macOS inventory: FNMS Agent vs Jamf

[ticalotta]

Hello fellow FNMS practitioners. Currently, we have FNMS agents deployed to our macOS devices. This works fine, although it's more agents to manage and end user devices are frequently off network which is a real hassle. Recently, we've implemented Data Platform which has an OOTB integration for Jamf Pro. Does anyone have experience with a Jamf > Data Platform > FNMS integration vs the FNMS agent? I'm unsure of the quality of Jamf as a data source and even less so after passing it through Data Platform. The ease of maintenance provided by Jamf is attractive but of course compliance positions are paramount.  Many thanks in advance for any assistance.

[JohnSorensenDK]

@ticalotta 

I haven't got any experience in this context so hopefully other community member will chip in...

For details on your second question (... passing it through Data Platform...) related to the Jamf > Data Platform > FNMS integration topic please refer to the Data Platform - Data Mappings, Gaps, and Impacts section and following sections in documentation.

Thanks,

[ChrisG · Accepted solution]

I don't have too much insight specifically for Jamf data, especially as the FlexNet Manager Suite adapter you're considering is likely to be a custom adapter so I can't say how it may give different data compared to data passing through Data Platform. However the short general answer is: you will normally get the most comprehensive and cleanest data into FlexNet Manager Suite by connecting it directly to source systems, and not having data flowing through Data Platform as an intermediate step.

In general I would suggest using the FlexNet Manager Suite adapter to import inventory data from Data Platform only in relatively limited scenarios. It is best suited to an organization that currently has Data Platform deployed, and wants to have a quick way to import data into a new or pilot FlexNet Manager Suite system for evaluation - in some situations getting the FlexNet Manager Suite system connected to Data Platform may be quicker and easier than getting FlexNet Manager Suite connected directly to source systems that provide the inventory data.

However for ongoing production use, I find it is generally better to connect FlexNet Manager Suite directly to the source systems. That is because Data Platform does not typically extract the full set of data from these systems that FlexNet Manager Suite is able to extract with a direct connection. There are other subtle differences that can occur too due to the way that data is stored in Data Platform that FlexNet Manager Suite cannot untangle, especially if you have multiple original inventory sources.

[ticalotta]

Thanks for the input, Chris. As always, I appreciate your insight!