IBM BPM vs IBM Cloud Pak for Automation comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary
 

Categories and Ranking

IBM BPM
Ranking in Process Automation
5th
Average Rating
7.8
Number of Reviews
105
Ranking in other categories
Business Process Management (BPM) (5th), Application Infrastructure (7th)
IBM Cloud Pak for Automation
Ranking in Process Automation
20th
Average Rating
8.0
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Market share comparison

As of June 2024, in the Process Automation category, the market share of IBM BPM is 11.0% and it increased by 12.6% compared to the previous year. The market share of IBM Cloud Pak for Automation is 0.4% and it decreased by 0.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Process Automation
Unique Categories:
Business Process Management (BPM)
7.5%
Application Infrastructure
3.5%
No other categories found
 

Featured Reviews

DM
Jan 6, 2023
Reliable and simple to use but is expensive
The initial setup is challenging. However, once it is done, it's done. It's not hard in the sense that you don't have a lot of other things to do. Right now, we are integrating from Cloud Pak. The cloud makes it easy to handle, and we have the help of IBM engineers. Once again, you do it once, and it is done. After that, you are just using it. I'd rate the initial setup a two out of ten in terms of ease of use. That's in terms of IBM in general, as we have a lot of IBM products. This product has a generally much easier process, however, IBM is hard.
KH
Sep 7, 2022
Allows us to leverage container-based resiliency and availability modeling, but we're having challenges in finding vendors who have experience in developing on the cloud
It is scalable. We know that we want to be able to create shared services, and it certainly has that capacity with the containers. With how we set up the instances and how we set up the object storage, it is a very scalable platform. We just need to learn the tools and the techniques, and we need those subject matter experts. When you're dealing with newer technology, it is harder to find them. That's why we've had to go back to IBM. We use it as common document storage. We're using FileNet, and we're storing content for up to a million and a half users, but not all of those will be users. We haven't extended it to all the users yet. Internally we use it, but we haven't gone outside of our own. We haven't used it yet to interface with clients. We're working on that.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The Process Designer is good. We like how we can drag and drop and link the processes up, that works out great for us."
"There is information during the process that the analyst will look at, their procedures. We created a part of the application such that the business can change those procedures as needed, on a daily, weekly, monthly basis. As the reps go through the process, they don't necessarily know it's changing, they just know they have to refer to some documentation, and the business can keep that up to date."
"IBM BPM's most valuable features are its speed in implementing and providing any changes."
"IBM BPM is stable."
"It continues to keep up with the changing needs of the business. That is the strong value proposition of BPM. It's not a one-time automation."
"The system integration layer is valuable because this enables an organization to create a single point where all the key organizational master data is held in different IT applications across different functions, that can be accessed and updated."
"The performance is fine."
"Process Modelling, simulation and optimization, integration, UI components."
"What this product allows us to do is to move from on-prem instances where we are running independent instances of FileNet, Datacap, and ODM. It allows us to leverage container-based resiliency and availability modeling so that we have some visibility across the CP4BA ecosystem. We're now migrating all of our data to be in the Cloud Object Storage, and we can now use some of the features of Azure in terms of how we store and retrieve content for our members and our providers."
"I believe two significant features of IBM Cloud Pak for Automation are the focus on SLA management and the capability to handle parallel instances effectively. Parallel instances, for instance, are valuable when dealing with a large number of users, enabling tasks to be performed concurrently for efficient system operation. The SLA aspect is crucial for tracking and ensuring timely completion of tasks. Additionally, the cloud compatibility of IBM BAW allows for seamless migration from on-premises to the cloud. This version also includes a business rule management system for storing and managing business rules effectively."
 

Cons

"We had hoped that the product would provide us with plug-ins like Salesforce. Its development environment needs to improve. We expect to see elastic features like containerization. We don't just need an on-prem virtual machine."
"When you have to integrate files for enterprise applications."
"I would say the scalability is very good but it's not perfect. It is much more scalable than it has been in the past but... it does require some work to keep it stable. So that is an area that should be improved."
"The interface is limited and should improve in the future."
"Integration with web services, especially in the standard version of the product."
"Better integration with other products in the automation suite."
"IBM BPM can improve the dashboards and reports. It only has two dashboards, and reporting is very difficult to build."
"Needs better reporting. I do not think that we are fully taking advantage of what it already has yet."
"I believe there is room for improvement in the user interface, particularly in the Process Portal that customers use to view and manage their tasks. The UI of the Process Portal needs enhancement. Additionally, in the next release, I would like to see improved compatibility with Angular, allowing for direct integration with front-end systems. It would be beneficial to have built-in GUI features based on Angular within the system, rather than developing separate applications externally. This, in turn, would provide a more seamless and enhanced front-end experience."
"One of the challenges we're having is finding vendors who have experience in developing on the cloud. We can find developers on the old platform, but it is leading-edge technology. So, we are having some challenges, and IBM is assisting us to find vendor partners. To be able to leverage all the capabilities of the new platform, we have to upgrade our existing ecosystem of FileNet applications. Upgrading to the new platform while trying to modernize is always challenging because it is like you have a moving target."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"IBM could improve the price. It is far too expensive."
"I give the pricing an eight out of ten."
"I rate the tool's pricing a seven out of ten."
"The price is good but could be a little lower."
"We chose to purchase IBM BPM because it was bundled with the actual RPA program/solution that we decided to purchase. We decided to use Automation Anywhere tool (RPA), and it is was bundled with IBM BPM."
"It should provide more flexibility to connect with external systems, and there should be in-built services that can be used to integrate with other systems quickly."
"It's expensive. All software is always extremely high. The manufacturing cost that we have compared to the selling cost, it's not like you're building a house or building a car. But putting that aside, considering that it's expensive, it's a lot of money. If you compare it with some of the other alternatives in the market, it's a similar price. For instance, if you compare it with Pegasystems, it's a similar price."
"It is pricey."
"IBM Cloud Pak for Automation is relatively expensive, especially considering it is designed for long-living processes, not for normal automation needs. On a scale of one to ten, I would rate the pricing at around 9. There are no additional costs beyond the standard licensing fees, but IBM has multiple pricing models that make it expensive in its own way. Different plans are available, but overall, the experience suggests it is a costly solution."
"Its cost is almost the same or comparable to what we pay with FileNet, but I'm not sure what we pay a year. A good part of CP4BA is the CPU-based licensing model. When we're dealing with 50,000 dentists, for example, if we were to use Salesforce, we would be hit with the licensing of 50,000 dentists, whereas when we build out in CP4BA, it is just based on our CPU usage, not on individual licenses."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
29%
Computer Software Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Retailer
6%
Financial Services Firm
39%
Government
11%
Computer Software Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

Which is better, IBM BPM or IBM Business Automation Workflow?
We researched both IBM solutions and in the end, we chose Business Automation Workflow. IBM BPM has a good user interface and the BPM coach is a helpful tool. The API is very useful in providing en...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM BPM?
The product is expensive considering the hardware and software costs.
What do you like most about IBM Cloud Pak for Automation?
I believe two significant features of IBM Cloud Pak for Automation are the focus on SLA management and the capability to handle parallel instances effectively. Parallel instances, for instance, ar...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Cloud Pak for Automation?
IBM Cloud Pak for Automation is relatively expensive, especially considering it is designed for long-living processes, not for normal automation needs. On a scale of one to ten, I would rate the pr...
What needs improvement with IBM Cloud Pak for Automation?
I believe there is room for improvement in the user interface, particularly in the Process Portal that customers use to view and manage their tasks. The UI of the Process Portal needs enhancement. ...
 

Comparisons

No data available
 

Also Known As

WebSphere Lombardi Edition, IBM Business Process Manager, IBM WebSphere Process Server
No data available
 

Learn More

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Barclays, EmeriCon, Banca Popolare di Milano, CST Consulting, KeyBank, KPMG, Prolifics, Sandhata Technologies Ltd., State of Alaska, Humana S.A., Saperion, esciris, Banco Espirito Santo
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Find out what your peers are saying about IBM BPM vs. IBM Cloud Pak for Automation and other solutions. Updated: May 2024.
787,061 professionals have used our research since 2012.