ARIS BPA vs iServer comparison

Software AG and Orbus Software are both solutions in the Business Process Design category. Software AG is ranked #4 with an average rating of 8.3, while Orbus Software is ranked #13 with an average rating of 8.4. Software AG holds a 7.8% mindshare in BPD, compared to Orbus Software’s 1.6% mindshare. Additionally, 88% of Software AG users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 85% of Orbus Software users who would recommend it.

ARIS BPA

Read 66 ARIS BPA reviews

4,824 Views
3,921 Comparison Views

88% willing to recommend

iServer

Read 18 iServer reviews

1,911 Views
806 Comparison Views

85% willing to recommend

ARIS BPA

iServer

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 3, 2024

ARIS BPA and iServer are leading solutions in business process analysis. ARIS BPA gains an edge due to its extensive enterprise modeling features and integration capabilities, while iServer's strength lies in its ease of use complementing Microsoft Office integration.

Features: ARIS BPA provides comprehensive tools like EPC modeling and simulation, notable for an all-encompassing view of enterprise architecture. Its support for various integrations enhances process documentation and analysis. iServer offers seamless integration with Microsoft Office, intuitive use for document management, and workflow alignment with Office tools, making it user-friendly for organizations heavily invested in Microsoft products.

Room for Improvement: ARIS BPA could improve its complexity and lack of a real-time workflow engine, while its limited API support poses integration challenges. iServer could enhance its modeling capabilities and data visualization, as well as address performance issues. Both platforms can benefit from more intuitive user interfaces and streamlined integration features.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: ARIS BPA supports flexible deployment options including Hybrid Cloud and on-premises, receiving mixed reviews on customer service but with strong community support. iServer, offering various deployment methods except hybrid, is noted for reasonable support but may require vendor assistance for complex problems, with potential delays.

Pricing and ROI: ARIS BPA, though perceived as expensive, offers high value for large enterprises due to its features and integration capabilities, with a complex licensing model. iServer is considered more cost-effective, with a generally lower price point, appealing to organizations seeking budget-friendly solutions. The return on investment is substantial for both, enhancing process understanding and operational efficiency.

To learn more, read our detailed ARIS BPA vs. iServer Report (Updated: March 2025).

Buyer's Guide

ARIS BPA vs. iServer

March 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) (9th)

iServer

Ranking in Business Process Design

13th

Average Rating

7.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Enterprise Architecture Management (7th)

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Business Process Design category, the mindshare of ARIS BPA is 7.8%, down from 9.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of iServer is 1.6%, down from 1.9% 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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Antonios Lazanakis

Senior IT Solution Architect at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees

Flexible, easy to use, and easy to import data

We use iServer to establish an enterprise architecture function in our organization iServer is a very flexible platform for defining your own enterprise architecture model. It is very easy to import data, and we also have good integration with Visual Drawing Tools and SharePoint. The solution is…

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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

"Visualizes processes which helps the business see pain points."

"The whole ARIS BPM solution is a bit special, because from the very beginning it was targeted more to Business users and the Management."

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

"BPA, the modeling tool, is the main module used because of our need for documentation."

"ARIS BPA has a good directory option, which helps to keep track of all of your metadata, and that's very useful."

"I like everything about ARIS BPA. I've used it for a long time and it's a fantastic tool. There is a list of things ARIS has that other solutions do not have."

"Features like SAP SolMan sync, Alfabet EA integration (another Software AG product)."

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

More ARIS BPA pros

"Tech support is very responsive. They solved issues within a prompt response time."

"It has helped having data lineage in the business cluster, which is used as control artifacts."

"iServer is a very flexible platform for defining your own enterprise architecture model."

"We like the governance."

"The solution is easily modified to suit your needs."

"The initial setup is easy."

"The product has a valuable customized model."

"iServer is a solution that helps catalog enterprise architect solutions and catalog information."

More iServer pros

Cons

"Areas for improvement include sales, prospecting, shopping, customer service, after-sales (claims and advice for the client), and all processes pertaining to customer loyalty."

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

"There are reports available in ARIS and you can modify them a bit if you want something more specific, but it's not that easy to adjust them and make modifications. It would be nice to have some kind of tool to do that, something that is more user-friendly for people who are not too technical, so that they could create reports the way they want them."

"The tool's installation and configuration part needs to improve."

"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."

"Simulation is one area that is a bit complex."

"The pricing of the solution can be improved and the initial setup should be made easy."

"I had a hard time with ARIS's access and licensing policy. It requires you to pay for each step you want to take forward with the solution."

More ARIS BPA cons

"iServer is a solid tool. Occasionally, we needed to contact the vendor to clarify details such as porting issues, missing components, and model specifics."

"Enhancing integration options with ERP or ITSM-related solutions for triggering automated requests for process definitions, changes, and tracking them in the iServer."

"The modelling needs improvement, specifically forecasting capabilities and scenarios."

"The one issue is that if you want to import predefined work, you need to put the licensing model in. So if you wanted to import work that was done before, you then need to buy a separate product for that."

"We could allocate permissions to use only specific components to the users rather than the entire instance."

"I haven't used this solution long enough to know what areas could be improved."

"Cannot see which activities are control activities."

"There are other solutions out there that have a better user interface."

More iServer cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"ARIS has different licensing mechanisms for different modules, but they are perpetual licenses. So you pay once."

"Their license model is really difficult to understand, and licenses are quite expensive."

"ARIS is quite expensive."

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

"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."

"ARIS Express is free."

"The product is inexpensive."

"The price of the solution is reasonable."

More ARIS BPA pricing and cost advice

"They offer annual subscriptions for developing countries, which are not affordable for small or medium businesses."

"The product has a moderate pricing."

"The price of iServer is reasonable compared to other solutions."

"Aim for the exact number of people who shall define/review approve and view the processes, as it will impact the cost."

"The solution is cheaper than its competitors."

"It's about 13K to set up and 9K for the license for three months. I think it's about 20K a year, but we haven't firmed up on pricing yet because the price depends on how long we commit to the solution."

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845,040 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

18%

Computer Software Company

12%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Government

Educational Organization

35%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Government

Computer Software Company

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?

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. ...

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What do you like most about iServer?

iServer has valuable features for workflow and document management.

See all answers

What needs improvement with iServer?

iServer should invest in enhancing the capabilities of the embedded drawing tool, draw.io. draw.io is a drawing tool used to draw architectural diagrams, flow diagrams, etc. It is an alternative to...

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What is your primary use case for iServer?

We use iServer to establish an enterprise architecture function in our organization.

See all answers

Comparisons

SAP Signavio Process Manager vs ARIS BPA

Compared 25% of the time

ADONIS vs ARIS BPA

Compared 10% of the time

Camunda vs ARIS BPA

Compared 7% of the time

Visio vs ARIS BPA

Compared 6% of the time

IBM Blueworks Live vs ARIS BPA

Compared 2% of the time

More ARIS BPA Competitors

LeanIX vs iServer

Compared 27% of the time

OrbusInfinity vs iServer

Compared 17% of the time

Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect vs iServer

Compared 16% of the time

BiZZdesign HoriZZon vs iServer

Compared 9% of the time

Visio vs iServer

Compared 6% of the time

More iServer Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

ARIS BPA

March 2025

Download ARIS BPA product report

Buyer's Guide

Enterprise Architecture Management

March 2025

Download iServer product report

Also Known As

ARIS, ARIS BPM

No data available

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.

Software AG

iServer is a unified software platform and enterprise modeling environment that extends and enhances the familiar, market leading Microsoft Visio and Office products. Core capabilities provided by iServer include an enhanced Microsoft Visio diagramming interface, a powerful central repository for all enterprise architecture or business process models and documentation, and a range of tools for visualization, analysis and decision making.

Orbus Software

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.

Barclays, Cathay Pacific, Deloitte, British Gas, MasterCard

Buyer's Guide

ARIS BPA vs. iServer

March 2025

Free Report: ARIS BPA vs. iServer

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