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Control-M vs F5 BIG-IQ comparison

BMC and F5 are both solutions in the Process Automation category. BMC is ranked #3 with an average rating of 8.7, while F5 is ranked #27 with an average rating of 8.0. BMC holds a 4.4% mindshare in PA, compared to F5’s 0.2% mindshare. Additionally, 98% of BMC users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 80% of F5 users who would recommend it.
Control-M
Read 121 Control-M reviews
  • 3,737 Views
  • 1,531 Comparison Views
98% willing to recommend
F5 BIG-IQ
Read 14 F5 BIG-IQ reviews
  • 246 Views
  • 91 Comparison Views
80% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 9, 2025

Control-M and F5 BIG-IQ are both utilized within enterprise IT environments; however, they focus on distinct areas. Control-M specializes in automation and workflow scheduling across diverse technologies, which may provide an advantage for organizations with complex, multi-platform needs. Conversely, F5 BIG-IQ excels in managing multiple F5 BIG-IP devices, making it ideal for network and application delivery management.

Features: Control-M stands out with its cross-platform support, robust scheduling capabilities, and integration with numerous third-party applications like AS400. It is praised for its easy scheduling of complex workflows and significant integration abilities. F5 BIG-IQ specializes in centralized management of F5 BIG-IP devices, focusing on load balancing capabilities and WAF functionalities, which make it an excellent tool for network and application delivery management.

Room for Improvement: Control-M users express the need for enhanced reporting features and more flexible output analysis. They also request better customization options and improvements in the integration of certain modules. On the other hand, F5 BIG-IQ users would benefit from reduced user management complexity and improved automation processes. A more intuitive GUI for security rule configuration and decreased deployment complexity, especially in cloud environments, are desired.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Control-M offers deployment flexibility across on-premises, hybrid, and public cloud setups. It generally receives good support feedback, though complexity in integrations may affect support quality. F5 BIG-IQ operates mainly in on-premises and private cloud environments, with strong technical support, though users note challenges in engaging support teams and navigating technical details.

Pricing and ROI: Control-M is known for its high costs due to a job-based licensing model, yet it provides comprehensive functionality that leads to significant time savings and operational efficiencies, yielding a positive ROI for large enterprises. F5 BIG-IQ, while more cost-effective with device-based licensing, offers great value within the F5 ecosystem, though its limited functional scope may affect ROI in broader use cases.

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To learn more, read our detailed Control-M vs. F5 BIG-IQ Report (Updated: April 2025).
Buyer's Guide
Control-M vs. F5 BIG-IQ
April 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

Control-M
Ranking in Process Automation
3rd
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
121
Ranking in other categories
Managed File Transfer (MFT) (4th), Workload Automation (1st)
F5 BIG-IQ
Ranking in Process Automation
27th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
14
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Process Automation category, the mindshare of Control-M is 4.4%, up from 3.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of F5 BIG-IQ is 0.2%, down from 0.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Process Automation
 

Featured Reviews

Pedro Fuentes - PeerSpot reviewer
Cost-effective, excellent support, and centralized access and control
They have a department that handles requests for enhancements. I talked to Control-M guys back in October or November when they had a gathering here in Atlanta. We talked about not being able to go back in history in Helix Control-M for more than two weeks. We submitted a request for enhancement. They told us that they are working on it, and they are thinking of expanding that to 30 days. We would like to see it expand to 90 days, but they are working on it. In Control-M, we were able to go back 180 days, but that was on-prem. The storage of that data was on our own servers. We know that storage is money, and we do not expect them to store that much of the data, but at least 30 to 60 days seem proper.
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AshutoshMalik - PeerSpot reviewer
Seamless migration enhances user management for data center administrators
The product is excellent. It is easily manageable and user-friendly for administrators working on both the GUI and CLI. The best part is the seamless migration of the configuration from one box to another, even when hardware changes. This is particularly beneficial during migrations from old boxes to new ones. While other vendors might have issues, F5 BIG-IQ ( /products/f5-big-iq-reviews ) provides a smooth transition.
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

"I am proud to say almost all of the banks in South Africa are using it."
"It has certainly helped speed things up."
"The integration with ServiceNow is good. When a job ends and there are problems with it, we automatically open an incident in this platform, and the number of the incident is forwarded to Control-M. This means that we have a record of it with the log of the job."
"It is an enterprise tool that integrates with all the applications in our organization. It has made our life easier because we don't need to wake up at midnight and do monitoring, etc. It does everything. It also sends precautionary alerts. If a job or activity is running for more than the specified time, it alerts the application team. So, our teams do not need to sit in front of a laptop or any open application to watch the jobs. They can do their other regular activities while Control-M takes care of all the jobs. It notifies them when there is job completion, delay, and error."
"Speeds up processes and automated tasks."
"Ability to handle files remotely through the advanced file transfer feature."
"The Automation API has opened up a world of possibilities for us, including the ability to create workflows on-demand using traditional DevOps tools."
"The workflow is much easier compared to the ACS services we were using."
More Control-M pros
"The most valuable features are load balancing and WAF."
"The reporting feature is quite good."
"We use this solution on a daily basis, and it is very stable."
"The best aspect of the solution is that we can have everything integrated with a rather large capacity in order to personalize and configure specific rules."
"Scalability: To move from larger boxes to smaller boxes, along with virtualization. So, we are not locked into a particular size."
"The customer service is great."
"F5 BIG-IQ is a central management system for the BIG-IP."
"Features like AFM, the gateway, and Global DNS are the coolest features that save work for us."
More F5 BIG-IQ pros
 

Cons

"We've also had a few database bugs within our organization. I think we are migrating to OpenJDK rather than just regular Java and that has since shown some issues with our Control-M instance, timing out and causing our jobs to stop running. We are still working with BMC to fine-tune that and get that resolved."
"I would like to see automatic license management. And probably more importantly, some kind of machine learning to help identify the optimum automation path."
"The documentation could be improved, and I'd also like to see automatic upgrades."
"They should have a proper integration method that clearly defines the workflow."
"The performance could be better. Control-M Enterprise Manager tends to slow the system down even on a server with a six-core processor and 32 gigabytes RAM. The console is Java-based, so maybe OpenJDK 16 or 17 would be a performance improvement."
"The biggest improvement they could have is better QA testing before releases come out the door."
"Integration with some applications and platforms is complex and requires development. We have done some integration with the application integrator, but it was more like a manual solution. This is an area that can be improved."
"Finding documentation on the website can be a bit confusing."
More Control-M cons
"Sometimes the solution does not work."
"From a hands-on experience perspective, more resources should be available on the Internet, like labs and lab preparations."
"The solution's rSeries has been made free, and iSeries should be made free as well."
"The shell, kernel, or Linux has something like a delay, especially with the Virtual Edition, when you are trying to implement it in the cloud and you want to access it remotely with web management. It would be great if they could improve their kernel. It was difficult for me, especially when I got started with BIG-IP. I was struggling to find which commands work with it. If you want to work with it, you have to be a Linux guy."
"Integration with VAS is something that they need to work on."
"F5 BIG-IQ should improve by being a complete certificate management solution because currently, it is only for Venafi. Other automation platforms, should be added."
"F5 BIG-IQ is a complex solution, and it cannot manage everything related to BIG-IPs."
"A bug caused me to lose all the configuration."
More F5 BIG-IQ cons
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"You must accept that BMC licensing can be very confusing. No one can easily understand how they calculate things, whether it is user-based, job-based, or server-based. The calculation is quite tough. How BMC calculates licensing is not easily available anywhere."
"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."
"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."
"This is now from my previous years as support for banks and big companies. If it's not enterprise scale, I find that it's too expensive for smaller companies. You really have to be quite big and need to have a dedicated support staff to run it, then you'll be fine. What we've seen at smaller companies, it's too expensive because they want to automate everything. Now, stuff that can literally run once a day for the rest of their lives is costing them $3 a job a day. It becomes too expensive, eventually. They are not seeing the return on investment because it's not business critical. Nobody is going to die or they're going to lose money if that job didn't run exactly at 11 minutes past 4:00. It's definitely for bigger enterprise companies, especially banks or healthcare providers. We have had an instance where Control-M was unavailable due to external factors for 20 minutes and there was a loss of almost a million euros because the solution involved logistics."
"BMC's price is based on the number of jobs."
"The pricing is moderate, not too low or too high compared to other solutions."
"The product price is reasonable. I rate the pricing an eight."
"We have a license till 2024. We are good and satisfied with it."
More Control-M pricing and cost advice
"F5 BIG-IQ is a cheap solution."
"I would like the product to be cheaper."
"Users have to pay an annual subscription fee for the solution's iSeries."
"There is only one licensing fee for F5 BIG-IQ and everything is included in the price."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
28%
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Retailer
6%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

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?
It is a little bit expensive.
See all answers
What do you like most about F5 BIG-IQ?
F5 BIG-IQ is a central management system for the BIG-IP.
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for F5 BIG-IQ?
F5 BIG-IQ is a cheap solution.
See all answers
What needs improvement with F5 BIG-IQ?
The product is really good with no significant downsides. However, better and simpler integration with ACI could improve the product.
See all answers
 

Comparisons

AutoSys Workload Automation vs Control-M Logo
AutoSys Workload Automation vs Control-M
Compared 16% of the time
Automic Automation vs Control-M Logo
Automic Automation vs Control-M
Compared 9% of the time
IBM Workload Automation vs Control-M Logo
IBM Workload Automation vs Control-M
Compared 7% of the time
Redwood RunMyJobs vs Control-M Logo
Redwood RunMyJobs vs Control-M
Compared 6% of the time
Stonebranch vs Control-M Logo
Stonebranch vs Control-M
Compared 5% of the time
More Control-M Competitors
No data available
 

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
Control-M
May 2025
Control-M reportDownload Control-M product report
Buyer's Guide
F5 BIG-IQ
May 2025
F5 BIG-IQ reportDownload F5 BIG-IQ product report
 

Also Known As

Control M
No data available
 

Overview

Control-M is used for enterprise workload automation, orchestrating finance, retail, healthcare, and supply chain processes. It handles batch job scheduling, managed file transfers, cloud integrations, and compliance auditing across on-premises, cloud, and hybrid environments.

Organizations leverage Control-M to efficiently monitor and manage business-critical processes like payroll, HR, SAP, Informatica, and database tasks. It enhances visibility, security, and error resolution. Automating and optimizing workflows in data centers, AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud Platform, Control-M supports diverse technological environments. The platform's robust capabilities make it suitable for effective centralized management of applications and data pipelines, ensuring enhanced collaboration and scalability.

What are Control-M's most important features?
  • Integration capabilities: Seamlessly integrates with various systems
  • Automation API: Facilitates automation through APIs
  • Managed File Transfer: Simplifies secure file transfers
  • GUI console: Intuitive graphical user interface
  • Role-based administration: Provides access control
  • Single-pane view: Centralized monitoring dashboard
  • Scheduling options: Flexible job scheduling
  • Workflow orchestration: Coordinates complex workflows
  • Reporting: Generates insightful reports
  • Monitoring: Tracks and manages tasks
  • Forecasting: Predicts future workloads
  • Self-service portal: Empowers users with self-service tools
  • Plugins: Extends functionality through additional plugins
What are the benefits or ROI of using Control-M?
  • Enhanced visibility: Centralized view of all processes
  • Ease of use: User-friendly interface
  • Error reduction: Minimizes manual errors
  • Improved collaboration: Facilitates teamwork
  • Scalability: Supports growth and scale
  • Support: Comprehensive customer support

Control-M is implemented in industries like finance to handle payroll and HR tasks, in retail for inventory management and supply chain processes, and in healthcare for compliance auditing and patient data processing. Organizations benefit from streamlined workflows and automated processes across on-premises, cloud, and hybrid environments, ensuring efficient and secure operations.

BMC

F5® BIG-IQ® Centralized Management provides a unified point of visibility and control for the entire F5 portfolio, ensuring administrators remain aware on the pulse of F5 devices, modules, and licenses and enabling them to deliver optimal application availability, performance, and security.

BIG-IQ manages policies,licenses, SSL certificates, BIG-IP images, and configurations for F5 appliances and for the following BIG-IP moduals across hardware and virtual editions:

  • BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager™ (LTM)
  • F5 Advanced Web Application Firewall™ (WAF)
  • BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager™ (AFM)
  • F5 SSL Orchestrator®
  • F5 DDoS Hybrid Defender®
  • BIG-IP Access Policy Manager® (APM)
  • F5 Secure Web Gateway Services
  • BIG-IP DNS
F5
 

Sample Customers

CARFAX, Tampa General Hospital, Navistar, Amadeus, Raymond James, Railinc
Information Not Available
Buyer's Guide
Control-M vs. F5 BIG-IQ
April 2025
Free Report: Control-M vs. F5 BIG-IQ
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