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IBM Blueworks Live vs Visio comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 3, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

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

Categories and Ranking

IBM Blueworks Live
Ranking in Business Process Design
12th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
20
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Visio
Ranking in Business Process Design
2nd
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
106
Ranking in other categories
Mind Mapping Software (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2025, in the Business Process Design category, the mindshare of IBM Blueworks Live is 3.5%, up from 3.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Visio is 12.4%, down from 13.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Business Process Design
 

Featured Reviews

AjarMathur - PeerSpot reviewer
An easily scalable and affordable solution that enables users to document and digitize processes with ease
IBM Blueworks is BPMN 2.0 compliant, but it does not adapt to the overarching BPMN 2.0 concepts. There is only one kind of BPMN 2.0 diagram. It is a process diagram. It doesn't have the concept of separate tools, which other products offer. If I had to do a hardcore BPMN 2.0 modeling, the product would have its own reservations. There were features we could not explore from a BPMN 2.0 perspective. Most of the time, people who are shifting from Microsoft Office tools to a digitized way of working still want the reporting capabilities to be strong. Some tools, like ARIS or Signavio, offer customized solutions from the reporting perspective. If I have documented my whole finance process and want to fetch out a complete SOP report in a very customized manner, IBM Blueworks cannot provide it. We have to rely on some other services. So that's one area in which we always struggled, how to really customize the reporting aspects. I understand that we need to keep the tool a little more asset-light. It's very difficult to keep adding many options, but at least a few BPMN 2.0 options were needed. We have been suggesting to IBM that we should have some way of customizing the reporting. At least we should get a custom way of reporting it into different formats like Excel or putting up a logo for one of the clients so that their SAP can be printed that way.
Tugrul TASCI - PeerSpot reviewer
We have seen return on investment in the form of time savings but should have more design tools
I am generally using Visio to create some diagrams Visio should implement more complex tools or graphics to facilitate processing and use flexible templates. It should allow users to easily drag and drop some previously created diagrams. The tools supplied or provided are very basic, and there…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The reporting that we can generate from IBM Blueworks Live has been interesting. We found the KPIs, risks, process modeling, format, and colors, to be very good. We use the EY template and it is interesting to generate reporting in this format."
"It has a built-in capability to capture process owners and managers against processes along with other process governance roles."
"The ease of documenting and digitizing the processes was valuable to us."
"Valuable features include real-time modeling and design work, the ability to perform workshops with clients in real-time with the tool, and getting instant output."
"For me, what I find to be the most valuable is its simplicity and the association with Microsoft Office."
"It enables decisions based upon processes that we do model, and ultimately move forward with."
"The licenses are transferrable between different users."
"The stability is pretty good. It is highly available, which is key. You don't lose your work and can autosave."
"The most valuable feature is the ability to draw models quickly."
"Visio has allowed us to create good diagrams for our technical employees to consume. The solution provides templates, is straightforward, and has tools for the easy creation of diagrams."
"I recommend Visio to others based on my experience."
"Simple to use and very intuitive."
"On the scalability front, the aspect of increasing the number of endpoints is relatively easy to handle."
"Visio makes it easier than with other tools to do such tasks as changing things or coming up with one's own visual style for presentation purposes."
"I like to use Visio because it gives me a quick view of the things I had to put in a model for a company. I don't use it as an interface, though."
"It's a very meat and potatoes type of product and isn't overly designed. It's very easy to find your way through the solution, as it's not too complicated."
 

Cons

"Some of the import functionality was a bit restrictive, in terms of loading data in from other data sources. Something as simple as Excel, loading data tables from Excel, wasn't great. And vice-versa. Some of the export and import functionality with something like Visio - which, I know it's a slightly different tool - but being able to work seamlessly with those other tool sets would've been quite useful. I know it was something that was in the pipeline to be looked at. So that would be useful."
"The user interface is quite easy at first but process analysts soon run into roadblocks of limited functionality, which is disappointing."
"It is BPMN-compliant but the tool needs to be more involved to get into a completely 2.0 oriented tool. It has a few things but it's not the complete BPMN model."
"IBM Blueworks is BPMN 2.0 compliant, but it does not adapt to the overarching BPMN 2.0 concepts."
"I wish Blueworks Live had simulations built in, but it doesn't. It also lacks a feature of reporting; ad hoc, drag and drop reporting. A lot of senior people are always asking for reports, and there's no reporting feature within IBM Blueworks."
"We'd also like to see it be Six Sigma or Lean compatible, a lot of people have asked about that."
"The font size is really, really small and it's really not useful to print out process models because you cannot read what's written in different boxes. This makes it necessary for people to have access to the tool. We view licenses to see how the printing or output is. It's not very good."
"The ability to create a very structured rule. With the capability that we have right now, Blueworks Live is more process focused. We should be able to enhance it to include a lot more of decisions as well."
"The one particular thing which I would like to see improved is in comparison to other products in the market, and is still lacking in Visio, is publishing on a web application. For example, there is a freeware application business process modeling tool, Bizagi."
"Visio can be more user-friendly."
"It requires a lot of skill to get into it."
"Visio should implement more complex tools or graphics to facilitate processing and use flexible templates. The tools supplied or provided are very basic, and there are not enough tools for design."
"I would like to see better integration with external data sources."
"Inventory feature could be improved."
"It should be easier to transition into a new version without having to spend so much time in just one area."
"The solution is pretty expensive."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Making it less expensive would be good."
"Based on the licenses purchased, from a footprint perspective, you can have as many people as you want. You have multiple different categories of licenses to keep the cost low."
"They have a free subscription model that gives a lot of power to the users."
"The solution is very, very cost-effective."
"There are editor licenses that are around 50 euros per month, and contributor licenses that are around 30 euros per month."
"We are seeing ROI from this solution. The solution has saved us time."
"The solution is not very expensive."
"Price wise, IBM Blueworks Live is in the middle range, and I would give it a five out of ten."
"The price could be more flexible for infrequent users. If it's your main utility that you use daily, then it's a good price."
"Visio is about a $180 dollars to purchase. It is a one-time licensing fee."
"The popularity of a product is an indicator of its price. Because of the popularity of Visio, its price is on the higher side. We need better pricing for it."
"If I want to buy Visio for myself, I think it will be around 80 to 120 USD, though it is important to consider that I am unsure of its actual costs."
"Our license for Visio is including with the Office 365 subscription."
"The solution could be less expensive."
"While I don't recall the exact price I do recall that it was quite high."
"We're in a Visio plan that is like $15 a month per user. At the moment, it is just the standard licensing fees that I'm aware of."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
19%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Government
8%
Financial Services Firm
16%
Government
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about IBM Blueworks Live?
The solution is easy to operate. Also, there is an automatic mode to make the business flow. You don't have to put any lines or arrows in a decision point in IBM Blueworks Live; it's very automatic.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Blueworks Live?
The solution costs around 600-700 dollars/year, which is quite affordable.
What needs improvement with IBM Blueworks Live?
Sometimes, the tool is automatic, which can complicate it, but once you're accustomed to manipulating it, you can use it very effectively.
How easy is it to migrate process flow charts (modeled using tools like Visio) into Bizagi?
I have been using Bizagi with a major project for a state government agency for about four years now. It is pretty straightforward to load in files that are BPMN 2.0 compliant. The option to load V...
What do you like most about Visio?
The diagrams Visio creates are quite impressive in the sense that we can cooperate with more colleagues in one task and see the flow of the process.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Visio?
One of the main problems with Visio is its licensing options and associated issues, which lead to discussions about the price with a Microsoft representative. If asked to rate the price, I would gi...
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

IBM Lombardi Blueprint
Microsoft Visio
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Cloudsoft Corp. Ltd., Bayer, S¾SS, Essex County Council
Thomas College, Hamburg Port Authority, Portigon AG, Conseil G_n_ral du d_partement des Hautes-Alpes, AAA Auto a. s., Commonwealth Financial Network, ICA, Abu Dhabi National Energy Company
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Blueworks Live vs. Visio and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
842,296 professionals have used our research since 2012.