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Control-M vs vCenter Orchestrator comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 13, 2026

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
6.4
Control-M's automation enhances efficiency and service speed, reducing costs and downtime, offering high ROI despite initial expenses.
Sentiment score
6.0
Medium to large enterprises gain ROI from virtualization, but quantifying returns is challenging; vCenter Orchestrator suits specific needs.
The main return on investment with Helix Control-M has been a reduction in downtime and minimization of manual interventions, which has improved our operational efficiency.
Cloud Engineer at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees
You can run a million batch jobs or tasks at night when all of your highly skilled people are at home sleeping.
Account Executive at a computer software company with 51-200 employees
By implementing automation tools, you can minimize human errors and improve efficiency.
Director of Sales at a tech services company with self employed
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.2
BMC Control-M's support is praised for responsiveness and expertise, but consistency and timeliness need improvement according to users.
Sentiment score
6.2
VMware support is praised for communication and resolution but needs faster response and deeper expertise in some cases.
They quickly evolve with changing technology trends, easily adopt new features, and incorporate them into the product.
architect at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
The support is accurate, and BMC is always ready to help with queries and complex incidents.
Solutions Consultant at a consultancy with 11-50 employees
The technical support is very polite, helpful, and available 24/7.
Cloud Engineer at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.5
Control-M excels in scalability across industries, though some users note high costs and challenges with cloud integrations.
Sentiment score
7.3
vCenter Orchestrator effectively scales from small to large environments, adapting well despite some hardware-specific challenges.
Our license doesn't limit our ability to configure Control-M as needed, allowing us to easily create new agents or environments.
Control-M System Administrator at a insurance company with 10,001+ employees
I am paying for a top-end tool which rarely experiences issues, with most problems stemming from the applications being managed rather than the tooling itself.
Senior Control-M Consultant at Ktsl
It can absorb more workload wherever needed.
Cloud/Devops Engineer at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.7
Control-M is highly stable, with minor issues usually due to external factors, and users rate its stability highly.
Sentiment score
7.9
vCenter Orchestrator is highly stable, reliable, and efficient, with occasional issues, praised for trustworthy performance by users.
Control-M itself is robust, and it would receive a rating of 10.
Technical architect at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
The downtime is higher compared to AWS.
Data scientist at Advarisk
The testing and development phases need to be more rigorous before releasing patches.
Associate Architect at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
 

Room For Improvement

Users seek improved reporting, cloud features, GUI, module compatibility, automation, support, cost, and AI in Control-M.
vCenter Orchestrator requires affordability, interface improvements, better integration, automation features, simpler workflows, and accessible support and resources.
They could provide more documentation and tutorials to make the initial setup easier to understand.
Assistant professor at J.P. College of Engineering
We've experienced main problems with MFTE where having one setup means when an error occurs, the entire service goes down.
Control-M System Administrator at a insurance company with 10,001+ employees
Documentation should be maintained for all versions since they provided the application.
Sr Manager at Vodafone
 

Setup Cost

Control-M's pricing is considered expensive, but its comprehensive features often justify the investment for larger enterprises.
Enterprise users have mixed opinions on vCenter Orchestrator pricing, with some finding it expensive due to complex licensing.
The licensing cost is very high, and they often consider switching to IBM Workload Scheduler or other options.
Associate Architect at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Control-M tends to be more expensive compared to other solutions, but users get great value from it.
Senior System Specialist at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Control-M is among the highest-priced solutions in the market.
Control-M System Administrator at a insurance company with 10,001+ employees
 

Valuable Features

Control-M offers robust integration, automation, and monitoring features to enhance workflow efficiency and streamline operational processes.
vCenter Orchestrator offers seamless automation, easy integration, scalability, user-friendly interface, and cost-effective virtual machine management.
Automation is more advanced, deployment is fast, and version control has been simplified.
Data scientist at Advarisk
The user interface is comprehensive and lets me view all my jobs on one page, monitor everything, and access the job history.
Cloud Engineer at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees
If I have a staff that operates Control-M on Windows Server, they will easily pick it up if they need to run it on Unix or mainframes. It's the same interface, saving time and improving efficiency.
IT Guy at a insurance company with 5,001-10,000 employees
 

Categories and Ranking

Control-M
Ranking in Process Automation
2nd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
182
Ranking in other categories
Managed File Transfer (MFT) (2nd), Workload Automation (1st), AI IT Support (1st)
vCenter Orchestrator
Ranking in Process Automation
10th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
51
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Process Automation category, the mindshare of Control-M is 3.7%, down from 4.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of vCenter Orchestrator is 0.7%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Process Automation Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Control-M3.7%
vCenter Orchestrator0.7%
Other95.6%
Process Automation
 

Featured Reviews

RP
Batch Admin at NBC Universal
Brings data together from multiple platforms and optimizes cross-environment orchestration
The features of Control-M that I like the most include the ability to easily integrate or bring in different platforms into Control-M. For instance, AWS, mainframe, TWS, and something that's running on Autosys can all be brought into Control-M, converted to how Control-M runs it, and then the batch can be executed. This centralizes various applications in Control-M, which doesn't just have to handle batch processes, but also other tasks like reporting on required data. I find this functionality very useful and the setup is impressive, with more advancements yet to come. With Control-M, my company has achieved several measurable improvements since I started. The metrics indicate that the number of failures has dropped, and we have addressed the issue of excessive false alerts that I encountered when I joined. Previously, we received an overwhelming number of alerts daily, but now we manage to maintain that at a normalized level, perhaps around five to fifteen alerts, depending on running core batches and their setup.
NB
Hybrid Cloud Engineer at RealPage
Boosts operational efficiency with flexible workflows and reliable cluster management
We currently use vCenter Orchestrator's pre-built workflow templates for our IT processes. The templates are flexible, allowing us to create and convert processes simply and manage patches. Regarding integration capabilities, we do not integrate any third-party tools. We exclusively use VMware products. The integration within the VMware infrastructure is limited to Single Sign-On (SSO). I have not created any workflows in vCenter Orchestrator as workflows are only used for change management. I have not encountered any drag and drop interface. The version control and logging features of vCenter Orchestrator have significantly improved the reliability of our automated processes, particularly during upgrades or patching to the cluster-wise. Previously, it would be done on a one-to-one cluster or one-to-one host basis, but now we only need to monitor it for upgrading or patching the entire cluster. I cannot comment on the pricing and licensing of vCenter Orchestrator as these aspects are managed by our onsite counterpart. Overall, I rate vCenter Orchestrator 8 out of 10. The rating reflects occasional delays in support response times and portal stability issues.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
27%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Computer Software Company
7%
Insurance Company
7%
Computer Software Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Performing Arts
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business37
Midsize Enterprise23
Large Enterprise140
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business18
Midsize Enterprise13
Large Enterprise20
 

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...
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.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Control-M?
From what I know about pricing, I would probably put Control-M in the expensive category, but you do pay for what you get; you are paying for a premium product.
What do you like most about vCenter Orchestrator?
The stability of the product is very good.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for vCenter Orchestrator?
We're running a low-profile budget. This is not our main focus on investment technology, so we're trying to reduce costs due to the change from perpetual to subscription licenses.
What needs improvement with vCenter Orchestrator?
For our environment, I do not see any areas of vCenter Orchestrator that could be improved or enhanced. We are currently satisfied with the orchestrator. If any improvements are needed, I will prov...
 

Also Known As

Control M, BMC Control-M Managed File Transfer, BMC Australia CTM
No data available
 

Interactive Demo

Demo not available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

The Bank of East Asia, LINE Bank Taiwan, Coop, Air Europa, Carrefour, Itau Unibanco, Snam, Embraer, ANZ Bank, EDP, Dominio's, Tampa General Hospital, W&W Informatik GmbH, Veterans General, Up Sí Vale, Sky Italia, REWE digital GmbH, Raymond James, Railinc, Navistar, Management Science Associates, Colruyt, CARFAX, Banpara, Aspiag Service, Amadeus, AG Insurance, ING Bank Slaski
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Find out what your peers are saying about Control-M vs. vCenter Orchestrator and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
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