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AWS Step Functions vs IBM BPM 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
9.5
AWS Step Functions reduce development time and costs, enhance scalability and reliability, streamline workflows, and improve ROI.
Sentiment score
7.5
IBM BPM enhances process efficiency, reduces errors, and often recovers costs within a year despite moderate licensing costs.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.4
AWS Step Functions' customer service is mostly positive, with praised enterprise support and mixed reviews on smaller-scale responsiveness.
Sentiment score
6.6
IBM BPM's customer service is praised for expertise but needs improvement in response times and handling complex issues.
I use enterprise support, which is excellent, providing responses within fifteen minutes.
We had a contract that provided on-site support, which was very satisfactory.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.8
AWS Step Functions is highly scalable and cost-effective, adapting seamlessly to demand fluctuations for teams of all sizes.
Sentiment score
6.9
IBM BPM is scalable but requires tuning and monitoring for performance amid challenges and varied user satisfaction.
Starting separate Step Functions for each request, making it highly scalable.
I found IBM BPM to be scalable to a certain level but it struggled with large volumes of concurrent transactions.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.5
AWS Step Functions are rated highly stable by users, ensured by redundancy and strategies for high availability and reliability.
Sentiment score
7.2
IBM BPM is generally stable with improved performance, occasional instability issues, and effective support for resolving problems.
If one zone fails, others handle the demand, ensuring high availability.
 

Room For Improvement

AWS Step Functions requires improvements in data limits, pricing, features, integrations, IDE support, and hybrid cloud integration.
IBM BPM needs intuitive configuration, better integration, improved scalability, simplified processes, UI refinement, enhanced features, and reduced pricing.
IBM BPM also lacks smaller solutions, so I must purchase multiple solutions to start with workflows and applications.
 

Setup Cost

AWS Step Functions pricing varies based on requests and workflow duration, requiring careful configuration to avoid unpredictable costs.
IBM BPM is a costly solution with complex licensing, best suited for large enterprises seeking powerful capabilities.
Pricing for Step Functions is very cheap.
The cost is average, provided it is configured correctly.
SAP is more expensive, but IBM BPM is very expensive.
 

Valuable Features

AWS Step Functions seamlessly integrate AWS tools, enhancing workflow efficiency with scalable task management, visualization, and error handling.
IBM BPM is praised for process orchestration, integration, user interface, automation, and strong analytics with low-code deployment.
AWS Step Functions offers advanced workflows that save time and enhance efficiency by reducing delays and ensuring consistent orchestration among various services.
Step Functions provide seamless integration with AWS services, which enhances the speed of application development.
The integration capabilities of IBM BPM are excellent.
 

Categories and Ranking

AWS Step Functions
Ranking in Business Process Management (BPM)
11th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
12
Ranking in other categories
Workload Automation (13th)
IBM BPM
Ranking in Business Process Management (BPM)
5th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
110
Ranking in other categories
Application Infrastructure (7th), Process Automation (5th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2025, in the Business Process Management (BPM) category, the mindshare of AWS Step Functions is 2.3%, down from 3.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM BPM is 7.6%, down from 7.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Business Process Management (BPM)
 

Featured Reviews

Carlos Alberto Marangon - PeerSpot reviewer
Automate complex workflows with seamless AWS integration
Step Functions provide seamless integration with AWS services, which enhances the speed of application development. The JSON app launched recently allows us to define data execution more easily. The Standard Workflows feature includes error replay capabilities, which are crucial for efficient error management. The Amazon State Language (ASL) in JSON format facilitates workflow automation and accelerates the deployment of Step Functions.
Mohammed Almalki - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers good case management and its integration with process design but there's a learning curve
If you're already an IBM shop with the necessary skills and personnel, then I would recommend using it. However, it requires a yearly investment. So, if you're prepared for that, then go for it. New users will need at least six months to get comfortable with IBM BPM, at least initially. So, there's a learning curve. Overall, I would rate the solution a seven out of ten. Two main reasons: the skillset required to manage it and its integration complexity.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
33%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Healthcare Company
6%
Financial Services Firm
31%
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Amazon Step Functions?
The integration capability is easy, whereas building state machines is tricky.
What is your primary use case for Amazon Step Functions?
I use Step Functions for orchestrating several application workflows. Specifically, I often use Step Functions to automate processes requiring multiple steps and for application orchestration. I fo...
What advice do you have for others considering Amazon Step Functions?
Overall, I would rate AWS Step Functions at least nine out of ten. The technology is robust, but improving the payload size could enhance the product's utility further.
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 is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM BPM?
SAP is more expensive, but IBM BPM is very expensive. If a scale of one to ten is used, I would rate IBM BPM at nine in terms of pricing.
 

Also Known As

Amazon Step Functions, Step Functions
WebSphere Lombardi Edition, IBM Business Process Manager, IBM WebSphere Process Server
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Alpha Apps, The Guardian, SGK, Bigfinite
Barclays, EmeriCon, Banca Popolare di Milano, CST Consulting, KeyBank, KPMG, Prolifics, Sandhata Technologies Ltd., State of Alaska, Humana S.A., Saperion, esciris, Banco Espirito Santo
Find out what your peers are saying about AWS Step Functions vs. IBM BPM and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.
831,020 professionals have used our research since 2012.