IBM Blueworks Live vs Visual Paradigm comparison

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IBM Blueworks Live

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 3, 2024

IBM Blueworks Live and Visual Paradigm compete in the process modeling and diagramming tools category. Visual Paradigm appears to have an advantage with its extensive diagramming capabilities and flexibility in integration.

Features: IBM Blueworks Live excels in real-time process modeling with intuitive collaboration tools and supports BPMN 2.0, providing a central repository for processes. Visual Paradigm offers extensive diagramming across various engineering fields, supporting standards like UML and enabling integration of different models with strong functionality for enterprise architecture, along with a valuable simulation feature for process analysis.

Room for Improvement: IBM Blueworks Live needs enhanced simulation capabilities and more flexible reporting options, while its integration and collaboration features require improvements for handling complex process models. Visual Paradigm should focus on faster visualization of complex models and better integration for process mining. Enhanced documentation and reduced resource consumption would also improve its usability.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: IBM Blueworks Live is mainly deployed on public cloud and offers responsive support but has limited direct interaction due to user proficiency. Visual Paradigm provides flexible deployment options, including on-premises and hybrid cloud, along with an effective support structure, though performance issues can impact deployment ease in resource-heavy situations.

Pricing and ROI: IBM Blueworks Live offers competitive pricing and varied licensing options, making it accessible for businesses of all sizes, and demonstrates significant ROI through time savings and reduced operating costs. Visual Paradigm provides affordable licenses with free tiers, allowing scalable features, and is preferred for its cost-effectiveness and comprehensive capabilities.

To learn more, read our detailed IBM Blueworks Live vs. Visual Paradigm Report (Updated: December 2024).

IBM Blueworks Live vs. Visual Paradigm

December 2024

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Categories and Ranking

IBM Blueworks Live

Ranking in Business Process Design

12th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Visual Paradigm

Ranking in Business Process Design

8th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of December 2024, in the Business Process Design category, the mindshare of IBM Blueworks Live is 3.5%, up from 3.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Visual Paradigm is 6.7%, up from 6.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Business Process Design

Featured Reviews

AjarMathur

Global Innovation Director at Ernst & Young

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.

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DominicMackenzie

Senior data architect at a financial services firm with 51-200 employees

Very flexible and easy to use with a good pricing model

I have used erwin and Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect. The first time I used Visual Paradigm was when I was a university student. I didn't want to pay a lot of money and Visual Paradigm had a very good pricing model, so it meant that I could effectively pay for the level of sophistication that I was using at the time and dial it back down to a simpler version.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"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."

"It has a built-in capability to capture process owners and managers against processes along with other process governance roles."

"For me the most valuable feature is that it's one depository for our bank. So it's not like everybody has their critical processes on SharePoint or on their desktops. Everything is centrally located. It's very intuitive, easy to use. The support that I get from IBM is always great."

"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."

"In terms of the collaboration features, from the point of discovery, it was useful to go to load up the policies and the rule sets that the client had. And in terms of exploring options and being able to model a variety of different processes, that was incredibly useful as well."

"Business users understand it really well, which means we can then help them automate their business processes."

"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."

More IBM Blueworks Live pros

"The initial setup is straightforward."

"It is a scalable solution...The initial setup was straightforward."

"The solution is very user-friendly. It's easy to just open it and start working."

"The solution is stable. It hasn't crashed, stopped or caused any issues in any way."

"Visual Paradigm is simple and easy to use."

"I like the structure. I can see the diagrams and everything I created."

"Stable design software with multiple functions and features. It's simple to install and easy to use."

"The most valuable feature of the Visual Paradigm that I use is process modeling. Additionally, the solution has a complete set of features."

More Visual Paradigm pros

Cons

"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."

"The user interface is quite easy at first but process analysts soon run into roadblocks of limited functionality, which is disappointing."

"I would like to see integration with ERP systems. This would help us to simulate the process and see where the problems are. Though IBM Blueworks Live is a good tool for documenting, it is not good for simulating."

"The APIs are great, except the normal business user doesn't know how to create APIs. So it's hard because IBM comes to us as the business users and tell us to create reporting with APIs, except we don't know that, so we have to turn around and flip it to our IT people."

"Spaces are not well organized; space controls are lacking."

"We haven't yet been able to dabble in case management with Blueworks Live, as it is not yet offered with the product."

"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."

"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."

More IBM Blueworks Live cons

"Visual Paradigm could improve many aspects. The performance could be better because it can be low. When we have large and complicated models, it has a low speed and many bugs. Sometimes the solution stops and you have to restart Microsoft Windows on your PC. The larger database modeling cannot be done properly, I have to use another solution called SAP PowerDesigner."

"For me, what needs improvement in Visual Paradigm is the limited features included in the $99 license, which is the cheapest option. If more features could be included in the cheapest licensing package, Visual Paradigm would be better, especially for businesses that have a limited budget for buying software."

"I was looking to generate code from the diagrams, but it was not totally clear how to do it."

"Visual Paradigm is heavier and has more complexity than one of its competitors, e.g. Lucidchart. It could have been better if it was more simplified."

"In terms of room for improvement in Visual Paradigm, I tried looking for one. I'm pleased with the tool, but it would be great if you could integrate Visual Paradigm with more tools. For example, when moving from Visual Paradigm to another tool, such as Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect, the process could be improved a bit. Still, I wonder if it's not limited by the standards Visual Paradigm follows, such as XMI files. It could be connected to limitations related to the standards rather than a tool limitation. When you move projects from Visual Paradigm into Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect via XMI files, you lose all your notes from the elements, so this is an area for improvement in Visual Paradigm. TOGAF support is an additional feature I'd like to see in the next release of Visual Paradigm. I'd also like the tool to have ArchiMate support. If both TOGAF and ArchiMate could be supported in Visual Paradigm and made part of a lower level of licensing or cheaper licensing models, that would be best for me."

"The product's versioning capability needs improvement."

"Takes up a lot of resources."

"The user interface is not easy to navigate, so it should be made easier."

More Visual Paradigm cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"They have a free subscription model that gives a lot of power to the users."

"Price wise, IBM Blueworks Live is in the middle range, and I would give it a five out of ten."

"The solution is not very expensive."

"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 very, very cost-effective."

"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."

"You can use Paradigm on a subscription basis and you can choose from different tiers of subscription."

"Visual Paradigm's pricing is not expensive."

"In terms of pricing, I find Visual Paradigm's subscription services reasonable, especially for the modern and standard editions. However, the premium products can be a bit pricey, especially considering our location in the Middle East. Currently, paying around a hundred dollars per user translates to almost six hundred Egyptian pounds, which can add up. For enterprise licensing, I think the perpetual license option could be more affordable. If it were cheaper, say around five hundred dollars, I would have invested in multiple perpetual licenses long ago. Sometimes, to manage costs, we share accounts among team members or switch access on and off for certain members who aren't actively working on projects. As for additional costs, there are charges for cloud services, which I'm considering because I've already exceeded the free capacity."

"Pricing for Visual Paradigm is a four out of five for me. I'm happy with its pricing."

"This is an open-sourced solution, it is free to use."

"Over the years I've seen an increase in price, and it makes it difficult for a single person company, like me, to decide whether to extend the license."

"You can move between the tiers from month to month so you are not restricted to one pricing model."

"The pricing of Visual Paradigm is very appropriate and affordable. There are no hidden costs involved."

More Visual Paradigm pricing and cost advice

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Business Process Design solutions are best for your needs.

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

19%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Computer Software Company

10%

Government

Educational Organization

11%

Computer Software Company

11%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Manufacturing Company

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.

What do you like most about Visual Paradigm?

The solution is the best application for data modeling. It helps to architect business processes. Its best features are pricing and functionality.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Visual Paradigm?

I mentioned using the free version. The free version of Visual Paradigm does not incur any setup costs and offers a set of usable features.

What needs improvement with Visual Paradigm?

I didn't use it so deeply that I found areas that needed improvement or features that were missing. So far, its existing features were sufficient for my needs. There is a certain inherent complexit...

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Compared 8% of the time

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Product Reports

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IBM Blueworks Live

December 2024

Download Visual Paradigm product report

November 2024

Also Known As

IBM Lombardi Blueprint

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IBM

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Overview

IBM Blueworks Live is a cloud-based business process modeling tool that helps you discover, map and document your processes. It is easy to use, allowing you to learn and perform business process modeling in minutes.

With Blueworks Live you can:

Simplify business process modeling
Quickly build business processes in a straightforward, cloud-based interface designed for both IT and business users.

Improve process efficiency and accuracy
A central process repository eliminates version control and consistency issues by providing users real-time access to process workflows.

Enhance cross-team collaboration
A shared team workspace engages all business process owners, encouraging cross-team participation and continuous process improvement.

Visual Paradigm is a UML tool. The tool is designed for a wide range of users including software engineers, system analysts, business analysts and system architects, or for anyone who is interested in reliably building large-scale software systems using an object-oriented approach. In addition, Visual Paradigm supports the latest standards of UML notation.

Sample Customers

Cloudsoft Corp. Ltd., Bayer, S¾SS, Essex County Council

Adobe, Apple, at&t, Caterpillar, Intel, NASA, Nokia, Toyota