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Fortra’s Automate vs. SolarWinds Task Factory

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Fortra’s Automate

    Score8 out of 10
    N/AFortra's Automate (formerly HelpSystems Automate) is a robotic process automation platform for desktop applications. According to the vendor, it offers the ability to automate almost any business process, and no technical expertise is required—IT and business users alike can understand the drag-and-drop interface.N/A

    SolarWinds Task Factory

    Score8.3 out of 10
    N/AAccording to the vendor, SolarWinds Task Factory saves time managing tedious ELT/ETL tasks with high-performing SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) components that can be used within the Visual Studio environment to connect to nearly any data source. Task Factory’s components and tasks have been optimized to ensure fast performance of data-centric applications, and the user can run Task Factory…N/A
    Pricing
    Fortra’s AutomateSolarWinds Task Factory
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    Task Factory
    1,245 (annual subscription license)
    per server
    Task Factory Azure Data Factory
    1,495 (annual subscription license)
    per ADF node
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Fortra’s AutomateSolarWinds Task Factory
    Free Trial
    YesYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoYes
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    YesNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeOptionalNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Features
    Fortra’s AutomateSolarWinds Task Factory
    Data Source Connection
    Comparison of Data Source Connection features of Fortra’s Automate and SolarWinds Task Factory
    Feature
    Fortra’s Automate
    -
    Ratings
    SolarWinds Task Factory
    9.4
    40 Ratings
    12% above category average
    Connect to traditional data sources00 Ratings9.440 Ratings
    Data Transformations
    Comparison of Data Transformations features of Fortra’s Automate and SolarWinds Task Factory
    Feature
    Fortra’s Automate
    -
    Ratings
    SolarWinds Task Factory
    9.2
    39 Ratings
    12% above category average
    Simple transformations00 Ratings8.739 Ratings
    Complex transformations00 Ratings9.635 Ratings
    Data Governance
    Comparison of Data Governance features of Fortra’s Automate and SolarWinds Task Factory
    Feature
    Fortra’s Automate
    -
    Ratings
    SolarWinds Task Factory
    9.4
    3 Ratings
    15% above category average
    Integration with data quality tools00 Ratings9.22 Ratings
    Integration with MDM tools00 Ratings9.63 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Fortra’s AutomateSolarWinds Task Factory
    Small Businesses
    No answers on this topic
    Skyvia
    Score10 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    IBM Robotic Process Automation
    Score8.4 out of 10
    IBM InfoSphere Information Server
    Score10 out of 10
    Enterprises
    UiPath Automation Platform
    Score8.5 out of 10
    Astera Data Pipeline Builder (Centerprise)
    Score8.7 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Fortra’s AutomateSolarWinds Task Factory
    Likelihood to Recommend
    10.0
    (4 ratings)
    8.1
    (40 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.2
    (3 ratings)
    Usability
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Fortra’s AutomateSolarWinds Task Factory
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Fortra
    It's great for repetitive or regularly scheduled activities like reports or file transfers. However, it's not so good for on-demand activities. It doesn't support task shortcuts to run specific tasks. If it did it would be perfect.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SolarWinds
    Since I started working with this great tool all data analysis programs have been running effectively. Implementation of projects and tasks have been effective and reliable. Data collected from each department gives us working plan on better management of various programs. The Dimension Merge SCD Transform helps us to load large volumes of data within a short period of time.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Fortra
    • Very detailed task builder. Easy to read step by step a task's operation even if you don't have much programming knowledge.
    • Scheduling for automation jobs is very flexible. Allows us to create all kinds of job schedules as needed.
    • Organization of jobs, tasks, conditions is done well. Allows us to easily manage our items.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SolarWinds
    • The single most beneficial component to Task Factory is the Upsert component. If you're familiar with writing MERGE statements in T-SQL, you'll appreciate the Upsert component. Drag the component into your Data Flow and a few clicks later you have a MERGE without the code complexities.
    • Where some native SSIS components leave you wanting more, Task Factory extends on many of these components as well as support for data sources not native to SSIS components.
    • The number of extra components that come in the Task Factory tool kit will expand your tool belt to do just about anything you need or want to accomplish in SSIS.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Fortra
    • A reporting capability on tasks: enabled, disabled, by folder, by trigger, etc. Currently there is none.
    • An "OR" in their conditional statements - currently there is only "AND".
    • Some kind of temporary backup when changing a task - separate from the current back up/restore functionality (which works well).
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SolarWinds
    • It was built by Pragmatic Works who sold it to SentryOne and now Solar Winds, concerned about future support. SolarWinds is discontinuing support for related products such as BiXpress.
    • Had issues with connecting to certain versions of SQL Server - would fail when deploying one package - had to deploy the entire solutions.
    • Occasional random failures observed with the Filter tranform.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Fortra
    No answers on this topic
    SolarWinds
    Task Factory has become a key product for our use of doing ETL work in SSIS. Their custom SSIS components allow us to work simply on the data engineering side of things. We can ignore the lower level work needed to connect to disparate data sources. This allows us to work faster and provide more value to the business
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    Fortra
    It's just very easy to use, extremely versatile, and very reliable. It's hard to find use cases where it won't work.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SolarWinds
    Compared to some of the other transformations I have worked with, it really is pretty simple for the type of functionality you get
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    Fortra
    Support is very helpful and responsive, although using the tool is very user-friendly, so I hardly use the service.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SolarWinds
    Overall, the best vendor we currently have on the data side of the house. No issues, issues are resolved very quickly and upgrades go without any issues.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    Fortra
    No answers on this topic
    SolarWinds
    Overall it went smoothly. Had a couple of gotchas with licensing and upgrading but nothing that really stopped us.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    Fortra
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SolarWinds
    ZappySys is an alternative provider that we tested. However, we found the ease of use, set up and installation to be much simplier and quicker using Task Factory. ZappySys has a number of the same connectors but are more difficult to setup and the GUI is not as intuitive and simple to use.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Fortra
    • It's been a net positive as AutoMate requires less eyes on specific tasks so that people can focus attention elsewhere and do more analysis.
    • Less manual work also decreases the chances of mistakes and/or missed jobs. Since Automate can schedule everything, send email notifications, etc., there is less time wasted.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SolarWinds
    • We were able to support our developers with Task Factory features and reduce the development time by 40%.
    • Recently Task Factory has changed their pricing module and it seems to be pretty costly for our process. Our business team has started to evaluate whether this is worth it going forward.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    Fortra’s Automate Screenshots

    Product screenshotProduct screenshot

    SolarWinds Task Factory Screenshots

    Screenshot of Salesforce.com SourceScreenshot of Dimension Merge SCD TransformScreenshot of Upsert DestinationScreenshot of REST Source