BMC AMI DevX

My main use case for BMC AMI DevX is to work with COBOL and JCL development on IBM. I mainly use it for editing, browsing data sets, submitting jobs, and debugging applications. I appreciate the Eclipse and VS Code style interface compared to traditional ISPF, which makes navigation easier.

One specific example of how I used BMC AMI DevX in my day-to-day work is maintaining a COBOL-based mainframe application. I used the DevX workbench to edit COBOL programs, browse data sets, submit JCL jobs, and debug batch job failures. One issue involved a batch job that was failing because of incorrect output data. Using the integrated debugger and job output, I traced the problem to the validation routine in the COBOL program. I fixed the logic, resubmitted the JCL, and verified that the job completed successfully.

In my day-to-day work, I mainly use BMC AMI DevX to streamline the mainframe development workflow rather than switching between multiple tools. My typical routine includes editing COBOL programs, submitting JCL jobs, reviewing job output, debugging failures, and browsing data sets from a single environment. I also use it to integrate debugging failures to trace program execution and identify logic or data issues more quickly. Overall, it reduces context switching and makes troubleshooting and code maintenance more efficient, although the initial setup and learning curve are challenging.

BMC AMI DevX helps me develop COBOL while juggling other responsibilities by bringing editing, debugging, job submissions, and code navigation into a single environment. This reduces context switching, allowing me to spend less time managing tools and more time on development, making it easier to balance COBOL work with my other responsibilities.

I have used the GenAI-powered code understanding features of BMC AMI DevX for COBOL, which helps me understand unfamiliar code much faster. The code navigation, dependencies analysis, and AI-assisted code explanation make it easier to see how different COBOL programs, copybooks, and JCL jobs are connected. Instead of tracing everything manually, I can quickly identify the program flow, understand business logic, and find where changes need to be made, significantly reducing the time it takes to get up to speed with legacy applications.

I have leveraged the full-lifecycle Java support in BMC AMI DevX for developing and maintaining Java applications that interact with mainframe services. The integrated debugging, code navigation, and monitoring tools make it easier to diagnose issues and application behavior across Java and mainframe. It is effective in troubleshooting because it allows me to quickly identify errors in variables and execution without switching between multiple tools, thus streamlining the development and debugging workflow.

The best features BMC AMI DevX offers are difficult for me to specify because I am using BMC AMI DevX in my day-to-day life.

A feature that surprised me about BMC AMI DevX is the Runtime Visualizer, which shows how programs interact at runtime, making it much easier to analyze application flow and troubleshoot dependencies.

BMC AMI DevX positively impacts my organization with its modern VS Code and Eclipse development environment, integrated debugging, AI-assisted code understanding, automated CI/CD pipelines, and end-to-end mainframe DevOps workflow.

Specific outcomes that show how BMC AMI DevX has positively impacted my organization include improvements in productivity, time saved, or reductions in errors. For instance, a Forrester Total Economic Impact study of organizations using BMC reported a 217% ROI, payback in under six months, and 26.2 million in benefits over three years for modeled enterprises with 300 mainframe developers. The study also found a 50% reduction in onboarding time for a new developer from about nine months to 4.5 months. Additionally, BMC highlighted customer examples such as reducing the efforts of moving changes from development to production from five hours to 18 minutes. I do not have firsthand organization metrics because I have not personally deployed BMC AMI DevX, but the published customer studies report improvements such as a 217% ROI, 50% faster onboarding, higher deployment frequency, and lower change failure rates, although I cannot claim those as my organization's results.

BMC AMI DevX is a strong platform, but there are a few areas where it could improve, such as simplifying the initial installation and configuration, especially for first-time users. It could also improve performance when working with very large mainframe applications or on slower network connections, and making the UI more intuitive so advanced features are easier to discover. These improvements would make the platform easier to adopt and more productive for both experienced mainframe developers and newcomers.

Regarding improvements needed for BMC AMI DevX, I would suggest making the UI more intuitive so advanced features are easier to discover and providing more built-in tutorials, guides, onboarding, and documentation for new developers.

I have been working for the last six months and completed an internship for about six months, so I have a total experience of one year.

BMC AMI DevX is very stable.

From what I have read, BMC AMI DevX appears to scale well for large enterprises, but I do not have personal experience running or managing it in a large-scale environment.

The customer support for BMC AMI DevX is very good.

I am not using a different solution before BMC AMI DevX.

The main challenges were the initial configuration and aligning the tooling with our existing enterprise processes.

I cannot say that I have personally seen a measurable return on investment because I was not involved in evaluating or deploying BMC AMI DevX in an organization. I do not have firsthand ROI data, but BMC has published customer studies reporting positive ROI, including a Forrester Total Economic Impact study that estimates a 217% ROI with payback in under six months for modeled enterprise deployments. However, those are published customer findings and not results from my own experience.

My understanding is that BMC AMI DevX is an enterprise product with custom licensing, so pricing is typically negotiated based on factors such as the modules purchased, organization size, and usage. I do not have direct experience with the commercial side or the total cost of ownership.

In evaluating options before choosing BMC AMI DevX, my organization considered various solutions in the market.

From what I have seen in the market, organizations evaluating BMC may also consider IBM Application Delivery Foundation for IBM Developer for z/OS, IBM Debugger, Debug for, and Broadcom Mainframe DevOps solutions. The product chosen usually depends on the existing mainframe environment, tooling, and DevOps strategies.

My advice to others looking into using BMC AMI DevX is to evaluate it against your organization's specific requirements rather than adopting it solely because of its feature list. If you are a large organization with COBOL applications and want to modernize development and DevOps workflow, it is worth evaluating. I recommend running a proof of concept with your own applications involving both experienced developers and newer developers, assessing integration with your existing source control, CI/CD, and security. Training is essential to get the most value from BMC AMI DevX. I would rate this product an 8.5 overall.