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BMC AMI DevX vs File Master Plus comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 11, 2025

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

BMC AMI DevX
Ranking in Mainframe Testing Tools
1st
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
19
Ranking in other categories
Software Configuration Management (1st), Debugging (8th), Database Development and Management (20th), Mainframe Application Development (1st), Test Data Management (7th), Data Masking (8th)
File Master Plus
Ranking in Mainframe Testing Tools
7th
Average Rating
8.6
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Mainframe Testing Tools category, the mindshare of BMC AMI DevX is 28.9%, down from 35.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of File Master Plus is 5.0%, up from 4.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Mainframe Testing Tools Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
BMC AMI DevX28.9%
File Master Plus5.0%
Other66.1%
Mainframe Testing Tools
 

Featured Reviews

Brian Westerman - PeerSpot reviewer
Helps to make mainframe data management process easier and saves manhours
We plan to replace BMC Compuware File-AID due to its price. Two years back, we paid 11,000 dollars. However, the current price is 27,900 dollars. The price has increased to at least eight times its initial cost. We would need to pay around 60,000 dollars to have all three products together. We also encountered issues during version updates.
it_user847152 - PeerSpot reviewer
Eases manageability of data, gives us better efficiency on our batch run
I use it for doing final file maintenance It's easier to do basic tasks; ease of manageability of data. It also gives us better efficiency on our batch run and our day-to-day. In terms of meeting business challenges, it's more of a productivity tool. It makes our data easier to manage. Ease of…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It helps our staff work by speeding up their documentation process."
"One of the features that the developers like is that they can retrieve what they need with the tool. They don't have to go through some process or request something be done by another team. They can get the programs they need, compile them, retrieve the JCL and alter the JCL if they need to, and put these programs wherever they need to go for their testing."
"From a user perspective, the GUIs make it easier for people to see and interact with files on the mainframe."
"Test data management capabilities are good."
"Once we got the configurations and deployment rolled out, it was very stable. I haven't had any major issues with Eclipse or the Topaz Workbench plugins."
"The most valuable feature of Topaz is Xpediter. It's more flexible than Xpediter through MVS."
"We had parallel development before, but the way ISPW implements it is better. It has more control and oversight of the process, whereas before, it was like the Wild West. Everybody could have their own package with their own version of the component in it... ISPW is constantly aware of it. It notifies when someone else is using or has a different version of that component."
"The visual ability to see potential downstream impacts to changes being made assists our developers in understanding the impact associated with their change."
"Makes it quick to investigate/fix problems related to application data. Our business can get back to normal operations in short order."
"Provides ease of use, ease of manageability, and ease of managing DSN files."
"We use it together with Grid Tools to mask IMS data."
"The Browse function and utilities are valuable; the solution is easy to use."
 

Cons

"When you're setting up the parameters for how ISPW will work in your shop, there are a lot of questions that have to be answered... BMC Compuware should have more in-depth explanations about what the choices in each question mean. If you pick A, what does that mean has to happen? What does that impact? If you pick B, what does that mean? What does that impact?"
"One area for improvement with this product could be in providing clearer guidance and tools for disaster recovery planning and execution."
"One thing I would really like to see some improvement on is the promotion diagnostic messages. It invokes utilities "under the covers" to copy components, and it does not echo back any of the error messages from those utilities."
"We plan to replace BMC Compuware File-AID due to its price. Two years back, we paid 11,000 dollars. However, the current price is 27,900 dollars. The price has increased to at least eight times its initial cost. We would need to pay around 60,000 dollars to have all three products together. We also encountered issues during version updates."
"It often doesn't play well with other plugins in the environment."
"Better discussions to identify inventory prior to the start of any migration would be helpful for potential clients that have applications with code that is not modified often."
"The ability to edit source code that has special characters is limited. The ability to incorporate or convert REXX into macros that are usable under the Topaz software is not there. And the REXX macros that I have developed over 40 years of work are useless, so I have a toolbox I can't use or deploy using the Topaz technology, while I can use it under MVS."
"DB2 is a hard tool to grasp. It's hard for users to learn how to use it. It's not easy to see how it works."
"The setup is quite complex. We needed a system programmer for the initial setup."
"They need to keep coming out with new features, and new releases. There hasn't been a new release in a while."
"For any change to CA File Master, we need a system programmer, which makes the change process very time consuming​."
"​CA File Master cannot handle IMS Sysplex.​"
"It would be better if it took less CPU time."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It has saved our developers time and effort when working on documentation, which is now more readable and fluent."
"I like the seat-based licensing much more than MSU-based licensing, and that the cost has been competitive."
"In terms of pricing, there isn't an extra charge for the parts of it we use. It comes with the licenses we purchased for other products, so no complaints there. The licensing is built in with the other products that you purchase from Compuware."
"The price point is great."
"The only thing I would mention related to the licensing and/or the pricing, is that they have some visualization features in there that are licensed by concurrent users. We're starting to trip up on that. We're looking to probably increase the number of concurrent licenses that we have. But those types of licensing strategies, where they license by concurrent users or the number of seats is confusing for some people. They don't understand why it works sometimes and doesn't work other times."
"In general, Compuware tools are very competitive."
"The pricing is good value."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
36%
Insurance Company
12%
Computer Software Company
7%
Manufacturing Company
6%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business6
Large Enterprise16
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Compuware File-AID?
The product has made our mainframe data management process easier. It has helped us save manhours. The tool's most valuable feature is the ability to edit tape files. Its ability to clone files is ...
What needs improvement with Compuware File-AID?
We plan to replace BMC Compuware File-AID due to its price. Two years back, we paid 11,000 dollars. However, the current price is 27,900 dollars. The price has increased to at least eight times its...
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Also Known As

File-AID, Data for Db2, Code Debug, Data Studio, Workbench for Eclipse, Code Pipeline
CA File Master Plus
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Helvetia, The IMT Group, Hapag-Lloyd, Royal Bank of Canada, Chunghwa Telecom
Blue Hill Data Services
Find out what your peers are saying about BMC AMI DevX vs. File Master Plus and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
872,655 professionals have used our research since 2012.