Compuware Topaz Workbench Review

Helps reduce the learning curve for younger people coming in to work on the platform

What is our primary use case?

It's an optional feature that our users are able to use for mainframe development and data analysis.

How has it helped my organization?

It has been an optional feature. It hasn't been very heavily used, so I don't really have a concrete example of how it has improved our organization. We are trying to ramp it up as we get more DevOps initiatives in the company.

What is most valuable?

  • Modernized development portal
  • Helps reduce the learning curve for younger people coming in to work on the platform

For how long have I used the solution?

Three to five years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

We haven't had any stability issues.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Again, it's had a low-utilization rate. We haven't really had any stress test of it.

How is customer service and technical support?

They have good tech support.

How was the initial setup?

I was not the primary one to install it. We do have to go through our corporate installation procedures, and that's probably more of a challenge than working with the install itself.

It was probably of moderate complexity. It installed a little bit differently than other mainframe products with its web servers and things like that. I don't really know how to rate it complexity-wise.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

In terms of pricing, there isn't an extra charge for the parts of it we use. It comes with the licenses we purchased for other products, so no complaints there. The licensing is built in with the other products that you purchase from Compuware.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

Although I haven't evaluated the IBM option or the CA option, those ones have extra licensing fees, unlike the Compuware solution.

What other advice do I have?

Focus a lot on user training, anything you can do to enhance the user learning and utilization of it. It is a switch from traditional mainframe tools, so it does take time to work on the training.

Overall, I give it a nine out of ten. It's pretty well implemented and documented. I know they are continuing to add features to it. Some of their products aren't up to full functionality, to what they have on the mainframe, but they are working on that. They are constantly adding new features.

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