Azure Automation vs Control-M comparison

Microsoft and BMC are both solutions in the Process Automation category. Microsoft is ranked #27 with an average rating of 8.0, while BMC is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.3. Microsoft holds a 1.1% mindshare in PA, compared to BMC’s 4.6% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Microsoft users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 97% of BMC users who would recommend it.

Azure Automation

Read 2 Azure Automation reviews

422 Views
422 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Control-M

Read 133 Control-M reviews

20,170 Views
3,429 Comparison Views

97% willing to recommend

Azure Automation

Control-M

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Azure Automation and Control-M based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Process Automation solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed Azure Automation vs. Control-M Report (Updated: September 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Azure Automation vs. Control-M

September 2025

Download the complete report

Helped 867,370 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:

Categories and Ranking

Azure Automation

Ranking in Process Automation

27th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Control-M

Ranking in Process Automation

2nd

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

133

Ranking in other categories

Managed File Transfer (MFT) (3rd), Workload Automation (1st)

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2025, in the Process Automation category, the mindshare of Azure Automation is 1.1%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Control-M is 4.6%, up from 4.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Process Automation Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Control-M	4.6%
Azure Automation	1.1%
Other	94.3%

Process Automation

Featured Reviews

Chiara Protiviti

Associate director at Protiviti

Automation enhances task efficiency and supports innovation

I currently work with SAP, but I haven't stopped working with that vendor at all. My involvement is cross-technology, so I'm exposed to S/4HANA and other technologies, which are very different from a couple of years ago. Currently, I am working for a consultancy that is agnostic to technology, so tactically and strategically we provide implementation or knowledge on various technologies including Microsoft, Business Central, Project Operations, SAP, and Board, which are different and linked to various business areas. Mostly I am working with Microsoft solutions now. In the last recent year, Microsoft is the technology with which we have the most exposure on current implementations, including both Business Central and Project Operations. I have been working with Microsoft Business Operation for approximately a year and a half. I am working with different products on Azure, as it is the platform we use to implement various types of solutions, including automation, IPA, and artificial intelligence. Other colleagues work with Azure File Storage, Blob Storage, and App Services, as these are more related to cloud work. I am working with Azure Automation, which is a process automation tool. While we have used the alerts and scheduling functions in Azure Automation very often, I am not able to judge or review their effectiveness. Integrating Azure Automation with other Azure services is very easy because there are pre-integration tools available that can be easily integrated with different technologies. The main benefits Azure Automation provides include being useful for recurrent tasks, which help reduce manual intervention and allow people to focus on more added value tasks, enhanced by artificial intelligence for more complex duties. I rate Azure Automation an eight out of ten.

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Mark_Francome

Senior System Specialist at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees

Easily connects to different platforms and ties everything together in a centralized screen

Areas of Control-M that have room for improvement include the reporting feature. The reporting on Control-M hasn't changed much over the years, although it is in a different internal format. It used to be Crystal Reports, and now they've upgraded that. It would be better if that was really flexible where you could define your own reports. You can customize it a little bit, but when people come in with complex questions, you should be able to use that tool and access anything in the database. Control-M has two internal databases that are core to the product. You can go in and do your own SQL queries against the database, but this reporting tool should really be able to do everything that you can do with SQL, and give you good information. Instead, you end up having to export to spreadsheets and then change and update them. It can be very labor-intensive to get this information out. Other than the reporting, they've addressed most things over the years. Control-M is a tool that's been around for more than 30 years, so they have actually fixed most issues that you would encounter. They have a request for enhancement process that most users have sent requests to, but it doesn't move very quickly. The other challenge is they're supporting so many different platforms; BMC just wants it to be a trouble-free release. When users request new features, such as improved reporting, BMC's priority remains maintaining a clean-running system.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable feature of Azure Automation is the scripting."

"It has multiple features. You can plan your execution in Control-M. It provides one single window where you can define workflows regardless of geographic boundaries and platforms. A batch process can be executed from this single window. It provides insights into your processes. Your business people will know what process they are running and what is the state of the process. Instead of knowing that they're not going to meet the SLA the next morning, the business people immediately know the changes in their process. Control-M is very easy. I can tell a non-technical person that this is how it works, and he would be able to easily understand it. Business people can understand the methodology of Control-M and the intuitive features that it has. It has a fantastic graphical user interface and is easy to understand. You just have to drag and drop but in a very intuitive way. Monitoring features are also good. It has different color coding schemes, which can help you to understand the status of your workflow. An operator who is not that technical and is just monitoring the status of the application can see by color-coding the status of a process. If anything goes wrong or a process is stuck, it gives you a hint. You can just right-click and see the logs and the output. Even if the system is not right there in the data center and is located somewhere else, you can monitor it right from there and see the workflows."

"The workflow is much easier compared to the ACS services we were using."

"It helps us meet our service-level agreements. It is integrated into our CI/CD pipeline. It enhances our operational productivity."

"The most valuable feature is the reporting function. It allows us to pull up reports for specific information that the end-users are looking for."

"Its compatibility with the new technologies and platforms, like the Google Cloud or Amazon, is the most valuable. Its console allows us to view the duration and execution of a process. It is also very easy to use and easy to implement."

"Promotions between environments, as well as local, mass update, versioning, and self-service."

"It is simple to create, integrate, and automate data pipelines and to ingest data from different platforms. It integrates well between platforms."

"Our ability to integrate with many different solutions has been invaluable. The new approach of the automation API and jobs-as-code is also valuable."

More Control-M pros

Cons

"The solution’s user interface could be improved."

"The initial setup was complex, because I wasn't used to it."

"I would like to see more audit report templates added, and perhaps more customizability in terms of reporting."

"The stability could be improved. I ran into an issue with a recent Control-M patch. The environment would become unstable if security ports were scanned. This is an area they need to improve on, but ultimately it's a relatively small improvement."

"The history module only contains a maximum of 10 days, but we would like to have access to more. For example, it would be helpful to have 30 days or two months of history available."

"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 MFT applications should have more functionality and flexibility within that tool. Having more flexibility with that tool for handling the one to many or many to one concept. Like being able to take data from one source and push it to many locations or pull data from many locations and bring it back into a single source. That's why we still use our TPS program for the file transfers just because we don't have some of those capabilities available to us within MFT."

"We develop software. More frequently, we are working with microservices and APIs, using our integration tool, MuleSoft. While Control-M is really a good tool to integrate with other tools, it is important for them to continue improving their microservices and API."

"Its installation can be better. Currently, we have to install it manually. The file transfer feature can also be improved. It is not very easy to transfer a file from business to business. In terms of new features, they can include new technologies. It can have API integration."

More Control-M cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available

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

"The license model is based on the number of jobs we run on the SaaS application or the number of executions, unlike the on-premise model options. If we have a handful of jobs, it's always good to consider Control-M, but if it's a large number of jobs, Control-M might not be a great option."

"Its cost is a little bit higher than other solutions such as AutoSys or DAC. For the demo, there were some plans, such as start plan, scale plan, etc. Pricing was based on the plan."

"Pricing can be steep, but you get what you pay for."

"Its pricing and licensing could be a little bit better. Based on my experience and discussions with other existing customers, everybody feels that the regular Managed File Transfer piece, not the enterprise one, is a little overpriced, especially for folks who already have licensed Advanced File Transfer. We understand that Advanced File Transfer is going away and is going to be the end of life, and there is some additional functionality built into MFT, but the additional functionality does not really correlate with the huge price increase over what we're paying for AFT already. This has actually driven a lot of people to look for alternative solutions."

"We have account based licensing. There are two or three types of licensing. One of them is based on the number of jobs, so we a license close to 4,000 jobs per day. The cost is based on the different modules, which we buy from them. If we a buy a hardware module, which we are presently using and integrating, that is an additional cost, but I'm not sure of the amount. Each module comes with a different cost."

"In our environment, pricing depends on the total number of maximum jobs that can run, which is fine. Therefore, if the number of jobs increases, then the licensing fees will increase."

"The annual licensing within BMC Control-M is on a per task basis. Three- and five-year contracts are also offered. The customer usually buys a bundle of tasks, e.g., 5,000 tasks, then my team configures Control-M for their usage."

More Control-M pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

24%

Computer Software Company

Insurance Company

Healthcare Company

Financial Services Firm

26%

Computer Software Company

11%

Manufacturing Company

Insurance Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	24
Midsize Enterprise	12
Large Enterprise	113

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Azure Automation?

The most valuable feature of Azure Automation is the scripting.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Azure Automation?

Based on feedback, Azure Automation needs to stay up-to-date with real technology game changers and include new features that meet market demands. It is essential for Azure Automation to capture ne...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Azure Automation?

My clients mainly use Azure Automation for back-office processes and operations, as the application of this product is wide-ranging. It depends on their in-house capabilities and the opportunities ...

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 because nothing gets left unattended since it is all visible in one place, and th...

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?

Pricing for Control-M depends on the licensing model, with different options such as the per-agent model or the per-job model. BMC is phasing out the per-agent model in favor of per-job licensing, ...

See all answers

Comparisons

Camunda vs Azure Automation

Compared 21% of the time

Rundeck vs Azure Automation

Compared 17% of the time

More Azure Automation Competitors

AutoSys Workload Automation vs Control-M

Compared 13% of the time

Redwood RunMyJobs vs Control-M

Compared 8% of the time

Automic Automation vs Control-M

Compared 8% of the time

IBM Workload Automation vs Control-M

Compared 6% of the time

AWS Step Functions vs Control-M

Compared 2% of the time

More Control-M Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Process Automation

August 2025

Download Azure Automation product report

Buyer's Guide

Control-M

September 2025

Download Control-M product report

Also Known As

No data available

Control M

Interactive Demo

Demo not available

Microsoft

BMC

Overview

Azure Automation is a powerful tool that allows users to streamline and automate various tasks and processes within the Azure environment.

It is commonly used for automating resource provisioning, managing virtual machines, scheduling and executing scripts, and orchestrating workflows. Additionally, Azure Automation is valuable for monitoring and alerting, as well as managing and deploying applications.

Users appreciate its ability to automate tasks, streamline workflows, and improve efficiency. The platform's scalability, integration with other Azure services, and wide range of pre-built automation modules make it a valuable tool for managing and tracking automated processes.

Microsoft

Control-M by BMC is engineered to manage hybrid cloud workflows, offering orchestration capabilities starting at $29,000 annually. Aimed at helping growing teams, it efficiently supports cross-environment scheduling and automation needs.

Control-M offers robust cross-platform scheduling, automation, and integration with applications such as SAP and Informatica. Users appreciate its ease of use with a graphical interface, centralized management, and monitoring capabilities. Advanced features, including Managed File Transfer, automated error handling, and real-time alerts, enhance productivity. The ability to unify workflows and support diverse environments makes Control-M a trusted tool in many sectors. While improvements in reporting flexibility and API integration with tools like ServiceNow are needed, addressing performance issues during upgrades could enhance its value. Offering improved support for new technologies and cloud environments is beneficial, with cost-effectiveness being a consideration.

What are the key features of Control-M?

Cross-Platform Scheduling: Facilitates seamless task management across various OS environments.
Automation: Provides efficient workflow automation for complex processes.
Third-Party Integration: Ensures smooth integration with applications like SAP and Informatica.
Graphical Interface: Simplifies job management and monitoring with user-friendly design.
Managed File Transfer: Enhances data transfer processes with structured handling.
Real-Time Alerts: Offers notifications for immediate response to workflow issues.

What benefits should organizations expect from Control-M?

Increased Efficiency: Streamlines operations and reduces manual workload.
Enhanced Productivity: Automation and monitoring features boost operational output.
Improved Compliance: Supports SLA achievement and regulatory requirements.
Operational Agility: Provides flexible and adaptable task management across platforms.

Control-M is leveraged in industries like finance for enterprise scheduling and data management, supporting mainframe, Linux, Unix, Windows, and cloud platforms. It contributes to workflow orchestration and workload automation, improving operational efficiency and enhancing IT infrastructure across those environments.

BMC

Sample Customers

1. Adobe 2. BMW 3. Coca-Cola 4. General Electric 5. Johnson & Johnson 6. NBCUniversal 7. Pfizer 8. Samsung 9. Siemens 10. Toyota 11. Verizon 12. 3M 13. Accenture 14. Airbus 15. Allianz 16. American Express 17. AT&T 18. Bank of America 19. Boeing 20. Cisco 21. Dell 22. ExxonMobil 23. Ford 24. General Motors 25. IBM 26. Intel 27. JPMorgan Chase 28. Microsoft (self-use) 29. Nestle 30. Procter & Gamble 31. Shell 32. Walmart

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

Buyer's Guide

Azure Automation vs. Control-M

September 2025

Free Report: Azure Automation vs. Control-M

Find out what your peers are saying about Azure Automation vs. Control-M and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.

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