Secure file transfers have increased traceability and now simplify our end‑to‑end job management
What is our primary use case?
I predominantly use Control-M for file transfers through the SaaS version. BMC has recently added an enterprise feature for the SaaS version, and we are now using it mostly for the file transfer part and also the APIs, which has been our latest addition.
With my current project, the File Transfer Enterprise is the best use case for us in terms of secured transfers and how we can track the transfers and manage significantly more with the transfers we are doing. This is the best feature, considering the ROI as to what my current scenario was and what we have achieved with the enterprise feature.
What is most valuable?
File Transfer Enterprise is the most valuable feature for our current project in terms of secured transfers and how we can track the transfers and manage significantly more with the transfers we are doing. This feature provides the best value, considering the ROI that we have achieved with the enterprise feature.
What needs improvement?
The integrator feature is not being supported by the BMC support team, which leaves it to us to customize and integrate it. Of course, the use cases differ and that is when they have decided not to have it under the support cluster. However, having basic support on the integration integrator would help us considerably. We do a lot of research and development to achieve what we need to accomplish, but BMC has the experts and eventually they have the answers. If they include the integrator feature under the support structure, it would be greatly beneficial.
The integrator feature is handy, but it can be tricky when we are trying to integrate in terms of achieving the connection profile. Setting up the connection profile initially to get any integrator working for us is somewhat tricky with different use cases we want to achieve. It is not straightforward.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Control-M since 2008 when I got into IT and started my career.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The SaaS version is excellent in terms of stability. For the price, it is very stable. We have not had any downtime. It has been more than two and a half years, approaching three years now since we got SaaS onto our system with no downtime at all. It is quite stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability aspect is simply a matter of getting more agents in place and since it is a SaaS version, it gets scaled up on their end. We do not have to worry much about it. Of course, the licensing comes into play if the number of jobs are increasing, but it is dynamic.
How are customer service and support?
I have recently contacted the BMC Control-M technical support team.
They are top-notch in terms of speed and quality. Most of the time, any question starts with extracting the logs and providing them to the support team, and they go through that. If they are not able to resolve the issue, they take time and put it to the research and development team. Of course, it takes a while if it goes to research and development, but they make sure that the issue is resolved. That is something great about them.
I would give the support a score of nine. I would still like to rate them ten, but some cases do take a while to get the resolution.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Autosys has been used and is the closest alternative to BMC Control-M. There are other features and other products, but Autosys is the most used alternative. However, it is nowhere near what BMC Control-M has to offer.
How was the initial setup?
The initial deployment of Control-M was straightforward. With the current SaaS version, there is a support window of 14 days or specific hours. It is straightforward and depends on who is going to drive the deployment. For my case, I was experienced with the on-premise version as well, so that seemed straightforward for me. However, for those coming in with lesser experience, it may take some time. The documentation is excellent, so it is straightforward.
What about the implementation team?
The deployment of Control-M requires two administrators. Basically, one administrator is the minimum need, but one can do the deployment. Since we have two admins, we share the workload. One is sufficient for the task.
What was our ROI?
Pricing for Control-M is on the costlier side when it comes to SaaS pricing. However, it does take off all the hassles of maintaining the Control-M server itself. This leaves us with only managing the agent part of it. It has pros and cons to that pricing feature, but it is on a higher side. Mostly in terms of ROI, the companies and stakeholders have that complaint.
What other advice do I have?
Control-M does require maintenance on our end. There are two different windows of maintenance. One is when the core technology, in our case SAP, is getting under maintenance window, so we have to pause our jobs and resume it later on. This is a critical window that prevents our jobs from being pushed into SAP. We have to pause it and resume it depending on the schedules and make sure that we resume it and do not miss any jobs. The other window is when our agent maintenance or agent infrastructure maintenance occurs, when switching from a primary to a secondary agent, routing it, and making sure nothing is lost in the transit. Those are the two maintenance activities we perform.
We have a team of seven today, with two of us as admins. We have three schedulers and two monitoring agents.
Our engagement is with BMC. I have been involved with getting the contract rolled in for my current client and getting into the core of the technicalities in achieving the job requirements. It has been both.
We achieved the project in a month's time with Control-M. We had a project of converting and migrating our jobs from SAP workload onto the Control-M scheduler. End to end, we took less than a month to get the agents installed on the SAP infrastructure and get these jobs migrated from the SAP workload. Overall, I give this product a review rating of ten.
Control-M: Easy-to-Use Scheduling That Adapts as Needs Change
What do you like best about the product?
Control-M is a great scheduling tool. It’s very easy to use, and it’s also simple to adapt to as your needs change.
What do you dislike about the product?
There isn’t a whole lot to dislike about Control-M overall. That said, some of the more advanced scheduling options could have been handled a bit differently, and the way they’re set up doesn’t always feel as intuitive as it could be.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Control-M solves all of our problems, especially since we rely on it as our primary scheduling component.
Reliable Enterprise Workflow Automation with Strong Integrations
What do you like best about the product?
great for automating and managing complex workflows easily. Its user-friendly interface, real-time monitoring, and strong integration capabilities make it reliable and efficient for handling enterprise-level job scheduling
What do you dislike about the product?
can feel complex for beginners, and the initial setup takes time. The UI can sometimes feel outdated, and licensing costs are relatively high compared to other tools
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
solves the challenge of managing complex job scheduling and workflows across multiple systems. It reduces manual effort, minimizes errors, and ensures tasks run on time. This improves efficiency, saves time, and makes operations more reliable and easier to monitor
Automation has improved daily batch control and consistently ensures banking SLAs are met
What is our primary use case?
My main use case for Control-M is to control the batch for the day by scheduling the jobs, ensuring that all jobs run on time, and verifying that all conditions are met. Sometimes I force complete the jobs or rerun failed jobs by fixing the JCLs, and I ensure all batches are completed on time and all SLAs are met.
A specific example of a batch process I manage with Control-M is a weekly job which runs from Monday to Friday on all working days, and I ensure the job is completed on time. I also verify that if any files are pending to process which that job needs, the file is available so that the job can run once the file is available. Such scenarios are common in my work.
Regarding my main use case, I work on automation and ensure that there are no human errors. Everything we use is up to date, and we make sure to follow the SOPs perfectly.
What is most valuable?
Control-M offers several best features, including its user-friendliness. Compared to TWS and CA 7, Control-M is a tool wherein if you get training for 10 to 12 days, you can learn almost everything, and it is very good and simple to use.
What makes Control-M user-friendly for me is that we connect through the client interface, which is easy to log in to, and there is no downtime for it. Control-M is only recycled weekly. It is straightforward to define and monitor the jobs and to get insights from the zoom panel. The coloring shows us in yellow if a job is executing, red if it has failed, and other colors for different conditions, making it simple.
Control-M has positively impacted my organization, especially when new team members join as their first assignment. It is a tool we can explain quickly, giving them a few sessions to work in production or development environments faster compared to other tools like CA 7 or TWS.
In our organization, we work for a banking client where we handle 10,000 jobs running on Control-M daily. Managing those jobs would be difficult with other tools due to visibility issues. With Control-M, it is easier to manage workloads and handle abends, and the chances of missing things are significantly less compared to command-based tools like CA 7.
What needs improvement?
Control-M can be improved in several areas. Last week when creating a job, I found that the option for global conditions could be more streamlined, as well as the in and out conditions, which are a bit complicated. Integrating more AI options, such as automatically marking jobs that are known to fail as complete, would be beneficial.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Control-M for the last 16 years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Control-M is 100% stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Regarding scalability, I would say it is good and there are always possibilities for scalability.
How are customer service and support?
Customer support from BMC, who owns Control-M, is excellent. They provide good support for critical issues, and I would rate it 99% out of 100.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have experience working on CA 7 and TWS. While CA 7 is a good tool, Control-M is better due to its simplicity and less complicated nature.
How was the initial setup?
To deploy Control-M, I would say two resources would be sufficient for proper installation and defining architecture, security levels, and access control.
What about the implementation team?
In our team, approximately 24 users utilize Control-M, with 15 members working 24/7 for batch operations and nine members focusing on scheduling tasks during business hours.
What was our ROI?
Regarding return on investment, training a resource on Control-M allows them to handle two or three clients at the same time, thus saving costs for the company and making it easier to train.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Those things are managed by the sales team. I do not have much visibility regarding pricing, setup cost, or licensing.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We evaluated Jobtrac, CA 7, and TWS before making our decision.
What other advice do I have?
The biggest lesson I have learned from using Control-M is time management, reliability, and the tool's availability, which makes our work easier.
I advise that if you have banking or insurance requirements or operate in a small industry, you can definitely consider Control-M as your first option.
I provided this review with an overall rating of 10 out of 10.
Reliable tool for job automation
What do you like best about the product?
I like how it makes it much easier to monitor jobs, manage dependencies, and identify issues
What do you dislike about the product?
The interface can be sometimes a little bit complex for new users
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
It helps manage and automate jobs across different systems. The main benefit would be that everything is in one place so it’s much easier to monitor jobs and see if something goes wrong
Workflow management has become highly reliable and has saved significant scheduling time
What is our primary use case?
My use case for Control-M includes file transfer and workload balancing, but it is mostly focused on workflow management.
What is most valuable?
I love Control-M's reliability and ease of use. It offers ease of adaptability for upgrades, and the GUI features have been enhanced for better readability. Their reporting improvements are notable, and they developed software that helps manage licensing effectively.
Control-M is incredibly reliable, rarely having issues from an administrative standpoint. The high stability means I am rarely surprised by problems. Additionally, time-saving is significant; previously, scheduling involved paper and took much longer. Control-M reduced the scheduling time drastically, taking only about five to ten minutes to add a new job to the workflow.
What needs improvement?
One area that has room for improvement is support. Early on, support was fabulous, with efficient issue resolution processes. However, since approximately 2015, support has been lackluster, relying too much on email. I would suggest a return to hands-on support engagement.
Aside from the support aspect, I cannot think of anything else that needs improvement.
For how long have I used the solution?
I started using Control-M in 2000.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Regarding stability, I would give Control-M a ten. Control-M is such a reliable piece of software. I rarely, if ever, have to do anything from an administrative point of view. When someone calls me with a Control-M problem, it surprises me as it is mostly stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Control-M is scalable. The easiest way to express this is regarding licensing; as you are scaling up, you should keep up with your licensing. BMC does an annual review, and your account representative will reach out for a licensing software run that generates a report using all Control-M components.
How are customer service and support?
From one to ten, with ten being the best, I would rate their technical support about a seven.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Concerning Control-M, I previously started out with scheduling package software back in the old Uccel, which was bought by Computer Associates and called CA-7.
How was the initial setup?
Installing Control-M was really quite easy; you simply download it and do the installation. The biggest thing is the front-end work prior to installation, such as deciding which database you will use.
What about the implementation team?
My relationship with BMC is probably transactional. I rarely have to reach out to them.
The BMC service team could be better at being more involved in mapping out migration strategies, though they have a really good process called AMIGO that yields positive outcomes.
What was our ROI?
In terms of time savings with Control-M, I spend maybe thirty minutes a week, if that, on Control-M compared to other software products I have dealt with.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I did not have much engagement in the pricing area.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Regarding other solutions, Redwood was the only one I was familiar with. I saw a demo on that before 2010 when management was looking at maybe replacing Control-M.
What other advice do I have?
Deployment is on a Windows platform in a high availability environment.
I would recommend Control-M to others looking to implement it, but it is essential to ensure it fits your environment, so doing a proof of concept is always beneficial.
Effortless Task Management with Moderate UI Improvements Needed
What do you like best about the product?
I like Control-M for its handling and managing of complex tasks. It provides a single point of contact for managing disconnected IT systems, which solves many complex challenges. The reduction of manual tasks through automation and the automatic identification of risks really stand out for me. It makes things more efficient by reducing the need for manual intervention.
What do you dislike about the product?
The UI can be enhanced a little, as the menus and buttons are not user-friendly.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
I use Control-M to manage and monitor complex applications, providing a single point of contact for disconnected IT systems. It handles complex tasks, automates processes, reduces manual intervention, and identifies risks automatically.
Unified automation has improved cross-application workflows and simplified complex file transfers
What is our primary use case?
I have several use cases for Control-M. I have been implementing Control-M for a long time in several enterprises in Brazil, and then five years ago I moved to the US. I started working here in the US as well. I have several use cases for insurance companies and bank companies in Brazil, and currently, I am working with Bank Charles Schwab using this tool to transfer internal files between systems and applications.
We also have user-defined transfers to move files to business partners. Overall, I have been using this solution for 17 years and have many use cases to speak of.
When I joined Bank Charles Schwab, Control-M was already implemented, but I also work on implementing Control-M from scratch.
Recently, I did an integration involving Control-M with Pentaho and Power BI. Even though Control-M did not have the plugin for Pentaho, I managed to run a data pipeline using scripts and successfully integrate it into Power BI dashboards.
What is most valuable?
In general, the ability to check all your processes in a unified view that Control-M provides is what I appreciate the most about it.
Control-M helps to integrate processes across various applications in big enterprises, making it significantly easier since you have a single point of control and can see failures and impacts on the flow.
Now, with the new plugins that they launch every month, it is easy to integrate with technologies for my DataOps and DevOps processes.
What needs improvement?
I think they are going in the direction of managing data that Control-M orchestrates. Currently, it is hard to get data from the process that Control-M is processing.
The ease of deploying Control-M depends on the architecture chosen, as some configurations can require more setup.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with Control-M for 17 years overall in my career.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
In terms of scalability, I think it is good. I have seen effective escalation when necessary during issue resolution.
How are customer service and support?
I have contacted BMC technical support, especially when I cannot solve certain issues myself, but I have a good handle on it due to my long experience.
The quality of support is fast during production emergencies, but it can take longer when issues are not critical, with interactions sometimes taking several days.
They have limited support for native language issues, which can create challenges for non-English speakers.
What about the implementation team?
Usually, I handle the deployment myself, but I need a team to implement large numbers of jobs after the deployment.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I do not have experience using alternatives to Control-M, as I was directly presented with Control-M when I started working with workload automation.
What other advice do I have?
Control-M tends to be the most expensive compared to other competitors. However, I believe it is worth the price since it delivers the most.
It requires some maintenance on my end occasionally, especially when compliance or security updates are needed.
Seamless Data Workflow Management
What do you like best about the product?
I used Control-M for workflow automation, and it helped me manage the data workflow for my organization. I really like the very user-friendly interface and the advanced scheduling functionality. The initial setup of Control-M was very easy, and everything was working great for me. I am very likely to recommend it to friends or colleagues, as I rated it a 10.
What do you dislike about the product?
Nothing
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
I use Control-M for workflow automation, helping manage the data workflow for my organization.
Efficient IT Task Automation with Room for Improvement
What do you like best about the product?
I use Control-M for automation, specifically to schedule and manage my complex IT tasks. I like how it helps in orchestrating these tasks by automating job scheduling and provides reliable monitoring. It gives clear visibility into all tasks, and I love the user interface. It has been helpful in quickly detecting failures and managing dependencies.
What do you dislike about the product?
Sometimes the UI can be a little complex for new users, and the initial setup takes a little time.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
I use Control-M for automating job scheduling, orchestrating complex IT tasks, and it provides reliable monitoring and clear visibility, which helps manage dependencies and quickly detect failures.
