Need to buy casper suite 8.6

[niranjan_j]

Hi,

I am a student i want to explore the casper suite 8.6, Do i get an option to evaluate the copy or do i need to purchase the same,Thanks

Niranjan

[jhbush]

JAMF offers evaluation versions for companies and universities. You could always contact them and plead your case. You could always start with the basic concepts and try out Deploy Studio or PSU Blast which are both free. You could also try Munki which is another free alternative and would teach you many of same tenets used in the JAMF Casper Suite.

[niranjan_j]

What if an individual want to buy the software and how much does it cost?

[donmontalvo]

I'm not sure what the policy is now but when I asked a few years ago there was a 100 seat minimum.

[mm2270]

There's no actual minimum amount to purchase, but JAMF will strongly recommend that you have in the range of 100 or more Macs to manage. Anything lower and the cost per seat can be pretty high. The JumpStart is a requirement for OS X management, unless you are already a CCA, so that makes the cost go up a bit, making low seat count amounts not really worth it.
The Casper Suite is intended for organizations with a substantial amount of Macs and/or iOS devices to manage, not for individuals. But, contact sales and explain your case. They may be be willing to accommodate you with a trial version to explore for a few weeks.

[Reinstedler]

How much truth is there behind the possibility of bypassing JumpStart if you're a CCA?

My current company (a startup) is considering the full Casper Suite, however the high cost of the JumpStart is very unattractive. What's worse though - I've been through TWO JumpStarts in the past at other companies... essentially paying for another here would be extremely wasteful in terms of $$. The sales rep I had worked with told me, that even with the two prior JS', I would still have to do it again... :( I have been building/managing/etc Casper implementations for a couple years now at other orgs and this is kind of silly.

I would much rather spend the $$ on the CCA class/cert if it will get us past the JumpStart req...

[ernstcs]

I think that if you've been through two of them that you could make your case to JAMF to not have to do that. Who is your sales rep that you talked to? How long ago were the jumpstarts?

[mm2270]

When working with the Casper Suite at your past jobs, did you have regular contact with JAMF and have a good relationship with them? Were you the primary Casper Suite contact at those companies? In essence, do they know who you are and have a good feel for your skill set with the product?
I believe that JAMF typically only makes such an exception under exceptional circumstances, such as someone who has been managing a Casper Suite environment for a while (read: a couple of years), been through a JumpStart and is a CCA and then decides to move to another org which doesn't yet have Casper. If they are familiar working with you and can verify that you know your chops (just having passed a course will likely not be enough), then they may consider it. You seem to have a few of those items under your belt. Its possible getting a CCA may push you into that level where they feel comfortable with it, but I wouldn't sign up for any courses until you've verified with your sales rep that this would be enough. The decision ultimately comes down to the support managers, not sales, since the support staff would need to be comfortable with the situation.

Also keep in mind there can still be some value in a JumpStart, even if you've been through it before, especially if you aren't going to be the only person in your org using the product. And every company is different and may have different requirements to get off the ground during the installation phase, which could be taken care of during the JumpStart.

In any event, good luck in working to get past the requirement.