AWS Step Functions vs Control-M comparison

Amazon Web Services (AWS) and BMC are both solutions in the Workload Automation category. Amazon Web Services (AWS) is ranked #15 with an average rating of 8.1, while BMC is ranked #1 with an average rating of 9.0. Additionally, 81% of Amazon Web Services (AWS) users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 98% of BMC users who would recommend it.

AWS Step Functions

Read 12 AWS Step Functions reviews

248 Views
196 Comparison Views

81% willing to recommend

Control-M

Read 119 Control-M reviews

22,043 Views
8,549 Comparison Views

98% willing to recommend

AWS Step Functions

Control-M

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between AWS Step Functions and Control-M based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Workload Automation solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed AWS Step Functions vs. Control-M Report (Updated: December 2024).

Buyer's Guide

AWS Step Functions vs. Control-M

December 2024

Download the complete report

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Categories and Ranking

AWS Step Functions

Ranking in Workload Automation

15th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Business Process Management (BPM) (12th)

Control-M

Ranking in Workload Automation

1st

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

119

Ranking in other categories

Process Automation (3rd), Managed File Transfer (MFT) (4th)

Featured Reviews

Mahender Nirwan

Software developer at TAIGLE LLC

Good integration with many AWS services and create a workflow to call one Lambda function after another, and other serverless features

There are two main features I like. You can use the UI or write basic JSON to define the workflow. If you write JSON, it converts it into a visual workflow in the UI. This allows you to visualize what's happening. When you get an error, it's easy to find in any large workflow, and debugging is also pretty easy. I like their UI, to be honest. It has the best profit UI.

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Pedro Fuentes

System Engineer at Community Loans of America, Inc.

Cost-effective, excellent support, and centralized access and control

They have a department that handles requests for enhancements. I talked to Control-M guys back in October or November when they had a gathering here in Atlanta. We talked about not being able to go back in history in Helix Control-M for more than two weeks. We submitted a request for enhancement. They told us that they are working on it, and they are thinking of expanding that to 30 days. We would like to see it expand to 90 days, but they are working on it. In Control-M, we were able to go back 180 days, but that was on-prem. The storage of that data was on our own servers. We know that storage is money, and we do not expect them to store that much of the data, but at least 30 to 60 days seem proper.

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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

"It is a scalable solution."

"AWS Step Functions acts as a high-level layer, allowing us to seamlessly integrate with microservices."

"The integration capability is easy, whereas building state machines is tricky."

"It's a general solution that you can adapt to your own needs and is simple to use. We like that it can be integrated with everything in the AWS suite, and that the creation of the pipeline can be done using the graphical user interface."

"Overall, I would rate AWS Step Functions at least nine out of ten."

"One can rate all the calls and that is a good feature."

"If you want to create a workflow to call one Lambda function after another, and other serverless features, it could save you a ton of money. That's for sure."

"The JSON app launched recently allows us to define data execution more easily."

More AWS Step Functions pros

"Control-M provides us with a unified view, where we can easily define, orchestrate, and monitor all our application workflows and data pipelines. It also provides the ability to filter. So, if I don't want to see everything, I can also narrow it down or open ViewPoint. This is very important since we have thousands of jobs to monitor. If we did not have this ability, it would be very difficult to see what is going on."

"We can set up automated email notifications to the programmers or the whole team for a particular job. It helps save time because we're not consistently looking at the job to see if it has ended or failed."

"Its compatibility with the new technologies and platforms, like the Google Cloud or Amazon, is the most valuable. Its console allows us to view the duration and execution of a process. It is also very easy to use and easy to implement."

"The best part about this product is that it has a lot of features. Control-M doesn't limit us and we can use it for a lot of things."

"Control-M is a bit faster compared to other solutions. The job and coding are easier."

"Because it's a tool which allows us to do scheduled work, it allows for notifications when jobs aren't running within that scheduled time frame. This improves the opportunity to meet SLAs."

"We used Control-M's Python Client and cloud data service integrations with AWS and, as a feature, it was very customizable. It gave us a lot of flexibility for customizing whatever data maneuver we wanted to do within a pipeline."

"Control-M can cross all platforms and offers integration for container and cloud solutions."

More Control-M pros

Cons

"The solution's pricing could be cheaper. It is cheaper than Airflow."

"If AWS Step Functions keeps adding more integrations, it would be even better."

"The price and support are areas with shortcomings where the solution needs to improve."

"The interface can sometimes feel limited, as we're unable to see what AWS is running behind the scenes."

"It is difficult to suggest improvements at the moment."

"One area for improvement is the payload size. Currently, I sometimes have to save data as a file since I cannot pass it within Step Functions, necessitating caching in processes."

"The pricing of the solution can be improved."

"Setup took about one day. We had some errors to understand in the beginning, but now everything is working good."

More AWS Step Functions cons

"Integration with some applications and platforms is complex and requires development. We have done some integration with the application integrator, but it was more like a manual solution. This is an area that can be improved."

"The main area that could be improved would be documentation, just like every other software product out there!"

"We would recommend modernizing the look and feel of Control-M. They also need to move towards more self-service and development in their environment. It's very antiquated."

"A lot of the areas of improvement revolve around Automation API because that area is constantly evolving. It is constantly changing, and it is constantly being updated. There are some bugs that are introduced from one version to the next. So, the regression testing doesn't seem to capture some of the bugs that have been fixed in prior versions, and those bugs are then reintroduced in later versions."

"Some of the documentation could use some improvement, however, it gets you from point A to point B pretty quickly to get the solution in place."

"You need to pay for extra features if you need them."

"Regarding product design and R&D, the DevOps pipeline could be improved with better capabilities and automation. API security and authentication is another area that could use improvement; users must have static credential passwords, which is a security concern."

"The high availability that comes from BMC with its supplied Postgres database is very limited. Even using your customer-supplied Postgres database is problematic. We have engaged with them regarding this, but it is difficult. My company doesn't want to do this and BMC doesn't want to do that. We just need to find some middle ground to get the proper high availability. We're also moving away, like the rest of the world, from the more expensive offerings, like Oracle. We are trying to use Postgres, which is free. The stability is good. It is just that the high availability configuration is not ideal. It could be better."

More Control-M cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is expensive."

"The solution's price is reasonable."

"It is not bad. The company can afford it, and it pays for itself. We have those jobs running automatically."

"Its pricing and licensing could be a little bit better. Based on my experience and discussions with other existing customers, everybody feels that the regular Managed File Transfer piece, not the enterprise one, is a little overpriced, especially for folks who already have licensed Advanced File Transfer. We understand that Advanced File Transfer is going away and is going to be the end of life, and there is some additional functionality built into MFT, but the additional functionality does not really correlate with the huge price increase over what we're paying for AFT already. This has actually driven a lot of people to look for alternative solutions."

"Control-M isn't cheap, but this is an enterprise model."

"This is an area where it is a little difficult to work with BMC. They want to do licenses by job, which is what we have. For example, the simplest is to license by job, but they can also license by nodes. While the licensing is simple to use, it might not be the correct licensing model for the customer. It is okay because we want to license by job, which is something measurable. At the end of the day, licensing by job is the most important."

"Pricing varies depending on which components and modules you are using."

"You're going to spend a lot of money upfront, but the benefits you're going to get out of it are going to quickly pay for it."

"BMC does NOT have a great licensing model from my perspective."

"The annual licensing within BMC Control-M is on a per task basis. Three- and five-year contracts are also offered. The customer usually buys a bundle of tasks, e.g., 5,000 tasks, then my team configures Control-M for their usage."

More Control-M pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

33%

Computer Software Company

10%

Manufacturing Company

Insurance Company

Financial Services Firm

28%

Computer Software Company

13%

Manufacturing Company

Insurance Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Amazon Step Functions?

The integration capability is easy, whereas building state machines is tricky.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Amazon Step Functions?

AWS Step Functions is a useful tool for orchestration, particularly when using various AWS services. It helps create workflows and manage the order between services like Lambda and Glue jobs.

See all answers

What advice do you have for others considering Amazon Step Functions?

Overall, I rate Step Functions nine out of ten. Such ratings are subjective, and I generally do not rate any service a ten out of ten.

See all answers

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...

See all answers

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.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Control-M?

Pricing is generally affordable, though some features cost a bit more.

See all answers

Comparisons

Camunda vs AWS Step Functions

Compared 39% of the time

IBM BPM vs AWS Step Functions

Compared 18% of the time

AutoSys Workload Automation vs AWS Step Functions

Compared 7% of the time

Pega Platform vs AWS Step Functions

Compared 6% of the time

Oracle BPM vs AWS Step Functions

Compared 5% of the time

More AWS Step Functions Competitors

AutoSys Workload Automation vs Control-M

Compared 20% of the time

IBM Workload Automation vs Control-M

Compared 9% of the time

Automic Automation vs Control-M

Compared 8% of the time

Rocket Zena vs Control-M

Compared 6% of the time

Redwood RunMyJobs vs Control-M

Compared 5% of the time

More Control-M Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

AWS Step Functions

December 2024

Download AWS Step Functions product report

Buyer's Guide

Control-M

December 2024

Download Control-M product report

Also Known As

Amazon Step Functions, Step Functions

Control M

Learn More

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

BMC

Overview

AWS Step Functions enables orchestration of complex workflows, parallel task execution, and seamless integration with AWS services, simplifying ETL automation and data pipeline management.

With AWS Step Functions, developers streamline task automation and ensure smooth microservices orchestration. It simplifies development and manages interdependencies, validates data, and integrates AWS services for cost-effective workflows. It offers a user-friendly graphical interface for creating pipelines, scalable parallelization via the "map" state, control over historical events, and visualization with JSON. Enhanced by a dashboard-like view, it aids in visual workflows and debugging.

What are the most valuable features?

Seamless AWS Integration: Easily integrates with the entire AWS suite for efficient workflow creation.
User-Friendly Graphical Interface: Simplifies creating and managing workflows with visual tools.
Scalable Parallelization: Utilizes the "map" state for efficient parallel processing tasks.
Control Historical Events: Manages and controls historical data and events effectively.
Visualization and Debugging: Provides a dashboard-like view to enhance understanding and debugging.

What are the benefits and ROI to look for?

Streamlined Development: Simplifies orchestration and automates task management.
Cost-Effective Workflows: Creates efficient, cost-saving workflows by integrating with AWS services.
Enhanced Data Validation: Ensures data correctness by managing interdependencies.
Automation of ETL Jobs: Automates data extraction, transformation, and loading processes seamlessly.

In specific industries such as finance, healthcare, and e-commerce, enterprises implement AWS Step Functions to manage data pipelines, orchestrate microservices, and automate complex ETL jobs. They benefit from seamless integration with AWS services, enhanced data validation, and streamlined development, resulting in efficient and cost-effective workflows tailored to their operational needs.

Control-M is used for enterprise workload automation, orchestrating finance, retail, healthcare, and supply chain processes. It handles batch job scheduling, managed file transfers, cloud integrations, and compliance auditing across on-premises, cloud, and hybrid environments.

Organizations leverage Control-M to efficiently monitor and manage business-critical processes like payroll, HR, SAP, Informatica, and database tasks. It enhances visibility, security, and error resolution. Automating and optimizing workflows in data centers, AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud Platform, Control-M supports diverse technological environments. The platform's robust capabilities make it suitable for effective centralized management of applications and data pipelines, ensuring enhanced collaboration and scalability.

What are Control-M's most important features?

Integration capabilities: Seamlessly integrates with various systems
Automation API: Facilitates automation through APIs
Managed File Transfer: Simplifies secure file transfers
GUI console: Intuitive graphical user interface
Role-based administration: Provides access control
Single-pane view: Centralized monitoring dashboard
Scheduling options: Flexible job scheduling
Workflow orchestration: Coordinates complex workflows
Reporting: Generates insightful reports
Monitoring: Tracks and manages tasks
Forecasting: Predicts future workloads
Self-service portal: Empowers users with self-service tools
Plugins: Extends functionality through additional plugins

What are the benefits or ROI of using Control-M?

Enhanced visibility: Centralized view of all processes
Ease of use: User-friendly interface
Error reduction: Minimizes manual errors
Improved collaboration: Facilitates teamwork
Scalability: Supports growth and scale
Support: Comprehensive customer support

Control-M is implemented in industries like finance to handle payroll and HR tasks, in retail for inventory management and supply chain processes, and in healthcare for compliance auditing and patient data processing. Organizations benefit from streamlined workflows and automated processes across on-premises, cloud, and hybrid environments, ensuring efficient and secure operations.

Sample Customers

Alpha Apps, The Guardian, SGK, Bigfinite

CARFAX, Tampa General Hospital, Navistar, Amadeus, Raymond James, Railinc

Buyer's Guide

AWS Step Functions vs. Control-M

December 2024

Free Report: AWS Step Functions vs. Control-M

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