HCL Workload Automation Reviews

I use HCL Workload Automation for several use cases. In 2022, we had a migration where we needed to upgrade from 9.4 to 10.1, and we built a parallel system because we could not upgrade directly from 9.4 to 10.1.

In that scenario, we went with the vendor, got all the inputs, and they suggested building a parallel system. We built the parallel system and successfully migrated our 9.4 environment completely to 10.1. Then from 10.1, in August 2025, we moved to 10.2, and just last weekend, we moved to 10.2.4, which is technology minus one.

Currently, we have 10.2.5. Overall, we use it in our environment through critical utility projects where one of our UK customers uses it for critical activities such as recurring jobs, hourly jobs, and every 15-minute jobs. All critical jobs are using HCL Workload Automation, and overall, we are in good shape using this tool.

One of the best features of HCL Workload Automation, which recently came for us from the 10.2.3 version, is the ability to migrate our certificates. This feature is significant because from the RHL 9 series, the X series does not accept the default 1024-bit certificates. Therefore, there is a utility tool called SECMAN, which is an inbuilt feature of HCL Workload Automation and very helpful for migrating our certificates from default to 4096-bit.

SECMAN is one of the good features, and migrating jobs from an XYZ tool is also very easy to do.

The real-time reporting and monitoring capabilities of the intuitive dashboards in HCL Workload Automation are good and almost accurate. We have reporting that we use to give to stakeholders and end users. They often ask for the job status and reporting of various XYZ jobs. This feature is very helpful, and we have received feedback from stakeholders and end users. We have given them access for reporting purposes, which has proven very beneficial for them. They have provided good feedback on that.

Concerning integration capabilities with other systems, I have integrated HCL Workload Automation with ServiceNow and MuleSoft, which is very good. The integration with MuleSoft and ServiceNow has facilitated our processes by simplifying the integration aspect. In TWS, I found it a bit complicated, but in HCL Workload Automation, the integration process feels very smooth, as we only need to change our endpoints accordingly based on the inputs we have from the open public forum. It is good to use.

The main benefits that workload automation, such as HCL Workload Automation, brings to the table are significant. We have received good reviews from customers. Currently, we are extending our software, as we will end our entitlement in December 2026, and they are in talks to further proceed with HCL Workload Automation. We have good features, good utility, and excellent feedback from all our stakeholders and end users.

In the future, I would like to see enhancements, particularly in the GUI console, the TDWC GUI console for the end user. We do not have many complaints, but I believe there is some slowness, which may be due to network connectivity. However, in some cases, we do experience lag in the TDWC console, which I think needs to be considered for improvement to speed up the end-user console.

As of now, I do not have much clarity on any additional features that I would like to see included in HCL Workload Automation in the future or any functionality that requires enhancement at the moment.

I have been working with HCL Workload Automation for nearly three years, as I started with HCL Workload Automation in 2022.

Apart from the slowness in the GUI console that I mentioned, there are no other performance or stability issues with HCL Workload Automation product.

Regarding the scalability aspect, in comparing both, there is no control on the administrator's part in the previous version. Whenever required, they just pushed codes from the DevOps team, and I saw many agents being installed without any logic.

In our migration from stack 9.4 to 10.1, we installed EC2 in a parallel system we built, which gave admin control. We can provide end users with knowledgeable sessions and demonstrate how to use this tool, resulting in a very easy and informed experience for all other audiences.

We have two customer support teams for HCL Workload Automation. When we raise tickets on the HCL forum, one is for licensing issues and another for product-related queries. I usually connect with them from time to time, and I receive feedback that is prompt as per the SLA. It is good.

I would rate the tech support of HCL Workload Automation as 10 out of 10. They support beyond the case or SLA and have been very responsive to my needs. I personally feel that their support is great, especially in cases where I was completely unfamiliar with an issue, and they helped me a lot.

Positive

I do not know why my company switched from IBM to HCL Workload Automation. They were previously running with IBM, and now they moved to HCL Workload Automation. I learned from my internal colleagues that regarding pricing, IBM is charging more, while HCL Workload Automation is less expensive, which is why they opted for this tool.

I am not familiar with the initial setup process of HCL Workload Automation because when I came into this project, they were already using HCL Workload Automation with the 9.4 version. If you ask me how we are now interacting with HCL Workload Automation and their cases, I used to reach them, and they suggest their options.

In terms of ROI, I have experienced time savings with HCL Workload Automation. I came across scenarios where end users were taking reports and performing manual efforts, still relying on cron job setups, and I automated those processes with this tool. Thus, I find it very time saving. However, I am not much familiar with cost-effectiveness at the moment.

I find the pricing of HCL Workload Automation reasonable. At the present market level, we are in good shape because we have numerous scheduling automation tools such as CA 7, Autosys, and AWA. Comparatively, HCL Workload Automation offers good pricing, as I have discussed with colleagues and friends in the market who noted that HCL Workload Automation has better pricing compared to their tools.

From my perspective, I do not see any key differences between HCL Workload Automation and IBM or other competitors. They both feel similar to me, with just some extra widgets and different outlooks on the tools. When I compare HCL Workload Automation with other market products, I have only worked in Autosys and Atomic Workload Automation, which is a Broadcom product, and I find that HCL Workload Automation is very user-friendly in the GUI.

It has a good gesture, making end users feel comfortable running their jobs, automation, and workflows easily without needing to be spoon-fed every time. They are aware of what needs to be done and what does not.

Regarding the impact of using HCL Workload Automation on reducing human error in operations, there is a checkpoint feature that is very helpful in minimizing human error. We have a recent workflow that I personally prefer, and it prevents human error within HCL Workload Automation.

We do not use the hybrid cloud feature of HCL Workload Automation yet. Currently, we are using HCL Workload Automation, as well as HCL Clara, Hero, and other customers. Between our customers, there are other stakeholders using multiple HCL products.

I have recommended HCL Workload Automation to a few of my colleagues who are considering switching their automation tools. One is TIDAL, a Cisco product, and others are CA 7 and AWA. I believe HCL Workload Automation is very easy to handle and manage for all those workload automations. I have rated this product 9 out of 10 overall.

I am working at the HDFC project in India as part of the support team for HCL Workload Automation, and we manage this tool for end users. As a Managed Service Provider, we handle L1, L2 creation and management tasks for this tool.

In our domain, HCL Workload Automation automates the scripting part that is used in HDFC bank. For example, there is one server with a script that runs at 10:00 or 11:00 PM or AM, and through the tool, we can automate these scripts to run at specified times without needing to run them manually. This also applies to file transfer jobs, allowing us to transfer files created in the production server according to end-user dependencies.

The real-time reporting and monitoring capabilities on HCL Workload Automation's intuitive dashboard are good, as the dashboard is designed for monitoring purposes and shows correct data in real-time, making it easier to monitor applications within HCL Workload Automation.

Regarding real-time reporting, if any deployment has been done in production, it quickly reflects in the dashboard, making it easy for end users and us to see what deployments have been completed, which applications are live, and the status of the agents. We can also see whether the job configurations in production and DR were successful or are in a pending state. If a job fails, we can see the error through the dashboard without needing to manually access the server.

The Plan feature in HCL Workload Automation has been especially useful. It allows us to make changes to jobs without impacting the entire workflow immediately, which minimizes incidents in production and avoids disruption due to changes.

I have questions about the analytics feature of HCL Workload Automation. I do not know what Predictive Analytics is.

The dashboard of HCL Workload Automation needs improvement. In the previous tool, Autosys, color indicators helped users quickly understand job statuses, but in HCL Workload Automation, it isn't clear, making it harder to rectify issues without manually checking job statuses.

I would rate HCL Workload Automation overall as a seven. HCL Workload Automation needs to work on the workflow design of the portal to make it more user-friendly so that it is easily accessible for users to check their application statuses and job statuses without frequent communication.

I have been working with this solution for seven to eight months.

HCL Workload Automation is more stable and secure, helping to avoid incidents and meet SLAs, making it a dependable tool.

Sometimes the application encounters issues, such as failing to connect with the database, but these are regular incidents and not critical.

For increasing infrastructure or adding users, while the application is good, I do not think its current capability can handle the large volume of scripts at HDFC because critical applications require high performance when many scripts are running at night.

I frequently communicate with the technical support of HCL.

The communication with the HCL team is good. They provide support, although sometimes there are delays, but I understand that.

I would rate the technical support as generally good, without issues.

I have experience with some existing applications that have migrated to HCL Workload Automation, which have some issues. However, HCL Workload Automation is a great tool as most major applications have been successfully migrated and are running smoothly.

There are some issues with scripts that were created according to Autosys variable specifications. After migrating to HCL Workload Automation, some applications failed to run as expected or took longer to complete compared to Autosys because of changes in variables or passwords that caused delays.

I did not participate in the initial setup and deployment of HCL Workload Automation. That was handled by the HWA team, and I am now focused on the migration of applications and ongoing job setups.

To evaluate the impact of using HCL Workload Automation on reducing human error in operations, sometimes there are issues with creating JIL or XML files. Some attributes are not well understood, and human errors can occur in job streams affecting their dependencies and timing, although these occurrences are not major.

HCL Workload Automation has helped us reduce human error in operations.

In our environment, Clara is being deployed and is currently in process.

I would rate this review a seven overall.

HCL Workload Automation's main use case that I work with is orchestrating jobs and batches primarily required for large corporations, as this tool is essentially an orchestrating tool that runs everything needed for automation and cloud integrations.

I find the most valuable features of HCL Workload Automation are the Command Line Interface, which I prefer over the graphical interface, and the extensive direct integrations via plugins with various tools, such as SAP and ServiceNow, which are incredibly helpful.
The real-time reporting and monitoring capabilities on the intuitive dashboard of HCL Workload Automation are excellent, with no noticeable delays, and the interface integrates easily with various monitoring tools like Grafana and Prometheus.
The integration capabilities of HCL Workload Automation have been beneficial since we have seamlessly integrated several monitoring tools in just a few hours, enhancing reliability and visibility into job and flow monitoring.

To improve HCL Workload Automation, I recommend focusing more on testing new features before release, as the aggressive roadmap has resulted in some features not being properly tested and working as expected.

I have been working with HCL Workload Automation for more than 20 years, starting with an older version of the product in 2003, and the product has evolved significantly since it was acquired by HCL from IBM in 2019.

My experience with the stability and reliability of HCL Workload Automation has been positive, particularly with its three-layer setup that ensures high availability if configured correctly.

The scalability of HCL Workload Automation is essentially limitless, as I have worked with corporations running over a million flows per day without performance issues when scaling according to HCL's documentation.

I often communicate with HCL technical support, especially during big projects or upgrades, and I find their support to be reliable and responsive to any issues that may arise.
I would rate the technical support of HCL a perfect 10 without any hesitation.

I have not personally handled any fresh installation of HCL Workload Automation, as I have only been involved in upgrades since the product was initially deployed in my current company in 1992.
My experience has only included upgrades and updates of HCL Workload Automation, which have been smooth overall.

I am both a customer and an integrator of HCL Workload Automation since I work for a company that handles the administrator's part and also performs implementations and architecture of the product.
I have not used HCL Workload Automation's predictive analytics feature and have not heard of it, but I know they have a What-If analysis capability based on different parameters to predict outcomes.
I find the What-If feature of HCL Workload Automation useful, though I do not use it myself; however, end users appreciate it as it allows them to see how maintenance schedules might impact critical job streams.
Regarding hybrid cloud, we have an environment where the master runs on-premises and the agents operate both on the cloud and on-premises, while developing a multi-cloud setup is part of our future plans.
HCL Workload Automation manages task allocation across both on-premises and cloud by allowing users to set up basic tasks for specific servers or utilize dynamic scheduling based on load, ensuring advanced scheduling capabilities based on user needs.
Using HCL Workload Automation has significantly reduced human error in operations by automating workflows and providing powerful options for automatic recovery when issues occur, although its effectiveness depends on the end users to enable these functionalities.
Currently, we are not using a multi-cloud setup for HCL Workload Automation; that is still a plan in development, but we do intend to implement it.
I rate this review an 8 overall.

We are using this solution to migrate to other projects.

With the mainframe environment that we have, it is more similar to the HCL migration, or the workload scheduler. 

We also like the CWHC utilities; they are more current and under the umbrella of HCL. It reduces project risks.

Easy to set up, it doesn't require a lot. You can start working immediately.

Migration is increased while it decreases the cost of the project.

The interface needs some improvements. It needs to be more user-friendly simplified.

The preparation for the jobs needs some work to make it quicker in the correct way and on time.

I have been working with HCL Workload Automation for approximately four years.

It's a stable solution.

The scalability is good.

I have only contacted the technical support team two or three times. Once we complete the project, we hand it over to our operations team.

The technical support is very good.

I have worked with a similar solution from another vendor.

The initial setup is straightforward. It's not complex.

I can take three to five days to complete the initial setup and installation.

Overall, this is a good product.

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.