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IBM CICS Transaction Server vs. Microsoft Application Server (deprecated)

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    IBM CICS Transaction Server

    Score8.7 out of 10
    N/AIBM CICS (Customer Information Control System) is mixed-language application server that runs on IBM z/OS. CICS® Transaction Server, often called CICS, is used for hosting transactional enterprise applications in a hybrid architecture.N/A

    Microsoft Application Server (deprecated)

    Score7.3 out of 10
    N/AApplication Server is an expanded server role in the Windows Server® 2008 operating system. It provided an integrated environment for deploying and running custom, server-based business applications. These applications respond to requests that arrive over the network from remote client computers or from other applications. Application Server is deprecated.N/A
    Pricing
    IBM CICS Transaction ServerMicrosoft Application Server (deprecated)
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    IBM CICS Transaction ServerMicrosoft Application Server (deprecated)
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    IBM CICS Transaction ServerMicrosoft Application Server (deprecated)
    Considered Both Products
    IBM
    No answer on this topic
    Discontinued Products
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Would buy again
    7 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    7 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    7 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    6 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    7 Answers
    Features
    IBM CICS Transaction ServerMicrosoft Application Server (deprecated)
    Application Servers
    Comparison of Application Servers features of IBM CICS Transaction Server and Microsoft Application Server (deprecated)
    Feature
    IBM CICS Transaction Server
    8.2
    3 Ratings
    3% above category average
    Microsoft Application Server (deprecated)
    8.0
    9 Ratings
    1% above category average
    IDE support7.92 Ratings9.09 Ratings
    Security management8.03 Ratings9.09 Ratings
    Administration and management8.03 Ratings7.09 Ratings
    Application server performance9.03 Ratings9.09 Ratings
    Installation8.03 Ratings7.09 Ratings
    Open-source standards compliance8.03 Ratings7.08 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    IBM CICS Transaction ServerMicrosoft Application Server (deprecated)
    Small Businesses
    NGINX
    Score9.1 out of 10
    NGINX
    Score9.1 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Oracle WebLogic Server
    Score7.3 out of 10
    Oracle WebLogic Server
    Score7.3 out of 10
    Enterprises
    NGINX
    Score9.1 out of 10
    NGINX
    Score9.1 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    IBM CICS Transaction ServerMicrosoft Application Server (deprecated)
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.0
    (3 ratings)
    9.0
    (9 ratings)
    Usability
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (5 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    IBM CICS Transaction ServerMicrosoft Application Server (deprecated)
    Likelihood to Recommend
    IBM
    IBM CICS Transaction Server is multi-decades proven transaction server which is very scalable, very secured, easy to use, has good transactional capabilities, works well all other mainframe resources such as Db2, languages on IBM mainframe, has access control capabilities in terms of who can access the transaction for read mode vs update mode, etc.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    Microsoft Application Server has been incredible this past year during COVID. Previously I would have said that we could go without it, but after this past season, I’m glad we have utilized it. Without having this software set up prior to COVID, we would have been in a tough situation. I mention COVID a lot because we were able to continue our work almost seamlessly this entire year.
    Read full review
    Pros
    IBM
    • De facto standard in the legacy enterprise
    • Multiplatform connection
    • Native connection with DB2
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    • Microsoft Application Server has proven to be highly reliable and effective at deploying to all of its clients.
    • Application performance is surprisingly good and responsive even in bandwidth-constrained environments and generally very reliable.
    • All software programs are manageable from a single location, even when bandwidth is limited.
    Read full review
    Cons
    IBM
    • Would like to see the transaction response matrix on the average transaction response among all requests.
    • Would like to see GUI tool to be able to see currently running transactions
    • Would like to be able to get the details of where the cics transaction was triggered from
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    • Some security hotfixes and general release updates require restarts.
    • We wish it supported more applications out of the box.
    • Thin client support would be great for MS Application Server.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    IBM
    Need a good knowledge of mainframe and z/OS capability. May be difficult to understand for a beginner (specially CPSM). In a complex architecture, need a high skill to do problem determination
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    I have found Microsoft Application Server to be incredibly easy to use. I have used dozens of similar programs and have always struggled to navigate through all the functions. So far I have been able to adapt and learn this software with ease. I rarely run into a problem that I wasn’t easily able to move forward on with a few tips.
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    IBM
    No answers on this topic
    Discontinued Products
    Stability is one of the first things we consider when evaluating software. MS Application Server has been rock solid and has reduced the time that our IT staff dedicates to maintaining our legacy applications.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    IBM
    There is no comparison, in practice, the possibility of using the latest programming languages but, above all, the databases can be different and more modern than DL1.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    It has a similar feature to what Microsoft Application Server has but at a greater cost and also having to deal with another vendor when we could use a full Microsoft Stack for better training and support.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    IBM
    • It has allowed us to use our decades old code and still continue to support the business
    • Allows us to have faster time to market and modernize our systems
    • We can still continue to use our legacy resources for modern systems
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    • Our ROI has been great since it has enabled our IT staff to have a central location to perform application updates which enables us to save time and money.
    • Deployment is very easy since the internal applications that required constant updating are now updated in one central location.
    • It's a lot easier to be within compliance protocols requirements.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
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