HCL BigFix vs xAssets Software Asset Management

HCL BigFix combines endpoint management, security, automation, and digital employee experience capabilities in one platform. HCL says it supports more than 120 operating systems and provides near real-time endpoint visibility and control. It patches operating systems and third-party applications, and remediates vulnerabilities. BigFix Compliance enforces security policies and automatically corrects configuration drift, while BigFix Inventory provides visibility into devices, software, licenses, and usage. HCL documentation includes integration guides for ServiceNow Data Flow and BigFix Insights for Vulnerability Remediation. Fixlets and actions use SHA-256-based digital signatures; relay and agent communications can be encrypted with TLS. HCL states that BigFix v11 achieved NIAP certification and SCAP 1.3 validation, and that its embedded FIPS crypto module received FIPS 140-2 certification. Subscription support includes product updates, new features, content updates, bug fixes, and technical support during the term. Licensing depends on managed employee devices or managed virtual servers. Pricing is by tailored quote, and HCL offers a 30-day Endpoint Management trial. BigFix SaaS supports up to 50,000 devices per deployment.

xAssets Software Asset Management (xAssets SAM) helps organizations track software licensing and establish a defensible compliance position. Its temporal calculation engine records license, consumption, and grant events, allowing effective license positions to be reported for a selected point in time. Discovery and integrations run daily, license calculations monthly, and automated alerts flag compliance issues and renewal dates. An affinity model ranks possible license-to-consumption matches by factors such as department, location, cost centre, user, processor architecture, and core count. Supported metrics include per-user, per-computer, processor, core, concurrent-user, and subscription licensing. Agentless discovery covers Windows, VMware ESX, Linux, Unix, Apple Mac, IBM AIX, SNMP, and SSH equipment; an optional agent supports remote endpoints. Named integration sources include SCCM, Tanium, ServiceNow, and Intune, with additional integrations available to build during or after implementation. Organizations can use hosted or on-premise deployment. Pricing is on request; there is no free plan, but a free trial is available.