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Automation Anywhere vs IBM Business Automation Workflow 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
7.2
Automation Anywhere delivers high ROI with quick cost recovery, boosting efficiency and productivity in data-heavy, repetitive tasks.
Sentiment score
7.6
IBM Business Automation Workflow boosts ROI by lowering costs, enhancing digital transformation, and increasing productivity through automation.
In terms of cost, we participated in projects achieving two to three million dollars in annual savings.
As a return on investment, we have achieved a 250% ROI in six to nine months, and sometimes it increases up to 380% percent.
Automation Anywhere has helped us save money.
Initially performed manually, workflows now provide a better user experience and increased efficiency.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.1
Automation Anywhere's support is knowledgeable and effective despite occasional delays, with valued account managers and praised community resources.
Sentiment score
5.9
IBM Business Automation Workflow support is generally effective, but efficiency varies, with on-premises outperforming cloud-based services.
Whenever we need help, we can reach out to them, and they help us out.
We also have dedicated account managers and technical experts to solve our problems related to Automation Anywhere.
We just have to raise a ticket, after which we receive a call, email, or ping from the Automation Anywhere team.
If the solution is readily available to IBM support team, they provide it instantly.
IBM provides long-term support and maintains a traditionally good customer-vendor relationship.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.5
Automation Anywhere is scalable and flexible, suitable for large organizations, though budget considerations and infrastructure are necessary.
Sentiment score
7.8
IBM Business Automation Workflow provides scalable solutions with flexible deployment, supporting high transaction volumes and effective enterprise-level use.
For Windows-based applications, it provides UI interface automation, which enhances its scalability.
Automation Anywhere is highly scalable for both horizontal and vertical expansions.
I would rate it a nine out of ten for scalability.
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
7.1
Automation Anywhere offers generally stable performance, though users occasionally face issues, particularly during updates and transitions.
Sentiment score
7.6
IBM Business Automation Workflow offers stability and supports millions daily, overcoming setup challenges through performance tuning and monitoring.
With the latest applications, there are no significant issues like freezing or crashing.
The platform runs smoothly, and the deployment process is user-friendly in both UAT and production environments.
It usually does not lag or crash.
Outside of these maintenance periods, the environment is quite stable.
 

Room For Improvement

Automation Anywhere requires improvements in user-friendliness, stability, integration, support services, pricing, and accessibility for better user experience.
IBM Business Automation Workflow requires improvements in usability, integration, support, and advanced features for a cohesive user experience.
It is better to write a Python script instead of using Automation Anywhere's package when dealing with Excel because it is buggy and tends to break.
Making the product more lightweight by reducing its dependency on infrastructure could greatly help in the long run.
It would be beneficial if the platform provided options for power developers to integrate seamlessly with languages like Java or C#, allowing them to write their own scripts and code.
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.
Code management lacks merging capabilities.
 

Setup Cost

Enterprise buyers view Automation Anywhere as more expensive, suiting large organizations needing comprehensive features and flexible pricing.
IBM Business Automation Workflow is costly but valued for its flexibility, robust features, and transparent, worthwhile investment.
It is more cost-efficient compared to all other RPA platforms.
Automation Anywhere costs are aligned with UiPath and Blue Prism, which are also expensive.
It is not cheap, with costs ranging between 700 to 800 dollars per month.
It is not a cheap license but in line with expectations for such software.
The price of IBM Business Automation Workflow is on the higher side compared to the features it offers.
 

Valuable Features

Automation Anywhere excels with user-friendly interfaces, AI tools, and cloud support, enhancing efficiency and productivity for non-technical users.
IBM Business Automation Workflow enhances app development, usability, and efficiency through integration, RPA, AI features, and robust connectivity.
I can set it up to provide users with a form to fill in all required information, and then the bot operates based on those specifications.
For example, the email module has been enhanced over the years to support all the latest authentication technologies. That is very important as we move away from username and password and embrace multi-factor authentication.
Automation Anywhere has undergone drastic changes over the past five years, transitioning from version 10 to A360, including desktop-based and cloud-based options.
The system is fully customizable, very resilient, and fault-tolerant.
It assisted in making users concentrate on the process flow rather than just features.
It offers robust workflow features and, despite being a low-code tool, provides extensive customization options.
 

Categories and Ranking

Automation Anywhere
Ranking in Business Process Management (BPM)
3rd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
556
Ranking in other categories
Robotic Process Automation (RPA) (2nd), Process Mining (1st), Intelligent Document Processing (IDP) (3rd), Agentic Automation (2nd)
IBM Business Automation Wor...
Ranking in Business Process Management (BPM)
16th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
26
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Business Process Management (BPM) category, the mindshare of Automation Anywhere is 0.1%, up from 0.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Business Automation Workflow is 2.2%, down from 2.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Business Process Management (BPM)
 

Q&A Highlights

WS
May 25, 2022
 

Featured Reviews

Vatsal Mehta - PeerSpot reviewer
Accommodates diverse use cases and effectively meets customer requirements
AI agents need further improvements. AI agent technology in agentic process automation is still evolving. We have only scratched the surface, and there are many potential use cases yet to be explored. As technology advances, I believe it will enable us to implement more comprehensive automation solutions. Document Automation has issues related to speed. When I compare Document Automation with IQ Bot, IQ Bot is faster than Document Automation. My understanding is that they are still evolving Document Automation, and this issue of slowness will be resolved in the upcoming .35 version, so we are good with that. They are working on signature identification and validations for handwritten documents. Currently, we are able to extract data out of scanned but digital images, but there is still scope for improvement for handwritten documents.
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.
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Answers from the Community

WS
May 25, 2022
May 25, 2022
My question to you would be - Why are you mixing the two vendors? Do you have licenses for both and are trying to maximize investment? If you have IBM automation you probably have other IBM technology - let the IBM automation run on that as its integration is a little more complicated than UiPath and may cost you time in execution. If you have both IBM and UiPath then I would use UiPath for a...
2 out of 6 answers
DR
Nov 3, 2020
My question to you would be - Why are you mixing the two vendors? Do you have licenses for both and are trying to maximize investment?  If you have IBM automation you probably have other IBM technology - let the IBM automation run on that as its integration is a little more complicated than UiPath and may cost you time in execution.  If you have both IBM and UiPath then I would use UiPath for any areas that are not integral to the IBM technology or systems.  I would need to know a little more about your strategy before giving a definitive answer to your question but all 3 are good technical foundations depending on the scenario.
JF
Jul 6, 2021
Although I've worked with UiPath (not Automation Anywhere), my experience is now solely with AutoMate from Help Systems.  I would recommend aligning IBM's digital business automation with Robotic Process Automation and how it works. It seems to be a very different tool from RPA. If programming is required in the use of IBM's digital business automation go with RPA.  
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
15%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Healthcare Company
6%
Financial Services Firm
37%
Computer Software Company
10%
Government
7%
Insurance Company
5%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

How good is Automation Anywhere for RPA processes?
It depends on your use case. Is it simply to automate a couple of processes? Is it to augment a human team? AA is very good in certain situations but lacks in others. For me, it's more the team tha...
How good is Automation Anywhere for RPA processes?
From my experience using AA tool, it depends on the applications that you want to automate, because there some applications that AA has limitations for, such as the Oracle. For web-based applicatio...
How good is Automation Anywhere for RPA processes?
It is a highly preferred RPA tool. You can check my Automation Anywhere Review to know more.
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

Automation Anywhere, Testing Anywhere, Automation Anywhere Enterprise
Business Automation Workflow
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Google, Linkedin, Cisco, Juniper Networks, DellEMC, Comcast, Mastercard, Quest Diagnostics
Key Bank, Barclays, Control€xpert, MIR Insurance Brokers, Conqord Oil
Find out what your peers are saying about Automation Anywhere vs. IBM Business Automation Workflow and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
848,253 professionals have used our research since 2012.