ActiveBatch from Advanced Systems Concepts in New Jersey is IT workload automation software.
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BMC FootPrints
Score 8.4 out of 10
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BMC FootPrints is an IT service management (ITSM) solution featuring workload automation.
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JAMS
Score 9.2 out of 10
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JAMS is a centralized workload automation and job scheduling solution that runs, monitors, and manages jobs and workflows. Reliably orchestrate the critical IT processes that run your business from a single pane of glass.
$9,996
per year
Pricing
ActiveBatch Workload Automation
BMC FootPrints
JAMS
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Core
9,996.00
per year
Advanced
Customized Pricing
per year
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
ActiveBatch Workload Automation
BMC FootPrints
JAMS
Free Trial
Yes
No
Yes
Free/Freemium Version
No
No
No
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
Yes
No
Yes
Entry-level Setup Fee
Optional
No setup fee
No setup fee
Additional Details
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- Core: For small teams getting started with automation. Core Integrations: PowerShell, SQL, Azure Data Factory, Python, 20+ others.
- Advanced: Comprehensive solution for large-scale operations. Core Integrations: SAP, JDE, Ellucian Banner, Informatica, Mainframe and Power Systems.
During initial selection, we compared ActiveBatch with simple schedulers like Task Manager and cron, as well as VisualCron and JAMS. ActiveBatch had the widest range of triggers and the best scheduler/calendar system, and the most comprehensive list of easily-available actions.
We chose JAMS because it was the best solution for our business needs, a major factor being the licensing model and the simplicity of the app. We needed to migrate things fast too and this was simply plug and play without too much headache
Any large business or organisation that wants to manage their workload effectively and with the least amount of room for error might choose the ActiveBatch Automation tool. Being a consultant I feel that It aids in task automation and has the flexibility to change in response to varying company requirements. It helps to save huge time by doing all the repetitive tasks on daily basis. During the patching activity the schedulers can be stopped. It also help by alerting us if any system/job is down so that SLA can be saved. Overall ActiveBatch Automation stands as a dependable cornerstone for ensuring the seamless operation of our tasks.
BMC Footprints is so well suited to keep the documentation easy to read and find, as same as typification. You can find specific documentation for an audit so fast and export a report using the specific criteria that you need to comply with your boss or audit needs. As I told before, BMC footprints need to be more friendly to the end users because they get lost many times trying to track some ticket or typing documentation.
There's probably better schedulers out there. JAMS is good for an on-premises/classic IT implementation. JAMS is well-suited for use cases such as collecting a file from a shared location and uploading it to an API, running scripts on servers, and handling middleware tasks that process files or data between handoffs across different locations. JAMS is best suited to environments with IT staff who can develop, test, implement, maintain, and troubleshoot scripts; it does not use natural language processing (so it requires in-depth knowledge of the scripting language in use), and it does not appear to offer native dashboarding or reporting that is easily accessible to all users.
Businesses can use ActiveBatch to plan tasks based on parameters like frequency, dependencies, and the time of day. By automating typical actions like backups and data transfers, businesses can make sure that crucial operations go off without a hitch.
Multiple systems and apps can be used in complicated workflows that ActiveBatch can automate. For instance, it can automate a workflow for processing orders from beginning to end, from the customer order through inventory control and delivery through the processing of invoices and payments.
Files can be sent between many platforms and systems safely with ActiveBatch. Transfers to cloud-based storage systems like Amazon S3 and Microsoft Azure are also included in this. SFTP and FTP transfers are also included.
Documentation. We try to reduce the amount of paperwork needed for staff to do their job, so by automating certain tasks, we are able to speed up the resolution process for trouble tickets.
Reporting. We'll use the reporting tool to get the number of tickets opened, response times and can go into granular reports.
Surveys. When tickets are closed, we automatically send out surveys to end users to get valuable feedback on how we did and what we can improve.
Purpose based configuration- It would be beneficial to see a more purposed based, out of the box, configuration option. For example, if you need PCI compliance, more intuitive reporting would make managing compliance much easier.
Initial design and implementation- Don't think that your experience as an IT professional will allow you to stand this system up on your own. To properly configure Footprints and set yourself up for success down the road, get Professional Services with this one.
Somewhat behind the times- Service Core is making a huge leap forward with the latest version, 12, but Asset Core is far behind. There are quite a few quirks to how the application works and how it is used.
It has been the business decision to go with them and that is what we will do. Going back, this would have not been the choice, but nothing can be done about it now. We are stuck with this application for years to come. Wish there were other possibilities that could be done.
JAMS is a critical resource free up people to do other things and ensuring that processes and tasks are run consistently. We are also confident that procedures are run consistently and on time or as soon as the necessary data is available. With automated job failure notification, we are not required to check that jobs are running correctly.
We can easily add new plans/jobs in our batch schedules. Also, coordination with reporting and QA jobs is simple to do. Building schedules, restarting jobs, triggering dependencies is easy to understand. The system is very stable and allows us to easily see overall processing times.
It's so simple to use and customize however you want. You can create new workspaces and workflows with ease, set up new users, incoming email rules, customize the layout of the forms, and even change the colors and logos. It's just very easily customizable overall. It's also really straightforward to figure out how to use, you really almost don't have to show somebody how to use it. If you just sit them down in front of it and let them look it over, they could figure it out themselves easily.
JAMS is very user friendly; you hardly need to do coding. The only thing that I would say a challenge is setting it up, but that's because you barely know the product yet and, in every processing, setting up is the difficult part. But once you've set it up and you are going to use it, you will really feel that it is worth to invest in this kind of software solution, it really does it job very well.
We didnt really encounter any downtime, no issues encountered during 2 years of use of JAMs also our client barely raise an issue with JAMS, mostly the issues is on the batch jobs that jams executes. So I would gave it a perfect 10, very reliable hardly encounters any error and bug
JAMS performance is very great, there are no issues raised with the performance, it just like nothing happens on the job after integration it gives you this monitoring capability, no reports and bugs raised on the performance, we didnt do integration with other software only database and with use of JAMS agent to different servers
I've had no issues with the support for FootPrints. We haven't really had to use them all that much over the years, but when needed they have always been prompt and knowledgeable at dealing with any issue. I've worked with a lot of different support teams over the years, and they have been one of my favorites to work with.
I've never had to wait more than a day for a response to any email queries submitted. We had a very positive experience using support hours during out migration process from v6 to v7. We've also recently had a weeklong group training course where all attendees were positive about the learning outcomes, a shoutout to Jose who did both the migration and the weeklong course!
People that were involved in the POC found the training a lot easier to follow. I think most people would have preferred to just get the training material and run through themselves.
I Was not part of the original Implementation, and the persons did that are no longer with the Organization. But I was part of the recent Upgrade process a year ago and I am the JAMS admin and was very pleased
The workload automation solution is based on the specific needs of an organization, as well as the features, capabilities, and costs of various solutions. A thorough evaluation process and consideration of these factors can help ensure the selection of a solution that aligns with overall business objectives and meets the specific needs of the organization.
I was not involved in the selection process but in my opinion either SQL or Access databases would have worked just as well without the same amount of cost. These two systems would have been much easier to manage and would have tracked the same information in a less convoluted process and expense.
JAMS is WAY more advanced, it isn't a fair comparison. The history is easy to get through. It is easy to get alerts of complete to failed and with a log. Adding jobs is extremely easy that even my teammates who do not manange the software are able to set them up. With the new web component we are very excited for the future of JAMS advancements.
The product is quite flexible. There are a number of features and functions that we use on a daily basis, and there are many features that are available that we have not yet needed or explored (like setting up jobs with the ability to do FTP or Sftp file transfers).
I have not run numbers to determine hard impact, but a quick estimate is that at least one job is running for a average of about 6 hours per day - that 6 hours, if done by hand, would equate to about 30 - 40 hours per day (and in some cases, could not be duplicated manually, as the job repeats faster than a person could accomplish one cycle.)
Our company depends on the JAMS Scheduler in executing a large number of SAP Jobs. In never having had a true Enterprise Scheduler such as JAMS before now, we are very happy with the results.
There a number of features in JAMS for setting up schedules and dependencies on other jobs. This helps our company achieve the necessary workflows for Job execution. This optimization saves on system resources and keeps Jobs flowing smoothly.
We are very happy that JAMS is a robust solution with High Availability. This is necessary for Enterprise products, to reduce downtime, which we have not had as a result. This feature definitely saves our company money by reducing or eliminating unexpected downtime.
