Blog Post Top 5 Reasons to Replace Tidal Workload Automation

Tidal Workload Automation, formerly known as Cisco Workload Automation (CWA), or Cisco Tidal Enterprise Scheduler (TES), was acquired by Dillon Kane Group (DKG) in 2017. The company was later acquired by Redwood Software in 2023. Change in the ownership of a product line creates uncertainty about the roadmap of the solution. In addition, it's unclear whether Tidal's installed base will be satisfied with future updates and overall support. This article introduces a Tidal alternative that is easy to transition to and has several modern features designed for organizations that need to support hybrid IT environments. 

Stonebranch Universal Automation Center (UAC) simplifies the way IT Ops defines and manages end-to-end business processes. Enterprises interested in exploring a solution to replace Tidal Workload Automation will find that the Stonebranch UAC features an array of modern features. In addition to creating beautiful visualizations of workload processes, the UAC features real-time automation, self-service capabilities for non-IT end-users, and a growing library of integrations. 

Orchestrate the Mainframe to the Cloud

Many Tidal customers require the ability to automate their mainframe and distributed environments, which is perfect for the UAC. Designed to automate your entire hybrid IT environment, the UAC helps enterprises centrally control and automate applications and infrastructure across any on-prem or cloud system. In fact, UAC can automate anything from your z/OS mainframe to cloud-native service providers, like AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud Platform. 

Top five reasons to consider Stonebranch UAC as an alternative to Tidal Workload Automation: 

1. Real-time Control. Take the guesswork out of your workloads. With UAC, you can visualize entire workflows while processing and any scheduling-related activity in real-time. Use the drill-down functionality to analyze jobs up to the level of system log files.
2. Web-based Browser Access. We keep it simple. UAC has an easy-to-use web interface. No third-party or external client is needed for installation. Plus, all features of the solution are available to end-users via your web browser - just like any other modern application.
3. DevOps Lifecycle Management. Support your IT development processes. Universal Automation Center provides bundle and promote capabilities, so users can easily move workload automation definitions data from development to test to production environments. 
4. Reporting and Monitoring. Running reports was never this easy (or productive!). UAC provides powerful activity reports to monitor critical batch services along with notifications. Overall, more than 20 built-in process monitors are available. In addition, end-users really like the ability to create custom on-demand reports on the fly. 
5. Flexible Deployment Options. The UAC may be deployed as a SaaS solution or on-premises. You have the option to deploy the UAC in the cloud as a service that Stonebranch manages or take it in-house. The choice is yours. 

If you'd like to go beyond Tidal's WLA capabilities, Stonebranch provides a modern job scheduling and workload automation platform. But, as the name implies, the UAC is truly universal, allowing end-users to bridge the gap between on-premises and cloud operations. In addition, the platform's integration capabilities are among the strongest in the industry. To see the always-growing list of open-source integrations, visit the Stonebranch Integration Hub.