ActiveBatch by Redwood vs Automic Automation vs Control-M comparison

ActiveBatch by Redwood and Broadcom are both solutions in the Workload Automation category. ActiveBatch by Redwood is ranked #6 with an average rating of 9.3, while Broadcom is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.6. ActiveBatch by Redwood holds a 2.3% mindshare in WA, compared to Broadcom’s 7.2% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of ActiveBatch by Redwood users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 94% of Broadcom users who would recommend it.

ActiveBatch by Redwood

Read 35 ActiveBatch by Redwood reviews

1,740 Views
702 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Automic Automation

Read 103 Automic Automation reviews

4,289 Views
2,032 Comparison Views

94% willing to recommend

Control-M

Read 121 Control-M reviews

18,291 Views
7,440 Comparison Views

98% willing to recommend

ActiveBatch by Redwood

Automic Automation

Control-M

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between ActiveBatch by Redwood, Automic Automation, and Control-M based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about BMC, Broadcom, Redwood Software and others in Workload Automation.

To learn more, read our detailed Workload Automation Report (Updated: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Workload Automation

April 2025

Download the complete report

Helped 851,371 peers since 2012

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Workload Automation category, the mindshare of ActiveBatch by Redwood is 2.3%, up from 2.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Automic Automation is 7.2%, up from 6.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Control-M is 21.8%, down from 26.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Workload Automation

Featured Reviews

Shubham Bharti

Senior Analyst at Capgemini

Flexible, easy to use, and offers good automation

Occasionally, I find myself contemplating if there is room for improvement in the user interface (UI), and envisioning that with certain enhancements. The UI could potentially offer a more refined and user-friendly experience, fostering smoother interactions and facilitating easier navigation for users engaging with the application. New users might encounter a minor setback due to the absence of readily accessible training videos, which could have otherwise proven to be an invaluable resource in aiding their initial familiarization with the platform, potentially hindering their seamless onboarding process and delaying their ability to harness the software's full range of capabilities to its utmost potential.

Read full review

Peter Grundler

Senior Consultant at Tricise

Helps to move away from manual tasks and offers wide platform support and web-based interface

Customers want to move away from manual monitoring and checking processes. Automating these processes helps in time-saving and reduces human error. When you automate business processes, it reduces mistakes. It eliminates the risk of manual errors such as typos. There is a 20% to 30% reduction in human error. It fulfills all the needs when it comes to visibility and control across various operating platforms. It is the perfect product for managing processes that span multiple operating platforms. Automic Automation has the widest platform support compared to other products, such as Control-M, Tivoli from IBM, or Stonebranch. It definitely helps with compliance processes. We have had a lot of customers for two years with a focus on compliance, and it works. They were successful. Due to the fact that our customers can automate a lot of things, it reduces operating costs. It is hard to give a number because the savings are different for each customer. If a customer never had any automation, there could be about 80% savings after implementing Automic Automation, whereas for a customer who already has automated tasks, the difference will be less by adding Automic Automation. They might see 5% to 10% more savings. Automic Automation helps improve our ability to meet SLAs. In the recent versions, SLA management has been integrated, which previously was an external component. Because a lot of customers used it and asked Broadcom to implement SLA management into the workload engine, Broadcom included it. We see more and more customers running their SLA management via the Automic Automation product.

Read full review

Pedro Fuentes

System Engineer at Community Loans of America, Inc.

Cost-effective, excellent support, and centralized access and control

They have a department that handles requests for enhancements. I talked to Control-M guys back in October or November when they had a gathering here in Atlanta. We talked about not being able to go back in history in Helix Control-M for more than two weeks. We submitted a request for enhancement. They told us that they are working on it, and they are thinking of expanding that to 30 days. We would like to see it expand to 90 days, but they are working on it. In Control-M, we were able to go back 180 days, but that was on-prem. The storage of that data was on our own servers. We know that storage is money, and we do not expect them to store that much of the data, but at least 30 to 60 days seem proper.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"It has helped with scheduling complex jobs with simple scripts."

"Since I started using this product, I have been able to easily track everything as it mainly monitors, alerts, and looks after all the services - even across platform scheduling - which has helped me immensely."

"For developers, it is easy to orchestrate the workflows and the integration has been very easy."

"Easy to configure and simple to develop new features."

"Approximately ~20 hours of manual effort have been reduced to ~5 hours with the help of ActiveBatch."

"The automation feature is a very valuable feature as the associates do not have to worry about performing repetitive tasks (i.e. endpoint security scans on a daily basis) that would take several hours to complete on a daily basis."

"ActiveBatch can automate predictable, repeatable processes very well. There is no real trick to what ActiveBatch does. ActiveBatch does exactly what you would expect a scheduling piece of software to do. It does it in a timely manner and does it with very little outside interference and fanfare. It runs when it is supposed to, and I don't have to jump through a bunch of hoops to double check it."

"The Jobs Library has been a tremendous asset. For the most, that's what we use. There are some outliers, but we pretty much integrate those Jobs Library steps throughout the process, whether it's REST calls, FTP processes, or file copies and moves... That has helped us to build end-to-end workflows."

More ActiveBatch by Redwood pros

"Our company uses it to connect different systems."

"The solution is usually pretty easy for non-technical people to pick it up as long as they have basic experience with scripting."

"Stability has been great. My team, we call ourselves "the invisibles" because things run so well that sometimes you almost feel like you have to try to break something to actually get acknowledged."

"What I like the most about Automic is its user interface."

"The functionality is great, the scripting language is very powerful. They can adapt to most use cases. Very good community of different companies and a user base so when we have problems we can go to other people."

"Without automation, it would be nearly impossible to do all the jobs that we are doing."

"It's allowing us to increase our overall volumes of data that we're working with, without actually increasing the overall amount of team that we need to monitor it."

"The most valuable feature is that I do not have to wait for one job to finish, then manually click on the next one to start. Automation is the best feature."

More Automic Automation pros

"Monitoring is a valuable aspect of it. The monitoring tool is very good, and it is easy for expert and entry level users to use on a short notice."

"Self Service for repeatable, low impact workload automation processes."

"There is a batch monitoring tool called Batch Impact Manager, which proactively warns when processing is behind and SLAs are in jeopardy of being missed."

"The best part about this product is that it has a lot of features. Control-M doesn't limit us and we can use it for a lot of things."

"The most valuable features are the GUI console, stability, and workflow."

"Helix Control-M has contributed to the overall stability of our applications and improved user experience."

"Before Control-M, we didn't have a centralized view and could not view what happened in the past to determine what will happen in the future. The Gantt view that we have in Control-M is like a project view. It is nice because we sometimes have some application maintenance that we need to do. So, in a single console, we can hold the jobs for the next hour or two. We can release that job when it is finished. This is a really nice feature that we didn't have before. It is something really simple, but we didn't previously have a console where we could say, "For the next two hours, what are the jobs that we will run? And, hold these jobs not to run." This is really important."

"The reporting is top-notch. I haven't found any other applications on the market that can replicate what Control-M offers. The alerting is very good, and I think their service monitoring is the best in the industry."

More Control-M pros

Cons

"They have some crucial design flaws within the console that still need to be worked out because it is not working exactly how we hoped to see it, e.g., just some minor things where when you hit the save button, then all of a sudden all your job's library items collapse. Then, in order to continue on with your testing, you have to open those back up. I have taken that to them, and they are like, "Yep. We know about it. We know we have some enhancements that need to be taken care of. We have more developers now." They are working towards taking the minor things that annoy us, resolving them, and getting them fixed."

"A nice thing to have would be the ability to comfortably pass variables from one job to another. That was one of the things that I found difficult."

"We have faced a couple of issues where we were supposed to log a defect with ActiveBatch. That said, the Active batch Vendor Support is very responsive and reliable."

"I have faced struggles to understand, set up the tool, and implement it in my early days as a new user."

"Some of the advanced features in the user interface are a bit confusing even after referring to the documents."

"Some improvements can be made to the user interface."

"Any product is going to have some room for improvement, no matter what. I see the company has already ventured into AWS and they're constantly trying to improve the managed file transfer which they have recently improvised. I think they bought a software called JSCAPE and they're trying to improve it, which is good. I am not sure if JSCAPE would be part of the base product but currently, you have to buy a separate license for it, which doesn't make sense. If it was Microsoft, ServiceNow, or integrating with other software vendors, I would understand but JSCAPE is now in-house and I'm not sure if they can justify having a separate license for JSCAPE. I would probably expect them to be packaging JSCAPE into the base product. They did switch over from a perpetual license model to a subscription model, which hurt the company a little bit. Nobody is offering the perpetual model anymore. As long as the transition is fair for both the companies, I think it should be fine and not burn us out."

"As more organizations are moving towards a cloud-based infrastructure, ActiveBatch could incorporate more capabilities that support popular cloud platforms, such as AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud."

More ActiveBatch by Redwood cons

"There is a problem with the installation translation. It is some type of hybrid. We have some parts in German and some in English. It should be completely in German and completely in English. It should be better in the future."

"The calendar with the new version is a little bit goofy."

"I would like more training on workload automation, because I do not have a complete insight of the product yet."

"The new user interface needs improvement. The previous version was good and stable. Now, we have to check the new one before using a web browser. It is not stable."

"My biggest complaint is that there is no list price. We work with Oracle, Microsoft, IBM, etc., and all of them have list pricing. Automic, right up until today, has never had list pricing. This makes things difficult, because we need to plan budgets for the next year and can't."

"The direction in which the UI is going is concerning to me. It does not offer the security context we would need to implement future versions. While I see benefit in the Web UI, the security it would lack in separating a user's experience from an administrator's experience is an issue for us. MFA functionality is required since we're dealing with connectivity to the POS and for PCI/SOX compliance."

"The tool lacks interoperability features."

"Depending on the properties of the jobs and pre- and post-conditions, there needs to be more flexible and richer conditions that I can check for. This would be a great addition."

More Automic Automation cons

"Its operations and infrastructure can be improved."

"I am unsure if Control-M is compliant with Microsoft Azure environment integrations. We have some clients in Azure environments. Specifically, in Canada, government agencies and nonprofits mostly use Microsoft Azure."

"Control-M could benefit from incorporating AI features for better job scheduling."

"The reporting tool still needs a lot of improvement. It was supposed to get better with the upgrade, and it really didn't get better. It needs help, because it's such a useful thing to have. It needs to be more powerful and easier to use."

"A lot of the areas of improvement revolve around Automation API because that area is constantly evolving. It is constantly changing, and it is constantly being updated. There are some bugs that are introduced from one version to the next. So, the regression testing doesn't seem to capture some of the bugs that have been fixed in prior versions, and those bugs are then reintroduced in later versions."

"The next major release needs to focus on the lightweight web client."

"The Control-M API does not support SQL database-type jobs, where a job has been configured to use the SQL catalog to locate SSIS."

"The licensing cost can be improved."

More Control-M cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"If you compare ActiveBatch licensing to Control-M, you're looking at $50,000 as opposed to millions."

"The price was fairly in line with other automation tools. I don't think it's exorbitantly expensive, relatively speaking."

"I don't think we've ever had a problem with the pricing or licensing. Even the maintenance fees are very much in line. They are not excessive. I think for the support that you get, you get a good value for your money. It's the best value on the market."

"I like ActiveBatch Workload Automation's licensing model because they're not holding you down on an agentless model or agent model, where every server needs to have an agent. That's the main selling point of the solution and I hope they stay that way."

"The pricing was fair. There are additional costs for the plugins. We have the standard licensing fees for different pieces, then we have the plugins which were add-ons. However, we expected that."

"Currently, we are paying approximately $7,000 yearly, which includes support."

"It allows for lower operational overhead."

"ActiveBatch is currently redesigning themselves. In the past, they were a low cost solution for automation. They had a nice tool that was very inexpensive. With their five-year plan, they will be more enhancement-driven, so they're trying to improve their software, customer service, and the way that their customers get information from them. In doing that, they're raising the price of their base system. They changed from one pricing model to another, which has caused some friction between ActiveBatch and us. We're working through that right now with them. That's one of the reasons why we're why we were evaluating other software packages."

"I'm not sure about licensing costs, but I know the base price is about $3,000, and you can get some kind of discount per node."

"Automic Automation is costly."

"The pricing was client-wise, but they are changing it to execution-wise pricing. So, we are in negotiation."

"It costs to scale. While, it is scalable, the add-ons are expensive."

"This is a support system for us, not our core business, so we purchased this product inexpensively."

"Our company had paid around 5,000 to 6,000 USD per license for a month."

"The pricing is based on the number of servers and agents."

"We receive time efficiency from this product."

More Automic Automation pricing and cost advice

"The price is right because of the licensing schema, which is based on nodes and processes. You purchase what you use, no more and no less, and you can grow with time."

"There are human costs in addition to the standard pricing and licensing of this solution."

"This product saves hours in a day based on my experience working here versus other companies with manually operations."

"This is an expensive product compared to other solutions, although I think that it is a good one. We are in a good position with licensing, as we can run 10,000 jobs."

"Control-M isn't cheap, but this is an enterprise model."

"The pricing is moderate, not too low or too high compared to other solutions."

"The pricing of Control-M is reasonable."

"We are paying way more for Control-M than we've paid for any of our other scheduling tools."

More Control-M pricing and cost advice

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Workload Automation solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

851,371 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

23%

Computer Software Company

Insurance Company

Retailer

Financial Services Firm

19%

Manufacturing Company

17%

Computer Software Company

12%

Insurance Company

Financial Services Firm

28%

Computer Software Company

13%

Manufacturing Company

Retailer

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about ActiveBatch Workload Automation?

Managing the workload and monitoring the tasks were very difficult with manual interventions. Now, by using ActiveBat...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ActiveBatch Workload Automation?

I'd advise users to start by knowing what the actual requirement is and thoroughly assess the automation needs. New u...

See all answers

What needs improvement with ActiveBatch Workload Automation?

After upgrades we are facing a few issues and errors triggered, so focusing on this would be appreciated. Some of the...

See all answers

What do you like most about Automic Workload Automation?

It is easy to manage complex workloads and use electronic workflow automation.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Automic Workload Automation?

The pricing was client-wise, but they are changing it to execution-wise pricing. So, we are in negotiation.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Automic Workload Automation?

The support and knowledge of incident management could be enhanced. There have been unresolved issues persisting for ...

See all answers

How does Control-M compare with AutoSys Workload Automation?

Control-M acts as a single, centralized interface for monitoring and managing all batch processes, which is helpful b...

See all answers

What do you like most about Control-M?

First of all, the shift from manual to automation has been valuable. We have a tool that can automate.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Control-M?

It depends. It's packaged in such a way that you can buy the base model without all of the fancy stuff. You can try a...

See all answers

Comparisons

MuleSoft Anypoint Platform vs ActiveBatch by Redwood

Compared 17% of the time

AutoSys Workload Automation vs ActiveBatch by Redwood

Compared 13% of the time

Tidal by Redwood vs ActiveBatch by Redwood

Compared 8% of the time

Stonebranch vs ActiveBatch by Redwood

Compared 8% of the time

Camunda vs ActiveBatch by Redwood

Compared 5% of the time

More ActiveBatch by Redwood Competitors

AutoSys Workload Automation vs Automic Automation

Compared 15% of the time

Dollar Universe Workload Automation vs Automic Automation

Compared 9% of the time

Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform vs Automic Automation

Compared 8% of the time

Redwood RunMyJobs vs Automic Automation

Compared 7% of the time

Axway Automator vs Automic Automation

Compared 1% of the time

More Automic Automation Competitors

AutoSys Workload Automation vs Control-M

Compared 16% of the time

IBM Workload Automation vs Control-M

Compared 7% of the time

Redwood RunMyJobs vs Control-M

Compared 6% of the time

Stonebranch vs Control-M

Compared 5% of the time

Rocket Zena vs Control-M

Compared 4% of the time

More Control-M Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

ActiveBatch by Redwood

May 2025

Download ActiveBatch by Redwood product report

Buyer's Guide

Automic Automation

May 2025

Download Automic Automation product report

Buyer's Guide

Control-M

May 2025

Download Control-M product report

Also Known As

ActiveBatch

Automic Dollar Universe

Control M

Overview

ActiveBatch by Redwood automates and manages batch processes, data integration tasks, and workflow scheduling. It's used for file transfers, data processing, server monitoring, and report generation, supporting both on-prem and cloud environments.

Organizations implement ActiveBatch by Redwood to automate complex job scheduling and data workflows, integrating seamlessly with FTP, SQL, PowerShell, and other systems. With features like real-time monitoring, error handling, and centralized management, users can significantly boost productivity while minimizing manual intervention. Its flexibility in supporting on-premises and cloud environments makes it adaptable for diverse IT landscapes. The tool simplifies workflow orchestration with an extensive library of pre-built steps and robust API integrations, ensuring efficiency in handling various workloads.

What are ActiveBatch by Redwood's key features?

Job automation: Automates routine and complex jobs.
Real-time monitoring: Offers instant insights into job performance.
Customizable workflows: Tailors workflows to specific business needs.
PowerShell integration: Supports advanced script execution.
Job triggering: Initiates tasks based on specific conditions.
File handling: Manages file transfers and processing efficiently.
Server management: Monitors and handles server tasks consistently.
API integration: Connects with various applications for streamlined operations.
Alerting: Provides notifications for critical job events.
Flexible scheduling: Enables detailed and adaptable job scheduling.

What benefits and ROI can users expect?

Centralized management: Simplifies oversight of all processes.
Productivity boost: Reduces manual effort and errors.
Time savings: Accelerates task completion and workflow execution.
Comprehensive visibility: Enhances monitoring of all job activities.
Reliable performance: Ensures consistent task execution.
Scalability: Adapts to growing business and IT needs.

In various industries, ActiveBatch by Redwood is used to streamline operations, whether in finance handling large-scale data processing, healthcare managing patient records, or retail optimizing supply chains. It addresses specific needs by offering robust automation, efficient job scheduling, and seamless integration with existing systems, driving operational excellence and efficiency.

ActiveBatch by Redwood

Automic Automation is employed for migration assistance, digital business automation, integration with platforms, ITIL process workflows, batch processing, disaster recovery, scheduling ERP batch jobs, and automation within finance and telecom sectors.

Businesses implement Automic Automation across on-premises and cloud infrastructures, supporting SAP, mainframes, host systems, and other environments. Valued for its versatility and out-of-the-box integration capabilities, it enhances automation efficiency and reduces operational costs. The platform is known for its robust object-oriented workflow, zero-downtime upgrades, CI/CD pipeline integration, and multi-client architecture. Enhanced stability, scalability, user-friendliness, and compliance are notable benefits.

What are the key features?

Versatile Scheduler: Manage complex schedules effortlessly.
Object-Oriented Workflow: Robust and flexible workflow management.
Zero-Downtime Upgrades: Continuous operation without interruptions.
CI/CD Integration: Seamless incorporation into development pipelines.
Multi-Client Architecture: Supports diverse and multiple client environments.
Unique Scripting Language: Enhances customizability and automation.
Predictive Analytics: Improved job execution and performance insights.
Intuitive GUI: Simplifies job and workflow management.

What benefits or ROI should be evaluated?

Enhanced Stability: Reliable operations across environments.
Scalability: Easily adapts to growing business needs.
Reduced Operational Costs: Streamlined automation processes lower expenses.
Compliance Assurance: Ensures adherence to regulations and standards.

Automic Automation is widely used in finance and telecom industries, addressing unique challenges and demands. It integrates with Broadcom products and supports SAP environments, ensuring well-rounded automation and operational efficiency. While technical support and vendor assistance could improve, businesses find value in its scheduling, deployment options, and workflow visibility. The industry's capability to manage cloud systems and SaaS deployment helps in mitigating disaster recovery issues and facilitates smoother ITIL process workflows.

Broadcom

Control-M is used for enterprise workload automation, orchestrating finance, retail, healthcare, and supply chain processes. It handles batch job scheduling, managed file transfers, cloud integrations, and compliance auditing across on-premises, cloud, and hybrid environments.

Organizations leverage Control-M to efficiently monitor and manage business-critical processes like payroll, HR, SAP, Informatica, and database tasks. It enhances visibility, security, and error resolution. Automating and optimizing workflows in data centers, AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud Platform, Control-M supports diverse technological environments. The platform's robust capabilities make it suitable for effective centralized management of applications and data pipelines, ensuring enhanced collaboration and scalability.

What are Control-M's most important features?

Integration capabilities: Seamlessly integrates with various systems
Automation API: Facilitates automation through APIs
Managed File Transfer: Simplifies secure file transfers
GUI console: Intuitive graphical user interface
Role-based administration: Provides access control
Single-pane view: Centralized monitoring dashboard
Scheduling options: Flexible job scheduling
Workflow orchestration: Coordinates complex workflows
Reporting: Generates insightful reports
Monitoring: Tracks and manages tasks
Forecasting: Predicts future workloads
Self-service portal: Empowers users with self-service tools
Plugins: Extends functionality through additional plugins

What are the benefits or ROI of using Control-M?

Enhanced visibility: Centralized view of all processes
Ease of use: User-friendly interface
Error reduction: Minimizes manual errors
Improved collaboration: Facilitates teamwork
Scalability: Supports growth and scale
Support: Comprehensive customer support

Control-M is implemented in industries like finance to handle payroll and HR tasks, in retail for inventory management and supply chain processes, and in healthcare for compliance auditing and patient data processing. Organizations benefit from streamlined workflows and automated processes across on-premises, cloud, and hybrid environments, ensuring efficient and secure operations.

BMC

Sample Customers

Informatica, D&H, ACES, PrimeSource, Sub-Zero Group, SThree, Lamar Advertising, Subway, Xcel Energy, Ignite Technologies, Whataburger, Jyske Bank, Omaha Children's Hospital

ING, Adidas, 84.51, ESB

CARFAX, Tampa General Hospital, Navistar, Amadeus, Raymond James, Railinc

Find out what your peers are saying about BMC, Broadcom, Redwood Software and others in Workload Automation. Updated: April 2025.

DOWNLOAD NOW

851,371 professionals have used our research since 2012.