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Automate vs Control-M comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
8.0
Automate saves time and resources, achieving ROI quickly by reducing manual tasks and IT staff needs through automation.
Sentiment score
7.4
Control-M enhances efficiency and reduces costs by automating operations, increasing productivity, and supporting large enterprise centralization.
Fortra's Automate has effectively replaced the workload of an entire employee, saving us significant time and money.
It has reduced our expenditures in terms of purchasing more products and employing more technicians.
The main return on investment with Helix Control-M has been a reduction in downtime and minimization of manual interventions, which has improved our operational efficiency.
You can run a million batch jobs or tasks at night when all of your highly skilled people are at home sleeping.
It has reduced the total cost of ownership by 30% to 40%.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.4
Automate customer service is praised for responsive, effective support despite occasional communication issues, with knowledgeable and helpful staff.
Sentiment score
7.4
Control-M's support is praised for responsiveness and expertise, though complex cases need better communication and troubleshooting efficiency.
They don't always understand the processes I'm trying to implement.
I would rate the technical support as a nine out of ten because it is quite fast and courteous.
They are very responsive and have been able to resolve any issues I have encountered.
The technical support is very polite, helpful, and available 24/7.
If something fails at 3 AM in the morning, you need to fix it and get it back up and working really quickly.
The immediate acknowledgment and solutions provided by BMC's support team make it stand out compared to other tools.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.0
Automate offers scalable, cost-effective deployment with support for load balancing and high availability, although scaling complexity exists.
Sentiment score
7.7
Control-M is praised for scalability and robust functionality, though cost may be a concern for some enterprises.
It is easy to increase one bot or one studio without needing to buy another orchestrator, which can be quite expensive.
It can absorb more workload wherever needed.
As the workload on Control-M increases, its scalability is much higher.
I would rate it a nine out of ten for scalability.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.0
Automate is praised for stability and performance, despite occasional errors, connectivity issues, and recommendations for server improvements.
Sentiment score
7.7
Control-M is highly reliable with minimal glitches, praised for prompt support, regular updates, and high user satisfaction.
It has very robust features, and it is not prone to instability.
The stability of Fortra's Automate is excellent.
The downtime is higher compared to AWS.
The testing and development phases need to be more rigorous before releasing patches.
The stability of the Helix Control-M solution is good.
 

Room For Improvement

Users seek improvements in web automation, UI, security, OCR, integration, documentation, stability, AI, cloud functionality, and community access.
Control-M needs upgrades in analysis, reporting, interface, cost, monitoring, scalability, and integration for better usability and competitiveness.
I would prefer not having to log in to update a ticket; being able to respond via email would be beneficial.
Integration with Amazon S3 is somewhat lacking.
I find that most important features are strong, however, there is a lack of good development for artificial intelligence, such as machine learning.
They could provide more documentation and tutorials to make the initial setup easier to understand.
There should be an automation system for developers to set it up more easily and quickly.
What they've done about scheduling, other people are still trying to figure out.
 

Setup Cost

Automate offers a cost-effective, scalable pricing model with lower costs per bot, unlike UiPath and Blue Prism.
Control-M is costly but valued by enterprises for robust features, especially in banking and healthcare, with complex licensing.
Competitors are often more expensive than Automate.
It offered what we wanted at a good, competitive price.
It does a lot but also costs a lot.
The licensing cost is very high, and they often consider switching to IBM Workload Scheduler or other options.
Pricing is generally affordable, though some features cost a bit more.
The best cell phone will always be more expensive.
 

Valuable Features

Automate offers easy task development and integration with AI resources, efficiently handling tasks with strong support for secure transfers.
Control-M enhances enterprise operations with automation, seamless integration, cross-platform support, and advanced features for reliable, scalable workload management.
Automate's non-reliance on additional orchestrators makes it quite cost-effective.
I find the ease of use from a programming perspective very valuable.
The most valuable features of Fortra's Automate include its FTP functionality and file manipulation capabilities.
Automation is more advanced, deployment is fast, and version control has been simplified.
The user interface is comprehensive and lets me view all my jobs on one page, monitor everything, and access the job history.
Control-M provides workflow orchestration, including scheduling, deploying, managing, and monitoring workflows.
 

Categories and Ranking

Automate
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
27
Ranking in other categories
Robotic Process Automation (RPA) (5th)
Control-M
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
122
Ranking in other categories
Process Automation (2nd), Managed File Transfer (MFT) (4th), Workload Automation (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

Automate and Control-M aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. Automate is designed for Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and holds a mindshare of 1.7%, up 1.0% compared to last year.
Control-M, on the other hand, focuses on Process Automation, holds 4.5% mindshare, up 4.0% since last year.
Robotic Process Automation (RPA)
Process Automation
 

Featured Reviews

Anabel Marco - PeerSpot reviewer
Automates processes efficiently with cost-effective scaling and robust customer support
Web scraping is quite good since it offers a lot of possibilities. Another important feature for me is its compatibility with MBI, the Power that is ISEQUADO Centers. I appreciate the ability to scale and increase the number of bots or studios without additional expense. Automate's non-reliance on additional orchestrators makes it quite cost-effective.
Ujjwal Sachdeva - PeerSpot reviewer
Efficient automation and boosted workflow but needs better integration methods
Control-M is a bit faster compared to other solutions. The job and coding are easier. Also, my DevOps and Ops teams work collaboratively with it, enhancing its efficiency. The workflow is much easier compared to the ACS services we were using. Automation is more advanced, deployment is fast, and version control has been simplified.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
14%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Healthcare Company
6%
Financial Services Firm
28%
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Insurance Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about HelpSystems AutoMate?
We use it for specific cases, mainly secure file transfers, which are vital for us. And it works for us.
What is your primary use case for HelpSystems AutoMate?
I am a consultant and I am making a lot of processes in human resources, payroll, certifications, trainings, web scraping, pre-reporting, and many processes that need to be automated on the web. My...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortra Automate?
The pricing is quite good compared to its competitors. Competitors are often more expensive than Automate. I would rate the pricing as an eight out of ten.
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 because nothing gets left unattended since it is all visible in one place, and th...
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.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Control-M?
Its cost can be more competitive. One of the main things customers look at is the cost. It's not affordable. The cost is very high, according to my customers. The licensing cost is very high, and t...
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

HelpSystems Automate, Automate
Control M
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Aldergrove Financial Group, Preferred Health Professionals, Mindbeam Technologies, First Credit Union in British Columbia, Vestcom International, Prime Liberty Benefits, University of Tampa, CNLBancshares, World Precision Instruments, BJ's Restaurants, Globe Pequot Press, Accudata Technologies, Norton Healthcare, Pacific Toxicology Laboratories
CARFAX, Tampa General Hospital, Navistar, Amadeus, Raymond James, Railinc
Find out what your peers are saying about UiPath, Automation Anywhere, Microsoft and others in Robotic Process Automation (RPA). Updated: May 2025.
856,856 professionals have used our research since 2012.