My use case with Control-M is for job automation and job scheduling. Instead of making 10 different technologies where we need to run jobs, automation allows us to reduce the number of people needed. Cost-cutting is significant; instead of 10 people, we can handle the work with only one or two people.

The best features in Control-M that I like the most are job scheduling and monitoring.

Earlier, I worked for many clients, and currently I am working for Zurich, Japan. There, we used different vendors such as Infosys, Cognizant, DXC Technologies, and two others. The project operates 24/7 as an insurance project where transactions happen during daytime, so we need to run jobs during nighttime as well to upload data, take backups, and complete other necessary tasks. Instead of managing this manually, I have automated everything related to job scheduling and job configuration.

The areas that have room for improvement are the GUI to make it more user-friendly. The interface is very easy, very good, and secure. Currently, I have not found any significant improvements needed. Every year the versions improve, and everything is progressing well.

I have been working with Control-M for almost 16 years.

Control-M is a stable product, and I would rate it 10 as a stable product.

The scalability is an eight out of 10. It is easy to upscale or downscale.

I can give the technical support a nine out of 10.

Positive

With Control-M, I compare the solution with other solutions I have worked on such as TWS (Tivoli Workload Scheduler), CA7, AutoSys, Tivoli DC (Tivoli Workload Dynamic Schedule), and Job Scheduling Console. I find that Control-M is more secure compared with the firewall system.

Deployment is very easy with no issues.

For the clients, they have to buy licenses, which are reasonable.

With Control-M, I would recommend implementing this product. It is a more secure solution.

The solution requires easy maintenance because most of the time we take care of it on weekends like Saturday and Sunday, or during public holidays.

There is nothing difficult about integration. It is very easy to integrate technologies for data ops and DevOps processes.

Currently, I am taking care of almost 10,000 jobs in an insurance company.

I would assess the BMC service team for helping map out migration as effective. For migrations, we perform them in development first. We configure the jobs in development, then move to SAT testing, UAT testing, and ST testing, and then to pre-production and production. If there are more jobs, we do migrations on weekends, on Saturday and Sunday, or at midnight one day before.

Deployment takes approximately one or two days and depends on the job types. Installing Control-M can take up to one or two days maximum. For scheduling, we need to configure different agents in different vendor systems such as UNIX systems, Informatica systems, or Tandem systems. For these configurations, we need to install the agents and define them in Control-M.

To make the solution a 10, there could be more automation. I would rate this review overall as a 9.

My main use case for Control-M is scheduling jobs, monitoring the jobs, and monitoring application scripts that are working fine or not through Control-M, along with doing some automation. File transfer is the core focus of my main use case, while we have some other SAP jobs that trigger the job at a certain time frame from a SAP point of view.

The best features Control-M offers are ease of use, with everything very clear, including the agent-less scenarios, the Control-M Configuration Manager which provides a detailed view, and a very user-friendly scheduling system.

Ease of use in Control-M means we have everything on the GUI, so we do not have to jump to different locations to find out the issue or problem; we can find everything on a single screen and for scheduling, it has all the options needed, you just need to know the basics to figure out anything you want to do.

Control-M has positively impacted my organization greatly as we are running more than 5,000 jobs, including around 5,000 MFT jobs that transfer files from SharePoint to another server or between servers, helping us automate manual processes and reduce timeframes. Previously, while doing file transfers, we had to check for at least a two-hour timeline, but now through Control-M, we do it automatically with no manual intervention, reducing it to 45 minutes.

I believe Control-M can be improved as there is news about shutting down its GUI; I believe the GUI is more impactful than the web version, so continuing to use the GUI would be more useful. In addition to the GUI changes, introducing more types of jobs, such as for cloud usage, would be more helpful and versatile.

I have been using Control-M for more than six years now.

Control-M is stable.

Control-M's scalability is good; it was a very easy process and did not require much work.

The customer support for Control-M is great.

Positive

Previously, we used Cisco Tidal but switched to Control-M due to limitations with Tidal, such as agent-less scenarios not working properly and missing functionalities.

We have two teams using Control-M: L1, which monitors job failures and takes requests from application teams to run certain jobs, and L2, which is responsible for scheduling jobs and configuring agents from Control-M, along with L3, which creates the environments.

We require an L3 team of three people for deployment and maintenance; they mainly take care of deployments and maintenance without taking much time due to the guidelines provided by BMC, with roles including SMEs and Control-M administration experts.

I have seen a return on investment, as the MFT jobs reduce the time frame from two hours to 45 minutes, allowing us to utilize that time for other platforms, technologies, or automation processes.

My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing of Control-M is that it is very minimal and optimal, making the cost good.

My advice to others looking into using Control-M is to go for it without any hesitation or questions, as you will not regret it due to the many options for automation and the time frame reduction along with reduced manual efforts. I would rate this review at 9 out of 10.

My main use case for Control-M is working as an administrator and scheduler, setting up AFT jobs with respect to their AFT and OS jobs. Apart from that, I also work on connection profiles and their respective connection setup between two servers, troubleshooting Control-M agents and their respective configurations.

For example, if I want to schedule a specific job for a specific day, Control-M is very useful, allowing me to schedule or set up a job with respect to either a monthly, weekly, or daily basis while considering specific holidays configured on that particular calendar. In addition, if I want to run some script, I can use OS jobs to run a specific script on that server. I can also transfer files between two servers using Managed File Transfer or AFT, transferring files by setting up their configuration on both ends. These are the major tasks I typically work with.

I use these scheduling and file transfer features daily as part of my workflow. I mostly set up jobs in production and non-prod environments, organizing the respective job setups in different categories. For AFT jobs, I typically transfer files from an S3 bucket to a Windows Server or a Unix server to a Windows Server or Unix to S3 bucket, using various platforms such as server to server, server to shared drive, or shared drive to server. In AFT file transfer, I set up connection profiles between two servers for host one and host two, ensuring both hosts communicate properly using Control-M Configuration Manager, also known as CCM. Once the connection is set up, I configure the job using the same Control-M connection profile. I provide details such as source and destination path using that configuration for proper communication.

Managing a Control-M agent is one key part; in case Control-M agent fails, I troubleshoot it using basic troubleshooting skills, such as selecting the troubleshooting option on the agent to reflect the initial level of error. Additionally, I check the library and error log for a specific agent. I also review the new day process (NDP) to ensure that all jobs load daily to avoid production failures. Calendar setup can also be beneficial for any job scheduling. I work on creating new Control-M jobs that operate under the planning and are created concerning the workspace. Furthermore, I track jobs that flashback from the regular cycle. If there are issues with different Control-M servers across my environments in the UK, US, and Asia Pacific, I troubleshoot any server outages or failures.

Regarding measurable improvements since using Control-M, when jobs fail due to specific errors, I am notified promptly, which is essential for handling issues in the production environment. Instead of manually checking all failed jobs, I configure notifications based on priority, enhancing my time-saving efforts across job management.

The biggest lesson learned from using Control-M is understanding how jobs get scheduled within minutes and can function independently without intervention. I have gained insights into configuring job properties such as command jobs, file transfers, file watchers, SAP jobs, and more. My extensive experience of over nine years with Control-M offers me great opportunities, and I look forward to improvements, particularly in AI features relevant to Control-M.

In my experience, the best feature Control-M offers is the File Transfer capability, especially useful for larger sizes. I am currently working on a project transferring files larger than 6 GB, which is easy to accomplish. Additionally, the File Watcher job type is valuable as it checks for files in a specific path and triggers actions based on file availability.

For the File Watcher feature, it helps me keep an eye on specific files, triggering transfers as soon as they become available. When setting up a File Watcher job, I ensure specific configurations, such as file availability time and run cycles. The job detects file availability on the platform; once the file is available, the File Watcher job triggers, triggering its successor job. This eliminates the need for constant monitoring of file availability, allowing me to focus on other tasks. Additionally, AFT file transfer for larger volumes is smooth and efficient; other tools take a lot longer for significant file transfers. Control-M lets me track the percentage completed during file transfers as well, enhancing my monitoring. CCM allows me to track all Control-M components effectively, including agents, servers, and add-ons.

Control-M is exceptionally useful for building, scheduling, managing, and monitoring production workflows. It allows me to set up jobs promptly and test them collaboratively with input from my operations and development teams without delays. Control-M enables my IT personnel to refocus on critical operations once jobs are set up for recurrent activities such as monthly or daily runs. For example, one of my teammates established a payroll job that now runs automatically, reducing manual effort and allowing for more focus on different project requirements.

For improvements, there is some slowness in terms of logging, as Control-M can be a heavy tool that could benefit from reducing file size. Overall, the tool is great, but it would be helpful if it were lighter and easier to use in my daily operations. In my non-prod environment, I notice significant lag, making it difficult to work effectively. Enhancing the tool's speed and perhaps integrating AI-related features could significantly benefit daily activities.

I choose nine because once the tool is available in a lighter version, it would be even more useful. The features are excellent, but the heaviness of the tool makes it take longer to open and close, causing frequent hangs during multiple activities. For instance, switching from monitoring to history can cause significant delays. This impacts productivity, especially in a production setting where speed is crucial.

I have been using Control-M for around eight to nine years.

Control-M is indeed stable.

Regarding scalability, Control-M scales well, allowing me to operate in four different environments across four regions without concerns.

Customer support from BMC is excellent; whenever I create a case, they respond promptly, ensuring there are no issues. I would rate customer support a perfect ten.

Previously, my organization used tools such as OPC and Tivoli before switching to Control-M, as my organization recommended it. The GUI in Control-M is significantly more user-friendly for managing daily activities and job setups.

The deployment of Control-M servers takes about one to two hours on the AWS platform.

For deployment and maintenance, I find that two to three people suffice for maintaining a single server. However, if I need to manage multiple servers across different environments, more staff will be necessary. The requirement really depends on the configuration size and deployment needs.

Although Control-M is costly, it does yield a return on investment for larger organizations, but it is not suitable for small teams or individuals. The pricing is quite high, which can be a disadvantage for smaller groups, although the efficiency gains do save time and money overall.

Regarding pricing, setup costs, and licensing, I am not heavily involved in those areas, as that falls under my network team. However, the pricing for Control-M seems high compared to other tools, and licensing can be complex, with annual renewals required. The cost has been substantial compared to similar tools I have encountered.

Before selecting Control-M, I evaluated other scheduling tools such as Tivoli and Mainframe job track but decided to stick with Control-M for my long-term needs.

For those considering using Control-M, I would advise it is an excellent choice for managing workflows and orchestrating jobs as per project demands. I have been using Control-M in various roles over the past 10 plus years, and I recommend it, provided you understand processes and setups. I give this review a rating of 9.