Compare Automic Workload Automation vs. Chef
Automic Workload Automation is ranked 2nd in Workload Automation with 62 reviews while Chef is ranked 4th in Configuration Management with 13 reviews. Automic Workload Automation is rated 8.2, while Chef is rated 8.4. The top reviewer of Automic Workload Automation writes "Handling SAP processes is very easy, while distributed architecture keeps jobs running". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Chef writes "It never uses any type of human-readable interface. Therefore, you don't have to go into a GUI nor use a command line tool". Automic Workload Automation is most compared with Control-M, CA Workload Automation and Ansible, whereas Chef is most compared with SCCM, Ansible and BigFix.
Most Helpful Review | |||||
|
| ||||
 Find out what your peers are saying about BMC, CA (A Broadcom Company), Stonebranch and others in Workload Automation. Updated: November 2019. 378,124 professionals have used our research since 2012. | |||||
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros | |
The most valuable feature of this solution is the scheduler. I have found new methods for converting scripts from Dollar U to ONE Automation. For example, I take the dynamic library from Dollar U and put it in the dynamic binary library in ONE Automation. This enables us to use Dollar U scripts in ONE Automation. The most valuable feature is the one for SAP batch processing... There are certain other mid-level workload automation tools which can handle the OS level, but SAP is something which is really very critical. Automic stands out from the ordinary tools because handling SAP processes is absolutely easy with it. It saves a lot of time and mistakes, because we used to do a lot of manual work. Since we added automation a little bit over a year now, it has enhanced our daily work. We automate very manual, robust tasks, which are very time consuming and not error-free. We impose some standards for backup and restore operations. An important feature is the ability to modify PeopleSoft Run Controls at run-time. It's pretty stable. After implementation, there hasn't been a single event where we shifted our jobs for the day from automated to manual. | You set it and forget it. You don't have to worry about the reliability or the deviations from any of the other configurations. It streamlined our deployments and system configurations across the board rather than have us use multiple configurations or tools, basically a one stop shop. The scalability of the product is quite nice. The most valuable feature is the language that it uses: Ruby. This solution has improved my organization in the way that deployment has become very quick and orchestration is easy. If we have thousands of servers we can easily deploy in a small amount of time. We can deploy the applications or any kind of announcements in much less time. The most important thing is it can handle a 100,000 servers at the same time easily with no time constraints. Deployment has become quick and orchestration is now easy. It has been very easy to tie it into our build and deploy automation for production release work, etc. All the Chef pieces more or less run themselves. |
Cons | |
I would like to see more types of Calendars in the next release of this solution. There were many bugs in the last version. For example, we could only use capital letters for searching for agent names. Also, we had a problem with ONE Automation where we couldn't use the PGA and SGA in Oracle Databases for resolving RAM because the last version didn't have this capability. There are certain jobs that are triggered one after another. It would be helpful to have a more user-friendly way of seeing how these jobs are connecting from one server to another. Depending on the properties of the jobs and pre- and post-conditions, there needs to be more flexible and richer conditions that I can check for. This would be a great addition. There could be a better user interface for end users. They should make it more intuitive, not based on Java. With every new version, things that would previously work, Automic breaks them. So, we have to report the new bugs. Therefore, every time when we patch the system, there is usually a new bug or a feature that was working, then it stops working. There are some scripting elements that could be added. Some of the things we don't do are mainly because we don't know how to do them. Hands-on training can be expensive, so we find other ways to work around things to forgo the hands-on training. It is also an issue because we are a Linux shop and most trainers are Windows-based. | I would like them to add database specific items, configuration items, and migration tools. Not necessarily on the builder side or the actual setup of the system, but more of a migration package for your different database sets, such as MongoDB, your extenders, etc. I want to see how that would function with a transition out to AWS for Aurora services and any of the RDBMS packages. The agent on the server sometimes acts finicky. I would like to see more security features for Chef and more automation. I would rate this solution a nine because our use case and whatever we need is there. Ten out of ten is perfect. We have to go to IOD and stuff so they should consider things like this to make it a ten. Since we are heading to IoT, this product should consider anything related to this. There is a slight barrier to entry if you are used to using Ansible, since it is Ruby-based. If they can improve their software to support Docker containers, it would be for the best. Third-party innovations need improvement, and I would like to see more integration with other platforms. |
Pricing and Cost Advice | |
I only know that AWA is cheaper than Control-M, but I'm not aware of the numbers. Certain licenses can be a bit expensive. The PeopleSoft agents, in particular, are a bit pricey. This is a support system for us, not our core business, so we purchased this product inexpensively. We came to a very good deal, but it took us three years to finalize. We have increased efficiency with this application. We receive time efficiency from this product. Every time there is a task which must be repeated, the solution can reduce costs. There are a lot of new features, but we do not use them because they are too expensive. The price point could be less. | I wasn't involved in the purchasing, but I am pretty sure that we are happy with the current pricing and licensing since it never comes up. We are using the free, open source version of the software, which we are happy with at this time. Purchasing the solution from AWS Marketplace was a good experience. AWS's pricing is pretty in line with the product's regular pricing. Though instance-wise, AWS is not the cheapest in the market. We are able to save in development time, deployment time, and it makes it easier to manage the environments. The price is always a problem. It is high. There is room for improvement. I do like purchasing on the AWS Marketplace, but I would like the ability to negotiate and have some flexibility in the pricing on it. When we're rolling out a new server, we're not using the AWS Marketplace AMI, we're using our own AMI, but we are paying them a licensing fee. The price per node is a little weird. It doesn't scale along with your organization. If you're truly utilizing Chef to its fullest, then the number of nodes which are being utilized in any particular day might scale or change based on your Auto Scaling groups. How do you keep track of that or audit it? Then, how do you appropriately license it? It's difficult. |
 Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Workload Automation solutions are best for your needs. 378,124 professionals have used our research since 2012. | |
Ranking  | |
Views 11,162 Comparisons 4,052 Reviews 62 Average Words per Review 559 Avg. Rating 8.3 | Views 4,775 Comparisons 3,461 Reviews 13 Average Words per Review 601 Avg. Rating 8.5 |
Top Comparisons | |
 Compared 33% of the time.  Compared 29% of the time.  Compared 14% of the time. |  Compared 28% of the time. Compared 25% of the time.  Compared 14% of the time. |
Also Known As | |
| Automic Dollar Universe | |
Learn | |
| CA (A Broadcom Company) | Chef |
Overview | |
Deliver the fully agile enterprise using CA Automic Workload AutomationThe modern enterprise needs to orchestrate a complex, diverse landscape of applications, platforms and technologies. Workload automation can prove a critical differentiator, but only if it provides intelligent automation driven by data analytics. The IT landscape is currently more complex than ever: Islands of automation are a barrier to scaling and standardizing your workload activities. Processing errors are common because of manual handoffs. And the lack of an end-to-end view of the business process make inefficiencies and problems difficult to resolve. In addition to this, you are operating 24x7 and cannot find maintenance windows to upgrade your infrastructure in order to innovate. CA Automic Workload Automation gives you the agility, speed, visibility and scalability needed to respond to the constantly changing technology landscape. It centrally manages and automates the execution of business processes end-to-end; across mainframe, cloud and hybrid environments in a way that never stops—even when doing an upgrade to the next version. | Chef, is the leader in DevOps, driving collaboration through code to automate infrastructure, security, compliance and applications. Chef provides a single path to production making it faster and safer to add value to applications and meet the demands of the customer. Deployed broadly in production by the Global 5000 and used by more than half of the Fortune 500, Chef develops 100 percent of its software as open source under the Apache 2.0 license with no restrictions on its use. Chef Enterprise Automation Stack™, a commercial distribution, is developed solely from that open source code and unifies security, compliance, infrastructure and application automation with observability. Chef provides an unequaled developer experience for the Coded Enterprise by enabling users to express infrastructure, security policies and the application lifecycle as code, modernizing development, packaging and delivery of any application to any platform. For more information, visit http://chef.io and follow @chef. |
Offer | |
Learn more about Automic Workload Automation | Learn more about Chef |
Sample Customers | |
| ING, Adidas, 84.51, ESB | Facebook, Standard Bank, GE Capital, Nordstrom, Optum, Barclays, IGN, General Motors, Scholastic, Riot Games, NCR, Gap |
Top Industries | |
Financial Services Firm35% Manufacturing Company14% Insurance Company9% Comms Service Provider7% Software R&D Company24% Financial Services Firm22% Government11% Marketing Services Firm8% | Software R&D Company29% Comms Service Provider14% Government9% Retailer6% |
Company Size | |
Small Business10% Midsize Enterprise20% Large Enterprise71% Small Business5% Midsize Enterprise11% Large Enterprise84% | Small Business13% Midsize Enterprise27% Large Enterprise60% |
Find out what your peers are saying about BMC, CA (A Broadcom Company), Stonebranch and others in Workload Automation. Updated: November 2019.
378,124 professionals have used our research since 2012.
See also Automic Workload Automation Reviews, Chef Reviews, and our list of Best Workload Automation Companies.
We monitor all Workload Automation 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.
Sign in to see all reviews and comparisons. It's free!
By clicking Sign in with LinkedIn™ you agree to let IT Central Station use your LinkedIn profile
and email address in accordance with our Privacy Policy and agree to the Terms of Service.
- Unlimited access to 30000+ reviews from real users
- Your own page to promote your professional skills
- Join a community of experts to call upon for support
Already a member? Sign in.
By registering, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
- Unlimited access to 30000+ reviews from real users
- Your own page to promote your professional skills
- Join a community of experts to call upon for support
Already a member? Sign In.