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BMC AMI DevX vs SAS Access comparison

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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:
 

Categories and Ranking

BMC AMI DevX
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
25
Ranking in other categories
Software Configuration Management (1st), Debugging (2nd), Database Development and Management (11th), Mainframe Application Development (1st), Test Data Management (4th), Mainframe Testing Tools (1st), Data Masking (3rd), AI Software Development (30th)
SAS Access
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
Data Integration (60th)
 

Mindshare comparison

BMC AMI DevX and SAS Access aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. BMC AMI DevX is designed for Test Data Management and holds a mindshare of 12.3%, up 6.8% compared to last year.
SAS Access, on the other hand, focuses on Data Integration, holds 0.8% mindshare, up 0.5% since last year.
Test Data Management Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
BMC AMI DevX12.3%
Perforce Delphix16.0%
Broadcom Test Data Manager13.6%
Other58.1%
Test Data Management
Data Integration Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
SAS Access0.8%
SSIS4.0%
Informatica Intelligent Data Management Cloud (IDMC)3.8%
Other91.4%
Data Integration
 

Featured Reviews

AkshayChaudhari - PeerSpot reviewer
Data Specialist at TCS
Modern workflow has improved COBOL debugging and simplifies understanding complex legacy code
The most valuable feature is the integrated COBOL debugging and code analysis capability. Being able to step through programs, set breakpoints, and monitor variable values to understand how the program flow operates makes troubleshooting much easier and more structured. I also appreciate the modern development environment for editing COBOL, browsing datasets, and submitting JCL jobs without constantly switching between different tools. The code navigation and AI-assisted code understanding capabilities are also useful for working with unfamiliar legacy applications. The code understanding features have been useful when I need to work with unfamiliar COBOL applications. They help me explain existing code, identify the relationships and dependencies between programs and copybooks, and make it easier to understand the overall program flow. Instead of manually tracking every section of a large legacy application, I can use the AI assistance to get a quicker understanding of what the code is doing and where a change may have an impact. This reduces the time to get familiar with older code and makes maintenance and troubleshooting more straightforward and efficient.
Robert Heck - PeerSpot reviewer
Co Owner at Hecht und Heck GmbH
The solution is stable, scalable, and flexible
I rate the solution eight out of ten. The number of people required to maintain the solution is dependent on the other applications running. The solution in itself does not require a lot of maintenance. The solution is flexible and I recommend it when you have more complex applications with special requirements.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"My guess is this would have taken twice as long, or we would have had many more issues without using Xpediter."
"It speeds up processes, makes things easier, more efficient, and from a mainframe perspective, the way the mainframe is utilized has become that much easier."
"From a developer perspective, the main visible benefit I have seen is that it reduced the time needed to debug by 20 to 30 percent for troubleshooting tasks where DevX is applicable."
"Compuware Xpediter is one of the best debugging tools for mainframe software development."
"BMC AMI DevX helps me develop COBOL while juggling other responsibilities by bringing editing, debugging, job submissions, and code navigation into a single environment."
"ISPW is an excellent product; it does everything the developers need it to do, we were able to build it and customize it very simply as we became more familiar with how the system works during installation, and it doesn't need a lot of care and feeding once it's up and running."
"It does our CICS NEWCOPYs and our Db2 binds for us, whereas before, that was a manual process. It takes a lot of the workload off of the operations folks and off the DBAs."
"Our intention is to use Topaz for the next generation of mainframe developers to maintain mainframe applications."
"The most valuable part of SAS/ACCESS is what it is made for: connecting to remote systems that are not part of your physical SAS environment."
"The SAS/ACCESS ability to connect creates an elegant simplicity."
"The most valuable feature is you have native access to the external databases."
"The most valuable aspect of the solution is the ease of access to the data in those databases."
 

Cons

"There are some features that are not well documented, so documentation could use a little help, on things like setting up deployment and which structures in the database correspond to which tables."
"What keeps it from being a 10 is mainly user experience, as the login and startup process can be frustrating, and the initial setup can also be challenging for new users."
"Technical support has gotten better over the years, though there's always room for improvement."
"One improvement I would appreciate is stronger integration between DevX debugging and other troubleshooting information, such as JCL, job output, abend details, and application logs, all in one place."
"I find it more cumbersome to use Topaz."
"Initial setup can be tricky in some cases."
"It's not as intuitive as it should be. In terms of navigation, there is a large training curve for using it. For a millennial it might be better, if they're used to Eclipse. But coming from a non-Eclipse environment and using Eclipse, though I have experience with Eclipse, it might be cumbersome."
"The only thing that bothers me about BMC AMI DevX Code Pipeline is the screen movement."
"The primary way that this product can be improved is by adjusting their pricing model."
"I can't really recall any missing feature or general improvement that is needed. We don't really add too many new kinds of databases and therefore our needs are already met."
"The solution can provide access to the newer databases that come out sooner."
"The pricing model needs to be reconsidered and adjusted."
"The solution's pricing and licensing are expensive."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price point is great."
"In general, Compuware tools are very competitive."
"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."
"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."
"It has saved our developers time and effort when working on documentation, which is now more readable and fluent."
"The solution's pricing and licensing are expensive."
"The pricing model is complex and is based on modular packages as well as the size of the applicable environment."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
29%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Insurance Company
8%
Construction Company
7%
Construction Company
19%
Comms Service Provider
14%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise24
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for BMC Compuware Topaz Enterprise Data?
My understanding is that BMC AMI DevX is an enterprise product with custom licensing, so pricing is typically negotiated based on factors such as the modules purchased, organization size, and usage...
What needs improvement with BMC AMI DevX?
BMC AMI DevX is a strong platform, but there are a few areas where it could improve, such as simplifying the initial installation and configuration, especially for first-time users. It could also i...
What is your primary use case for BMC AMI DevX?
My main use case for BMC AMI DevX is to work with COBOL and JCL development on IBM. I mainly use it for editing, browsing data sets, submitting jobs, and debugging applications. I appreciate the Ec...
Ask a question
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Comparisons

 

Also Known As

File-AID, Data for Db2, Code Debug, Data Studio, Workbench for Eclipse, Code Pipeline
SAS/Access
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

NRB, Iberdrola, Consorzio Servizi Bancari 
Los Angeles County, West Midlands Police, Credit Guarantee Corporation, Canada Post, Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty
Find out what your peers are saying about Perforce, Informatica, Broadcom and others in Test Data Management. Updated: September 2026.
915,341 professionals have used our research since 2012.