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AWS Step Functions vs IBM Business Automation Workflow 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
7.6
IBM Business Automation Workflow enhances efficiency, reduces costs, and accelerates digital transformation for improved ROI and user experience.
Initially performed manually, workflows now provide a better user experience and increased efficiency.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.6
AWS Step Functions support is generally effective, especially for enterprise users, though experiences can vary for smaller organizations.
Sentiment score
5.9
IBM Business Automation Workflow's support has mixed reviews, but many find value once acquainted with their processes.
The speed of reply and the content of their responses usually solve the problems that arise.
I use enterprise support, which is excellent, providing responses within fifteen minutes.
IBM provides long-term support and maintains a traditionally good customer-vendor relationship.
If the solution is readily available to IBM support team, they provide it instantly.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.6
AWS Step Functions is scalable and adaptable, efficiently handling high demand and diverse business needs for various users.
Sentiment score
7.8
IBM Business Automation Workflow is highly scalable, supporting extensive transactions, concurrent users, and both cloud and on-premises deployments.
They can handle multiple simultaneous requests effectively.
We can manage the license usage and scale our environment while optimizing license use.
We are implementing load balancing and horizontal scalability.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.5
AWS Step Functions offers strong stability and reliability, ensuring uptime with contingency plans and integration of third-party services.
Sentiment score
7.6
IBM Business Automation Workflow is stable, with minor bugs, improving over time; users rate stability highly due to IBM's robust infrastructure.
If one zone fails, others handle the demand, ensuring high availability.
Outside of these maintenance periods, the environment is quite stable.
 

Room For Improvement

AWS Step Functions needs better data handling, integration, pricing clarity, and dynamic coding to improve performance and usability.
IBM Business Automation Workflow needs improved integration, usability, cloud features, and support to enhance user experience and modernize the platform.
It would benefit from more integration with different applications or services.
Many developments are focused on AI, LLM models, and data science.
Code management lacks merging capabilities.
IBM Business Automation Workflow could be more intuitive, with more advanced low-code features and services definition.
 

Setup Cost

AWS Step Functions pricing is complex and variable, with mixed reviews on cost-effectiveness and integration benefits.
IBM Business Automation Workflow is costly but offers high-quality features, flexible licensing, and worthwhile enterprise-level capabilities.
Pricing for Step Functions is very cheap.
The cost is average, provided it is configured correctly.
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

AWS Step Functions simplify pipeline creation with integration, visualization, automation, and advanced workflows, enhancing application development and execution.
IBM Business Automation Workflow offers agile, user-friendly workflow solutions with RPA integration, enhancing collaboration, customization, and AI-driven processes.
Step Functions provide seamless integration with AWS services, which enhances the speed of application development.
AWS Step Functions offers advanced workflows that save time and enhance efficiency by reducing delays and ensuring consistent orchestration among various services.
It was particularly valuable for its integration capabilities, allowing for execution of scripts and data migration.
It assisted in making users concentrate on the process flow rather than just features.
This solution has streamlined previously manual processes into orchestrated workflows.
We have integrations with different banks, ERP systems, and other human resource management systems by integrating through different systems.
 

Categories and Ranking

AWS Step Functions
Ranking in Business Process Management (BPM)
12th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
13
Ranking in other categories
Workload Automation (13th)
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 AWS Step Functions is 2.3%, down from 3.1% 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)
 

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.
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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Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Business Process Management (BPM) solutions are best for your needs.
848,716 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
31%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software 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

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?
The primary use case was the execution of scripts and data migration related to data lakes. We were using Python and other AWS Step Functions ( /products/aws-step-functions-reviews ).
What advice do you have for others considering Amazon Step Functions?
I would recommend AWS Step Functions to others. Overall, I rate AWS Step Functions an eight 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...
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

Amazon Step Functions, Step Functions
Business Automation Workflow
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Alpha Apps, The Guardian, SGK, Bigfinite
Key Bank, Barclays, Control€xpert, MIR Insurance Brokers, Conqord Oil
Find out what your peers are saying about AWS Step Functions vs. IBM Business Automation Workflow and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
848,716 professionals have used our research since 2012.