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AWS Step Functions vs IBM Workload Automation comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
6.3
JAMS automates job management, reducing costs and labor while enhancing efficiency and allowing staff to focus on critical tasks.
Sentiment score
5.3
AWS Step Functions reduce development time and costs, enhance scalability and reliability, streamline workflows, and improve ROI.
Sentiment score
5.2
IBM Workload Automation is valuable for complex setups with trained teams, despite maintenance costs and slower performance on simpler networks.
The architecture of JAMS is neat and clean, enabling us to run agents on different machines while having the job scheduler and servers on one machine.
Cloud Engineer at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.4
JAMS offers impressive, knowledgeable support with quick, effective solutions, proactively addressing user needs through various channels.
Sentiment score
5.9
AWS Step Functions support is reliable, but users desire quicker, tailored assistance; enterprise support offers rapid, expensive yet effective help.
Sentiment score
8.3
Opinions on IBM Workload Automation's support vary; some praise it, while others face delays and inconsistent service.
The customer support is excellent; they are fast, technically strong, and the people I've interacted with know what needs to be done.
Cloud Engineer at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
We contacted JAMS vendor, who guided us through the necessary steps, and after following their guidance, everything was resolved.
ETL Data Engineer at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
They are very quick to respond depending on the issue's severity.
System Engineer at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
The speed of reply and the content of their responses usually solve the problems that arise.
EPM Practice Manager at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
I use enterprise support, which is excellent, providing responses within fifteen minutes.
Senior AWS Tech Lead at Nextios
I would rate their support between eight and nine out of ten.
Technical Lead at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
6.6
JAMS efficiently scales to handle thousands of jobs daily, offering flexibility, ease, and consistent performance, though licensing may limit scalability.
Sentiment score
7.0
AWS Step Functions are valued for efficient scalability, handling demand spikes and multiple requests, suitable for medium to large organizations.
Sentiment score
7.0
IBM Workload Automation is preferred for scalability in complex scheduling, with minor challenges at higher scales, especially in time zones.
JAMS's scalability is noteworthy; we run 6,000 jobs per day without facing any problems.
Cloud Engineer at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
We might be underutilizing it, but as more jobs require processing, additional servers would be necessary.
System Engineer at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Starting separate Step Functions for each request, making it highly scalable.
Senior AWS Tech Lead at Nextios
There isn't much need for scalability when creating orchestration in AWS Step Functions, which explains the rating of six.
Assistant Manager at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.4
JAMS is stable and reliable, with the desktop version praised, while rare issues are due to external factors.
Sentiment score
7.8
AWS Step Functions are praised for stability and reliability, ensuring consistent performance and uptime across multiple availability zones.
Sentiment score
8.8
IBM Workload Automation is viewed as reliable and stable, with minor issues resolved swiftly, boosting user confidence.
We experience periods of major incidents annually due to capacity constraints, which result in job failures.
Manager of Reliability Engineering and Security Operations at a computer software company with 501-1,000 employees
Being on the new version, there's been zero downtime.
System Engineer at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
If one zone fails, others handle the demand, ensuring high availability.
Senior AWS Tech Lead at Nextios
I never faced any faults or issues due to its stability with AWS, making it very reliable with no downtime and 100% reliability.
Assistant Manager at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
 

Room For Improvement

JAMS users seek enhanced UI, search, automation, security, AI integration, and documentation to improve functionality and performance.
AWS Step Functions needs improvements in data limits, integrations, pricing, and execution visibility while enhancing fault tolerance and third-party support.
IBM Workload Automation requires interface improvements, enhanced automation, better support, and lower maintenance costs to improve user experience.
Another area for improvement would be the addition of source control for jobs internally, as this feature would solve several problems for me.
Manager of Reliability Engineering and Security Operations at a computer software company with 501-1,000 employees
There is scope for improvement, specifically when there are a larger number of jobs running, as JAMS becomes slower.
ETL Data Engineer at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
A major improvement would be the integration of AI to help us accomplish various tasks.
System Engineer at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
It would benefit from more integration with different applications or services.
EPM Practice Manager at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
The maintenance charges have increased significantly, and a lower cost would be beneficial.
Technical Lead at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Setup Cost

JAMS offers competitive pricing for enterprise scheduling, with flexibility in licensing and lower costs than Control-M and Tivoli.
AWS Step Functions pricing fluctuates based on usage, leading to potential high bills despite being cheaper than Azure Workflow.
IBM Workload Automation is costly but offers flexible pricing models with cloud advantages and justifies expense with reliability and features.
The price is fair considering the functionality and importance of the tool, although the increase did unsettle our management.
System Engineer at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Pricing for Step Functions is very cheap.
Senior AWS Tech Lead at Nextios
The cost is average, provided it is configured correctly.
Big Data Architect at SoftServe Ltd.
 

Valuable Features

JAMS offers automation, intuitive scheduling, and integration, enhancing efficiency with flexible workflows, PowerShell support, and responsive user assistance.
AWS Step Functions enable efficient workflow automation with integration, orchestration, parallel tasking, and management through a user-friendly interface.
IBM Workload Automation excels with dynamic scheduling, multiplatform integration, user-friendly GUI, real-time updates, and effective monitoring.
JAMS has positively impacted my organization by completely removing the headache of scheduling jobs, not just for the organization but for all internal operations teams need.
Cloud Engineer at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
JAMS offers features that stand out, especially when compared with Control-M monitoring tool, where JAMS is easily accessible and simple to understand regarding the setups and jobs being bifurcated.
ETL Data Engineer at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
This efficient feature has been invaluable, enabling us to streamline our workflow and enhance productivity.
Manager of Reliability Engineering and Security Operations at a computer software company with 501-1,000 employees
Step Functions provide seamless integration with AWS services, which enhances the speed of application development.
Senior AWS Tech Lead at Nextios
AWS Step Functions offers advanced workflows that save time and enhance efficiency by reducing delays and ensuring consistent orchestration among various services.
Big Data Architect at SoftServe Ltd.
It was particularly valuable for its integration capabilities, allowing for execution of scripts and data migration.
EPM Practice Manager at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
One valuable feature of IBM Workload Automation is the ability to combine different applications and platforms to organize jobs together, creating dependencies.
Technical Lead at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Categories and Ranking

JAMS
Sponsored
Ranking in Workload Automation
3rd
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
37
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
AWS Step Functions
Ranking in Workload Automation
10th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
14
Ranking in other categories
Business Process Management (BPM) (11th)
IBM Workload Automation
Ranking in Workload Automation
8th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
33
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Workload Automation category, the mindshare of JAMS is 2.6%, up from 1.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of AWS Step Functions is 1.4%, up from 1.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Workload Automation is 4.9%, down from 8.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Workload Automation Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
JAMS2.6%
IBM Workload Automation4.9%
AWS Step Functions1.4%
Other91.1%
Workload Automation
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer2770605 - PeerSpot reviewer
Cloud Engineer at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
Has streamlined complex job scheduling across scripting languages while reducing manual effort
JAMS could be improved with a web client that is accessible and as fast as a normal website, eliminating the need to RDP to the servers to access the JAMS client. A functionality running on the JAMS server to continuously check the JAMS agents would ensure they are working properly. If an agent is not responding, a feature to restart the service from the job server machine would be beneficial. The upgrade process, particularly when switching from V6 to V7, could be clearer in terms of documentation, ideally with screenshots showing exactly what needs to be done on each screen.
reviewer2706945 - PeerSpot reviewer
Assistant Manager at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Orchestration and integration simplify processes with seamless stability and reliability
I use the Visual Workflow Editor feature of AWS Step Functions. I mainly work through code and then improve it through the visual aspect. There are two ways to do orchestration: through code and through visual. My main task is to develop flows. I have only implemented AWS Step Functions with AWS services, not with any third-party tools. The integration between AWS Step Functions and other AWS services is excellent, working seamlessly with EventBridge, Glue jobs, and databases. I have not encountered any challenges with customers regarding AWS Step Functions that needed me to find a workaround. The pricing of AWS Step Functions is moderate and not particularly costly. AWS Step Functions is affordable for small, medium, and enterprise businesses as an orchestration tool. I have not used any documentation, manuals, or guides for AWS Step Functions as it's very simple to implement. When help is needed, I consult Stack Overflow or AI for commands. Overall rating for AWS Step Functions: 9 out of 10.
reviewer2701716 - PeerSpot reviewer
Technical Lead at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Dynamic workload balancing facilitates efficient job scheduling and ensures continuity with a master-slave setup
One valuable feature of IBM Workload Automation is the ability to combine different applications and platforms to organize jobs together, creating dependencies. It's akin to an orchestra. Another feature is dynamic workload balancing, which I find enhances efficiency by automating job setup to run daily. Moreover, having a backup setup allows for immediate recovery if the master setup fails.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
14%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Healthcare Company
5%
Financial Services Firm
27%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
7%
Insurance Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
28%
Retailer
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Computer Software Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business11
Midsize Enterprise8
Large Enterprise18
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business7
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise5
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise29
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about JAMS?
I find the historical tracking feature of JAMS invaluable for reviewing past events.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for JAMS?
They recently switched to subscription-based pricing, which increased. The price is fair considering the functionalit...
What needs improvement with JAMS?
As far as we are using JAMS version 6, it looks good and there is nothing major to add about it. Everything is functi...
What do you like most about Amazon Step Functions?
The integration capability is easy, whereas building state machines is tricky.
What is your primary use case for Amazon Step Functions?
My customer's usual use cases for AWS Step Functions that I've been working with include orchestration, flows, diagra...
What advice do you have for others considering Amazon Step Functions?
I use the Visual Workflow Editor feature of AWS Step Functions. I mainly work through code and then improve it throug...
What needs improvement with IBM Workload Automation?
IBM Workload Automation could be improved by reducing its cost. The maintenance charges have increased significantly,...
What is your primary use case for IBM Workload Automation?
We use IBM Workload Automation ( /products/ibm-workload-automation-reviews ) as a scheduler. We install agents on the...
What advice do you have for others considering IBM Workload Automation?
I recommend IBM Workload Automation as it's a well-established and stable product. However, the cost is a concern. Th...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Amazon Step Functions, Step Functions
IBM Tivoli Workload Scheduler, IBM TWS
 

Interactive Demo

Demo not available
Demo not available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Teradata, Arconic, General Dynamics, Yum!, CVS Health, Comcast, Ghiradelli, & Boston’s Children’s Hospital
Alpha Apps, The Guardian, SGK, Bigfinite
Standard Life Group, Banca Popolare di Milano, A*STAR, ArcelorMittal Gent
Find out what your peers are saying about AWS Step Functions vs. IBM Workload Automation and other solutions. Updated: January 2026.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.