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AWS Step Functions vs IBM BPM comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 18, 2024
 

Categories and Ranking

AWS Step Functions
Ranking in Business Process Management (BPM)
12th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
12
Ranking in other categories
Workload Automation (15th)
IBM BPM
Ranking in Business Process Management (BPM)
8th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
109
Ranking in other categories
Application Infrastructure (7th), Process Automation (5th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of December 2024, in the Business Process Management (BPM) category, the mindshare of AWS Step Functions is 2.3%, down from 3.7% 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

Mahender Nirwan - PeerSpot reviewer
Good integration with many AWS services and create a workflow to call one Lambda function after another, and other serverless features
There are two main features I like. You can use the UI or write basic JSON to define the workflow. If you write JSON, it converts it into a visual workflow in the UI. This allows you to visualize what's happening. When you get an error, it's easy to find in any large workflow, and debugging is also pretty easy. I like their UI, to be honest. It has the best profit UI.
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.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"AWS Step Functions offers advanced workflows that save time and enhance efficiency by reducing delays and ensuring consistent orchestration among various services."
"The integration capability is easy, whereas building state machines is tricky."
"It is a scalable solution."
"It's a general solution that you can adapt to your own needs and is simple to use. We like that it can be integrated with everything in the AWS suite, and that the creation of the pipeline can be done using the graphical user interface."
"The solution is stable...The solution is easy to scale."
"The JSON app launched recently allows us to define data execution more easily."
"What I like the most about Amazon Step Functions is how easy it is to use."
"Overall, I would rate AWS Step Functions at least nine out of ten."
"Setting it up is fairly easy. If somebody has knowledge of the system, he or she will be able to do it fairly quickly."
"We have automated processes with IBM BPM and DocuSign. Its valuable features include low-code, timer, etc. It makes it simple to implement the products. We generate reports using the solution."
"It is efficient in reducing costs."
"It makes the company business processes work more efficiently."
"The most valuable feature for the organization is the Document Store."
"We have used a lot of out-of-the-box reporting on the process performance metrics. We have been able to make suggested changes to staff for this role or streamlining by eliminate some activities where people were not requiring a lot of work in the first place."
"IBM BPM is both scalable and stable."
"The platform's most valuable features are its process automation capabilities and its ability to provide a comprehensive view of business operations."
 

Cons

"If AWS Step Functions keeps adding more integrations, it would be even better."
"The solution's pricing could be cheaper. It is cheaper than Airflow."
"The pricing of the solution can be improved."
"It wasn't easy to understand the licensing model. It's like if you use just a little, it's cheap, but it becomes more expensive as you use more. It's like a hook that ties you inside the Amazon ecosystem. So, it creates a dependency."
"The price and support are areas with shortcomings where the solution needs to improve."
"It is hard to coordinate the declaratory language."
"Increasing the payload size would be beneficial."
"The interface can sometimes feel limited, as we're unable to see what AWS is running behind the scenes."
"We had hoped that the product would provide us with plug-ins like Salesforce. Its development environment needs to improve. We expect to see elastic features like containerization. We don't just need an on-prem virtual machine."
"Could increase vulnerability and security patches to make it more robust."
"One area for improvement is the scripting languages used within the solution. They could integrate other languages such as GoMango or Python than JavaScript."
"The constant switch between Eclipse and its web versions can be annoying and confusing."
"The pricing is a little bit high. It's gone up in cost."
"I have an interest around the robotic piece, and integrating that with the processes. I think that is certainly a good direction to be going."
"The coaches and the user interface are the areas that can be improved a lot. It is good in terms of data processing, but the UI, scripting, and coaches are not very user-friendly and developer-friendly. Performance is always an issue. The scripting and the pattern that it uses are very tedious for new developers to understand, and it takes time to master it in depth. When comparing IBM BPM with IBM APN, a lot of things are provided out of the box in IBM APN. We don't have to write code or a Java connector to make a functionality work. It would be very helpful and time-saving for developers if IBM BPM is improved in this area to provide many functionalities or drag-and-drop options so that the developers don't have to write the code."
"If the processing gets better, it would be more efficient."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is expensive."
"The solution's price is reasonable."
"I give the pricing an eight out of ten."
"​We have definitely seen ROI. When we first kicked it off, we said it had to pay for itself within three years, and it did."
"On a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive, I rate the pricing a ten."
"Our customers do see ROI. They'll identify some particularly painful or uncoordinated processes to start with, then build out from there, picking off low hanging fruit."
"I wish it was less expensive. I don't know why their pricing model is so high for a piece of software that could benefit so many. It just seems to me that they could have a lower cost, maybe with fewer features or whatever, but it should be possible to do a lower cost workflow software that uses the same interface and underlying engine but does not cost so much that you have to be a Fortune 50 company to buy it. It is annoying to me. There are a lot of solutions that IBM has that are really powerful but nobody can afford them. They know their business, but I still feel that there are a lot of customers who would benefit from this sort of thing. I don't know what this elitism is all about. I am sure they have people doing the money numbers, but it seems like you can make a lot more money by selling it to way more people for a little bit less."
"I think it's a reasonably priced tool, but it's important to consider which customers should buy this solution. It's designed for enterprise customers, not small ones."
"We chose to purchase IBM BPM because it was bundled with the actual RPA program/solution that we decided to purchase. We decided to use Automation Anywhere tool (RPA), and it is was bundled with IBM BPM."
"Due to its extensive features and capabilities, the product pricing is more aligned with medium—to large enterprises."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
33%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Insurance Company
5%
Financial Services Firm
31%
Computer Software Company
12%
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?
AWS Step Functions is a useful tool for orchestration, particularly when using various AWS services. It helps create workflows and manage the order between services like Lambda and Glue jobs.
What advice do you have for others considering Amazon Step Functions?
Overall, I rate Step Functions nine out of ten. Such ratings are subjective, and I generally do not rate any service a ten out of ten.
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...
 

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: December 2024.
823,795 professionals have used our research since 2012.