Rocket Zena vs VisualCron comparison

Cancel
You must select at least 2 products to compare!
Rocket Software Logo
2,486 views|1,473 comparisons
NetCart AB Logo
869 views|501 comparisons
Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Rocket Zena and VisualCron based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Workload Automation solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.
To learn more, read our detailed Rocket Zena vs. VisualCron Report (Updated: March 2024).
765,386 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Featured Review
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"In the latest upgrade, Zena added a web-based client. The more I use it, the more I like it. It's an excellent interface. They do a good job of steadily improving the solution to make it more useful.""I have used other tools with similar capabilities; it's the ease of use.""The most valuable feature is the FTP file transfer.""Its FTP feature is very good, as is scheduling any process or task with the Zena client. I have found it to be very helpful. If a task fails, it gives you a prompt.""I like the whole product, but specifically, I like the license part. It's very easy to acquire a license for this product.""I have found the scheduling feature the most valuable. I can map dependencies by using ASG-Zena. It gives a nice, quick visualization as to where things are.""We haven't had any problems since we installed it. It runs as expected, we haven't had any critical problems. It helps keeps the business running 24/7.""From a Linux configuration point of view, Rocket Zena is straightforward. It's fairly easy to set up the server and agents once you know how to do it."

More Rocket Zena Pros →

"The most valuable feature of VisualCron is its ability to schedule interactive jobs so that you can have interdependencies within the job and interdependencies of a job on another job, and so on.""It has improved our organization with more automation within the business departments and less administration and development in the IT department. Usually, as the IT department, we are the bottleneck for many requirements within the business. With this tool, the business departments are able to perform many task themselves.""I love VisualCron because we previously spent a lot of time writing Power switches to connect to SQL Server. VisualCron makes it easier to execute services or connect to FileZilla by only adding the credentials to the master credentials stored in the solution.""What I like about VisualCron is that like its name, it's a very visual tool. In my previous company, there were a lot of scripts for all kinds of services, and through VisualCron, you get to group all flows and get a nice visual overview. VisualCron also has an alerting feature, so you receive alerts from it. VisualCron makes everything clearer and easier to maintain. Every other solution that I was looking for almost always needed a programmer, but with VisualCron, you can do what you need to do without programming skills, so this is another valuable feature of the tool.""It helped us reduce manual steps.""The ability to clone jobs to shorten the time it takes to implement a process has been invaluable, but its flexibility also gives us the ability to create a job that can handle a multifaceted process with a complex workflow.""What I found most beneficial from VisualCron is that you can directly connect it with different databases, user accounts, and credentials. You can run queries from one machine to another using the credentials, unlike PowerShell, that's run by the machine itself. With VisualCron, you can directly ask other machines and run requests through user credentials. Suppose you have an AWS or Azure environment. In that case, you can maintain the connection between on-premises and cloud-based machines, which is the type of setup in the organization I'm working for. You can directly call some of the services via VisualCron on your local on-premises machine, and I found that an excellent feature of the tool.""VisualCron is a very powerful program to automate different steps in your business processes. We use it to automate replacing files and inform departments about the replacement."

More VisualCron Pros →

Cons
"In the web interface, it stacks the tasks across the top, and they accumulate until you close or clean those out. That seems a little cumbersome. You must right-click and close all tabs constantly to keep the console clean and manage your views.""One area where it could be improved is communication between the different servers. Sometimes there are processes that have already been completed but we get a status notification that they're still active.""The documentation has room for improvement.""Rocket Zena is a mainframe-based job scheduler. I would like it to be more open so that we can use it on a distributed platform.""In the next release, I would like to have an alert feature to indicate when an agent is down. Rocket Zena is not capable of sending alerts that the agent is down. As of now, you have manually monitor to see when the agent is down.""The UI is not intuitive, and it would be nice if there was a web interface.""In the next release, I would like the user experience to be improved. The user interface should be more appealing to gen-z.""Another one that is probably a little bit bigger for me is that when there is an issue or there's an error, it writes on a different screen. I have to find the actual process name and go to a different screen to view the alert that got generated. On that screen, everyone's processes, not just the processes of the folks in my department, are thrown. It takes me a while to find the actual error so that I could go in there and look at the alert. It could be because of the way it was set up, but at least for me, it isn't too intuitive."

More Rocket Zena Cons →

"The error timeout and info could be better. When making web request calls, it will time out sometimes and we won't get any useful info out of the error response.""Our suggestion to make it better and more manageable in terms of GDPR: Implement it in a very partnership way.""VisualCron's command console is a little bit difficult to understand and needs to improve.""VisualCron seems to operate like an efficient machine when it comes to improvements and enhancements and new features. I always appreciate the quick response I get when bringing up an issue or coming up with suggestions. I've mentioned before that it would be great to see a move away from SQLCE and XML configuration files.""I would like for VisualCron to expand audit log to show who changed job variables that are initialized per job run.""VisualCron is software, and you will experience performance degradation when you scale up. VisualCron takes too much memory or CPU power. We have to increase the hardware resources of a specific server or system.""There are some conditions in the mail trigger, but you can only use them as an "AND" condition, not as an "OR" condition. This is an improvement that could be useful. For example, some people put "invoice" in the subject and others put "invoice" in the body. If I want to make a trigger for everybody whose sending invoices, I have to make two jobs for this now.""I want to improve the UI in VisualCron, as it's not as user-friendly, particularly when setting up the task scheduler. If you're familiar with the tool, then no problem, but if not, you'll have a problem typing text because sometimes, the cursor points to other places, so there's an issue with text box alignment in VisualCron. That was painful for me when I was just a VisualCron novice, but when you become used to it, there won't be a problem."

More VisualCron Cons →

Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "I don't know the exact cost, but I believe that it is approximately $150 to $180,000.00 Singapore dollars per year. This would be approximately $100 to $120,000 USD per year."
  • "The pricing and the licensing are good. It is affordable and can be used to improve and optimize productivity."
  • More Rocket Zena Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "ROI is 95 percent."
  • "We are fine with a rather cheap setup. Licensing with VisualCron is fair. You have a simple one-year licence in different sizes. There isn't a licensing jungle with hundreds of options and opt-ins."
  • "The pricing is extremely fair, and because of that I recommend purchasing multiple instances to split out the processing load across multiple application servers."
  • "ROI is one month."
  • "VisualCron is correctly priced because it wasn't very cheap, and it wasn't overly expensive, so the price for it was set correctly. When my previous company bought VisualCron, it was €800 per server per year. On a scale of one to five, I would rate the pricing for VisualCron a five because it was just right. The tool was affordable, and it has one of the most competitive pricing in the market."
  • More VisualCron Pricing and Cost Advice →

    report
    Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Workload Automation solutions are best for your needs.
    765,386 professionals have used our research since 2012.
    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:In the latest upgrade, Zena added a web-based client. The more I use it, the more I like it. It's an excellent interface. They do a good job of steadily improving the solution to make it more useful… more »
    Top Answer:The pricing and the licensing are good. It is affordable and can be used to improve and optimize productivity.
    Top Answer:In the web interface, it stacks the tasks across the top, and they accumulate until you close or clean those out. That seems a little cumbersome. You must right-click and close all tabs constantly to… more »
    Top Answer:The most valuable feature of VisualCron is its ability to schedule interactive jobs so that you can have interdependencies within the job and interdependencies of a job on another job, and so on.
    Top Answer:The organization is paying for the VisualCron license, so I'm not aware of the current pricing for the tool.
    Top Answer:VisualCron's command console is a little bit difficult to understand and needs to improve.
    Ranking
    12th
    out of 49 in Workload Automation
    Views
    2,486
    Comparisons
    1,473
    Reviews
    7
    Average Words per Review
    999
    Rating
    8.3
    14th
    out of 49 in Workload Automation
    Views
    869
    Comparisons
    501
    Reviews
    5
    Average Words per Review
    750
    Rating
    8.0
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    ASG-Zena
    Learn More
    Rocket Software
    Video Not Available
    Overview

    Zena enables you to optimize business process flows with advanced workload automation that reduces manual intervention, system downtime, and processing errors. You can easily define processes and tasks, making them repeatable so you can focus on other priorities.

    Zena gives you the power to simplify management of complex cross-platform processes while making it easier to manage challenging hybrid IT operations environments. It speeds time-to-market while reducing the ongoing total cost of ownership associated with workload automation and enterprise application processing.

    With Zena, IT leaders have the power to visualize and manage the execution of thousands of workloads across end-to-end Operational processes, while increasing the quality, velocity, and efficiency of their delivery.

    Rocket Zena Features

    Rocket Zena offers the following features:

    • Optimization of process flows: Rocket Zena allows you to optimize complex business process flows across your hybrid IT infrastructure, spanning from mainframe to cloud. It provides full visibility into your operations processes end-to-end.

    • Simplification of operations: The solution simplifies the management of complex cross-platform processes, making it easier to handle challenging hybrid IT operations environments.

    • Advanced workload automation: Rocket Zena offers advanced workload automation capabilities for operations. It reduces manual intervention, system downtime, and processing errors by enabling you to define processes and tasks that are repeatable.

    • Visualization and management of workloads: IT staff can visualize and manage the execution of thousands of workloads across end-to-end operational processes. It enhances the quality, velocity, and efficiency of delivery.

    • Maximize workload automation flexibility: Zena features a graphical process whiteboard for task definition, minimizing redundant definitions and maximizing flexibility in designing workflows.

    • Integration with ease and at scale: The solution seamlessly integrates workload management on multiple platforms and facilitates the integration of critical applications with newer technologies, eliminating manual scripting and reducing overall costs.

    • Centralized scheduling management: It enables centralized scheduling management through a console with dashboard capabilities. Zena provides predefined and customizable views and reports to meet individual user needs.

    • Production statistics and reports: Zena simplifies monitoring and intervention by providing customizable dashboards. It offers drill-down capability to quickly navigate to problem areas and take necessary action.

    • Improved operational excellence: The solution helps optimize business process flows through advanced workload automation, increasing productivity and scalability. It also reduces operational complexity and ensures high process completion by automating complex processes with reliability and repeatability.

    • Integration with applications and platforms: Zena connects with a range of applications and platforms such as Microsoft SQL Server, Docker, Amazon Web Services, Oracle, Micro Focus, SAP, PeopleSoft, and more, allowing seamless integration within your workflows.

    • DevOps and value stream management: Users have access to design-time configuration of DevOps value streams, enables the use of variables for reusable and customized workflows, and provides monitoring and management of run-time execution of value streams.

    • Branching and condition management: Zena allows specifying critical branching for tasks with infinite conditions to ensure automation flows meet business requirements.

    • Mainframe and hybrid cloud support: The solution has the capability to span mainframe to cloud environments, distributing work across the entire IT ecosystem, including hybrid cloud environments and sysplex awareness on mainframes.

    Rocket Zena Benefits

    Some of the benefits of using Rocket Zena are:

    • Optimization of operational business flows

    • Simplification of complex cross-platform processes

    • Reduction of manual intervention, system downtime, and processing errors

    • Speeding up time-to-market

    • Lowering the total cost of ownership associated with workload automation

    • Enhanced visibility and management of workloads across end-to-end operational processes

    • Maximizing workload automation flexibility

    • Seamless integration with multiple platforms and applications

    • Centralized scheduling management with customizable views and reports

    • Improved operational excellence and reliability

    • Reviews from Real Users

      Akash Vishwakarma, a RPA Developer at a consultancy observes: "Its FTP feature is very good, as is scheduling any process or task with the Zena client. I have found it to be very helpful. If a task fails, it gives you a prompt."

      Gus Calero, a Sr. IT Product Manager at a healthcare company shares his view: “You're able to view in a diagram format. The view that it provides is easy, and you can move to the left, up, or down. You can double-click on a certain process. It'll drill into that process and all of its underlying components.”

      Bridgette Friedman, a System administrator at a wholesaler shares her experience: "In the latest upgrade, Zena added a web-based client. The more I use it, the more I like it. It's an excellent interface. They do a good job of steadily improving the solution to make it more useful."


    VisualCron combines many features into one product. Through scheduling you can set your Jobs to run on a specific time or event. The Tasks in each Job automate scripts and eliminate human errors. Through various Tasks you can integrate different systems through file transfer and conversion.

    Sample Customers
    Fraternidad Muprespa
    7 Eleven, ABB Sécheron SA, Adobe Systems Incorporated, Amazon Europe Core, Apple, Assa Abloy, Aston Martin, Banco Santander, BMW (Australia)
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Financial Services Firm38%
    Government25%
    Healthcare Company13%
    Wholesaler/Distributor13%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Financial Services Firm27%
    Insurance Company17%
    Computer Software Company11%
    Manufacturing Company10%
    REVIEWERS
    Logistics Company14%
    Pharma/Biotech Company14%
    Recruiting/Hr Firm14%
    University14%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Financial Services Firm18%
    Computer Software Company17%
    Healthcare Company7%
    Insurance Company6%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business30%
    Large Enterprise70%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business13%
    Midsize Enterprise5%
    Large Enterprise82%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business33%
    Midsize Enterprise11%
    Large Enterprise56%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business26%
    Midsize Enterprise17%
    Large Enterprise57%
    Buyer's Guide
    Rocket Zena vs. VisualCron
    March 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about Rocket Zena vs. VisualCron and other solutions. Updated: March 2024.
    765,386 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    Rocket Zena is ranked 12th in Workload Automation with 9 reviews while VisualCron is ranked 14th in Workload Automation with 10 reviews. Rocket Zena is rated 8.4, while VisualCron is rated 9.0. The top reviewer of Rocket Zena writes "A continuously evolving, stable solution, with responsive support". On the other hand, the top reviewer of VisualCron writes "It's user-friendly, and I didn't need long to understand the process". Rocket Zena is most compared with Control-M, Rocket Zeke, IBM Workload Automation, AutoSys Workload Automation and ActiveBatch by Redwood, whereas VisualCron is most compared with Microsoft Power Automate, Control-M, AutoSys Workload Automation, UiPath and ActiveBatch by Redwood. See our Rocket Zena vs. VisualCron report.

    See our list of best Workload Automation vendors.

    We monitor all Workload Automation reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.