Item: JAMS
Rating: 10
Author: Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with JAMS

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We currently use JAMS as part of our Automation as an alternative to Windows Task Scheduler or other internal Job Processing software. In general it it used as a scheduling tool for processes we need to run at regular intervals along with executing Jobs or processes that are conditional based for example file watch trigger or specific time/date triggers etc

Pros and Cons

Pros

Scheduled Tasks
Trigger or Conditional based execution
Workload Automation
Scalability

Cons

Some of the Example jobs are harder to convert to Use - for example a workflow
The documentation - Although the Support Team are super, they are fast and accurate with questions on live chat or email, but I don't feel it would be appropriate to ask questions on setting up a job from scratch.

Return on Investment

Reduced Man hours
Productivity benefits
Monitoring benefits
Speed and accuracy improvements

Scalability

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

Support Rating

Excellent, the live chat and email are fast and accurate - Could not be better. When the live chat is not available you can riase a ticket and the response times are fast. The better the description and level of information provided means you'll get a satisfactory answer much faster

Alternatives Considered

VisualCron

JAMS is easier to use, provides more features and was easier to manage form a central location. simple features in JAMS were missing from VisualCron such as a projected daily schedule. The install setup with a client and agents was better suited for us too

Key Insights

Do you think JAMS delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with JAMS's feature set?

Yes

Did JAMS live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of JAMS go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy JAMS again?

Yes

Other Software Used

Octopus Deploy

Likelihood to Recommend

JAMS is well suited for Operational Tasks and Jobs or Processes that need to be run on a schedule. It works well and has plenty of opportunity to add as much or little detail in terms of Job Task, Method, Error Catching, Inputs/Outputs etc. For Example I could be a one-line cmd or a 2000 line PowerShell scripts filled with functions/Switches parameters. Great log files, multiple notification options. My one con for the system is the Job numbers, although that is not a JAMS restriction rather the license we have purchased. Support are worth mentioning as they are fast and accurate when I have a question relating to jobs and tweaking setups.

JAMS Feature Ratings

Using JAMS

Users and Roles

10 - Operations and Support team

Support Headcount Required

10 - Depending on what you count as support, We have people who setup jobs and people who maintain installs and servers

Business Processes Supported

Scheduling
Automation
Monitoring

Innovative Uses

To connect with our internal tools
Replacement for Tasks not originally intended

Future Planned Uses

Further Automation
Integration with other parts of Job

Likelihood to Renew

I would renew, but if the cost is too high for the number of Jobs we would have to look at alternatives as we scale up

Evaluating JAMS and Competitors

Products Replaced

Key Differentiators

Product Features
Product Usability
Prior Experience with the Product

We had looked at alternatives at a lower price when we required more Jobs as we grow.
The most likely competitor had a much much higher number of Jobs for a lower cost but the features it was missing in the end meant for now we remained with JAMS for our operations

Evaluation Lessons Learned

When it comes round again we will consider the number of Jobs vs Features as the main priority

JAMS Implementation

Implementation Rating

The Complications were on an infrastructure or user level - in terms of finding and adapting so many different tasks into JAMS

Implementation Details / Implementation Partner

Implemented in-house

Implementation Phases

Change Management Lessons

Change management was a big part of the implementation and was well-handled - The importance of finding the right product to suit our needs and testing

Implementation Issues

The Server Prerequires - highlighted in current versions
Moving Existing tasks to JAMS - Not a Jams issue

JAMS Support

JAMS Customer Support Pros and Cons

Pros	Cons
Quick Resolution Good followup Knowledgeable team Problems get solved Kept well informed No escalation required Immediate help available Support understands my problem Support cares about my success Quick Initial Response	None

Premium Support

No we have the standard out of the box support. I am unsure if there is a premium support model but we have not required it if it does exist

Bug Resolution

Yes - The bugs we identify have always been known to them and resolved in future updates - We tend to stay a version behind current for this reason

Exceptional Examples of JAMS Support

Anytime we are doing upgrades on our side they offer support and advice on bespoke changes we make to the system.
One such instance was related to replacing the JAMS Version of Newtonsoft.dll with a version we required for our systems elsewhere.
JAMS Support were able to tell us the impact and where to make the changes

Using JAMS

Usability

9/10 as there are so many features I have not tried as of yet.
It is easy to get started but as jobs become more complex you tend to employ more and more features - Some of which can be complicated at first.
This all comes down to experience using the system.
Out first setup and current setup are vastly different as we learn how to use the full power.

Usability Pros and Cons

Pros	Cons
Like to use Relatively simple Easy to use Well integrated Consistent Quick to learn Convenient Feel confident using Familiar	None

Easy Tasks

PowerShell Scripts on remote Server
CMD with log outputs
SSRS and SQL Agent Jobs

Difficult Tasks

Complex Workflows - This is not a JAMS issue

Comments

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Louis Diaz
(Vendor Representative) commented 3 years ago
Hello JAMS User, Thank you for the feedback! I'd like to share with you that version 7 of JAMS has a Home shortcut that can provide some background on creating Jobs. Do you have a favorite job type in JAMS? I'll see what I can do about prioritizing some documentation for getting things started. Thanks again, Louis
Peter Hegland
commented 9 months ago
Hi! Thanks for updating your review! I am the General Manager for JAMS. If you would like to chat or discuss anything (including the costs of scaling up job count) please reach out to me. I'd love to chat more. My email is peter.hegland@fortra.com. Thanks for being a loyal JAMS customer! Best, Peter Hegland