JAMS vs. VisualCron

We have been using JAMS for several years, and it is relatively easy to get up to speed. It works well whether the target system has the JAMS client installed. This allows us to manage the simple scheduled restart of the system without going to the expense of installing the client. Simple processes that require little feedback don't need the client. We can still do simple logging without the client. We get much more control and input from the client, and we install it on systems with more complex requirements for more jobs.

Incentivized

VisualCron does accommodate continuous file processing. Like packing and unpacking compressed files, splitting or merging files, sending E-mail's and executing queries on databases. VisualCron in less suitable for performing very complex operations on files like, arithmetic with numbers, dates or amounts. Very complex job scripts become cluttered. Debugging Job scripts is not easy.

Incentivized

• Execution of Batch Jobs, Scripts, Cron, Stored Procedure.
• Monitoring of Jobs that are executing, completed, and failed.
• Different Execution Methods are supported, like powershell, SQL task, file transfer, windows task scheduler, workflow, etc.
• Supports integration with other application like goanywhere MFT, SAP, Oracle, etc.
• Error handling and sending of notifications for different types of events particular to a defined job.
• JAMS allows you to manual or automatically deploy JAMS Agent.
• Very simple and user friendly, easy to understand and implement.

Incentivized

• VisualCron can pack and unpack files from many types of packing methods.
• Clear job scripts with complex constructions can be written in VisualCron
• VisualCron provides a clear graphical overview of the situation of all jobs.
• VisualCron clearly indicates when a job has run into an error.

Incentivized

• It would be very helpful if the application had the ability to display help text based on where the cursor is hovering on the screen. There are many times when a brief explanation of an on-screen prompt would be very handy. For example, when you attempt to Cancel a job from the Monitor, you are presented with the checkbox that says "Reprocess completion?" It would be very nice if you could hover over the prompt and see a pop-up help screen that explains what happens if you check this checkbox. The same applies to all the checkbox options presented when you attempt to "Release" a job from the Monitor.

Incentivized

• VisualCron should more specifically indicate the root cause of an error.
• If copying a file goes wrong, VisualCron reports 'can't copy file'. I expect 'no read permissions from original' or 'no write permissions from destination'.
• VisualCron offers no way to execute a Job script line by line
• In VisualCron, nested loops cannot be created.

Incentivized

JAMS is an essential application within our organization. There is no chance that at any point in the foreseeable future we would migrate off of the platform or stop our maintenance contract. HelpSystems (now rebranded Forta) releases frequent updates which always add value to the product. The system's reliability and extensibility has earned our trust that it will scale with our organization.

Incentivized

At first its not 100% obvious what each item is meant for. When you look at the list for the first time there are a lot of objects, its taken some time to figure out what each one does. Once you figure out what each one does it makes more sense.

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

Incentivized

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

Incentivized

From go live in 2012 to current, issues submitted, even if low priority, and could wait, are usually responded to in a few hours, most have been resolved the same day, or over a few days with interactive help from them (low priority question like how do I do this). Example questions have been what order to restart services. What ports are used by JAMS for our IT Group to open up the firewall for. The few Production issues we had are always responded to in a timely manner, usually within 15 minutes or sooner, even overnight issues.

Incentivized

Questions and problems can be addressed to VisualCron 's support department via E-mail. I usually get a good answer from them fairly quickly. There is also a VisualCron forum where you can ask questions that will be answered by other VisualCron users.

Incentivized

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

Incentivized

Our team vetted a competing
software, VisualCron, feedback as follows: 1. Difficult to use. 2. Questionable customer service -
Language barrier and did not respond to request for demo video recording.
3. VisualCron seems more powerful
but with that it is more difficult to use if you do not wish to do more
extensive coding to customise it.

Incentivized

For simple processes, VisualCron is easier to use and maintain. For complicated processes, Quadient Inspire offers more options. The graphical representations of waiting, running or completed jobs is adequate for both products. The logging of job actions is better in Quadient Inpire as in VisualCron.

Incentivized

i didnt have any involvement in the sales process, however we purchased the product so it had to be decent.

We have the client in a central location and deploy agents that connect back wherever they are required. Meaning it can be managed and configured from one location. We can run any number of Jobs on each agent as required there is no minimum per agent, so no wasted jobs on a quiet agent

i didnt have any involvement in the sales process, however we purchased the product so it had to be decent.

• Using JAMS when working from home (initially COVID, and now permanent) gives me tremendous visibility into the running operations of our business without any loss in productivity for not being in the office.
• With JAMS I can more tightly schedule evening batch jobs by running one job after the successful completion of predecessor, as opposed to the CRON like guessing at safe start times.
• Central control on a monitored server in a datacenter for all job scheduling tasks has given us 99.9% uptime reliability, instead of herding cats on multiple machines.

• With VisualCron, I need 3 times less time to get file processing right.
• If a VisualCron job goes wrong I need twice as much time to find the problem.
• Visualcron does not run on Linux but on Windows which can make an upgrade and reboot take up to 6 times as long.

Incentivized