BMC AMI DevX vs File Master Plus comparison

BMC and Broadcom are both solutions in the Mainframe Testing Tools category. BMC is ranked #1 with an average rating of 7.5, while Broadcom is ranked #5. BMC holds a 23.9% mindshare in MTT, compared to Broadcom’s 6.6% mindshare. Additionally, 90% of BMC users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Broadcom users who would recommend it.

BMC AMI DevX

Read 19 BMC AMI DevX reviews

4,806 Views
1,202 Comparison Views

90% willing to recommend

File Master Plus

Read 3 File Master Plus reviews

307 Views
301 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

BMC AMI DevX

File Master Plus

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 15, 2026

BMC AMI DevX and File Master Plus are competing products in the enterprise software market. BMC AMI DevX has an edge in pricing and support, while File Master Plus stands out in features, delivering more value.

Features: BMC AMI DevX provides strong integration capabilities with various systems, offering high customization and advanced automation tools. File Master Plus emphasizes robust data management features and a comprehensive suite of development utilities enhancing productivity.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: File Master Plus features a simplified deployment process, allowing for quick setup praised for its simplicity. BMC AMI DevX's more intricate integration capabilities lead to a more detailed deployment but benefit from proactive customer support.

Pricing and ROI: BMC AMI DevX presents a competitive pricing model appealing to companies seeking rich support services, offering a satisfactory ROI over time. File Master Plus, with its feature-rich functionalities, has a higher initial setup cost but provides substantial ROI through powerful capabilities.

To learn more, read our detailed BMC AMI DevX vs. File Master Plus Report (Updated: March 2026).

Buyer's Guide

BMC AMI DevX vs. File Master Plus

March 2026

Download the complete report

Helped 884,873 peers since 2012

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 Mainframe Testing Tools

1st

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Software Configuration Management (1st), Debugging (9th), Database Development and Management (19th), Mainframe Application Development (1st), Test Data Management (6th), Data Masking (6th), AI Software Development (205th)

File Master Plus

Ranking in Mainframe Testing Tools

5th

Average Rating

8.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Mainframe Testing Tools category, the mindshare of BMC AMI DevX is 23.9%, down from 33.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of File Master Plus is 6.6%, up from 4.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Mainframe Testing Tools Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
BMC AMI DevX	23.9%
File Master Plus	6.6%
Other	69.5%

Mainframe Testing Tools

Featured Reviews

RobertSamson

Technical Consultant at Services Robert Samson SCRS

Improves disaster recovery processes and offers an efficient CPU cycle optimization

Using BMC Data Management for IMS and DB2 on z/OS has greatly improved our database administration tasks. Although we don't test the database before production, we have experienced benefits in disaster recovery situations and capacity management. For instance, when facing capacity issues during peak transaction times, I've been able to quickly allocate additional resources to ensure smooth operations. This has been crucial, especially during times when the demand surges, such as peak flight hours.

Read full review

it_user847152

Director of Enterprise and Mainframe Infrastructure at a financial services firm with 51-200 employees

Eases manageability of data, gives us better efficiency on our batch run

I use it for doing final file maintenance It's easier to do basic tasks; ease of manageability of data. It also gives us better efficiency on our batch run and our day-to-day. In terms of meeting business challenges, it's more of a productivity tool. It makes our data easier to manage. Ease of…

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Test data management capabilities are good."

"I think the most valuable features are code management, code deployment, and code generation. The fact that those three features are included makes BMC Compuware ISPW a robust product. If one of those features was missing, it would be less robust and less interesting. But because it has those three features, it is a very good solution for code development and management."

"It's a modernized development portal and helps reduce the learning curve for younger people coming in to work on the platform,"

"I have worked with DB2's great features in the last five years. The IDAA feature transformed the vision of warehousing, business analytics, and big data at my bank. Besides the mainframe, I saw that this solution was evolutionary. It gives real-time information."

"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."

"From a user perspective, the GUIs make it easier for people to see and interact with files on the mainframe."

"We had parallel development before, but the way ISPW implements it is better. It has more control and oversight of the process, whereas before, it was like the Wild West. Everybody could have their own package with their own version of the component in it... ISPW is constantly aware of it. It notifies when someone else is using or has a different version of that component."

"The visual ability to see potential downstream impacts to changes being made assists our developers in understanding the impact associated with their change."

More BMC AMI DevX pros

"Provides ease of use, ease of manageability, and ease of managing DSN files."

"We use it together with Grid Tools to mask IMS data."

"Makes it quick to investigate/fix problems related to application data. Our business can get back to normal operations in short order."

"The Browse function and utilities are valuable; the solution is easy to use."

Cons

"It would be good if the vendors would work together or at least have some collaboration between them, so they would know what would work and what wouldn't work. Right now, the way things are working, they're relying on the customer to make everything work."

"DB2 is a hard tool to grasp. It's hard for users to learn how to use it. It's not easy to see how it works."

"Their technical support could be better. There were times where, when we reported bugs, they would fix one bug but add another one. That's probably because of their support model. A lot of organizations are developing software using Agile rather than the Waterfall method, so things are happening all over the place. You get things quicker, but sometimes one fix will break another one or add other bugs."

"Technical support has gotten better over the years, though there's always room for improvement."

"The solution could be improved by being better integrated with the open world. In the next release, I would like to have the ability to work in an open environment whilst remaining integrated with the legacy environment."

"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."

"We plan to replace BMC Compuware File-AID due to its price. Two years back, we paid 11,000 dollars. However, the current price is 27,900 dollars. The price has increased to at least eight times its initial cost. We would need to pay around 60,000 dollars to have all three products together. We also encountered issues during version updates."

"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."

More BMC AMI DevX cons

"They need to keep coming out with new features, and new releases. There hasn't been a new release in a while."

"The setup is quite complex. We needed a system programmer for the initial setup."

"It would be better if it took less CPU time."

"For any change to CA File Master, we need a system programmer, which makes the change process very time consuming."

"CA File Master cannot handle IMS Sysplex."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price point is great."

"It has saved our developers time and effort when working on documentation, which is now more readable and fluent."

"I like the seat-based licensing much more than MSU-based licensing, and that the cost has been competitive."

"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."

"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."

"In general, Compuware tools are very competitive."

"The pricing is good value."

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Mainframe Testing Tools solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

884,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

33%

Insurance Company

11%

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

No data available

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	6
Large Enterprise	16

No data available

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about BMC Data Management for IMS and DB2 on zOS?

BMC Data Management improved our data recovery process by simplifying it.

See all answers

What needs improvement with BMC Data Management for IMS and DB2 on zOS?

One area for improvement with this product could be in providing clearer guidance and tools for disaster recovery planning and execution. As someone involved in managing infrastructure, understandi...

See all answers

What advice do you have for others considering BMC Data Management for IMS and DB2 on zOS?

From my perspective as an infrastructure guy, the most valuable aspect of BMC's data management solutions was their ability to optimize CPU cycles, improving IMS performance without directly impact...

See all answers

Ask a question

Earn 20 points

Comparisons

Endevor vs BMC AMI DevX

Compared 12% of the time

IBM File Manager vs BMC AMI DevX

Compared 8% of the time

InterTest vs BMC AMI DevX

Compared 6% of the time

Broadcom Test Data Manager vs BMC AMI DevX

Compared 5% of the time

Informatica Test Data Management (TDM) vs BMC AMI DevX

Compared 4% of the time

More BMC AMI DevX Competitors

IBM File Manager vs File Master Plus

Compared 35% of the time

More File Master Plus Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

BMC AMI DevX

March 2026

Download BMC AMI DevX product report

Buyer's Guide

BMC AMI DevX vs. File Master Plus

March 2026

Download File Master Plus product report

Also Known As

File-AID, Data for Db2, Code Debug, Data Studio, Workbench for Eclipse, Code Pipeline

CA File Master Plus

Overview

BMC AMI DevX is a comprehensive solution enhancing code management and testing efficiency. It offers debugging capabilities within financial applications and integrates data management seamlessly, serving major banking sectors with reliable performance.

AMI DevX is tailored for banking industries, optimizing application debugging in COBOL and enhancing data handling in robust financial systems. It simplifies mainframe data management with real-time insights, improving efficiency through editing and cloning functionalities. The tool's integration with Compuware File-AID for IMS and DB2 ensures streamlined development processes. Challenges include a steep DB2 learning curve and initial setup complexities, with technical support inconsistencies and steep pricing impacting affordability. Despite this, its valuable features significantly support large banking operations.

What features make BMC AMI DevX valuable?

Line-by-Line Code Debugging: Allows precise identification and rectification of issues.
Variable Change & Line Skipping: Flexibility in testing without recompiling.
Database-Independent Testing: No need for loading databases during testing.
Real-Time Data Insights: Enhances decision-making with immediate information.
Data Warehousing & Analytics: Facilitates comprehensive data analysis.
Integration & Formatting: Streamlines development by simplifying data processes.

What benefits should users look for in reviews?

Improved Efficiency: Streamline data management and editing capabilities.
Robust Debugging: Effective in both online and batch COBOL program debugging.
Enhanced Financial Application Support: Superior handling in grants and loans applications.
Comprehensive Testing: Enables creation of clone test files for thorough testing.

In large banking sectors, BMC AMI DevX is integral for grants and loans-related applications. Its robust nature supports financial systems, offering debugging for COBOL, updating data in Compuware File-AID for IMS, and integrating DB2. Users implement this for exceptional data management and application reliability.

BMC

CA File Master Plus is designed to streamline data assets and procedures, improve the accuracy of your mainframe data, reduce the time and effort associated with test file editing and data creation as well as reduce training costs.

This Application and Testing Tools solution is a file management and data manipulation tool architected to speed test file creation and editing for virtual storage access method (VSAM), sequential and partitioned datasets. With the ability to visually browse and edit data, you can respond quickly to problems that may arise and make accurate changes on the fly.

It also enables you to issue commands in batch, handily compare multiple file versions and filter your datasets with precision. To save your IT organization time and money, CA File Master Plus helps your team:

Create more consistent and accurate test data.
Find and fix problems more quickly.

Broadcom

Sample Customers

Helvetia, The IMT Group, Hapag-Lloyd, Royal Bank of Canada, Chunghwa Telecom

Blue Hill Data Services

Buyer's Guide

BMC AMI DevX vs. File Master Plus

March 2026

Free Report: BMC AMI DevX vs. File Master Plus

Find out what your peers are saying about BMC AMI DevX vs. File Master Plus and other solutions. Updated: March 2026.

DOWNLOAD NOW

884,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.

See our BMC AMI DevX vs. File Master Plus report.

See our list of best Mainframe Testing Tools vendors.

We monitor all Mainframe Testing Tools reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.