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ARIS BPA vs IBM Business Automation Workflow comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 18, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
6.8
ARIS BPA improves operational resilience, transparency, and stakeholder alignment, offering significant time savings and enhanced management understanding.
Sentiment score
7.5
IBM Business Automation Workflow boosts ROI by lowering costs, enhancing digital transformation, and increasing productivity through automation.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.6
ARIS BPA technical support is praised for responsiveness, though improvements in communication and complex issue handling are needed.
Sentiment score
5.8
IBM Business Automation Workflow support is generally effective, but efficiency varies, with on-premises outperforming cloud-based services.
The consultants are fine, however, reliance on single experts for modules can be risky.
IBM provides long-term support and maintains a traditionally good customer-vendor relationship.
If the solution is readily available to IBM support team, they provide it instantly.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.6
ARIS BPA is scalable and flexible, supporting cloud-based growth across industries despite its cost considerations, accommodating various deployments.
Sentiment score
7.8
IBM Business Automation Workflow provides scalable solutions with flexible deployment, supporting high transaction volumes and effective enterprise-level use.
For user scalability, it is a matter of licenses, while functional scalability is supported and easy to implement.
We are implementing load balancing and horizontal scalability.
We can manage the license usage and scale our environment while optimizing license use.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.2
ARIS BPA is stable, with challenges in large environments; users appreciate performance improvements and responsive support.
Sentiment score
7.7
IBM Business Automation Workflow offers stability and supports millions daily, overcoming setup challenges through performance tuning and monitoring.
The stability of ARIS BPM is quite strong, rated eight out of ten.
 

Room For Improvement

ARIS BPA is criticized for high costs, complexity, and integration challenges, needing significant training and better user interface.
IBM Business Automation Workflow requires improvements in usability, integration, support, and advanced features for a cohesive user experience.
Software AG could improve this by making the database more open.
Many developments are focused on AI, LLM models, and data science.
IBM Business Automation Workflow could be more intuitive, with more advanced low-code features and services definition.
 

Setup Cost

ARIS BPA's high cost is justified for large enterprises, offering flexible options and extensive features with negotiable terms.
IBM Business Automation Workflow is costly but valued for its flexibility, robust features, and transparent, worthwhile investment.
It is not a cheap license but in line with expectations for such software.
 

Valuable Features

ARIS BPA features a centralized repository, robust analytics, integration options, customizable methods, and supports notations like BPMN and EPC.
IBM Business Automation Workflow enhances app development, usability, and efficiency through integration, RPA, AI features, and robust connectivity.
The maintenance capabilities of ARIS BPM and the strong underlying database are particularly valuable.
We have integrations with different banks, ERP systems, and other human resource management systems by integrating through different systems.
It assisted in making users concentrate on the process flow rather than just features.
 

Categories and Ranking

ARIS BPA
Ranking in Business Process Management (BPM)
8th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
66
Ranking in other categories
Business Process Design (3rd)
IBM Business Automation Wor...
Ranking in Business Process Management (BPM)
16th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
25
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2025, in the Business Process Management (BPM) category, the mindshare of ARIS BPA is 5.3%, down from 5.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Business Automation Workflow is 2.2%, down from 2.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Business Process Management (BPM)
 

Featured Reviews

Libor Černý - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
Ateeq Rehman - PeerSpot reviewer
Customizable features empower seamless workflow automation
The system is fully customizable, very resilient, and fault-tolerant. We have first-line support from IBM, so there are no issues. We have integrations with different banks, ERP systems, and other human resource management systems by integrating through different systems. It provides many ways to integrate, and we are utilizing it effectively.
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Business Process Management (BPM) solutions are best for your needs.
842,651 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
18%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Government
8%
Financial Services Firm
38%
Computer Software Company
10%
Government
7%
Insurance Company
6%
 

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.
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.
What needs improvement with ARIS BPA?
I find it difficult to access the database as I want with direct querying. I must write scripts, which requires specific knowledge. Software AG could improve this by making the database more open. ...
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 do you like most about IBM Business Automation Workflow?
The most valuable feature of IBM Business Automation Workflow is cost management.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Business Automation Workflow?
The pricing of IBM Business Automation Workflow is within the expected range for our organization, which is in the enterprise sphere. We ensure everything is economical and well-regulated while mai...
 

Also Known As

ARIS, ARIS BPM
Business Automation Workflow
 

Overview

 

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.
Key Bank, Barclays, Control€xpert, MIR Insurance Brokers, Conqord Oil
Find out what your peers are saying about ARIS BPA vs. IBM Business Automation Workflow and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
842,651 professionals have used our research since 2012.