Fortra's JAMS Reviews

Name: Fortra's JAMS
Brand: Fortra
Rating: 5 (27 reviews)

4.5 out of 5

27 reviews
100% willing to recommend

What is Fortra's JAMS?UNIXBusinessApplication
Price:

JAMS is an enterprise job scheduling and workload automation solution that manages IT processes – from simple batch processes and scripts, to cross-platform workflows that integrate jobs running on multiple servers and business applications. JAMS enables you to define, schedule, execute and monitor jobs from a single centralized console.

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Fortra's JAMS is the #5 ranked solution in top Workload Automation solutions. PeerSpot users give Fortra's JAMS an average rating of 9.0 out of 10. Fortra's JAMS is most commonly compared to Control-M: Fortra's JAMS vs Control-M. Fortra's JAMS is popular among the large enterprise segment, accounting for 64% of users researching this solution on PeerSpot. The top industry researching this solution are professionals from a financial services firm, accounting for 18% of all views.

Helped 767,319 peers since 2012

Featured reviews

Rob Grafrath

VP, Enterprise Systems at Capio

Nov 18, 2023

The extensibility feature, i.e., the custom execution method ability, is the most valuable feature. We can write a C# interface using the JAMS libraries. We copy the DLLs for the client interface over to our remote desktop and JAMS servers. Then, any of our JAMS users can open up a job definition and see the control developed by our developers. When the job command is issued, it executes our developers' code. I am happy with the exception handling, for the most part. When an exception occurs on one job inside of a series of jobs, it can make that series of jobs stop running, sending an email to someone to let them respond. There is also a monitor view where you can see everything that is currently running and any of the jobs that are currently in an error state. You can find them and try to rerun the job, or cancel it if the job doesn't actually need to be run. JAMS will attach the console logs from anything that has an error on the email that goes to the operators. Also, inside of the job monitor, you can go to the logs and dig down into the details to see what went wrong. It has the ability to use PowerShell to schedule jobs, enable, or disable triggers. The fact that they have JAMS PowerShell cmdlets is useful. This is not central to our use of JAMS, but I appreciate it. While they have extended PowerShell and created cmdlets, I tend to use that when I have to do things like kill all the jobs currently in the schedule, if something catastrophic has occurred. I use them on my test server more than production. On my test server, if I am running a bunch of tests and jobs, but I just want to wipe out the whole scheduler, then I can use a PowerShell command to do that. From time to time, a job is executed and gets stuck in a loop. It gets hung. Maybe the remote system freezes up. Something abnormal happens. It is pretty easy to deal with those. You can see them inside the JAMS monitor because JAMS will automatically calculate the average time that it takes for a given job to execute as long as it has had a few successful runs. The JAMS Scheduler can predict what should take five minutes to run. If it is running for 30 minutes, there is a percentage that shows inside the scheduler that the job is now at 600% of the normal run time. So, you will see this big number, 600% and climbing inside the monitor. You can research that. You can go find the hung process on the source system and respond accordingly. You can set up jobs such that they send alerts or have runaway job limitations. I personally don't tend to use the runaway feature. Our operators notice and respond accordingly to long-running jobs.

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Kammy Olive

Network and Local Support Manager at a comms service provider with 5,001-10,000 employees

Mar 27, 2023

The scheduler is the most valuable feature. Using that, we can set up all of our data sources to be available. We use multiple different data source providers and they're already in JAMS. All somebody has to do is go into JAMS and say, "I want to use Adverity," or, for whatever client it is, that they want that client's data for these dates and these criteria. They can specify that they want it sent to this database or that FTP, and with only these column names. Whatever we want to do, we can almost write the code to do it in JAMS because we already have so much data in there. It's as if JAMS has made itself into its own picker. It can also do exceptions, you just have to remember to program them in. As a rule, when you first start out with a job and JAMS, you probably aren't going to tell it what to do with errors until you see a pattern in your errors. And then you can say, "Try three times but wait five minutes each time." You go into the job in the monitor and it says it failed. Then you can change the criteria, such as how long it's holding, or repeat the job every 10 minutes until successful. The code-driven automation for more complex scheduling requirements frees up time because it's really easy to use. It looks complicated, and when people start using it, it might seem a little bit overwhelming, but after you get all the definitions set up, it is very easy to do. It's almost like a stand-alone software that we can't live without.

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Aaron Warnke

Senior Business Intelligence Developer at a financial services firm with 51-200 employees

Mar 23, 2023

The ability to sequence jobs is excellent; it means we don't have to schedule them individually, and if one fails, it doesn't unwind the entire workflow. JAMS is excellent for helping us be aware of and handle common issues that can prevent jobs from running. The solution notifies us when jobs go sideways, which is extremely helpful. Additionally, we can change our parameters if the network changes or if adjustments are made, allowing us to quickly alter a bunch of jobs just by updating a parameter. We use the solution's Interactive Agents; we deploy them on different servers to run the jobs directly. Adding interactive processes is very important to our organization. Running interactive tasks helps users focus on business processes. I'm the primary administrator for JAMS. It helps tremendously by allowing me to offload all the problems that can occur with jobs and all the associated rescheduling and rerunning of them. With JAMS, my job is much easier. JAMS is second to none when it comes to handling exceptions, exceptions meaning issues where a job might fail for one reason or another. I can dive into the job, and the log files are centrally located so that I can find the root cause very quickly. I can then address the issue, fix it, and rerun it all from one application. The platform's code-driven automation is excellent for helping us handle complex scheduling requirements. There hasn't been anything we haven't been able to do through PowerShell. JAMS helps us troubleshoot stalled jobs; it points us in the right direction as the centrally located log files allow us to see how far the job progressed and the specific point of failure. It gives us a good starting point for troubleshooting.

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Fortra's JAMS market share

As of March 2024, the market share of Fortra's JAMS in the Workload Automation category stands at 1.1%, marking a decrease of 35.7% compared to the previous year, according to calculations based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Workload Automation

Key learnings from peers

Valuable Features

Some of the most commonly mentioned features in the reviews include scheduling, automation, notifications, the ability to import jobs from different platforms, integration capabilities with other applications, PowerShell integration, self-service capability, the ability to sequence jobs, exception handling, code-driven automation for complex scheduling requirements, and the ability to handle common issues that can prevent jobs from running. Users appreciate the ease of use, transparency, and flexibility of the tool, as well as its ability to run jobs across multiple servers and provide instant access to log files. The support team is also highly praised for its responsiveness and helpfulness.

Room for Improvement

Improvements needed on Fortra's JAMS include adding halted notifications, improving security access and permissions, providing better documentation and examples, enhancing the UI and search capabilities, adding source control features, offering a simpler web interface and a fully web-based client, improving automation for handling exceptions, and providing more transparent information on C# development for custom execution methods. Some users also suggest adding a search capability and revamping the client for easier job setup.

ROI

Fortra's JAMS has provided a significant return on investment for multiple users. The ease of use and time-saving features have allowed developers to focus on development rather than troubleshooting. The cost-effectiveness of JAMS has also been noted, with some users reporting significant reductions in expenditures compared to previous solutions. The automation provided by JAMS has eliminated the need for manual monitoring and remediation, freeing up staff to focus on other tasks. While it may be difficult to quantify the exact ROI, users agree that JAMS has been a game changer for their businesses.

Pricing

Fortra's JAMS is reasonably priced with no additional costs aside from the license fee. The product's pricing can be based on the number of jobs or processes, but users can combine commands into one job to save on costs. The licensing cost can also vary based on the user's requirements, such as having an unlimited agent or state solution. While it may be expensive, users find that JAMS is worth the price and provides scalability. The yearly cost for maintenance and additional features is also considered fair and much cheaper than other enterprise scheduling solutions. According to users, JAMS provides good value for its functionality and pricing.

"JAMS is priced competitively compared to similar solutions and offers flexible licensing options to cater to user needs."
"For what it does, the product is priced very well."
"The pricing of JAMS has not been an issue for us, as it has allowed us to save time."

Popular Use Cases

Fortra's JAMS is used for a variety of tasks, including automating SQL jobs, data warehouse jobs, data management, scripting, file transfers, and batch processes. It is used by companies in the banking, education, and automotive industries, among others. The solution is deployed on various platforms, including Linux, Oracle, Azure VM, and AWS. Custom execution methods are a popular feature, and the solution is used for complex workflows and scheduling scenarios. JAMS serves as an enterprise job scheduler that centralizes and streamlines job management for organizations.

Service and Support

Fortra's JAMS has excellent customer service and support, with highly responsive and knowledgeable staff. They have a proactive approach to support and will schedule meetings to resolve issues as soon as possible. The support team is able to quickly identify and troubleshoot issues, and they are familiar with different versions of the software. JAMS' support is comparable to having a dedicated coworker, and they are able to assist with both minor and major issues. JAMS' support is rated highly by customers, ranging from nine to ten out of ten.

Deployment

The initial setup for Fortra's JAMS varies depending on the complexity of the jobs, the number of servers, and the level of customization required. However, most reviewers found the setup to be straightforward and easy to follow. Some reviewers had already started with a pre-deployed version, while others had to start from scratch. The upgrade process is also simple and well-documented. Some reviewers had to migrate from other systems, which required some refactoring and planning. The learning curve for JAMS is not difficult, and most users find it intuitive. Support is readily available and helpful when needed. The deployment time ranges from a few hours to several months, depending on the size of the deployment and the level of customization.

Scalability

Fortra's JAMS solution appears to be highly scalable according to the reviews. Users report running tens of thousands of jobs daily, with the ability to add more agents and scale vertically. The scalability is limited by the number of jobs licensed, with costs increasing with the number of jobs. Some users have encountered limitations with the license allowing only one server at a time. However, overall, users have not experienced any scalability issues and are satisfied with the solution's scalability.

Stability

Fortra's JAMS solution is highly stable and reliable according to the reviews. The JAMS team provides updates and support to maintain the system's stability, and users appreciate being informed ahead of time about new releases. Users have rarely experienced any issues with stability, and even occasional issues were more likely due to external factors rather than the solution itself. The solution handles resources well and has a failover solution available for added reliability. Users report that JAMS has never failed them and is a mission-critical system that they depend on. According to users, JAMS is a rock-solid and steady tool that users are satisfied with.

These insights are based on the in-depth reviews provided by peers to help you make a better buying decision.

Download our Fortra's JAMS Buyer's Guide for additional reliable information.

Review data by company size

By reviewers

By visitors reading reviews

Top industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

18%

Manufacturing Company

14%

Computer Software Company

11%

Healthcare Company

Educational Organization

Retailer

Comms Service Provider

Insurance Company

Energy/Utilities Company

Wholesaler/Distributor

Legal Firm

Non Profit

Government

Logistics Company

University

Real Estate/Law Firm

Pharma/Biotech Company

Construction Company

Outsourcing Company

Performing Arts

Hospitality Company

Aerospace/Defense Firm

Transportation Company

Media Company

Compare Fortra's JAMS with alternative products

Learn more about Fortra's JAMS

JAMS can automate jobs on any platform - Windows, Linux, UNIX, IBM i, zOS, and OpenVMS and includes native application integrations to run jobs specific to databases, BI tools, and ERP systems. Its extensive automation features enable you to run jobs on any schedule, as well as trigger off the completion of other events. JAMS centrally monitors the status of all jobs, provides notifications of failure (or success), and maintains a detailed audit trail and log of every execution.

JAMS helps enterprises eliminate the slack, security risks, and lack of visibility associated with trying to automate critical business processes with a jumble of homegrown, single-platform scheduling tools and scripts. Once jobs are centrally managed in JAMS, IT teams can rest assured that JAMS is managing the cross-platform workflows and delivering measurable results to the business.

A Key Part of Fortra (the new face of HelpSystems) JAMS is proud to be part of Fortra’s comprehensive portfolio. Fortra simplifies today’s complex business landscape by bringing complementary products together to solve problems in innovative ways. These integrated, scalable solutions address the many challenges you face in streamlining your operations. With the help of JAMS Enterprise Job Scheduler and other solutions, Fortra is your relentless ally, here for you every step of the way on your automation journey.