HCL Workload Automation vs Tidal by Redwood comparison

HCLSoftware and Tidal Software by Redwood are both solutions in the Workload Automation category. HCLSoftware is ranked #21, while Tidal Software by Redwood is ranked #14 with an average rating of 8.7. HCLSoftware holds a 2.2% mindshare in WA, compared to Tidal Software by Redwood’s 4.7% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of HCLSoftware users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 97% of Tidal Software by Redwood users who would recommend it.

HCL Workload Automation

Read 1 HCL Workload Automation review

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838 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Tidal by Redwood

Read 37 Tidal by Redwood reviews

2,302 Views
2,279 Comparison Views

97% willing to recommend

HCL Workload Automation

Tidal by Redwood

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 15, 2025

Tidal by Redwood and HCL Workload Automation are competing in the automation solutions category. Tidal by Redwood is preferred for pricing and support, while HCL Workload Automation is favored for its extensive features that justify its cost.

Features: Tidal by Redwood strengths include job scheduling, real-time analytics, and integration capabilities. HCL Workload Automation is strong in orchestration capabilities, cross-platform support, and comprehensive reporting tools, providing a wider range of functionalities.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Tidal by Redwood offers a straightforward cloud-based deployment model with accessible support. HCL Workload Automation has traditionally been more complex to deploy but is improving with enhancements and offers strong support options.

Pricing and ROI: Tidal by Redwood is competitively priced, ensuring high ROI through efficient deployment and operational savings. HCL Workload Automation has a higher initial setup cost, yet delivers substantial ROI through its features and long-term operational efficiencies, offsetting the initial investment with performance improvements over time.

To learn more, read our detailed Workload Automation Report (Updated: September 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Workload Automation

September 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

HCL Workload Automation

Ranking in Workload Automation

21st

Average Rating

8.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Tidal by Redwood

Ranking in Workload Automation

14th

Average Rating

9.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2025, in the Workload Automation category, the mindshare of HCL Workload Automation is 2.2%, up from 2.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Tidal by Redwood is 4.7%, up from 3.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Workload Automation Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Tidal by Redwood	4.7%
HCL Workload Automation	2.2%
Other	93.1%

Workload Automation

Featured Reviews

reviewer1418508

Subject Matter Expert at DXC Technology

Easy to set up, good support, and helps to decrease project costs

With the mainframe environment that we have, it is more similar to the HCL migration, or the workload scheduler. We also like the CWHC utilities; they are more current and under the umbrella of HCL. It reduces project risks. Easy to set up, it doesn't require a lot. You can start working immediately. Migration is increased while it decreases the cost of the project.

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Steve Mikula

IT Scheduling Manager at Paychex, Inc.

Very reliable processing engine, and scheduling is flawless—crucial elements in our financial transaction processing

Because we've been on it for 20 years, it's pretty easy for us to automate jobs with Tidal at this point. It has become second nature. It's pretty simplistic to set up and get going, although there are different levels of complexity you can have within the product. It depends on how simple you want to keep it. If you just keep it: Job A, Job B, Job C, Job D, that becomes pretty simple. But when you start integrating some complex calendars that use sub-calendars—and you can go three, four, or five deep to set up schedules—it becomes more complicated. The beauty of it is you can go as deep as you need to. We can get really complex or we can keep it simple. We have some use cases for both scenarios. The thing that I like the most is the reliability of the engine. The actual scheduling part of the product is pretty much flawless, but the stability of the product is what I find to be reassuring. We are a financial company, we move billions of dollars a day, and if we don't have our transactions processed in a timely manner we can be penalized and our clients can be penalized. It can have a serious financial impact.

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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

"Easy to set up, it doesn't require a lot."

"We have to run about 12,000 jobs every day and the majority of them need to be launched from our ERP, JD Edwards. The native compatibility of the Tidal platform with JD Edwards dovetails with our greatest need. It's directly connected to the heart of our IT system. We couldn't work without it."

"We use the solution for cross-platform, cross-application workloads. The solution’s ability to manage and monitor these workloads is very easy and accurate. We have file dependencies for running jobs. The job does not start until a file exists on a completely different server, then where the job will run. So, it is cross systems."

"It is intended to enable large-scale automation environments, making it appropriate for companies with complicated processes and big data volumes."

"With other tools, you do not have the ability to schedule jobs on their own. You need to create a group and then assign everything to that group. Only then will the job be able to execute. In Tidal, you can schedule a single job and there is no need to create a group. That's what I like the most."

"I like the fact that I have control, and I am able to monitor. If there is an issue, I would be able to respond to any jobs that may fail. With any other scheduler that I know of, a lot of times, when I have a very complex script, if there is an issue in the middle of it, I have to let the whole process fail and then figure out a way to recover from it, whereas Tidal will stop the process, and I can resolve that issue. Once I resolve the issue, I can continue the process. This is very important for invoicing, accounts payable, accounts receivable, or any kind of financial reporting. It allows you to recover from an issue much more effectively than anything else that I have seen."

"The best feature is that it allows task scheduling based on particular occurrences, like the receipt of files, database updates, or system notifications."

"With the varied features in the varied adapters provided, we use Tidal Enterprise Scheduler because we want everything to be scheduled in one place. Tidal provides that for us with its tools and varying platforms in our organization. Tidal provides all the connectors to the platforms. This is very useful because we don't want to look for another scheduler for scheduling certain jobs. We don't want to look at those schedules manually between platforms."

"Tidal Automation offers extensive monitoring and reporting features that let users keep track of the status of their workflows and quickly spot any problems."

More Tidal by Redwood pros

Cons

"The interface needs some improvements."

"One thing I would like to see improved is that, currently, when an action is executed and finishes in Tidal, it's marked as either "success" or "failure." I would like more options that would flag a job according to multiple options, rather than just "good" or bad"... Tidal has told us that it's possible to do so through the product or with a workaround."

"One area for improvement is the command-line interface and the API to bulk-load jobs. It's a little bit kludgy, but we still manage without it. They're working on it and it's getting better all the time. In addition, the documentation for their API for creating jobs needs to be updated. It's a bit of a learning curve."

"I would like more involvement with the cloud."

"Their software installation and update process could use some improvements. I'm pretty sure they're working on that, but that's definitely an area where it could be streamlined a lot. There's still a lot of manual work that you have to do with the schedule when you deploy masters or do the agents."

"To better fit their unique needs, the solution should give more customization options."

"For the most part, the drill-down and the logging are really good. But if we take an Informatica job, for example: We have the ability, and the operators have the ability, to actually drill down and see, at a session level, where the failure is. There is, unfortunately, no way to extract that into an actual output email or failure email. It's not that that information is not available, but extracting it into an email would be a nice-to-have."

"Some users have complained that the initial setup process is complicated and time-consuming, while others have suggested that the software could offer more freedom in customizing processes."

"They can do better reporting in terms of production statistics reporting."

More Tidal by Redwood cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available

"The licensing model's flexibility is awesome. The way it's licensed for us is that it's licensed per master and then per agent. We have an enterprise agreement, so we have unlimited agents, and we have it on 500 devices."

"This solution is a bit expensive in the current world where everybody is trying to cut down on certain things."

"We pay maintenance annually through Blue House of about $9,000. That's for our two environments: production and test."

"Our yearly licensing costs are between $10,000 to $20,000. They have always been reasonable with us. I like that non-production licensing is about half the cost of production licensing. Licensing is by adapter typically. We have had scenarios where we have had to take an adapter from one environment to another, and they've allowed us to do that. They have made it a very reasonable process. There's definitely a feeling that they will work with you."

"I have had no issues with the licensing."

"We are satisfied with the pricing of Tidal. It's in the moderate range and it feels very achievable for us."

"If you are willing to shop around to other vendors, you can possibly get a good price on your support license."

"There are project, system, and server costs. Some of the things that they are doing is introducing new products. They are introducing what they call their Repository, which is a way for you to move a job. That doesn't cost anything to us, because it is reusing a tool called Transporter. The repository is the successor to Transporter, so we already own it and are sort of grandfathered in. But that new product requires a server and database, so now we have to go out and get a server and database. So, there is a cost there."

More Tidal by Redwood pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

17%

Insurance Company

10%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Computer Software Company

Financial Services Firm

17%

Computer Software Company

10%

Manufacturing Company

Insurance Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	3
Midsize Enterprise	6
Large Enterprise	38

Questions from the Community

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What do you like most about Tidal Automation?

Tidal Automation by Redwood is a user-friendly solution.

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Tidal Automation?

The price is reasonable in terms of the product’s functionality.

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What needs improvement with Tidal Automation?

Initially, it is complicated to understand the functionalities as there is limited product documentation. The setup and configuration of the software is a bit complicated. Providing the training vi...

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Comparisons

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Automic Automation vs Tidal by Redwood

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AutoSys Workload Automation vs Tidal by Redwood

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Workload Automation

September 2025

Download HCL Workload Automation product report

Buyer's Guide

Tidal by Redwood

August 2025

Download Tidal by Redwood product report

Also Known As

No data available

Tidal Workload Automation, Cisco Workload Automation, Tidal Enterprise Scheduler

Overview

HCL Workload Automation orchestrates complex processes, streamlining tasks across systems, improving efficiency for demanding environments.

Designed for robust workload automation, HCL Workload Automation integrates seamlessly into existing infrastructures, enabling precise control and management of workflows. Its scalability and adaptability suit enterprises seeking operational excellence, aligning processes with strategic goals. Users experience enhanced productivity through efficient job scheduling and workload execution, catering to enterprise demands.

What are the most important features?

Integrated Control: Provides a centralized platform to manage jobs across diverse platforms.
Dynamic Workload Management: Adjusts to fluctuating workloads with dynamic resources.
Cloud Capability: Extends automation capabilities to cloud environments, enhancing scalability.
Script Customization: Offers scripting flexibility for tailored job executions.
Predictive Analytics: Utilizes predictive tools to anticipate workload needs and optimize resources.

What benefits and ROI should users look for in reviews?

Increased Efficiency: Streamlines task execution, saving time and resources.
Cost Reduction: Reduces operational costs by automating repetitive tasks.
Scalability: Supports growth without significant infrastructure changes.
Enhanced Reliability: Minimizes errors through automated job scheduling.
Improved Strategic Alignment: Aligns IT processes with business objectives.

In healthcare, HCL Workload Automation efficiently manages patient data by integrating disparate systems, essential for timely treatment. In finance, it automates transaction processes securely, ensuring compliance with industry standards. In manufacturing, it optimizes supply chain operations by automating inventory management and production scheduling.

HCLSoftware

Tidal Software is a leading provider of enterprise workload automation solutions that orchestrate the execution of complex workflows across systems, applications and IT environments. With a comprehensive portfolio of products and services, Tidal optimizes mission-critical business processes, increases IT cost efficiencies and satisfies legal and regulatory compliance requirements. Hundreds of customers around the world count on Tidal for modernizing their workload automation and driving their digital transformation. Tidal Software is headquartered in Chicago with offices in Houston, London, Minsk, Belarus and Chennai, India. For more information, visit tidalsoftware.com.

Tidal Software by Redwood

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