OpenText Operations Orchestration vs VisualCron comparison

OpenText Operations Orchestration vs. VisualCron

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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

Automate

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Robotic Process Automation (RPA) category, the mindshare of Automate is 1.7%, up from 1.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of OpenText Operations Orchestration is 0.2%, up from 0.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VisualCron is 0.9%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Robotic Process Automation (RPA)

Featured Reviews

Anabel Marco

Account Director at a tech services company with 11-50 employees

Automates processes efficiently with cost-effective scaling and robust customer support

Web scraping is quite good since it offers a lot of possibilities. Another important feature for me is its compatibility with MBI, the Power that is ISEQUADO Centers. I appreciate the ability to scale and increase the number of bots or studios without additional expense. Automate's non-reliance on additional orchestrators makes it quite cost-effective.

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Ahmed Salman

Performance & Monitoring Supervisor at Saudi Telecom Company

Increases productivity with automation and robust orchestration capabilities

The community is very powerful, with extensive knowledge bases available. There are ready-made workflows, integration with other products, a nice user interface, and reporting. The tool is flexible, agent-based or agentless. It allows significant automation and has robust orchestration and reporting capabilities. It is easy to configure and use, leading to increased efficiency across our IT processes.

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Sourav-Dutta

Technical Lead - Database Administrator at SMART ENERGY SYSTEMS LLC

It's user-friendly, and I didn't need long to understand the process

We use VisualCron for all our automation needs, like connecting to FileZilla, calling APIs, generating PGP keys, creating encryption files with the PGP key login to Azure, etc. It can automatically log in to SQL Server and execute SQL script jobs in bulk. We had 2,000-3,000 users at my previous…

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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

"Compared to other vendors, it's the scheduling tool because a lot of vendors want to charge you extra for their enterprise-level license to have a scheduling tool built in to give you the ability to set up regular schedules to run and do certain data checks."

"I would recommend Automate because it has made my work much easier."

"Fortra's Automate performs the job effectively and has the capability to alert us of any issues."

"The most valuable feature is the drag-and-drop interface, which is very Windows-like."

"The best feature of Automate is its ease of use, which is a major selling point."

"The most valuable features for my client are timing and scheduling."

"We have tried other RPA solutions like UiPath or Automation Anywhere. They are fantastic products but complex, and it's hard to understand everything. It would be best if you had a skilled developer or several. Automate is easy to implement, administer, and use. It's appropriate for us because our cases are simple and easy to automate. We don't need complicated tools with many features; We prefer to get a significant ROI quickly."

"The solution is continuously adding more integrations to help with workflows and bot and task creation."

More Automate pros

"The product is good functionality-wise. I am impressed with the tool's flexibility in customization."

"The community is very powerful, with extensive knowledge bases available."

"In my environment, if I want to shut down all tools in one shot, I can create a workflow and run the workflow to shut down all tools in one go."

"It has reduced the time taken to go to market. In the past, we were struggling with building these integrations, but now the process has sped up and there is an added advantage of quick delivery. In addition, it is an agent-less solution, which provides more flexibility in terms of multiple options."

"It's very stable. If you ask me for the success rate metrics, it's more than 90% for both."

"'ve only had a few cases where I've had to request support in the past 12 years of use, but the support response time and resolution were was extremely quick."

"What I like about VisualCron is that like its name, it's a very visual tool. In my previous company, there were a lot of scripts for all kinds of services, and through VisualCron, you get to group all flows and get a nice visual overview. VisualCron also has an alerting feature, so you receive alerts from it. VisualCron makes everything clearer and easier to maintain. Every other solution that I was looking for almost always needed a programmer, but with VisualCron, you can do what you need to do without programming skills, so this is another valuable feature of the tool."

"It helped us reduce manual steps."

"I love VisualCron because we previously spent a lot of time writing Power switches to connect to SQL Server. VisualCron makes it easier to execute services or connect to FileZilla by only adding the credentials to the master credentials stored in the solution."

"It has improved our organization with more automation within the business departments and less administration and development in the IT department. Usually, as the IT department, we are the bottleneck for many requirements within the business. With this tool, the business departments are able to perform many task themselves."

"The tool has reduced our operational costs by 40%."

"VisualCron is a very powerful program to automate different steps in your business processes. We use it to automate replacing files and inform departments about the replacement."

"We don't have to do any coding. We just plug and play and it works."

More VisualCron pros

Cons

"The technical support could be better. We suffer from language barriers, as we are in Argentina."

"The intelligent automation feature could be improved. It's interesting because it's simple, but the automation quality isn't always good. It's easy to use, but sometimes you need to make a slight improvement to the automation, and that's not so easy."

"Fortra's Automate is not as reliable as I would like it to be."

"I would like to see some better web automation, a wizard like the one in the product WinAutomation would be very nice."

"The vendor is currently working on a solution that allows us to automatically create a process that is based on a document that we receive via email."

"It would be an improvement if Automate had better stability tools, whether by recommending a certain amount of memory because it can be a memory hog at times."

"The workflow for variables could be better. The input and output of task-level variables could be made a little clearer in terms of passing those around from one task to another upon success, etc. Things like that could be a little easier potentially."

"I would like the updates to be easier to deploy. Integration with Amazon S3 is somewhat lacking."

More Automate cons

"Only the tool's support can be a drawback where improvements are needed."

"I would prefer the addition of ready-made workflows for common scenarios such as Oracle database switchovers or Exchange server scenarios."

"The price is an area that should be addressed because the price is high."

"The tool's UI needs to be improved. It needs to have better administration features in future releases."

"There were a lot of scalability issues that we initially faced. Whenever I tried to deploy 100-200 endpoints, it became a huge challenge. We had to actually start using other tools like Tivoli Endpoint Management in order to patch the issues."

"There are some conditions in the mail trigger, but you can only use them as an "AND" condition, not as an "OR" condition. This is an improvement that could be useful. For example, some people put "invoice" in the subject and others put "invoice" in the body. If I want to make a trigger for everybody whose sending invoices, I have to make two jobs for this now."

"I want to improve the UI in VisualCron, as it's not as user-friendly, particularly when setting up the task scheduler. If you're familiar with the tool, then no problem, but if not, you'll have a problem typing text because sometimes, the cursor points to other places, so there's an issue with text box alignment in VisualCron. That was painful for me when I was just a VisualCron novice, but when you become used to it, there won't be a problem."

"The only problem I face when I use the tool is that it doesn't contain much documentation or it doesn't have many video tutorials on its features."

"I would like for VisualCron to expand audit log to show who changed job variables that are initialized per job run."

"The documentation is a bit weak."

"VisualCron's command console is a little bit difficult to understand and needs to improve."

"Our suggestion to make it better and more manageable in terms of GDPR: Implement it in a very partnership way."

"VisualCron is software, and you will experience performance degradation when you scale up. VisualCron takes too much memory or CPU power. We have to increase the hardware resources of a specific server or system."

More VisualCron cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Once you buy the software, you just pay for the support for backend help."

"It comes with a package that costs approximately $20,000 USD per year."

"From a distributor's perspective, one of the biggest selling points of Automate is its price point."

"It has gone up in price. The price of Fortra's Automate has increased since we first started using it. It does a lot but also costs a lot. It was a lot more affordable before Fortra owned the software."

"I like the way this solution is priced because you can buy a license, or you can buy the software outright."

"While solutions like UiPath and Blue Prism cost around $11,000-$12,000 for each license, this product costs around $7,000 and you can keep it forever."

"The pricing is quite reasonable. We can run the process with one bot. The limitation is at the server level because they have some resources, and sometimes that is enough. It isn't too expensive, so you can get a good return off of one, and you can also have a pack of five bots that is quite competitive."

"I'm only involved in running the product and maintaining the systems, so I can't speak to the cost."

More Automate pricing and cost advice

"I do not have experience with the pricing or licensing of the product."

"The tool is expensive. I rate the tool a six if one is cheap and ten is very expensive."

"The cost is very high compared to anything else available."

"We are fine with a rather cheap setup. Licensing with VisualCron is fair. You have a simple one-year licence in different sizes. There isn't a licensing jungle with hundreds of options and opt-ins."

"VisualCron is correctly priced because it wasn't very cheap, and it wasn't overly expensive, so the price for it was set correctly. When my previous company bought VisualCron, it was €800 per server per year. On a scale of one to five, I would rate the pricing for VisualCron a five because it was just right. The tool was affordable, and it has one of the most competitive pricing in the market."

"The pricing is extremely fair, and because of that I recommend purchasing multiple instances to split out the processing load across multiple application servers."

"ROI is 95 percent."

"The price is a bit high."

"ROI is one month."

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859,129 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

13%

Computer Software Company

11%

Manufacturing Company

Educational Organization

Financial Services Firm

27%

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

Government

Computer Software Company

28%

Financial Services Firm

13%

Insurance Company

Healthcare Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about HelpSystems AutoMate?

We use it for specific cases, mainly secure file transfers, which are vital for us. And it works for us.

What is your primary use case for HelpSystems AutoMate?

I am a consultant and I am making a lot of processes in human resources, payroll, certifications, trainings, web scra...

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortra Automate?

The pricing is quite good compared to its competitors. Competitors are often more expensive than Automate. I would ra...

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Operations Orchestration?

The pricing is medium, and the automation helps in cost and time savings, resulting in substantial value for money.

What needs improvement with Operations Orchestration?

I would prefer the addition of ready-made workflows for common scenarios such as Oracle database switchovers or Excha...

What advice do you have for others considering Operations Orchestration?

This tool serves as a central management hub, allowing seamless control of various IT processes via one console. I ra...

What do you like most about VisualCron?

The tool has reduced our operational costs by 40%.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for VisualCron?

The price is a bit high. However, it is okay.

What needs improvement with VisualCron?

The documentation is a bit weak. The tool must provide a better set of documentation.

UiPath Platform vs Automate

Comparisons

Compared 34% of the time

Microsoft Power Automate vs Automate

Compared 33% of the time

Blue Prism vs Automate

Compared 9% of the time

Automation Anywhere vs Automate

Compared 8% of the time

MOVEit vs Automate

Compared 5% of the time

More Automate Competitors

Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform vs OpenText Operations Orchestration

Compared 50% of the time

Control-M vs OpenText Operations Orchestration

Compared 16% of the time

ServiceNow Orchestration vs OpenText Operations Orchestration

Compared 14% of the time

IBM BPM vs OpenText Operations Orchestration

Compared 11% of the time

Appian vs OpenText Operations Orchestration

Compared 10% of the time

More OpenText Operations Orchestration Competitors

Microsoft Power Automate vs VisualCron

Compared 41% of the time

Control-M vs VisualCron

Compared 19% of the time

OpCon vs VisualCron

Compared 8% of the time

ActiveBatch by Redwood vs VisualCron

Compared 7% of the time

JAMS vs VisualCron

Compared 5% of the time

More VisualCron Competitors

Product Reports

Automate

Download Automate product report

OpenText Operations Orchestration

Download OpenText Operations Orchestration product report

OpenText Operations Orchestration report

Download VisualCron product report

VisualCron

May 2025

Also Known As

HelpSystems Automate, Automate

Micro Focus Operations Orchestration, Operations Orchestration, HPOO, HPE Operations Orchestration

No data available

Overview

Automate offers a user-friendly solution with a drag-and-drop interface for efficient task automation and integration with major platforms like SAP and Azure, making it ideal for quick deployment with minimal coding and training.

Automate provides powerful features for businesses seeking efficient automation, offering compatibility with databases, email integration, and cloud platforms. Its simple interface supports both beginners and experienced users, simplifying tasks like invoice processing, HR automation, and data transformation. Cost-effective pricing and flexible licensing enhance its appeal while integration capabilities and scheduling tools ensure smooth workflow automation.

What are Automate's Key Features?

Drag-and-Drop Interface: Simplifies automation with intuitive design.
Integration Capabilities: Connects with platforms like SAP and Azure for seamless data flow.
Database and FTP Triggers: Enhances automation potential through direct data interaction.
Efficient Scheduling: Automates tasks with precise timing and control.
Web Scraping: Automates data extraction for quick analysis and reporting.

What Benefits and ROI Should Users Expect?

Rapid Deployment: Minimizes coding efforts for quick implementation.
Cost-Effectiveness: Offers flexible pricing models to suit budget constraints.
Operational Efficiency: Reduces manual workloads and enhances productivity.
Comprehensive Integration: Facilitates improved data management across systems.
Scalability: Adapts to growing business needs with ease.

In industries such as healthcare, banking, and logistics, Automate is used for tasks like invoice payment automation, data transformation, and task automation. This leads to streamlined processes and reduced manual workload, illustrating its value in enhancing operational efficiency through diversified workflows.

Fortra

OpenText Operations Orchestration (OO) automates, integrates, and orchestrates any IT process, on cloud or off. Automate using low-code/no-code workflow authoring options. Integrate with an API rich, extensible platform. Centrally orchestrate powerful, scalable workflows.

With OO you can automate and orchestrate infrastructure automation and IT processes from service fulfillment to incident remediation, cloud service delivery, and disaster recovery.

Operations Orchestration offers the tools needed to provide enterprise wide orchestration capabilities:

Design automation workflows with a low-code/no-code designer canvas, content library, and API generator wizards.
Govern your automation in one place and centrally orchestrate powerful, scalable workflows in large, high availability environments.
Schedule workflows and make sure that SLAs are met and workflows execution happens when you need it.
Expose REST APIs to programmatically invoke orchestration from any external source.
Automate difficult interfaces with RPA robots that mimic screen based human actions.
Follow business and operational metrics to understand the value and the health of your orchestration environment.
Expose orchestration scenarios as services to your end users in an easy to use Self-Service catalog.

Operations Orchestration offers the following components:

OpenText

VisualCron automates tasks like file encryption, scheduling SQL jobs, system integration, data workflow management, and application triggering, making it ideal for handling nightly syncs, FTP server file replacements, job scheduling, and invoice processing.

VisualCron provides an efficient automation solution with features like error and status reporting, API connections, PGP key generation, encryption file creation, and bulk SQL script execution. It simplifies task automation through its mail and event triggers, job variables, conditional execution, and logging with error alerts. Users benefit from its integration capabilities, scheduling flexibility, visual interface, and support for databases and credential management without extensive coding.

What are the most important features?

Simplicity: Easy-to-use interface for seamless automation.
Mail and Event Triggers: Automate tasks based on specific events.
Job Variables: Customize tasks using various input variables.
Conditional Execution: Execute tasks based on predefined conditions.
Error Alerts: Logging and error reporting to ensure task reliability.
Integration Capabilities: Easily connect and integrate with systems and APIs.
Scheduling Flexibility: Create complex schedules with ease.
Visual Interface: User-friendly GUI for efficient management.
Database Support: Manage and automate database tasks efficiently.
Credential Management: Securely handle credentials for various tasks.
PowerShell Commands: Execute PowerShell commands directly.

What are the benefits or ROI users should look for in the reviews?

Efficiency: Streamline and automate repetitive tasks to save time.
Cost Savings: Reduce manual labor and associated costs.
Reliability: Ensure consistency and accuracy in task execution.
Integration: Enhance workflows by integrating with different systems.
Flexibility: Adjust quickly to changes and handle complex scheduling needs.
Support: Benefit from extensive post-sales support and configuration options.
Innovation: Foster innovation by eliminating the need for coding.

Industries like finance, healthcare, and logistics implement VisualCron to automate data workflows, secure file transfers, and schedule critical tasks. It is used to streamline invoice processing, manage large-scale data operations, and ensure compliance through encryption and error reporting. VisualCron enhances operational efficiency, scalability, and security in various sectors, making it essential for businesses requiring robust automation capabilities.

NetCart AB

Sample Customers

Aldergrove Financial Group, Preferred Health Professionals, Mindbeam Technologies, First Credit Union in British Columbia, Vestcom International, Prime Liberty Benefits, University of Tampa, CNLBancshares, World Precision Instruments, BJ's Restaurants, Globe Pequot Press, Accudata Technologies, Norton Healthcare, Pacific Toxicology Laboratories

Casablanca INT, Internet Initiative Japan, Railway Information Systems, Samsung SDS, and Turkcell.

7 Eleven, ABB Sécheron SA, Adobe Systems Incorporated, Amazon Europe Core, Apple, Assa Abloy, Aston Martin, Banco Santander, BMW (Australia)

OpenText Operations Orchestration vs. VisualCron