Alfresco vs IBM FileNet comparison

Hyland and IBM are both solutions in the Enterprise Content Management category. Hyland is ranked #9 with an average rating of 5.5, while IBM is ranked #4 with an average rating of 7.9. Hyland holds a 7.6% mindshare in ECM, compared to IBM’s 10.3% mindshare. Additionally, 76% of Hyland users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 91% of IBM users who would recommend it.

Alfresco

Read 12 Alfresco reviews

2,418 Views
2,004 Comparison Views

76% willing to recommend

IBM FileNet

Read 99 IBM FileNet reviews

3,835 Views
2,465 Comparison Views

91% willing to recommend

Alfresco

IBM FileNet

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 4, 2024

Alfresco and IBM FileNet are in the enterprise content management system category. IBM FileNet often has the upper hand due to its advanced features and comprehensive solutions, justifying a higher price tag.

Features: Alfresco supports open-source capabilities, flexibility, and modern content services for customizations. IBM FileNet offers robust security features, scalability, and sophisticated document management.

Room for Improvement: Alfresco could enhance its security and scalability to better compete with large enterprises. IBM FileNet might improve its user interface for easier setup and customization. Alfresco needs to develop a more comprehensive set of enterprise-level functionalities, while IBM FileNet should focus on simplifying the deployment process for quicker implementation.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Alfresco's cloud-native design allows easy deployment and minimal setup challenges with responsive customer service. IBM FileNet is more complex to implement due to its extensive features but includes thorough documentation and professional support.

Pricing and ROI: Alfresco offers a lower setup cost favorable for smaller enterprises seeking specific customizations, yielding quicker ROI. IBM FileNet requires higher initial investment with longer ROI, matched by extensive capabilities and scalability benefits, preferred by large organizations seeking robust infrastructure.

To learn more, read our detailed Alfresco vs. IBM FileNet Report (Updated: January 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Alfresco vs. IBM FileNet

January 2025

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Review summaries and opinions

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

Categories and Ranking

Alfresco

Ranking in Enterprise Content Management

9th

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Document Management Software (4th)

IBM FileNet

Ranking in Enterprise Content Management

4th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2025, in the Enterprise Content Management category, the mindshare of Alfresco is 7.6%, down from 8.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM FileNet is 10.3%, up from 9.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Enterprise Content Management

Featured Reviews

Karthi Keyan

Head Of Information Technology at a consultancy with 11-50 employees

Streamlining document management with enhanced digitalization features needed

We used Alfresco as a document management system for automating and digitizing manual forms. Those were the main use cases The digitalization of workflow, forms, operations, and business processes has improved our organization. The most valuable features of Alfresco include its integration with…

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WolfgangPichler

Senior Consultant at pITsolutions e.U.

Easy to integrate, and enables our clients to guarantee compliance

The area of migrations to new versions must be made easier. It's quite good that they have now begun to improve the API area, to modernize the interfaces, but there's always a very big investment involved in migrating from one version to another. That prohibits rolling out new functionalities to customers. It's not so easy. You can't release a new version every three months to bring in new capabilities. That is the old-fashioned, the way it worked ten or 20 years ago. That is bad. In that area, they really must improve. We have FileNet, Content Manager, and TSM in our own installation. We migrated that installation three years ago to version 5.12. Now we have to migrate to 5.25 to bring in new facilities, and it's a big task. We have to do it in addition to our other tasks where we support customers. We need a parallel machine and to set it up there and to migrate step-by-step, then test it and roll it out. It's not so easy. That is a big area where there is much to be done to satisfy the needs of customers.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I like the ease of use, sections, and calendar."

"The most valuable features of Alfresco include its integration with the scanning solution, the ability to search, and the capability to store and index to capture metadata."

"Document repository."

"Alfresco allows broad searches with many index fields that you can search on, although the created fields and their values may not be intuitive."

"The most valuable feature is the flexibility of the searching elements of the metadata."

"The digitalization of workflow, forms, operations, and business processes is also significant."

"The product allows engineering teams and developers to introduce new things in a seamless and easy way."

"The application, in terms of durability, has been able to withstand the usage, given that it was installed in 2003 and it's still working."

"It has an excellent document storage repository, which is good at what it does."

"It has a straightforward approach to the install."

"It improves the time when providing customer service to our constituents."

"IBM FileNet was more scalable."

"The important features to me are that it is stable, scalable, and the integration between this platform and the other platforms is very good."

"The product is robust and can process a lot of documents for enterprise content management."

"The most valuable features of IBM File Manager are workflow, content, and process capabilities."

More IBM FileNet pros

Cons

"Alfresco could improve workflow digitalization and enhance artificial intelligence capabilities."

"The configuration of Alfresco is a big challenge."

"I would like them to consider document capture functionality."

"Metadata, auto class, disposition log, and legal hold."

"I think the presentation layer could be improved - currently, it's too complex, and there are too many features cluttered all over the screen."

"The setup process for Alfresco was complex."

"Alfresco has a very steep learning curve, and unfortunately, during the learning process, it's very easy to make errors, which often are unforgiving."

"I would like to have easier steps for setting up the application. They should have an easy one step process for the whole installation. Right now, you have to know the application well to set it up and have IT expertise."

"The new software and trends with the cloud solution is a little slow. I would like them to move toward more cloud-based and microservices rather than a SaaS model. This is where the industry is going and what customers are asking for."

"The basic and fundamental point about FileNet is that the interface is very bad. It's just not appealing so people are reluctant to use it."

"The solution’s pricing could be improved."

"If I had a concern, it would be that we are sometimes not getting to the root cause of the issues from a technical standpoint as quickly as we should. For the most part, it's good. However, when things get a bit dicey with more involved issues, we have had some delays in getting feedback. If I had a concern, it's around the technical support and their responses in regards to things like root cause analysis."

"The FileNet API seems like it is very difficult and not transparent."

"It was complex. There were a lot of dependencies depending on the product. It had to be compatible with the Windows matching."

"I'd like to see more cognitive. That's obviously where all of our world is going. I think if we can have more of those types of features and functions as a core, out of the box, that would be very helpful for us and our space."

More IBM FileNet cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The license for Alfresco is expensive - not the maximum, but close. There are also extra costs once you start building integrations, as implementation seems to be very costly."

"It is cheaper compared to head-to-head competitors."

"If you buy Alfresco through a partner, there is usually a OEM licensing option."

"There are costs for any upgrade or additional functions."

"Talking about the cost is difficult because IBM has offers that combine different products, and each of these offers has different types of licensing. IBM also has a policy that the actual price for a given customer may be very different from the stated book price. It's hard to say whether it's expensive or not."

"FileNet is not cheap, but you absolutely get what you pay for. "

"When it comes to pricing, IBM needs to make an effort to improve the cost. That's the main issue regarding use of FinalNet in Columbia."

"The tool is expensive, and I rate its pricing a ten out of ten."

"The licensing cost of FileNet is comparable."

"It has reduced operating costs by reducing the amount of manual work needed."

"The physical space that we have gained back pays for the service. Therefore, it has reduced our operating costs overall. We have definitely seen ROI. I would estimate $30,000 a year."

"Yearly, we pay for the maintenance, which is $20,000."

More IBM FileNet pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

16%

Government

14%

Computer Software Company

11%

Insurance Company

Financial Services Firm

23%

Computer Software Company

11%

Government

11%

Insurance Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

Would Alfresco give an organization more benefits in terms of cost, features & security as compared to Sharepoint?

Alfresco scores are high on all features of an ECM solution and tools. Back office processing, rated as 3.36 good. Business Process Application 3.55 Good to excellent. Document Management 4.12...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Alfresco?

Pricing is considered mid-range, and there are considerations regarding the cost of licensing.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Alfresco?

Alfresco could improve workflow digitalization and enhance artificial intelligence capabilities.

See all answers

What do you like most about IBM FileNet?

The product is robust and can process a lot of documents for enterprise content management.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM FileNet?

It depends on the business partner providing the solution to the customer. We have an ESA contract with IBM which allows us to offer the solution at a competitive price, providing added value when ...

See all answers

What needs improvement with IBM FileNet?

The setup process is very complex, and I would prefer if it were easier. A modern interface would also be an enhancement.

See all answers

Comparisons

Hyland OnBase vs Alfresco

Compared 19% of the time

OpenText Documentum vs Alfresco

Compared 17% of the time

SharePoint vs Alfresco

Compared 15% of the time

OpenText Extended ECM vs Alfresco

Compared 9% of the time

Nuxeo vs Alfresco

Compared 6% of the time

More Alfresco Competitors

OpenText Documentum vs IBM FileNet

Compared 17% of the time

SharePoint vs IBM FileNet

Compared 17% of the time

OpenText Extended ECM vs IBM FileNet

Compared 16% of the time

Hyland OnBase vs IBM FileNet

Compared 9% of the time

Newgen OmniDocs vs IBM FileNet

Compared 6% of the time

More IBM FileNet Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Alfresco

January 2025

Download Alfresco product report

Buyer's Guide

IBM FileNet

January 2025

Download IBM FileNet product report

Learn More

Hyland

IBM

Overview

The Alfresco Digital Business Platform offers open, secure content services to let you unlock the value from your most important business information. Give users access to their content wherever and however they work with Alfresco’s open, flexible, and highly scalable cloud-native content services platform. Easily integrate and connect with everyday business applications. Find, view, collaborate on, govern, and securely share digital content—and get information to the right person at the right time.

IBM FileNet is a leading IBM enterprise content management product family. IBM FileNet is one of the ECM solutions that can change the way a company does business by enabling users to capture, activate, socialize, analyze, and govern content throughout its lifecycle.

There are many IBM FileNet products available, all of which are integrated and based on the FileNet P8 Platform.

Sample Customers

Over 1,300 companies from 180 different countries. Including EuroStar, Saks Fifth Avenue, NASA Langley Research Center, and KLM.

Suncorp Group Limited, St. Vincent Health, Citigroup, SRCSD, and UK Dept for Work and Pensions.

Buyer's Guide

Alfresco vs. IBM FileNet

January 2025

Free Report: Alfresco vs. IBM FileNet

Find out what your peers are saying about Alfresco vs. IBM FileNet and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.

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