BMC AMI DevX vs SQL Sentry comparison

BMC and SQL Sentry are both solutions in the Database Development and Management category. BMC is ranked #19 with an average rating of 7.7, while SQL Sentry is ranked #13. BMC holds a 1.3% mindshare in DDM, compared to SQL Sentry’s 3.6% mindshare. Additionally, 90% of BMC users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 66% of SQL Sentry users who would recommend it.

BMC AMI DevX

Read 19 BMC AMI DevX reviews

4,059 Views
244 Comparison Views

90% willing to recommend

SQL Sentry

Read 2 SQL Sentry reviews

649 Views
649 Comparison Views

66% willing to recommend

BMC AMI DevX

SQL Sentry

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 11, 2025

SQL Sentry and BMC AMI DevX compete in the performance monitoring and management domain. SQL Sentry appears to have the upper hand in optimizing database performance, while BMC AMI DevX stands out in mainframe systems support.

Features: SQL Sentry provides real-time monitoring, event management, and query performance tuning. BMC AMI DevX offers diagnostic tools, efficient resource utilization, and debugging capabilities.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: SQL Sentry supports easy integration with extensive documentation, ideal for SQL Server environments. BMC AMI DevX, while more complex due to its mainframe nature, offers comprehensive support options.

Pricing and ROI: SQL Sentry has a cost-effective setup, promising significant ROI for SQL Server users. BMC AMI DevX may have a higher initial cost but ensures long-term ROI through mainframe performance enhancement.

To learn more, read our detailed BMC AMI DevX vs. SQL Sentry Report (Updated: October 2025).

Buyer's Guide

BMC AMI DevX vs. SQL Sentry

October 2025

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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 Database Development and Management

19th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Software Configuration Management (1st), Debugging (9th), Mainframe Application Development (1st), Test Data Management (7th), Mainframe Testing Tools (1st), Data Masking (8th)

SQL Sentry

Ranking in Database Development and Management

13th

Average Rating

9.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2025, in the Database Development and Management category, the mindshare of BMC AMI DevX is 1.3%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SQL Sentry is 3.6%, down from 5.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Database Development and Management Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
SQL Sentry	3.6%
BMC AMI DevX	1.3%
Other	95.1%

Database Development and Management

Featured Reviews

Brian Westerman

Director of R&D at Syzygy Inc.

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.

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Steve McCubbin

Sql Db Administrator at a non-tech company with 1,001-5,000 employees

Lets you know when your jobs are taking longer than average and allows you to go back in history and find out what was happening at certain times

To be able to go back in history and find out what was happening at certain times is the most valuable feature of the product. Another thing that's good about the product is that it will let you know when your jobs are taking longer than average so that you can foretell that there's going to be an issue coming up. Your SQL agent job is taking longer.

Read full review

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."

"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 beneficial in application development."

"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."

"BMC Data Management improved our data recovery process by simplifying it."

"We can develop in parallel today on ISPF, but it's giving us the advantage of the newer interface into the mainframe programming languages that younger programmers can use and are familiar with, rather than using the ISPF green screen."

"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."

"It's a modernized development portal and helps reduce the learning curve for younger people coming in to work on the platform,"

"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."

More BMC AMI DevX pros

"This solution has identified blocking, deadlock, memory pressure, and high CPU consumption issues."

"To be able to go back in history and find out what was happening at certain times is the most valuable feature of the product."

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?"

"The area for improvement is related to the testing tools that are available for unit testing or acceptance testing. I know they have some out there that we are not licensed for at this time, but it seems like some of the Eclipse tools that are used for other programming languages, they're all just built-in and they're a little more intuitive to the developers. Making those testing tools as intuitive as possible, and as integrated as possible into the workbench, would be really beneficial."

"I'm always looking for improvement in things like the documentation, to make things a little bit easier and simpler to understand, a place where people can go to troubleshoot issues."

"I'm waiting to see what 19.2 for Topaz looks like, but I have a problem with the JES Explorer right now. It limits you to a certain prefix for job names and there are some groups that have multiple prefixes that they'd like to see all at once in their job names, because of how they work in a group. And they can't see that in the JES Explorer."

"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."

"One area for improvement with this product could be in providing clearer guidance and tools for disaster recovery planning and execution."

"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."

"It's a very complicated tool."

More BMC AMI DevX cons

"If we can get details on wait types from system views, it will help identify a more detailed root cause."

"There could be some more metrics on the high availability to let us know when there are issues synchronizing between the hosts."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I like the seat-based licensing much more than MSU-based licensing, and that the cost has been competitive."

"In general, Compuware tools are very competitive."

"It has saved our developers time and effort when working on documentation, which is now more readable and fluent."

"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 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."

"It's fairly expensive."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

36%

Insurance Company

12%

Computer Software Company

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

12%

Computer Software Company

Manufacturing Company

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	6
Large Enterprise	16

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 ...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Compuware File-AID?

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Compuware File-AID?

We use the solution clone test files.

See all answers

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Comparisons

Endevor vs BMC AMI DevX

Compared 26% of the time

IBM File Manager vs BMC AMI DevX

Compared 14% of the time

IBM Debug for z/OS vs BMC AMI DevX

Compared 9% of the time

InterTest vs BMC AMI DevX

Compared 8% of the time

Rocket Enterprise Developer (formerly a Micro Focus product) vs BMC AMI DevX

Compared 5% of the time

More BMC AMI DevX Competitors

SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer vs SQL Sentry

Compared 60% of the time

IDERA SQL Diagnostic Manager for SQL Server vs SQL Sentry

Compared 18% of the time

Spotlight vs SQL Sentry

Compared 11% of the time

Foglight for Databases vs SQL Sentry

Compared 11% of the time

More SQL Sentry Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

BMC AMI DevX

November 2025

Download BMC AMI DevX product report

Buyer's Guide

Database Development and Management

October 2025

Download SQL Sentry product report

Also Known As

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

No data available

Overview

BMC AMI DevX is a comprehensive solution enhancing code management and testing efficiency. It offers debugging capabilities within financial applications and integrates data management seamlessly, serving major banking sectors with reliable performance.

AMI DevX is tailored for banking industries, optimizing application debugging in COBOL and enhancing data handling in robust financial systems. It simplifies mainframe data management with real-time insights, improving efficiency through editing and cloning functionalities. The tool's integration with Compuware File-AID for IMS and DB2 ensures streamlined development processes. Challenges include a steep DB2 learning curve and initial setup complexities, with technical support inconsistencies and steep pricing impacting affordability. Despite this, its valuable features significantly support large banking operations.

What features make BMC AMI DevX valuable?

Line-by-Line Code Debugging: Allows precise identification and rectification of issues.
Variable Change & Line Skipping: Flexibility in testing without recompiling.
Database-Independent Testing: No need for loading databases during testing.
Real-Time Data Insights: Enhances decision-making with immediate information.
Data Warehousing & Analytics: Facilitates comprehensive data analysis.
Integration & Formatting: Streamlines development by simplifying data processes.

What benefits should users look for in reviews?

Improved Efficiency: Streamline data management and editing capabilities.
Robust Debugging: Effective in both online and batch COBOL program debugging.
Enhanced Financial Application Support: Superior handling in grants and loans applications.
Comprehensive Testing: Enables creation of clone test files for thorough testing.

In large banking sectors, BMC AMI DevX is integral for grants and loans-related applications. Its robust nature supports financial systems, offering debugging for COBOL, updating data in Compuware File-AID for IMS, and integrating DB2. Users implement this for exceptional data management and application reliability.

BMC

SentryOne is the most capable, scalable platform for enterprise data performance management, from development through production. We empower Microsoft database professionals with the best solutions for developing, testing, documenting, and monitoring the Microsoft Data Platform.

SQL Sentry

Sample Customers

Helvetia, The IMT Group, Hapag-Lloyd, Royal Bank of Canada, Chunghwa Telecom

Coeo, Stack Overflow, GreatAmerica Financial Services Corporation, Hawaiian Airlines, Hennepin County Medical Center, Racing Victoria, Citrix, Insight, Shi, Woodforest National Bank, Telular

Buyer's Guide

BMC AMI DevX vs. SQL Sentry

October 2025

Free Report: BMC AMI DevX vs. SQL Sentry

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