CA Datacom vs Spotlight comparison

Broadcom and Quest Software are both solutions in the Database Development and Management category. Broadcom is ranked #23, while Quest Software is ranked #5 with an average rating of 9.0. Broadcom holds a 1.5% mindshare in DDM, compared to Quest Software’s 4.0% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Broadcom users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Quest Software users who would recommend it.

CA Datacom

Read 7 CA Datacom reviews

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442 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Spotlight

Read 5 Spotlight reviews

1,368 Views
1,368 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

CA Datacom

Spotlight

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 23, 2025

CA Datacom and Spotlight are products in the enterprise database management category. CA Datacom leads with scalability and robustness, while Spotlight is preferred for its comprehensive monitoring capabilities, despite the higher cost.

Features: CA Datacom provides superior data management capabilities, high availability, and a scalable architecture. Spotlight offers advanced performance monitoring, intuitive dashboards, and extensive integration options.

Room for Improvement: CA Datacom could enhance its deployment simplicity and reduce the learning curve for new users. Improvements in performance insights would benefit CA Datacom's competitive positioning. Spotlight may need better cost-efficiency strategies and expanded deployment options. Flexibility in integration features could be enhanced for Spotlight.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: CA Datacom features a traditional deployment model with a focus on structured customer support, but it demands technical expertise. Spotlight offers intuitive deployment processes with personalized customer support, favoring users seeking a swift setup and direct service engagement.

Pricing and ROI: CA Datacom involves a higher initial setup cost but delivers substantial long-term ROI through scalability and operational efficiencies. Spotlight commands a premium upfront investment justified by its performance insights, offering deep data intelligence. Cost benefits are favorable for CA Datacom due to scalability, while Spotlight presents ROI through enhanced performance metrics.

To learn more, read our detailed CA Datacom vs. Spotlight Report (Updated: February 2026).

Buyer's Guide

CA Datacom vs. Spotlight

February 2026

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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

CA Datacom

Ranking in Database Development and Management

23rd

Average Rating

9.0

Reviews Sentiment

8.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Spotlight

Ranking in Database Development and Management

5th

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the Database Development and Management category, the mindshare of CA Datacom is 1.5%, up from 1.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Spotlight is 4.0%, down from 7.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Database Development and Management Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Spotlight	4.0%
CA Datacom	1.5%
Other	94.5%

Database Development and Management

Featured Reviews

it_user489183

IT Admin at a logistics company with 10,001+ employees

Scalability and the online maintainability of definitions are definite advantages for us

We've had it for so long, so it's status quo. But we've added all sorts of functionality to our applications and there are no issues with databases. Anything developers request, we're able to accomplish. Also, we deal a lot with government regulation - and not to talk about what the company does - but anything that they require of us, because we transmit data back and forth with them, we're able to do that with no problems. And there have been a lot of changes over the past five years that our government dictated regarding what we actually end up doing. So, we're able to be extremely flexible with that.

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BlakeCheatham

Sr. Database Administrator at Comcast Business

Facilitating on-the-spot troubleshooting with detailed root cause analysis

Spotlight provides valuable features such as the ability to get alerted and drill down to a very granular level to find out where actual problems are coming from. The drill-down feature helps with isolation, root cause analysis, and determining next steps. It aids in preventing potential issues by allowing us to make correctable changes internally within SQL Server. When needed, it also helps address external influences affecting system design. Additionally, the historical data analysis is helpful for long-term capacity planning.

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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 solid product."

"It definitely cuts down on our support costs. I do not get woken up in the middle of the night very often for a problem with Datacom."

"Scalability is definitely one thing. The size of the database can grow without any issues. We've got one database table that's got over a billion rows in it; quite a bit of data, and it handles access like a champ."

"Nowadays, CA is doing a lot of improving as far as online maintainability of definitions, which is a huge improvement over the past. I'm able to do a lot of changes without any outage."

"The initial setup is fairly straightforward for a mainframe product."

"The tool is a SaaS product where I just need to type a URL and start with the design process. I can integrate all elements of source control like GitHub, GitLab, etc. The tool also supports authentication-related provisions like SSH."

"Spotlight provides valuable features such as the ability to get alerted and drill down to a very granular level to find out where actual problems are coming from."

"I consider the solution very scalable."

"Its dashboards are most valuable. The drill-down of the dashboards is useful."

Cons

"For the "no-outage maintainability" of things, they are making improvements as we speak, but there is definitely still room for more of that."

"The only minor issue that we have had with Datacom is in the installation guide: Some of the sizings for the databases have not really worked out for us, so we had to go in and resize them."

"One improvement could be the inclusion of suggestions for missing indexes or better analysis of how indexes are utilized and how execution plans are used, similar to what other products offer."

"There's no reporting with this tool, and there really should be. They should add that into future releases."

"One improvement could be the inclusion of suggestions for missing indexes or better analysis of how indexes are utilized and how execution plans are used, similar to what other products offer."

"Some customizations of the dashboard, such as having backup reports, would be useful."

"The software does not support webhooks. It doesn't support advanced versions of APIs. The tool also doesn't support advanced versions of specifications. The change that we do in one part of the model is not reflected throughout the specification. There are also some mutations in the clones. I am not able to do a local source control with the product as well."

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available

"The tool is cloud-based. It is priced well."

"Its cost was somewhere in the middle."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

No data available

Financial Services Firm

16%

Healthcare Company

13%

Government

Computer Software Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Large Enterprise	7

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	2
Midsize Enterprise	1
Large Enterprise	4

Questions from the Community

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What needs improvement with Quest Spotlight?

One improvement could be the inclusion of suggestions for missing indexes or better analysis of how indexes are utilized and how execution plans are used, similar to what other products offer.

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What is your primary use case for Quest Spotlight?

I primarily use Spotlight for on-the-spot troubleshooting and alerting to see if there are any issues. The drill-down features allow me to pinpoint problems, whether they are indexing, long-running...

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What advice do you have for others considering Quest Spotlight?

I would rate Spotlight probably an nine out of ten. My advice would be to consider its cost-effectiveness and ease of use in smaller environments.

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Database Development and Management

January 2026

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Buyer's Guide

Database Development and Management

January 2026

Download Spotlight product report

Also Known As

DATACOM

Dell Spotlight

Overview

CA Datacom enables the continuous availability of your business applications. Datacom, and its family of rDBMS products, provides you with a reliable database repository with enterprise-wide, high-volume workload and fault-tolerant capabilities.

Broadcom

Spotlight efficiently facilitates database monitoring, performance tuning, and troubleshooting with features that enhance problem isolation and long-term capacity planning. While valuable for API development, improvements in virtualization support and pricing could elevate its appeal.

Spotlight empowers users with capabilities such as alerting processes and comprehensive dashboards, making it an essential asset in analyzing historical data and time monitoring to identify problems. It integrates seamlessly with source control like GitHub and supports authentication, streamlining design processes and facilitating root cause analysis with drill-down capabilities. Primarily used for identifying indexing, long-running processes, and other performance issues, Spotlight aids API design through its daily monitoring capabilities, ensuring smooth operations. It currently has room for enhancements, particularly in support for Hyper-V virtualization overhead, webhooks, and API advancements. Pricing adjustments and improvements in custom dashboards, especially for backup reports, would increase user satisfaction.

What are Spotlight's key features?

Alerting Processes: Swiftly identifies issues with real-time notifications.
Ease of Setup: Simple integration with existing systems.
Comprehensive Dashboards: Offers a clear analysis of system performance.
Historical Data Analysis: Helps in problem identification and anomaly detection.
Drill-Down Capabilities: Enhances problem isolation and root cause analysis.

What benefits can users expect from Spotlight?

Problem Detection: Quick identification of issues improves system performance.
Efficiency in Capacity Planning: Supports long-term infrastructure management.
Seamless Integration: Works well with tools like GitHub to streamline processes.
Enhanced API Development: Aids in creating quality APIs with proper documentation.

Companies in diverse sectors utilize Spotlight for its robust database monitoring and problem-solving capabilities. Its integration with tools like GitHub allows software development teams to streamline processes. Finance and tech industries leverage its performance tuning features to ensure optimal database operations, while organizations focused on API development benefit significantly from its detailed monitoring and alerting functionalities.

Quest Software

Sample Customers

Blue Hill Data Services Inc.

Jenkon

Buyer's Guide

CA Datacom vs. Spotlight

February 2026

Free Report: CA Datacom vs. Spotlight

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