BMC Compuware Topaz Workbench vs BMC Compuware Xpediter comparison

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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
"From a user perspective, the GUIs make it easier for people to see and interact with files on the mainframe.""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.""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.""The most valuable feature of Topaz is Xpediter. It's more flexible than Xpediter through MVS.""It's a modernized development portal and helps reduce the learning curve for younger people coming in to work on the platform,""It helps our staff work by speeding up their documentation process.""The smart editor helps because it will code-complete for me. I can see code working a lot faster and I'm able to get things coded in less time."

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"I like the ability to flow through the source and see what happens to the data as the statements are executed. If there is a fault, it will track the event, and we can then look back to see why it may have caused the fault. You can also reverse engineer your test. You can set it so that you can go backward as well as forward in your test. This is something that I haven't done here at my company. Compuware Xpediter is one of the best debugging tools for mainframe software development. We have currently licensed only the COBOL language for Xpediter, but I know they have other languages, including Assembler, PL/I."

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Cons
"It often doesn't play well with other plugins in the environment.""It would be nice to have an audit trail to see what mainframe developers are using what.""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.""It would be good if the vendors would work together or at least have some collaboration between them, so they would know what would work and what wouldn't work. Right now, the way things are working, they're relying on the customer to make everything work.""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.""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 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.""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."

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"Their technical support could be better. There were times where, when we reported bugs, they would fix one bug but add another one. That's probably because of their support model. A lot of organizations are developing software using Agile rather than the Waterfall method, so things are happening all over the place. You get things quicker, but sometimes one fix will break another one or add other bugs."

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Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "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."
  • "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."
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    Overview

    Topaz Workbench provides an intuitive interface that enables developers of all experience levels to initiate Compuware’s industry-leading developer tools, Abend-AID, File-AID, HiperstationXpediter and Strobe, as well as non-Compuware products and distributed solutions in the same environment.

    Through Topaz Workbench, mainframe teams can:

    • Access Compuware development tools, providing the ability to visualize complex application logic and data relationships, make changes to code, test and debug, and performance tune
    • Leverage existing Eclipse frameworks and integrations with popular open-system tools
    • Manage source code and promote artifacts through the development lifecycle via integration with ISPW
    • Leverage a multi-language, multi-platform source code editor
    • Use JES functions like job submission, review, print and purge
    • Use Host Explorer for z/OS navigation, including dataset management (i.e., allocation, recall, deletion); build mainframe projects to isolate and quickly access files associated with a unit of work
    • Copy files from one LPAR to another with a simple drag and drop or right click; data is compressed and the processing is zIIP enabled for optimal performance
    • Leverage integrations with other industry-leading tools

    Xpediter is Compuware’s mainframe application interactive debugging tool. It also offers code coverage for mainframe application analysis.

    Xpediter enables developers to get into an interactive test session with minimal effort and quickly move applications into production with greater confidence.

    With Xpediter, developers can:

    • See and control source code execution line by line
    • Fully understand what each individual instruction is doing
    • See and control all data variables within a test session
    • Resolve production abends without impacting program logic or risking data corruption
    • Monitor and control execution with added flexibility
    • Use Code Coverage to view documented proof that code has been executed
    • Trap transactions initiated by a remote source or a non-terminal task
    • Gain full control of testing
    • Create conditions during test to ensure execution of all code in a program
    • Work alongside other developers who are debugging application code in the same or different logical IMS systems through Xpediter’s integration with COPE IMS virtualization technology

    Sample Customers
    Erste Group
    Credit Union, IMT, Chunghwa Telecom, Pitney Bowes, Helvetia
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Financial Services Firm86%
    Logistics Company14%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Financial Services Firm32%
    Insurance Company17%
    Computer Software Company10%
    Government6%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Financial Services Firm26%
    Computer Software Company11%
    Insurance Company10%
    Manufacturing Company10%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Large Enterprise100%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business12%
    Midsize Enterprise5%
    Large Enterprise83%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business18%
    Midsize Enterprise9%
    Large Enterprise73%

    BMC Compuware Topaz Workbench is ranked 1st in Mainframe Application Development while BMC Compuware Xpediter is ranked 6th in Mainframe Application Development. BMC Compuware Topaz Workbench is rated 7.2, while BMC Compuware Xpediter is rated 8.6. The top reviewer of BMC Compuware Topaz Workbench writes "File editing/browsing and the debugging features help onboard developers who are new to the mainframe environment". On the other hand, the top reviewer of BMC Compuware Xpediter writes "From a development perspective, it allowed me to validate every line of my logic if necessary, most times in one pass". BMC Compuware Topaz Workbench is most compared with IBM Rational Developer for z Systems and Bonita, whereas BMC Compuware Xpediter is most compared with IBM Debug Tool, InterTest, IBM Fault Analyzer for zOS and Mainframe Application Tuner.

    See our list of best Mainframe Application Development vendors.

    We monitor all Mainframe Application Development reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.