionalities when creating recipes.""The agent on the server sometimes acts finicky.""If only Chef were easier to use and code, it would be used much more widely by the community.""The AWS monitoring, AWS X-Ray, and some other features could be improved.""Vertical scalability is still good but the horizontal, adding more technologies, platforms, tools, integrations, Chef should take a look into that.""I would also like to see more analytics and reporting features. Currently, the analytics and reporting features are limited. I'll have to start building my own custom solution with Power BI or Tableau or something like that. If it came with built-in analytics and reporting features that would be great.""Since we are heading to IoT, this product should consider anything related to this.""Third-party innovations need improvement, and I would like to see more integration with other platforms."

More Chef 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 →

  • "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 →

  • "When we're rolling out a new server, we're not using the AWS Marketplace AMI, we're using our own AMI, but we are paying them a licensing fee."
  • "The price per node is a little weird. It doesn't scale along with your organization. If you're truly utilizing Chef to its fullest, then the number of nodes which are being utilized in any particular day might scale or change based on your Auto Scaling groups. How do you keep track of that or audit it? Then, how do you appropriately license it? It's difficult."
  • "The price is always a problem. It is high. There is room for improvement. I do like purchasing on the AWS Marketplace, but I would like the ability to negotiate and have some flexibility in the pricing on it."
  • "Purchasing the solution from AWS Marketplace was a good experience. AWS's pricing is pretty in line with the product's regular pricing. Though instance-wise, AWS is not the cheapest in the market."
  • "We are able to save in development time, deployment time, and it makes it easier to manage the environments."
  • "We are using the free, open source version of the software, which we are happy with at this time."
  • "I wasn't involved in the purchasing, but I am pretty sure that we are happy with the current pricing and licensing since it never comes up."
  • "Pricing for Chef is high."
  • More Chef 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 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.
    Top Answer:Chef is a great tool for an automation person who wants to do configuration management with infrastructure as a code.
    Top Answer:Chef does not support the containerized things of Chef products. In the future, Chef could develop a docker container or… more »
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    Intune, MS Intune, Microsoft 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."

    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

    Chef, is the leader in DevOps, driving collaboration through code to automate infrastructure, security, compliance and applications. Chef provides a single path to production making it faster and safer to add value to applications and meet the demands of the customer. Deployed broadly in production by the Global 5000 and used by more than half of the Fortune 500, Chef develops 100 percent of its software as open source under the Apache 2.0 license with no restrictions on its use. Chef Enterprise Automation Stack™, a commercial distribution, is developed solely from that open source code and unifies security, compliance, infrastructure and application automation with observability. Chef provides an unequaled developer experience for the Coded Enterprise by enabling users to express infrastructure, security policies and the application lifecycle as code, modernizing development, packaging and delivery of any application to any platform. For more information, visit http://chef.io and follow @chef.

    Sample Customers
    Mitchells and Buzzers, Callaway
    State of Michigan, Fujitsu FSAS, Transamerica Life Insurance Company, SAP
    Facebook, Standard Bank, GE Capital, Nordstrom, Optum, Barclays, IGN, General Motors, Scholastic, Riot Games, NCR, Gap
    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 Company25%
    Financial Services Firm17%
    Government17%
    Insurance Company8%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Financial Services Firm28%
    Computer Software Company11%
    Government8%
    Wholesaler/Distributor7%
    REVIEWERS
    Computer Software Company30%
    Comms Service Provider20%
    Non Tech Company10%
    Legal Firm10%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Financial Services Firm21%
    Computer Software Company13%
    Manufacturing Company8%
    Government8%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business38%
    Midsize Enterprise14%
    Large Enterprise48%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business20%
    Midsize Enterprise33%
    Large Enterprise47%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business5%
    Midsize Enterprise21%
    Large Enterprise74%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business24%
    Midsize Enterprise6%
    Large Enterprise70%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business5%
    Midsize Enterprise35%
    Large Enterprise60%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business19%
    Midsize Enterprise11%
    Large Enterprise70%
    Buyer's Guide
    BMC TrueSight Server Automation vs. Chef
    March 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about BMC TrueSight Server Automation vs. Chef and other solutions. Updated: March 2024.
    769,599 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    BMC TrueSight Server Automation is ranked 12th in Configuration Management with 18 reviews while Chef is ranked 16th in Configuration Management with 18 reviews. BMC TrueSight Server Automation is rated 8.2, while Chef is rated 8.0. The top reviewer of BMC TrueSight Server Automation writes "Easy to deploy, automatic patching, and scalable". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Chef writes "Useful for large infrastructure, reliable, but steep learning cureve". BMC TrueSight Server Automation is most compared with Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform, BigFix, Red Hat Satellite, Microsoft Configuration Manager and HashiCorp Terraform, whereas Chef is most compared with Jenkins, AWS Systems Manager, Microsoft Azure DevOps, Microsoft Configuration Manager and SaltStack. See our BMC TrueSight Server Automation vs. Chef 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.