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BMC AMI DevX vs IBM InfoSphere Optim Test Data Management (TDM) comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 15, 2026

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

BMC AMI DevX
Ranking in Test Data Management
4th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
23
Ranking in other categories
Software Configuration Management (1st), Debugging (2nd), Database Development and Management (11th), Mainframe Application Development (1st), Mainframe Testing Tools (1st), Data Masking (3rd), AI Software Development (29th)
IBM InfoSphere Optim Test D...
Ranking in Test Data Management
6th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2026, in the Test Data Management category, the mindshare of BMC AMI DevX is 12.2%, up from 5.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM InfoSphere Optim Test Data Management (TDM) is 6.0%, down from 7.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Test Data Management Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
BMC AMI DevX12.2%
IBM InfoSphere Optim Test Data Management (TDM)6.0%
Other81.8%
Test Data Management
 

Featured Reviews

Wisdom Mbiza - PeerSpot reviewer
Product Engineer at Absa Group
Modern tools have boosted mainframe file extraction speed and simplified everyday workflows
I definitely think BMC AMI DevX could be improved or enhanced in terms of the logging in features. BMC AMI DevX's logging in feature is not so great. Whenever you try to log in, it always prompts you for passwords. Then when you have to switch sessions, because we usually have to switch between production and UAT, there's no quick way of switching between the two. Every time you try to switch, it prompts you to log in. Additionally, there's a pop-up that I always receive. When you click X on it, it doesn't disappear. Eventually, I just end up minimizing it. Furthermore, the startup of BMC AMI DevX takes a long time to start up before it loads. It doesn't just immediately start up and it's ready. It takes a good solid two to three minutes before it's ready so that you can work on it. BMC AMI DevX's logins and the other ones I can understand because security has to be there, but I do feel that once I've logged in, I shouldn't need to log in again. The startup problem is the annoying one because if I want to do something, I need to open it two or three minutes earlier to give it time to load up. The startup problem is the one that definitely needs to be addressed.
Ajai Lal - PeerSpot reviewer
Project Manager at Mphasis
Supports both legacy and non-legacy systems
The solution's initial setup is neither complex nor too easy. Around six or seven people, including database administrators, were involved in the solution's deployment. On a scale from one to ten, where one is difficult and ten is easy, I rate the solution's initial setup a four to five out of ten.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"Once we got the configurations and deployment rolled out, it was very stable. I haven't had any major issues with Eclipse or the Topaz Workbench plugins."
"We can develop in parallel today on ISPF, but it's giving us the advantage of the newer interface into the mainframe programming languages that younger programmers can use and are familiar with, rather than using the ISPF green screen."
"ISPW is an excellent product; it does everything the developers need it to do, we were able to build it and customize it very simply as we became more familiar with how the system works during installation, and it doesn't need a lot of care and feeding once it's up and running."
"For bank applications, DB2 is the best on the market."
"BMC AMI DevX Code Pipeline is a solid product that any company can benefit from if they want to have tight control and a standard way of deploying applications into production in a secure manner."
"The plugin ISPW integrated into Eclipse is a really valuable functionality for developers who already use it."
"BMC AMI DevX tools have noticeably impacted our developers' productivity and efficiency."
"One of the features that the developers like is that they can retrieve what they need with the tool. They don't have to go through some process or request something be done by another team. They can get the programs they need, compile them, retrieve the JCL and alter the JCL if they need to, and put these programs wherever they need to go for their testing."
"The Data Archive or Data Growth feature is one of the very useful solutions that help organizations to manage and support their database archiving strategies."
"Data archiving reduces application performance issues and storage."
"The solution can be used on both legacy and non-legacy systems."
"The product has helped to streamline the Test Data Management (TDM) process."
"Reduces the need to keep expanding data storage Faster query performance with shorter batch execution times Consistent data masking and data integrity in non-production environments Efficient test data management"
"Optim is a great tool for enterprise data movement, data masking, data sub-setting, data comparison, and data aging."
"Makes it really easy to obfuscate big tables involving lots of columns and to manage 100’s of tables without putting in much effort."
"The platform's ability to generate metrics is the most valuable feature for data management. It is a user-friendly and easy-to-use tool."
 

Cons

"It's not as intuitive as it should be. In terms of navigation, there is a large training curve for using it. For a millennial it might be better, if they're used to Eclipse. But coming from a non-Eclipse environment and using Eclipse, though I have experience with Eclipse, it might be cumbersome."
"There are some features that are not well documented, so documentation could use a little help, on things like setting up deployment and which structures in the database correspond to which tables."
"I find it more cumbersome to use Topaz."
"While I am aware of the possibility to integrate Git with BMC AMI DevX zAdviser, this integration does not fit within our solution landscape."
"One thing I would really like to see some improvement on is the promotion diagnostic messages. It invokes utilities "under the covers" to copy components, and it does not echo back any of the error messages from those utilities."
"BMC AMI DevX's logging in feature is not so great. Furthermore, the startup of BMC AMI DevX takes a long time to start up before it loads."
"It would be nice to have an audit trail to see what mainframe developers are using what."
"The ability to edit source code that has special characters is limited. The ability to incorporate or convert REXX into macros that are usable under the Topaz software is not there. And the REXX macros that I have developed over 40 years of work are useless, so I have a toolbox I can't use or deploy using the Topaz technology, while I can use it under MVS."
"Data masking with InfoSphere Optim products creates intermediary extract files and writing the data to persistent storage, which means that extraction, masking, and insertion happen being separate processes, taking more for the process to run."
"In the past, we have waited months for IBM to resolve the problem."
"Improvisation in the area of the self-service user interface for test data management is required to cater to test data needs."
"On a scale from one to ten, where one is difficult and ten is easy, I rate the solution's initial setup a four to five out of ten."
"Pricing and licensing is higher compared to other products."
"Licensing could be improved. The PVU licensing mechanism is a limiting factor to expanding the use of the tool."
"I would like to be able to combine different masking functions on the same column map, making more complex masking without the need of writing an Lua procedure."
"Installation is too cumbersome."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"In general, Compuware tools are very competitive."
"It has saved our developers time and effort when working on documentation, which is now more readable and fluent."
"The only thing I would mention related to the licensing and/or the pricing, is that they have some visualization features in there that are licensed by concurrent users. We're starting to trip up on that. We're looking to probably increase the number of concurrent licenses that we have. But those types of licensing strategies, where they license by concurrent users or the number of seats is confusing for some people. They don't understand why it works sometimes and doesn't work other times."
"I like the seat-based licensing much more than MSU-based licensing, and that the cost has been competitive."
"In terms of pricing, there isn't an extra charge for the parts of it we use. It comes with the licenses we purchased for other products, so no complaints there. The licensing is built in with the other products that you purchase from Compuware."
"The price point is great."
"We purchase TDM's yearly license."
"You have to pay yearly for the license, which comes at a reduced cost. The monthly payment option for a shorter project duration is also good."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
30%
Insurance Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Construction Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
18%
Computer Software Company
13%
Construction Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business8
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise20
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business1
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise14
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for BMC Compuware Topaz Enterprise Data?
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...
What needs improvement with BMC AMI DevX?
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 i...
What is your primary use case for 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 Ec...
What advice do you have for others considering IBM InfoSphere Optim Test Data Management (TDM)?
The solution does not need much maintenance. The solution is maintained by the infrastructure team. There is a separate team for the software installation. I would recommend the solution to other u...
 

Also Known As

File-AID, Data for Db2, Code Debug, Data Studio, Workbench for Eclipse, Code Pipeline
IBM Optim Test Data Management, Optim Test Data Management, IBM InfoSphere Optim Test Data Management
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

NRB, Iberdrola, Consorzio Servizi Bancari 
Dignity Health
Find out what your peers are saying about BMC AMI DevX vs. IBM InfoSphere Optim Test Data Management (TDM) and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
913,654 professionals have used our research since 2012.