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IBM Workload Automation vs JAMS comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 4, 2025

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
5.2
IBM Workload Automation is valuable for complex setups with trained teams, despite maintenance costs and slower performance on simpler networks.
Sentiment score
8.9
JAMS streamlines operations, reduces costs, enhances scalability, improves productivity, and allows developers to focus on development tasks.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
8.3
Opinions on IBM Workload Automation's support vary; some praise it, while others face delays and inconsistent service.
Sentiment score
9.6
JAMS customer service is praised for responsiveness, knowledge, and helpfulness, with high ratings despite occasional delays in support.
I would rate their support between eight and nine out of ten.
They are very quick to respond depending on the issue's severity.
Their response is prompt, exemplifying how support should be.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.0
IBM Workload Automation is preferred for scalability in complex scheduling, with minor challenges at higher scales, especially in time zones.
Sentiment score
6.0
JAMS scales well for large businesses, handling high job volumes efficiently, with flexible licensing and robust failover capabilities.
We might be underutilizing it, but as more jobs require processing, additional servers would be necessary.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.8
IBM Workload Automation is viewed as reliable and stable, with minor issues resolved swiftly, boosting user confidence.
Sentiment score
7.8
JAMS is highly stable and reliable, with minimal issues, widely trusted for mission-critical operations across diverse conditions.
We experience periods of major incidents annually due to capacity constraints, which result in job failures.
Being on the new version, there's been zero downtime.
 

Room For Improvement

IBM Workload Automation requires interface improvements, enhanced automation, better support, and lower maintenance costs to improve user experience.
JAMS needs better search, intuitive interface, enhanced documentation, error messaging, database support, source control, and C# developer resources.
The maintenance charges have increased significantly, and a lower cost would be beneficial.
Another area for improvement would be the addition of source control for jobs internally, as this feature would solve several problems for me.
A major improvement would be the integration of AI to help us accomplish various tasks.
 

Setup Cost

IBM Workload Automation is costly but offers flexible pricing models with cloud advantages and justifies expense with reliability and features.
JAMS offers cost-effective, flexible licensing with scalable options, remaining more affordable than competitors despite recent pricing changes.
The price is fair considering the functionality and importance of the tool, although the increase did unsettle our management.
 

Valuable Features

IBM Workload Automation excels with dynamic scheduling, multiplatform integration, user-friendly GUI, real-time updates, and effective monitoring.
JAMS offers flexible scheduling, automation, robust monitoring, and cross-platform support, enhancing productivity with seamless notifications and custom integrations.
One valuable feature of IBM Workload Automation is the ability to combine different applications and platforms to organize jobs together, creating dependencies.
The most valuable feature of JAMS is its user-friendly interface, especially after upgrading from version six to seven.
This efficient feature has been invaluable, enabling us to streamline our workflow and enhance productivity.
 

Categories and Ranking

IBM Workload Automation
Ranking in Workload Automation
11th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
33
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
JAMS
Ranking in Workload Automation
5th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.6
Number of Reviews
35
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Workload Automation category, the mindshare of IBM Workload Automation is 6.9%, down from 8.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of JAMS is 1.9%, up from 1.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Workload Automation
 

Featured Reviews

Ilhami Arikan - PeerSpot reviewer
With an easy setup phase in place, agent-based installation can be done in minutes
Sometimes we have issues with the solution's stability. So, stability can be improved. Reporting and visibility of the solution need improvement. These days, we need more visibility. We need to access the logs and databases easily. You need to keep track of the running number of logs, like which ones are executed, completed, etc. So if there would be a good reporting dashboard, then it would be good. There's room for improvement in the solution since it is a challenging thing when we want to use the solution's technology with our new technologies. For example, if we need to use TWS on our OpenShift platform, the solution's API is not capable enough. So the product itself needs to be aligned with new technologies.
Rob Grafrath - PeerSpot reviewer
We can scale up our organization's scheduling and automation without having to add staff to the department
The biggest area with room for improvement is the area that my organization benefits the most from using JAMS, and that is in custom execution methods. I happen to have a very good C# developer. Ever since we got JAMS, he has spent a lot of time talking to JAMS developers, researching the JAMS libraries, and creating custom execution methods. He's gotten very good at it. He is now able to create them and maintain them very easily, but that was hard-won knowledge. If I ever lose this developer, I would be hard-pressed to find anyone who could create JAMS custom execution methods as well as he can since there really isn't all that much help, such as documentation or information, available on how to create custom execution methods. I really think that they could benefit greatly by being much more transparent about C# development, maybe by making a JAMS cookbook or a developer portal where they could throw ideas at each other. One of my complaints with the marketing around JAMS is that it says things like, "It integrates with Teams". They talk about integrating with a lot of things, but marketing doesn't tell you that they are talking about JAMS running PowerShell jobs. Since PowerShell can automate things like SharePoint and Teams, that is how marketing gets away with saying it has so many integrations. JAMS doesn't have as many built-in integrations as they advertise. I think they should build more of them, and improve on the ones they have built.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
33%
Computer Software Company
10%
Retailer
8%
Insurance Company
7%
Computer Software Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
15%
Healthcare Company
9%
Wholesaler/Distributor
5%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with IBM Workload Automation?
IBM needs to move away from its native terminology and adopt a more cloud-centric approach. For example, IBM still refers to machines as 'workstations,' whereas other systems, like Control-M, use m...
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 functionality and importance of the tool, although the increase did unsettle our management.
What needs improvement with JAMS?
A major improvement would be the integration of AI to help us accomplish various tasks. AI could assist in simplifying operations and could potentially enhance the tool's capabilities.
 

Also Known As

IBM Tivoli Workload Scheduler, IBM TWS
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Standard Life Group, Banca Popolare di Milano, A*STAR, ArcelorMittal Gent
Teradata, Arconic, General Dynamics, Yum!, CVS Health, Comcast, Ghiradelli, & Boston’s Children’s Hospital
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Workload Automation vs. JAMS and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
851,604 professionals have used our research since 2012.