What is our primary use case?
We use Tidal to automate all the jobs within our IT applications, especially for our ERP, which is JD Edwards, as well as Oracle, and Microsoft. Currently, we execute 12,000 jobs per day through the platform.
How has it helped my organization?
It helps us make efficient and maximal use of our servers, from four in the morning until eight in the evening, with the maximum number of jobs executed automatically. We produce lenses for glasses in our factory and it's a 24/7 operation. The automation enables that, according to our requirements. Otherwise, we would need people to take action due to various dependencies, and it helps us avoid errors.
What is most valuable?
We have to run about 12,000 jobs every day and the majority of them need to be launched from our ERP, JD Edwards. The native compatibility of the Tidal platform with JD Edwards dovetails with our greatest need. It's directly connected to the heart of our IT system. We couldn't work without it.
Nowadays, the UI is easy to use. Over time, with different versions, it has become better and better and now it's easy. It's very different than it was some years ago. It has improved.
We have never needed to use the REST API. The plugins provided by Tidal meet our integration needs completely. It integrates perfectly with our ecosystem, whether it's SQL Server, Windows, or our ERP.
What needs improvement?
One thing I would like to see improved is that, currently, when an action is executed and finishes in Tidal, it's marked as either "success" or "failure." I would like more options that would flag a job according to multiple options, rather than just "good" or "bad." We would like to be able to define five different types of results and proceed differently according to each one.
Tidal has told us that it's possible to do so through the product or with a workaround.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Tidal Automation for about 12 years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is very stable, fortunately.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability is fine for us.
How are customer service and support?
We have not used their support very much over the last eight years. During that time, we may have submitted two tickets, because we are using the product in a very standard way. Generally, when we do need help, we call our partner.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We had a different scheduler before we started using Tidal but that was 12 years ago. We are very happy with the results of our switch. The product we used previously was Open Scheduler and we switched for two reasons. One was the cost of ownership of that product and the other was the set of requirements around our JD Edwards ERP solution.
How was the initial setup?
The deployment was very simple. It involved the installation of an agent on a server. Nothing could have been simpler to install and use. We do have another data center coupled with our primary data center for high availability, so physically, there are two locations, but logically, they are one.
We currently have two people who work in Tidal, throughout the day, Monday to Friday. At other times, such as overnight and on weekends, we use managed services to work in Tidal.
In terms of major updates, there is only one every two years. There is very little maintenance needed.
What about the implementation team?
We use a certified Tidal partner to help with upgrades and to be sure that everything is okay. It's so important that everything work perfectly that we prefer to use a consultant, even though we could do it ourselves. Our scheduler is in use 24/7. It never stops. It is the central piece of our IT operations. If it does not run properly, everything stops including production in our factory.
We have had a very good experience with our partner. We have been working with the same partner for 12 years and everything is working perfectly with them. We will be using their services again soon. They also help us with level-one requests.
What was our ROI?
The ROI is okay and that is why we continue to work with Tidal. Overall, the price is fair for the service we receive and the way it meets our automation requirements.
The most important measure, and our basis for comparison, is to look at the number of people who would be required to do the same thing.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
There have been pricing increases, but with the reduction that our company obtained from Tidal this year, the pricing has become very acceptable for this type of product. It is fair, today, for what we use it for. If the price is increased, we may have to review things.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We looked at other solutions but there weren't a lot of choices at that time because only two, Open Scheduler and Tidal, worked natively with JD Edwards. We went with Tidal mainly because of the way it works, with plugins, with JD Edwards.
What other advice do I have?
Because my team has been using it for 12 years, they are used to it and have no difficulty using it. But in general, there is no problem using it daily.
For us, using the Graphical Views feature is the exception. It's not the easiest feature to use. We use it to present job flows, and the way they are organized and their dependencies, to our new people, because it makes things clear for them. But in general, we avoid using it and use the main screen. We know our applications well, so the tabular view is sufficient for us. It's more complicated to use the Graphical Views feature, for us, but that's based on what we have become used to using, day to day.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
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