We performed a comparison between Bigfix and Microsoft Windows Server Update Services based on our users’ reviews in five categories. After reading all of the collected data, you can find our conclusion below.
Comparison Results: BigFix wins out in this comparison. The main difference between the two solutions is that Microsoft Windows Server Update Services users say deployment is complicated and that the product could benefit from better reporting.
"Software distribution and patch management are the most valuable."
"It enables us to patch our systems quickly and within expectations and to increase our volume as needed. It has also helped us compress our patch sites. We used to do it monthly but now we do it weekly."
"The most valuable features are patch management, software installation, and asset management."
"We've had no issues with stability."
"Vulnerability scanning and patch automation."
"We are able to go from patching thousands of machines by twenty to thirty people to one person."
"It is pretty secure, and it gives extensive vulnerability features as compared to other applications. It supports multiple languages, and the security checks are pretty high as compared to other tools in the market."
"BigFix is incredibly fast and accurate in patching, reporting, and remediation."
"Once we configure it and it keeps updating the patches, all I need to do is filter out which patches are required or not."
"Microsoft Windows Server Update Services is highly stable. It is one of the most stable solutions from Microsoft."
"The solution performs well."
"With WSUS, you can automatically install and distribute Microsoft security patches without using an internet connection for all clients and servers. It is not difficult to understand how it works and I think it's a very nice tool."
"The most valuable feature is the decreased level of internet usage by my network."
"Downloads critical reports separately."
"The product provides a valuable Single Sign-On (SSO) integration feature within our IES environment, particularly with the IT directory and server systems."
"The most important aspect is that we can centrally deploy the updates that are necessary for the organization. It's important."
"There is no support for patch management on SLES on IBM pSeries (only the Intel platform is supported)."
"I remember doing restarts a few times. So, making sure that it is rock solid from an executable perspective is important."
"BigFix can improve the way machines report back to the console. In the external relay management environment, it has become more of a hybrid environment with most of the machines not being on-site. The need of having public-facing reporting items interconnected is becoming more and more crucial. In general, the reporting could use some enhancement."
"License management isn't quite as easy as it should be to deal with the licensing. You need to take the server down to import the new licenses which I find to be annoying."
"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."
"I'd like to see better integration, with the different applications within BigFix. Instead of sometimes feeling like four or five different applications, they need to be integrated a little better within themselves."
"The only thing that I don't like about BigFix is that it does not support other devices such as printer firmware, router firmware, and things like that. I will be happy if I can control everything and get everything else in there, even if it is just a line item. They can do some enhancements to the Web UI. I am trying to get customers to be able to manage their environment by using Web UI, and it would be good if we can delete endpoints by using Web UI. We should also be able to generate Excel content or data tables from the Web UI without having to go to the console. It is small stuff, and it drives me crazy that I have to go to another console to do these things."
"BigFix is actually a little bit on the expensive side in Turkey because of the dollar's exchange rate in our currency."
"In the next release, I would like to see additional tools added to fix the engine issues on the client's side."
"The old backup files created by this solution use up a lot of storage, and this needs to be improved."
"The approval process must be improved."
"One area for potential improvement involves the administrative portal, where numerous options, including asset management and patch management, are integrated."
"The solution must provide the issue description of the patches."
"I would like to see support for other operating systems such as Linux."
"The database could be improved. In large environments, for example, we often get problems with reporting."
"Could be improved with additional features such as an update alarm."
More Microsoft Windows Server Update Services Pricing and Cost Advice →
BigFix is ranked 2nd in Patch Management with 91 reviews while Microsoft Windows Server Update Services is ranked 3rd in Patch Management with 38 reviews. BigFix is rated 8.6, while Microsoft Windows Server Update Services is rated 8.0. The top reviewer of BigFix writes "Very stable and easy to deploy with excellent patch compliance". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Microsoft Windows Server Update Services writes "Lets us manage all our organization's updates from a single management console". BigFix is most compared with Microsoft Intune, Microsoft Configuration Manager, Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform, Tanium and ManageEngine Patch Manager Plus, whereas Microsoft Windows Server Update Services is most compared with ManageEngine Patch Manager Plus, Quest KACE Systems Management, Microsoft Configuration Manager, Ivanti Neurons Patch for Intune and GFI LanGuard. See our BigFix vs. Microsoft Windows Server Update Services report.
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