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Atlassian Confluence vs IBM FileNet comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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
6.5
Atlassian Confluence is a cost-effective tool improving time efficiency, knowledge sharing, and quality of life for users.
Sentiment score
3.8
IBM FileNet boosts productivity and efficiency, reduces costs, and enhances document management, yielding significant financial gains and competitive advantage.
There is a significant ROI from IBM FileNet because before its introduction, the company needed to do all the work manually.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.5
Atlassian Confluence support is responsive but limited, with users often seeking help elsewhere due to cost and complexity issues.
Sentiment score
6.8
IBM FileNet's support is praised for responsiveness and partnerships, despite occasional delays and challenges like database implementation issues.
This team manages all queries and uses various plugins, such as Tempo for time tracking.
The Atlassian technical support team is reachable through different platforms.
People come from all over the world, and they have specialists at the other end of the world to help if needed.
The consulting experts that IBM provides sometimes do not understand the tool very well.
IBM has a different division that provides consultation to end users, and most customers utilize consultation from IBM, which costs approximately $100k USD to $200k USD.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.1
Atlassian Confluence scales efficiently for diverse organizations, though cloud performance and cost concerns exist; integration boosts flexibility.
Sentiment score
8.2
IBM FileNet excels in scalability and adaptability, supporting extensive users and data, suitable for multinational enterprises with diverse needs.
The bigger products like IBM FileNet can handle billions of documents and thousands of users.
We have about 80 transactional systems connected to IBM FileNet.
With Kubernetes, we can simply add instances of the worker, CPU, or memory without needing deployment.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.9
Atlassian Confluence is reliable and stable, despite occasional server-related disruptions, with performance improving consistently over time.
Sentiment score
7.8
IBM FileNet is valued for its reliable performance and stability, with improvements noted in recent upgrades and infrastructure configurations.
In terms of stability, we haven't experienced any big technical issues or downtime with IBM FileNet.
FileNet was restricted to DB2's enterprise edition instead of the standard edition, causing complications.
 

Room For Improvement

Atlassian Confluence faces criticism for poor search, inadequate editing features, inflexible pricing, and scalability issues for large enterprises.
IBM FileNet needs enhanced hybrid cloud support, integration, automation, analytics, mobile experience, simplifying APIs, and reducing costs.
More options similar to those available in Word or Google Docs in terms of formatting and other features could enhance its functionality.
This chart used AI to offer users the option to create it based on the data.
Ease of use with IBM FileNet is a disadvantage of this tool. It is complex and hard to use.
From the beginning, we cannot use a REST API; we have to use the IBM FileNet native API, which is quite outdated.
The response time and resolution of issues by technical support need improvement.
 

Setup Cost

Atlassian Confluence costs vary by users and add-ons, potentially increasing annually, with complex licensing affecting price perception.
IBM FileNet is costly, but often valued by medium to large enterprises, with complex licensing and significant setup expenses.
It streamlines license management and renewal processes, which can otherwise lead to complications or lapses in access.
Money is a factor because Atlassian Confluence is not free.
The price is high, with yearly subscriptions increasing day by day.
FileNet and similar enterprise-level tools require substantial costs, starting in the millions.
The product has become more expensive and requires significant investment for enterprise solutions.
 

Valuable Features

Atlassian Confluence enhances collaboration with customizable templates, content sharing, and secure integration with Jira and external tools.
IBM FileNet provides scalability, robust document management, and seamless integration with extensive automation, governance, and workflow tools for efficient operations.
This tool provides a single repository for interacting with the entire team.
I use Atlassian Confluence for task management and other project management tasks, such as reporting, visualization of tasks, tracking the progress of tickets, and understanding how work is progressing.
There is a significant ROI from IBM FileNet because before its introduction, the company needed to do all the work manually.
It stands out for its integration capabilities, making it a practical choice for our needs in managing content and related tasks.
At this level, companies don't buy a ready-made solution.
 

Categories and Ranking

Atlassian Confluence
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
107
Ranking in other categories
Corporate Portals (Enterprise Information Portals) (2nd), Enterprise Social Software (3rd), Knowledge Management Software (1st)
IBM FileNet
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
103
Ranking in other categories
Enterprise Content Management (4th)
 

Mindshare comparison

Atlassian Confluence and IBM FileNet aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. Atlassian Confluence is designed for Corporate Portals (Enterprise Information Portals) and holds a mindshare of 13.2%, down 17.0% compared to last year.
IBM FileNet, on the other hand, focuses on Enterprise Content Management, holds 8.2% mindshare, down 10.4% since last year.
Corporate Portals (Enterprise Information Portals) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Atlassian Confluence13.2%
SharePoint28.8%
Liferay Digital Experience Platform19.1%
Other38.9%
Corporate Portals (Enterprise Information Portals)
Enterprise Content Management Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
IBM FileNet8.2%
SharePoint15.0%
OpenText Documentum Content Management10.2%
Other66.6%
Enterprise Content Management
 

Featured Reviews

Rabindra K Maharana - PeerSpot reviewer
Editing features improve document accessibility
There is a holiday calendar, however, I need to install an app or add something to it. The add-on feature is not readily available or well-documented. Guidance on this should be available in a forum. Recently, I used a feature in another tool—perhaps GitHub—where it helped prepare a chart. It involved listing resources, like having fifteen people in the X team, ten in the Y team, and seven in the Z team. It created a bar chart showing these numbers. This chart used AI to offer users the option to create it based on the data. It was then created on a separate page and made available.
ARTHUR BRUNO - PeerSpot reviewer
Has provided robust content management but requires simplification in configuration and usability
We almost do not utilize the automation capabilities of IBM FileNet to streamline our business processes. The process automation and business automation features are barely used. Currently, we primarily use it to store content. We are now trying to use all of the functionalities of IBM FileNet, but we have not yet utilized the full capacity of the system. We are trying to reduce redundancy with IBM FileNet by enhancing our business rules. However, we still have significant redundancy. IBM FileNet can help us reduce redundancy, but we need to understand the tool and use all the functionalities to accomplish this. Ease of use with IBM FileNet is a disadvantage of this tool. It is complex and hard to use. When we try to set up IBM FileNet, we have many questions. We do not understand what we need to do in IBM FileNet. There are many configurations we must make but do not know how to implement. While IBM FileNet is very reliable, it is very difficult to set up. When reading the documentation about IBM FileNet, it appears to be very reliable and secure, but setting up configurations, access rules, authorization, and authentication seems to be very challenging.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
15%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Computer Software Company
10%
Government
7%
Financial Services Firm
21%
Computer Software Company
9%
Government
9%
Insurance Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business38
Midsize Enterprise26
Large Enterprise52
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business31
Midsize Enterprise12
Large Enterprise74
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Atlassian Confluence?
The most valuable feature of the solution stems from its document-controlling feature. In Atlassian Confluence, controlled documents cannot be edited by anyone else.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Atlassian Confluence?
Money is a factor because Atlassian Confluence is not free. I need to purchase extra components when adding new projects or employees.
What needs improvement with Atlassian Confluence?
Currently, I have no suggestions for improvements. There are no issues with stability or downtime with Atlassian Confluence.
What do you like most about IBM FileNet?
The product is robust and can process a lot of documents for enterprise content management.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM FileNet?
From the company's perspective, the licensing cost for IBM FileNet is still affordable. Though the license cost is somewhat expensive, it remains manageable. The company rates it between 3 and 5 be...
What needs improvement with IBM FileNet?
We almost do not utilize the automation capabilities of IBM FileNet to streamline our business processes. The process automation and business automation features are barely used. Currently, we prim...
 

Also Known As

Confluence
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Facebook, Skype, Microsoft, NASA, Netflix, Adobe, Bonobos, LinkedIn, Pfizer, Citi.
Suncorp Group Limited, St. Vincent Health, Citigroup, SRCSD, and UK Dept for Work and Pensions.
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, Atlassian, Liferay and others in Corporate Portals (Enterprise Information Portals). Updated: September 2025.
871,408 professionals have used our research since 2012.