Item: BMC AMI DevX
Rating: 7
Author: Sean Zef

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Currently using File-AID across our org. We're mostly using it for creating test data and compares.

Pros and Cons

Extract/load data from one DB or table to another masking the data for testing.
Compare extracts against each other to ensure good baselines.

I find it more obtuse to use than IBM Optim.
Related tables are difficult to incorporate.

Return on Investment

Saves time creating production like data for testing.
Keeps that data safe from developers and need-to-know only.

Optim is more user friendly in how it operates, in my opinion. It's less obtuse to figure out how to extract and mask the data required compared to File-AID. Further, Optim is easier to gather related tables, by far. I do prefer using File-AID via the Topaz GUI much more than using Optim via its GUI. Finally, I personally believe that File-AID is significantly faster to run than Optim - this could be a configuration issue.

Support Rating

Support has been amazing compared to Optim. Further, new features are very regular with File-AID - I can't remember the last time Optim had a significant update. File-AID support is very receptive to feature requests and reported bugs, including sending out hotfixes quickly.

Key Insights

Do you think BMC AMI DevX delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with BMC AMI DevX's feature set?

Yes

Did BMC AMI DevX live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of BMC AMI DevX go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy BMC AMI DevX again?

Yes

Likelihood to Recommend

It's pretty good at creating an extract of a whole table, but not the best at grabbing all related tables in my experience. Pretty intuitive on setting up your test data categories. I also really like that it can either run via ISPF or via Topaz which was included with our purchase.

File-AID, good value and still evolving

Overall Satisfaction with Compuware File-AID