BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management vs VMware Aria Automation comparison

BMC and VMware are both solutions in the Cloud Management category. BMC is ranked #39, while VMware is ranked #2 with an average rating of 7.8. BMC holds a 0.8% mindshare in CM, compared to VMware’s 11.1% mindshare. Additionally, 80% of BMC users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 94% of VMware users who would recommend it.

BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management

Read 5 BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management reviews

259 Views
122 Comparison Views

80% willing to recommend

VMware Aria Automation

Read 170 VMware Aria Automation reviews

4,692 Views
2,059 Comparison Views

94% willing to recommend

BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management

VMware Aria Automation

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 17, 2024

BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management and VMware Aria Automation are competing in the cloud automation and management space. VMware Aria Automation has an upper hand due to its comprehensive feature set, although BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management may offer advantages in pricing and support satisfaction.

Features: BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management is noted for its robust integration capabilities, effective resource management, and strong multi-cloud portal, which makes it suitable for resource optimization. VMware Aria Automation, on the other hand, provides advanced orchestration, integration with several platforms, and a versatile automation framework, focusing on extensibility and detailed automation.

Room for Improvement: BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management could enhance its automation capabilities and integration with newer third-party applications. It may also benefit from an intuitive user interface and expanded reporting features. VMware Aria Automation could improve by simplifying its deployment processes, enhancing its UI for administrators, and expanding support for more hybrid cloud solutions.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management is appreciated for its straightforward deployment process and reliable customer service, making it ideal for organizations seeking a quick setup. VMware Aria Automation provides extensive customization support, though its deployment can be more complex, appealing to those needing detailed setup options.

Pricing and ROI: BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management is considered cost-effective due to lower initial setup costs and favorable ROI outcomes. VMware Aria Automation, despite higher upfront costs, offers substantial long-term returns owing to its advanced automation capabilities and feature-rich offerings.

To learn more, read our detailed BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management vs. VMware Aria Automation Report (Updated: June 2025).

Buyer's Guide

BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management vs. VMware Aria Automation

June 2025

Download the complete report

Helped 860,168 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 Cloud Lifecycle Management

Ranking in Cloud Management

39th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

5.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Cloud Monitoring Software (45th)

VMware Aria Automation

Ranking in Cloud Management

2nd

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

170

Ranking in other categories

Configuration Management (7th), Network Automation (3rd), Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) (17th), Cloud Infrastructure Entitlement Management (CIEM) (4th)

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Cloud Management category, the mindshare of BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management is 0.8%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VMware Aria Automation is 11.1%, down from 11.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Cloud Management

Featured Reviews

Entprssol67

Enterprise Solution Architect at Engineering Ingegneria Informatica SPA

Helps design blueprints in a cloud environment but the support is a major problem

One of the major problems is that support is not so good. I used to have a support expert in Spain but they left two years ago. BMC doesn't invest a lot in network automation but network automation is a major point in CLM. There aren't any experts here in Europe, maybe they have in America, I don't know. The main problem is the support in Europe. We had a lot of problems with the people who got put on our cases. The agents that we were assigned to were not so capable. They wanted to replicate the problem. If you have an incident, it takes a lot of time to troubleshoot the problem. The incident support is not so good. The technicians don't know the platform well. BMC doesn't want to invest in CLM. Two years ago we had a lot of problems. Maybe BMC realized that CLM is an end of life product.

Read full review

Le Quang Long

Cloud Engineer at BIDV - Ngân hàng TMCP Đầu tư & Phát triển Việt Nam

Significantly streamlined operations with good automation that helps with simplifying workflows

It helps me build a big catalog and provide it to my end users. It helps us automate the workflow of creating many VMs and the TensorFlow key method. I do not meet many people to operate it live beforehand. It operates for both of my products, but as a product, it is complicated to integrate and automate with other products.

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

"CLM has a multi-cloud portal because they have the resources to implement in various environments in various ports."

"Supports unattended installs and image-based, script-based, or template-based provisioning."

"Automates Java EE Application Deployment from an SCM system."

"Assesses change impact or completes an audit using multiple dashboard views."

"You can tie together your public and private cloud infrastructure into a "single pane of glass"."

"By allowing end users to request their own services, the request process for systems is much quicker and more accurate."

"Integrates role-based access control with pre-configured policies for CIS, DISA, HIPAA, PCI, SOX, NIST, and SCAP documentation and remediation."

"usability; Ease of use, the GUI, is probably the best feature, so that really anybody can use it. You don't have to be technical to be able to deploy a VM. I find it to be intuitive and user-friendly. Regarding some of the files that you feed it, you don't have to do a ton of development. You can feed it pretty standard configuration files. You don't have to be a developer, you don't have to know C# or Java or the like to get it going."

"The self service portal: People don't have to come to us to request something. They can just go fill out a form. Within 30 minutes, they have what they requested."

"Valuable features include integration with Infoblox, for IP management; and three-tier app deployment as one unified Blueprint."

"vRealize Automation has improved the speed of provisioning just by automating things, making people think about whether a human really needs to do something or can we make the machines do it for us. It is a lot faster to deploy things now."

"We've just shifted to an Agile development so there has absolutely been an improvement in speed to market. We now have consistent release plans because we have these environments as ready as they are."

"The most valuable feature is the portal where you can assign permissions to specific people to request specific items in the catalog and allow them to provision things for themselves. Or it enables them to request different services that you can create through vRO and vRA."

"The most valuable feature of VMware Aria Automation is the versatile automation and deployments."

"vRealize automation stability is pretty good. They are always fixing bugs. The product team is doing a great job of addressing any issues that we might have."

More VMware Aria Automation pros

Cons

"One of the major problems is that support is not so good."

"The installation and configuration can be tricky due to it being built on Remedy."

"Needs integrations with other providers to provide a custom public cloud environment."

"The most important thing that we missed in vRanger was the possibility to mount several images instantaneously and present it so we can run it immediately."

"VMware should go the way of vROps, with everything in one machine, the ability to scale out, and a more distributed environment instead of having the usual centralized SQL database."

"I don't find it to be entirely user-friendly. There are a lot of complicated menus within menus within menus. Things move around from version to version."

"The setup is difficult. You need a technical person to help you set it up."

"It is difficult to set up."

"I want to see HTML5. I want to get rid of JavaScript... we have a lot of issues with Java crashing when we're using vCenter. I obviously don't want that to happen with the vRealize Automation and Orchestrator side."

"The stability on the 6.2 version is very bad. It crashes. VMware tech support knows the IIS component is a bit buggy."

"I don't find the solution to be intuitive and user- friendly. The GUI is really complicated. Tracking down logs and errors is very hard. Then, it takes a specialized JavaScript person to build. Also, I'm not sure how the upgrades are going now, but they definitely need to evolve the upgrade process. Finally, the logs are very generalized. Giving more of an indicator of what's actually going wrong, rather than just a generic error code, would help."

More VMware Aria Automation cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available

"Better pricing is always handy, but I feel it's at the right price point."

"I'm very interested in the integration with Puppet. However, my organization doesn't have the funding for something like Puppet right now. If VMware would integrate that feature set (Puppet) into vRA. That would be very awesome."

"SaltStack is an open-source product."

"The tool is expensive since it is an enterprise product."

"This is an expensive product and the high price is starting to become an issue for us."

"VMware Aria Automation is expensive."

"The cost of the solution is reasonable for us. Although it is relatively high, we prioritize stability and integration over cost."

"The solution is free of cost."

More VMware Aria Automation pricing and cost advice

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Cloud Management solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

860,168 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

No data available

Financial Services Firm

13%

Computer Software Company

12%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

Ask a question

Earn 20 points

What's the difference between VMware vRA (automation) and vROps (operations)?

vROP is a virtualization management solution from VMWare. It is efficient and easy to manage. You can find anything you need from the software interface. It provides complete visibility over applic...

See all answers

Is there any way to try VMware Aria Automation for free?

When it comes to VMware Aria Automation, you have three choices for free runs: Hands-on Lab (HOL) Advanced lab A free trial I cannot describe in detail the second and third options as my company ...

See all answers

Which sectors can benefit the most from VMware Aria Automation?

I was looking at VMware Aria Automation case studies recently and I got the impression that three main kinds of companies were using it most often: Social organizations Financial institutions and ...

See all answers

Comparisons

CloudBolt vs BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management

Compared 61% of the time

Pandora FMS vs BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management

Compared 39% of the time

More BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management Competitors

Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform vs VMware Aria Automation

Compared 16% of the time

VMware Aria Operations vs VMware Aria Automation

Compared 14% of the time

Morpheus vs VMware Aria Automation

Compared 11% of the time

VMware Cloud Director vs VMware Aria Automation

Compared 9% of the time

Nutanix Cloud Manager (NCM) vs VMware Aria Automation

Compared 7% of the time

More VMware Aria Automation Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cloud Management

June 2025

Download BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management product report

Buyer's Guide

VMware Aria Automation

June 2025

Download VMware Aria Automation product report

Also Known As

BMC CLM

VMware vRealize Automation, vRA, VMware DynamicOps Cloud Suite, SaltStack

Overview

BMC's cloud management platform drives digital innovation with agile, full-stack service provisioning across cloud and traditional platforms. BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management scales easily while integrating with essential compliance and governance policies to reduce risk.

BMC

VMware Aria Automation is a cloud management tool that allows companies to simplify their cloud experience through a modern automation platform. The solution is designed to deliver self-service clouds, multi-cloud automation with governance, and DevOps-based security and infrastructure management. It helps organizations improve IT agility, efficiency, and productivity through its various features.

VMware Aria Automation has multiple use cases that include the following:

Self-service multi-cloud: VMware Aria Automation can be used to deliver consistent self-service consumption. Another use case in this area is for delivering infrastructure across VMware Clouds as well as public clouds.
Multi-cloud governance: The solution can be used to manage cost, performance, networking, configuration, and security at scale for multi-cloud environments. VMware Aria Automation offers all this with an everything-as-code approach.
DevOps for infrastructure: Through VMware Aria Automation, companies can enable a powerful infrastructure as code platform with support for iterative development and infrastructure pipelining.
Kubernetes automation: Users can utilize VMware Aria Automation to automate the management of Kubernetes clusters and namespaces with support for vSphere with Tanzu.
Security operations: VMware Aria Automation facilitates event-driven automation to deliver full-service IT system compliance enforcement and vulnerability remediation.

VMware Aria Automation Features

VMware Aria Automation has various features that allow users to easily perform operations. Some of the solution's capacities include:

VMware Cloud agnostic template: This feature allows organizations to use a single cloud template to deploy with Infrastructure as a Code. Deployment options include VMware Cloud as well as major public cloud platforms such as Amazon AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, and more.
Extensibility and customization: This VMware Aria Automation feature allows users to get full extensibility and customization. This can be achieved through Aria Automation Orchestrator, Action-Based Extensibility (ABX), and built-in integrations with common third-party tools.
Self-service multi-cloud: This feature enables users to request and provision infrastructure resources. It can be done across clouds using a unified and consistent Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) consumption layer, idempotent REST API, and self-service catalog.
Centralized policies and governance: VMware Aria Automation offers a feature for users to manage multiple clouds with templatized cloud and policy definition, automated remediation, and cloud environment visibility.
Configuration management: Through this feature of the product, day 1 and 2 control can be achieved for virtualized and cloud environments. This can be done with intuitive configuration automation, compliance enforcement, and vulnerability remediation.
Infrastructure pipelining: Through this feature, organizations can access user-friendly release automation pipelines. They can be specifically tailored for CI/CD in infrastructure use cases.

VMware Aria Automation Benefits

VMware Aria Automation offers its users various benefits. Some of the biggest advantages that the solution brings to companies that utilize it include:

VMware Aria Automation provides faster time to market for companies through offloading manual tasks with advanced workflows and agile templating.
The solution offers high levels of security and control.
This product is suitable for beginners, as it offers a self-service consumption experience for users.
VMware Aria Automation accelerates innovation through Infrastructure as Code and DevOps principles.
The product provides users with flexibility, as it is compatible with the most popular public cloud solutions.
The solution offers fast deployment because of all natively integrated functions.

Reviews from Real Users

Awais J., CTO/CEO at a tech services company, likes VMware Aria Automation because it saves a lot of time, provides more visibility, and has extensive automation capabilities.

An IT consultant at a government rates VMware Aria Automation highly because the product gives you flexibility to analyze and consume resources.

VMware

Sample Customers

JDA Software, Morningstar, Orange Business Services, Wipro

Rent-a-Center, Amway, Vistra Energy, Liberty Mutual

Buyer's Guide

BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management vs. VMware Aria Automation

June 2025

Free Report: BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management vs. VMware Aria Automation

Find out what your peers are saying about BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management vs. VMware Aria Automation and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.

DOWNLOAD NOW

860,168 professionals have used our research since 2012.

See our BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management vs. VMware Aria Automation report.

See our list of best Cloud Management vendors.

We monitor all Cloud Management 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.