The reliable, cloud-ready alternative to AutoSys workload automation
With Tidal by Redwood, you don’t have to worry about price hikes and slow support.
Get robust enterprise automation capabilities, plus the benefits of partnering with Redwood Software:
- Flexible, transparent pricing
- Exceptional technical support
- High-velocity product development
- Customer-first values
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Overview
Tidal vs. AutoSys for workload automation
Tidal
Tidal is a modern, unified workload automation (WLA) platform designed for enterprise-level job scheduling and business process management. It features a comprehensive set of pre-built integrations to orchestrate complex workflows across diverse applications, cloud services and infrastructure.
Tidal’s event-driven architecture, advanced scheduling capabilities and built-in service-level agreement (SLA) management tools enable teams to monitor and control critical business processes in real time.
With flexible deployment options and a focus on customer partnership, Tidal provides a robust solution for today's hybrid IT environments.
AutoSys
AutoSys is a traditional job scheduler valued for its reliability and scale in large, legacy environments. However, it is a self-hosted solution that struggles to meet modern enterprise needs.
Users frequently describe its web interface as dense, less intuitive and difficult to navigate, with a steep onboarding curve that slows down new users. While it has expanded its cloud support, its rigid architecture lacks the flexibility and cloud-native capabilities required to optimize workflows in complex, agile enterprises.
Features
Why choose Tidal over AutoSys?
While AutoSys and Tidal share some core scheduling capabilities, key features make Tidal a more comprehensive and cost-effective solution for modern enterprise automation.
01
Lower total cost of ownership (TCO)
Redwood offers flexible and transparent pricing, ensuring your costs are predictable without the sudden, dramatic increases often seen at renewal time with Broadcom. Tidal includes advanced functionality as part of its standard offering. With built-in SLA management, Tidal allows you to define, monitor and manage policies for critical jobs to mitigate the risk of business process failure without purchasing a separate add-on.
Broadcom is known for opaque and unpredictable pricing, with sharp, massive hikes upon renewal. Its complex, restrictive, agent-based licensing model and extra charges for add-ons make forecasting and budgeting nearly impossible.
02
Modern, user-friendly platform
Tidal offers an intuitive, web-based user interface with customizable dashboards and multiple graphical views, including Gantt charts and Kanban-style boards, to provide users with real-time visibility. Tidal users also get access to Redwood University for on-demand skills training at no extra cost. The solution also offers flexible deployment options — on-premises or in the cloud, allowing you to adjust as your infrastructure evolves.
In contrast, the AutoSys interface is frequently described as dense, less intuitive and complex. Its steep onboarding curve creates significant overhead and slows down daily operations for all but a few power users. And AutoSys is more rigid, offering only a self-hosted solution with no SaaS option available.
03
Advanced workload management capabilities
Tidal's extensive set of pre-built, agentless adapters simplifies end-to-end business process integration to help you achieve more faster. Its cloud-native architecture, REST APIs and automation-as-code capabilities provide the agility for modern DevOps and hybrid cloud environments, including certified connectivity for SAP environments. Integrate modern development practices into your enterprise workflows with adapters for tools like Kubernetes and Apache Airflow, which allow for container management and complex data pipeline automation.
While AutoSys supports many integrations, its architecture is more rigid. Users report it’s still catching up on key cloud and AI features, with slow adoption for new capabilities.
User reviews
The proven choice for enterprise automation
Leaders across industries rely on Tidal to automate their most mission-critical processes.
Rated 4.9/5
Rated 4.7/5
Rated 4.7/5
“Tidal Automation - Simplifying Enterprise Job Scheduling and Workflow Automation"
Automotive customer
Automate it all — unify your enterprise operations
Tidal provides robust orchestration for end-users across multi-platform environments, including on-premises data centers and cloud environments, handling numerous job types and complex workflows.
Data processing and integration
Orchestrate complex data workflows and integrate SQL database activities with other business applications to optimize data delivery from sources like Hadoop at the right time.
Centralize and automate DBA tasks, such as backups and monitoring job runs, to eliminate silos and boost efficiency.
Auditing and compliance reporting
Maintain strict governance over your automated processes with role-based access controls and detailed logging to capture a complete, auditable history of every change — who made it, what it was and when it happened.
Demonstrate to auditors that you have the necessary controls for your most critical systems.
Batch processing and job scheduling
As IT environments grow in complexity across platforms like Linux, UNIX and Microsoft Windows, centralizing job scheduling for batch processes is critical.
Tidal acts as a single job scheduling tool that lets you manage dependencies and automate batch jobs across your entire enterprise.
SLA management and service delivery
Tidal helps you meet SLA expectations by managing dependencies and resolving scheduling issues across all your business applications.
Enable real-time monitoring of critical workflows and send automated notifications if a process is at risk, ensuring consistent and reliable service delivery for your critical operations.
DevOps and continuous delivery
DevOps teams can leverage Tidal’s APIs and integrations to automate the CI/CD pipeline, orchestrate release management and provide clear audit trails for compliance.
Tidal helps bridge the gap between development and operations by bringing scheduling and workload automation into the application lifecycle.
Financial reporting and operations
Schedule and orchestrate end-to-end financial workflows, from journal entry processing to report generation.
Tidal integrates with ERP systems (e.g., SAP, Oracle) and financial applications to ensure reports are accurate, timely and compliant with internal and regulatory requirements.
Tidal vs AutoSys Frequently Asked Questions
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Is AutoSys outdated?
While AutoSys is valued for its reliability and scale in large enterprises, it is widely seen as a legacy system. Users say its "dense" and "less intuitive" user interface and steep learning curve are significant drawbacks that increase administrative overhead. It’s a rigid, self-hosted solution that lacks a true SaaS option. Furthermore, its opaque, unpredictable pricing and reliance on extra-cost add-ons for features like SLA management make it a complex and expensive choice for modern IT environments.
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What is the alternative to AutoSys?
Organizations looking for an alternative to Broadcom AutoSys workload automation are often seeking a more modern, cost-effective and user-friendly platform. Tidal by Redwood is a leading alternative that addresses the common frustrations with AutoSys, offering a lower total cost of ownership (TCO) with transparent pricing. Tidal provides a modern web UI with robust, built-in features like SLA management, extensive SAP integrations and flexible deployment options for both on-premises and cloud environments.
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What is the difference between AutoSys and BMC Control-M?
AutoSys and BMC Control-M are both long-standing enterprise job scheduling tools. When organizations compare them, they are often evaluating older, more traditional workload automation solutions. A more effective approach today is to compare these legacy tools against modern platforms by looking at several key features:
- User interface and ease of use: Does the tool offer an intuitive, modern web UI that reduces training time and allows for self-service automation for your end-users?
- Deployment flexibility: Is the platform built for modern hybrid cloud environments and offered as a SaaS solution, or is it a rigid, on-premises-only tool?
- Integrations: Does the workload automation tool offer a wide range of pre-built, agentless adapters for modern business applications, cloud web services and ERPs like SAP and Oracle?
- Total cost of ownership (TCO): Is the pricing transparent and predictable, or are there hidden costs for add-ons, support and complex licensing that can lead to unpredictable price hikes?
While many have historically compared AutoSys and Control-M, businesses are increasingly choosing next-generation alternatives like Tidal by Redwood that are designed to solve the cost and complexity challenges inherent in these legacy platforms.
Resources
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