ARIS BPA vs iServer comparison

Software AG and Orbus Software are both solutions in the Business Process Design category. Software AG is ranked #3 with an average rating of 8.6, while Orbus Software is ranked #14 with an average rating of 8.1. Software AG holds a 8.8% mindshare in BPD, compared to Orbus Software’s 1.6% mindshare. Additionally, 89% of Software AG users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 85% of Orbus Software users who would recommend it.

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: October 2024).

Buyer's Guide

ARIS BPA vs. iServer

October 2024

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Categories and Ranking

IBM Blueworks Live

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2024, in the Business Process Design category, the mindshare of IBM Blueworks Live is 3.5%, up from 3.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of ARIS BPA is 8.8%, down from 9.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of iServer is 1.6%, down from 2.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Business Process Design

Featured Reviews

AjarMathur

Global Innovation Director at Ernst & Young

Jul 5, 2023

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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Libor Černý

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

Jan 26, 2022

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

Sep 10, 2024

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

"It has a built-in capability to capture process owners and managers against processes along with other process governance roles."

"It enables decisions based upon processes that we do model, and ultimately move forward with."

"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."

"The business process discovery is excellent. The diagram or blueprinting functionality of the solution are very good. It's quite easy. You can link the sub-processes and get a big overview of the whole process then."

"It has the ability to document in different formats. It is not tied to a specific model. You can look at it from different angles and see the intuitive nature of it. It always generates a valid diagram. You cannot create something that is not BPMN compliant."

"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."

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

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

More IBM Blueworks Live pros

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

"ARIS BPA is customizable as per specific business requirements."

"Collaboration and governance over enterprise artifacts."

"We chose ARIS because of its good reputation and familiarity with Software AG Tools."

"ARIS BPA provides very good visibility and control of processes because we have a concurrent license system. As a result, every person in our company and group is able to look at the published processes."

"The initial setup is easy."

"ARIS provides the basic foundation for any digital transformation an organization decides to take."

"I am impressed with the tool's integration. It also facilitates collaboration in the organization."

More ARIS BPA pros

"iServer has valuable features for workflow and document management."

"The most valuable features of iServer are the integration with Microsoft Office and the interface is similar to Microsoft applications making them easy to use."

"The initial setup is easy."

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

"The most valuable feature is its reporting capability. It offers various packages for different types of reports, such as business and project management reporting packs."

"The solution has wide use within Microsoft products. The integration with Microsoft products, and, in particular, Microsoft Office, is great."

"This flexibility is the most helpful part in the standard version."

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

More iServer pros

Cons

"We would like the ability to add additional custom colors. We would like to color additional items to add notes to the blueprint."

"It is BPMN-compliant but the tool needs to be more involved to get into a completely 2.0 oriented tool. It has a few things but it's not the complete BPMN model."

"The solution is a very basic discovery product so it doesn't have that much modeling capability. This can be improved."

"The APIs are great, except the normal business user doesn't know how to create APIs. So it's hard because IBM comes to us as the business users and tell us to create reporting with APIs, except we don't know that, so we have to turn around and flip it to our IT people."

"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."

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

"We haven't yet been able to dabble in case management with Blueworks Live, as it is not yet offered with the product."

"The objects that the solution creates are not unique."

More IBM Blueworks Live cons

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

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

"ARIS needs to make a better user interface. The user interface sucks. The problem with ARIS is that they have two interfaces for the same product."

"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."

"Since this is a design tool, seamless interface to make the process flows executable."

"While the dashboarding solution for integrating all kinds of process-related information from company sources other than ARIS is getting ever better, my personal wish would be to have a module that is more targeted to an Agile implementation of some modeled processes (model–to-execute)."

"User interface (UI)."

"Regarding stability, when there are any customized settings being done at customer end - post upgrade to newer versions - it makes the customer environment unstable for a short duration."

More ARIS BPA cons

"There could be features for process mining, process simulation, and analytics."

"The product is more expensive than Spark."

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

"Requirements management needs to be improved."

"There can be some performance issues using the solution that should be improved. When you make modifications modify to files there are embedded data within that can take a while to process."

"It definitely needs help to improve the visual aspect of the solution."

"The performance is slow, which is something that should be improved."

"Cannot see which activities are control activities."

More iServer cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is not very expensive."

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

"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."

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

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

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

"Making it less expensive would be good."

"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."

"This is absolutely not the cheapest solution in the market, but for large companies, the price is fine."

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

"Pricing is a bit on the higher side."

"The price could be better."

"The product is inexpensive."

"In terms of pricing, it would be nice if it were more affordable."

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

More ARIS BPA pricing and cost advice

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

"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 product has a moderate pricing."

"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."

"The solution is cheaper than its competitors."

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Business Process Design solutions are best for your needs.

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815,854 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

19%

Computer Software Company

10%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Government

Financial Services Firm

16%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Government

10%

Computer Software Company

10%

Educational Organization

37%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Government

10%

Computer Software Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

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 an...

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...

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What do you like most about ARIS BPA?

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

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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 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 ...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for iServer?

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

See all answers

Comparisons

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

SAP Signavio Process Manager vs ARIS BPA

Compared 27% of the time

ADONIS vs ARIS BPA

Compared 9% of the time

Camunda vs ARIS BPA

Compared 7% of the time

Bizagi vs ARIS BPA

Compared 6% of the time

BIC Platform vs ARIS BPA

Compared 3% of the time

More ARIS BPA Competitors

LeanIX vs iServer

Compared 25% of the time

Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect vs iServer

Compared 15% of the time

OrbusInfinity vs iServer

Compared 12% of the time

BiZZdesign HoriZZon vs iServer

Compared 8% of the time

Visio vs iServer

Compared 8% of the time

More iServer Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

IBM Blueworks Live

November 2024

Download IBM Blueworks Live product report

Buyer's Guide

ARIS BPA

November 2024

Download ARIS BPA product report

Buyer's Guide

Enterprise Architecture Management

November 2024

Download iServer product report

Also Known As

IBM Lombardi Blueprint

ARIS, ARIS BPM

No data available

Learn More

IBM

Software AG

Orbus Software

Overview

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.

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.

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.

Sample Customers

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

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

October 2024

Free Report: ARIS BPA vs. iServer

Find out what your peers are saying about ARIS BPA vs. iServer and other solutions. Updated: October 2024.

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