ARIS BPA vs IBM Blueworks Live comparison

Software AG and IBM are both solutions in the Business Process Design category. Software AG is ranked #4 with an average rating of 8.4, while IBM is ranked #12 with an average rating of 7.8. Software AG holds a 8.1% mindshare in BPD, compared to IBM’s 3.5% mindshare. Additionally, 88% of Software AG users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 90% of IBM users who would recommend it.

ARIS BPA

Read 65 ARIS BPA reviews

5,560 Views
4,445 Comparison Views

88% willing to recommend

IBM Blueworks Live

Read 20 IBM Blueworks Live reviews

2,591 Views
1,683 Comparison Views

90% willing to recommend

ARIS BPA

IBM Blueworks Live

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 3, 2024

ARIS BPA and IBM Blueworks Live compete in the business process management and modeling category. ARIS BPA appears to have the upper hand due to its comprehensive feature set, including robust reporting and integration capabilities.

Features: ARIS BPA offers a robust module design, strong reporting capabilities, and comprehensive process modeling. It excels in object reusability, database structure, and flexibility, which are suitable for process modeling, analysis, and architecture. IBM Blueworks Live provides cloud-based process modeling with easy collaboration features, BPMN 2.0 support, and integration with Microsoft Office, valued for its simplicity and cost-effectiveness.

Room for Improvement: ARIS BPA could enhance its pricing structure and simplify installation. Users seek improvements in report formatting, team activity tracking, and stability, along with a more intuitive scripting language and unified interface. IBM Blueworks Live lacks process execution and simulation features, with users suggesting enhancements in reporting, integrations, and customization options.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: ARIS BPA offers versatile deployment options across on-premises and cloud environments. Customer support is generally good, though responsiveness varies. IBM Blueworks Live is praised for its simple cloud-based deployment, with user support receiving positive feedback but with room for improvement in communication.

Pricing and ROI: ARIS BPA is considered expensive with complex licensing, yet its robust features are valued by large enterprises for ROI. IBM Blueworks Live is noted for its cost-effectiveness and subscription model, appealing to businesses seeking affordable solutions with quick adoption.

To learn more, read our detailed ARIS BPA vs. IBM Blueworks Live Report (Updated: January 2025).

Buyer's Guide

ARIS BPA vs. IBM Blueworks Live

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

ARIS BPA

Ranking in Business Process Design

4th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Business Process Management (BPM) (6th)

IBM Blueworks Live

Ranking in Business Process Design

12th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2025, in the Business Process Design category, the mindshare of ARIS BPA is 8.1%, down from 9.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Blueworks Live is 3.5%, up from 3.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Business Process Design

Featured Reviews

Libor Černý

Process manager at a insurance company with 5,001-10,000 employees

I can usually find an answer to my issue on ARIS Community

From the start, there were some difficulties on how to create outputs since there wasn't a repository tool in version 6. However, in version 7, there has been a tool for creating standards for a company, and that tool has been very intuitive. While I have been using this tool for several years, other people just starting to use it find the learning curve steep. This tool is very robust and accommodates many roles, where people can participate from compliance, IT designers, etc. This can create problems for users who have no experience with similar tools. It took me a year before I felt comfortable with this tool, because when I came from university it was the first or second tool that I worked on. It took me a year to run every feature or use it for every possibility since this tool is very robust. We sometimes have to create the link to the server and the repository twice because it is deleted once for some unknown reason. Though, this is not a big problem. There should be a more intuitive tool when creating reports.

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AjarMathur

Global Innovation Director at Ernst & Young

An easily scalable and affordable solution that enables users to document and digitize processes with ease

IBM Blueworks is BPMN 2.0 compliant, but it does not adapt to the overarching BPMN 2.0 concepts. There is only one kind of BPMN 2.0 diagram. It is a process diagram. It doesn't have the concept of separate tools, which other products offer. If I had to do a hardcore BPMN 2.0 modeling, the product would have its own reservations. There were features we could not explore from a BPMN 2.0 perspective. Most of the time, people who are shifting from Microsoft Office tools to a digitized way of working still want the reporting capabilities to be strong. Some tools, like ARIS or Signavio, offer customized solutions from the reporting perspective. If I have documented my whole finance process and want to fetch out a complete SOP report in a very customized manner, IBM Blueworks cannot provide it. We have to rely on some other services. So that's one area in which we always struggled, how to really customize the reporting aspects. I understand that we need to keep the tool a little more asset-light. It's very difficult to keep adding many options, but at least a few BPMN 2.0 options were needed. We have been suggesting to IBM that we should have some way of customizing the reporting. At least we should get a custom way of reporting it into different formats like Excel or putting up a logo for one of the clients so that their SAP can be printed that way.

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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

"In general, the users really like it and they can get started using it very easily."

"It is a well-featured, functional product."

"Platform that it supports covers legacy and new. Caters to moving older objects into an integrated DB, relatively popular ones: SQL, Oracle, etc."

"The ease of use is the most valuable. I have tried a number of BPMN packages, and I find the user interface of ARIS BPM easier and more intuitive than others. If your team is knowledgeable on BPMN, it is really pretty easy to figure out on your own because it adheres to the standards extremely well. I have tried Bizagi, BizFlow, and a variety of such solutions, and I just liked ARIS BPM better."

"The ability to sort via multiple criteria to identify the relationships you need for a specific object."

"The most valuable features of ARIS BPA are its flexibility and reporting."

"The most valuable features of ARIS BPA are the centralized repository and the automatic rendering of diagrams."

"Process Modeling or Process Mapping/Documentation. This is the most comprehensive tool for capturing the process details. Any organization who wants to embark on a BPM journey, process mapping/documentation, lays the foundation for the BPM led implementation."

More ARIS BPA pros

"The ease of documenting and digitizing the processes was valuable to us."

"I like the two-tiered approach, that is, discover and then drill down to the main steps. You can right click and attach risk, policies, and much more. It is a user-friendly solution."

"The solution is stable. All the refreshes run very well."

"Business users understand it really well, which means we can then help them automate their business processes."

"The stability is pretty good. It is highly available, which is key. You don't lose your work and can autosave."

"The reporting that we can generate from IBM Blueworks Live has been interesting. We found the KPIs, risks, process modeling, format, and colors, to be very good. We use the EY template and it is interesting to generate reporting in this format."

"Valuable features include real-time modeling and design work, the ability to perform workshops with clients in real-time with the tool, and getting instant output."

"You can use if from your mobile device or you can be on the desktop. It doesn't matter. You are always connected. It is cloud-based, so you don't have to install anything."

More IBM Blueworks Live pros

Cons

"ARIS has an internal fully customizable workflow system called APG, which is very good, but it’s targeted mostly at creating workflows related to ARIS content, and not general workflows to support other processes inside a company."

"An area where it lacks and can be considered for improvement in the future is if we can somehow automate or learn how we can automate different processes."

"One of the issues is, when you are defining databases, the way they use entities and relationship diagrams, the way we can define data, like data models, there is still a part they could improve."

"The user experience's usability (in general) should be improved as the tool is updated."

"ARIS BPA’s usability could be improved."

"Sometimes, ARIS BPA breaks down, and its stability can be improved."

"They should make improvements as per customer requirements."

"The standard out-of-the-box solutions for modeling are not so good. You have to do some configuration to make it easier and more user-friendly."

More ARIS BPA cons

"I can't insert any images. For example, within the process map, if I want to put it in the box or rectangle, or circle. If I have to use one image or icon, that's not possible."

"Spaces are not well organized; space controls are lacking."

"The ability to create a very structured rule. With the capability that we have right now, Blueworks Live is more process focused. We should be able to enhance it to include a lot more of decisions as well."

"In the solution Signavio, they have a customer journey mapping feature that should be added to IBM Blueworks Live. It's valuable to map or document the customer journey to identify the pains and opportunities in this process."

"Sometimes, the tool is automatic, which can complicate it, but once you're accustomed to manipulating it, you can use it very effectively."

"The initial setup is neither straightforward nor complex however you do need to know what you are doing."

"The user interface is quite easy at first but process analysts soon run into roadblocks of limited functionality, which is disappointing."

"The font size is really, really small and it's really not useful to print out process models because you cannot read what's written in different boxes. This makes it necessary for people to have access to the tool. We view licenses to see how the printing or output is. It's not very good."

More IBM Blueworks Live cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"If you can afford it, it's the best so far."

"The price could be better."

"ARIS enables you to start small and grow the use of the solution over time, although it's quite expensive. So if you want to start small, it's quite an investment for a small company."

"Usually, our company buys technical support from the Software AG site. We bought the technical support for the first year of usage for ARIS version 6 and 7. So, when we migrated to ARIS version 7, we bought support only for the first year. Then, we didn't use it the next year. Our experience was that we use it only one to three times during the first year. Therefore, there wasn't much value for us to buy this service because we have no problem with using ARIS after the first year."

"Prices are high. However, they are worth it if the organization utilizes the tool to its full potential."

"The product is expensive."

"It is well worth the investment in the enterprise."

"ARIS Express is free."

More ARIS BPA pricing and cost advice

"They have a free subscription model that gives a lot of power to the users."

"Making it less expensive would be good."

"The solution is not very expensive."

"We are seeing ROI from this solution. The solution has saved us time."

"There are editor licenses that are around 50 euros per month, and contributor licenses that are around 30 euros per month."

"Price wise, IBM Blueworks Live is in the middle range, and I would give it a five out of ten."

"The solution is very, very cost-effective."

"Based on the licenses purchased, from a footprint perspective, you can have as many people as you want. You have multiple different categories of licenses to keep the cost low."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

17%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Government

10%

Computer Software Company

10%

Financial Services Firm

19%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Computer Software Company

10%

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about ARIS BPA?

The most valuable features of ARIS BPA are its flexibility and reporting.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ARIS BPA?

Pricing for ARIS BPA is average, not cheap or expensive. It's cost-effective and worth the money we pay.

See all answers

What needs improvement with ARIS BPA?

Improvement should be made as per customer requirements.

See all answers

What do you like most about IBM Blueworks Live?

The solution is easy to operate. Also, there is an automatic mode to make the business flow. You don't have to put any lines or arrows in a decision point in IBM Blueworks Live; it's very automatic.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Blueworks Live?

The solution costs around 600-700 dollars/year, which is quite affordable.

See all answers

What needs improvement with IBM Blueworks Live?

Sometimes, the tool is automatic, which can complicate it, but once you're accustomed to manipulating it, you can use it very effectively.

See all answers

Comparisons

SAP Signavio Process Manager vs ARIS BPA

Compared 24% of the time

ADONIS vs ARIS BPA

Compared 10% of the time

Camunda vs ARIS BPA

Compared 7% of the time

Bizagi vs ARIS BPA

Compared 7% of the time

Visio vs ARIS BPA

Compared 5% of the time

More ARIS BPA Competitors

Visio vs IBM Blueworks Live

Compared 37% of the time

SAP Signavio Process Manager vs IBM Blueworks Live

Compared 17% of the time

Lucidchart vs IBM Blueworks Live

Compared 15% of the time

ARIS Cloud vs IBM Blueworks Live

Compared 10% of the time

Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect vs IBM Blueworks Live

Compared 4% of the time

More IBM Blueworks Live Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

ARIS BPA

January 2025

Download ARIS BPA product report

Buyer's Guide

IBM Blueworks Live

January 2025

Download IBM Blueworks Live product report

Also Known As

ARIS, ARIS BPM

IBM Lombardi Blueprint

Learn More

Software AG

IBM

Overview

ARIS is the market-leading solution for professional business process management and modeling. Whether you want to document the "as-is" state of your operations for quality or certification reasons or design the "to-be" in terms of continuous improvement in your transformation program, ARIS is the best choice for establishing a single source of truth regarding all process excellence topics in your organization. It is for any organization looking to digitally transform their business, increase operational excellence and customer experience and ensure compliance in execution. ARIS helps you to make the most out of your processes with Process Mining, Risk & Compliance Management, RPA and much more.

What makes the difference?

The most comprehensive platform for process excellence in the market
Easy to use
Covers business & IT architecture from all angles
Full flexibility and >100 diagram types
Customer-driven development based on best practices
Strong partner ecosystem

ARIS is the market-leading solution for any organization and ideally suited to digitally transform the organization, increase operational excellence and customer experience and ensure compliance in execution.

IBM Blueworks Live is a cloud-based business process modeling tool that helps you discover, map and document your processes. It is easy to use, allowing you to learn and perform business process modeling in minutes.

With Blueworks Live you can:

Simplify business process modeling
Quickly build business processes in a straightforward, cloud-based interface designed for both IT and business users.

Improve process efficiency and accuracy
A central process repository eliminates version control and consistency issues by providing users real-time access to process workflows.

Enhance cross-team collaboration
A shared team workspace engages all business process owners, encouraging cross-team participation and continuous process improvement.

Sample Customers

Tesco, Weifu, Airbus, Siemens, Proximus, Alicorp, Sekerbank, Bancor, Philips,Sky, Emirates NBD, Dubai Municipality, Suva, U.S. Army, Australia Post, Westfalen Weser Energie - ARIS serves customers across all industries and of every size worldwide. Companies trust ARIS as the market leader for process excellence with more than 30 years of experience in the market, 10 million users worldwide, from 1 user companies to the Fortune 500.

Cloudsoft Corp. Ltd., Bayer, S¾SS, Essex County Council

Buyer's Guide

ARIS BPA vs. IBM Blueworks Live

January 2025

Free Report: ARIS BPA vs. IBM Blueworks Live

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