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IBM BPM vs Oracle BPEL comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 17, 2024
 

Categories and Ranking

IBM BPM
Ranking in Process Automation
5th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
110
Ranking in other categories
Business Process Management (BPM) (8th), Application Infrastructure (7th)
Oracle BPEL
Ranking in Process Automation
21st
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of December 2024, in the Process Automation category, the mindshare of IBM BPM is 10.4%, down from 11.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Oracle BPEL is 0.7%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Process Automation
 

Featured Reviews

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.
NA
Saves time; user-friendly environment
Our biggest issue with Oracle BPEL is that it is a monolith. Because it's a monolith, everybody tries to consume its services in a shared infrastructure. Because of this, some companies are trying to migrate to a microservice architecture. We use API gateways to get around these issues. If you want an orchestrator with BPEL and you have an API gateway with a layer of services, you can combine both technologies and try to get the best of both worlds. In the next release, I would like to see REST improved and new technologies for microservices. I'd like to see more containers for separating containers.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"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."
"We are receiving good assistance from the technical support."
"I think the best way it can be it improved, is to make it easier to install. It's a very complicated piece of software, and there are a lot of things you have to do to get it set up. It's not just running an installer. You install WebSphere. You install the BPM product, and there's a large host of other steps you have to do: run queries against the database, you have to manually configure a bunch of properties files for your environment. I think if they could streamline all that, so it wasn't a considerable effort to install, that would be very useful. Because from an engineering point of view, you want to spend as little time as possible actually installing a product."
"Initially, the process architecture studio was very helpful and it was compliant with BPMN standards."
"It is a very powerful solution."
"They have some quick-win programs that are designed to come in, they'll bring a developer in and they'll work with your developer to get you started. That's what we did and that worked really great. We got an understanding of the product, we got an understanding of how to deploy the product. And when we were done with that engagement, we were off and running."
"Setting it up is fairly easy. If somebody has knowledge of the system, he or she will be able to do it fairly quickly."
"The integration and design are valuable features."
"What I find the most valuable about Oracle BPEL is that it saves me time."
"The product has everything we need."
"The solution is very seamless and fast."
"The most valuable feature is the support for human tasks."
 

Cons

"It can definitely be improved in terms of performance and stability."
"We have been experiencing bad performance and instability."
"The front end is not customised for a good user experience."
"Importing and exporting between multiple environments is more difficult with other tools."
"The integration could be improved."
"IBM BPM's UI is an area with shortcomings where improvements are required."
"I believe that if the license were cheaper, it would have a greater impact."
"The constant switch between Eclipse and its web versions can be annoying and confusing."
"Some user-defined functions for transformation must be added to the next release of the solution."
"In the next release, I would like to see REST improved and new technologies for microservices. I'd like to see more containers for separating containers."
"The solution's integration with SAP should be seamless because some formats are not accepted in SAP but are accepted in Oracle BPEL."
"They need to have support for new protocols like GraphQL and possibly some out-of-the-box adapters for SAP and other big systems."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing is quite high, I would rate it two out of five."
"I rate the solution's pricing a four out of ten."
"We have a yearly licensing model. It is not expensive. There are no addition costs to the standard license."
"The price of the solution is fair for an enterprise solution that has both cloud and on-premise deployments and when comparing to competitors. Recently IBM has introduced Cloud Pak which allows for more flexible licensing options for automation and other features."
"On a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive, I rate the pricing a ten."
"The price is good but could be a little lower."
"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."
"The solution is expensive since it is an enterprise application."
"The product is moderately priced."
"The solution's pricing is moderate and not expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
31%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Government
6%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Computer Software Company
11%
Government
10%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

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 needs improvement with Oracle BPEL?
They need to have support for new protocols like GraphQL and possibly some out-of-the-box adapters for SAP and other big systems. It should be better if the SAP adapter were included in the bundle.
What is your primary use case for Oracle BPEL?
We primarily use Oracle BPEL for process automation. It is used for workflows for documents, data transfers, and other processes implemented for our customers.
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

WebSphere Lombardi Edition, IBM Business Process Manager, IBM WebSphere Process Server
BPEL Process Manager
 

Learn More

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

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
Nacional Monte de Piedad IAP, Bimbo S.A. de C.V., Intelligent Pathways, DVZ Datenverarbeitungszentrum Mecklenburg-Vorpommern GmbH, Arqiva
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM BPM vs. Oracle BPEL and other solutions. Updated: December 2024.
824,067 professionals have used our research since 2012.