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IBM BPM vs ServiceNow Orchestration comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 17, 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 BPM
Ranking in Process Automation
9th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
113
Ranking in other categories
Business Process Management (BPM) (5th), Application Infrastructure (8th)
ServiceNow Orchestration
Ranking in Process Automation
14th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
16
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2026, in the Process Automation category, the mindshare of IBM BPM is 5.2%, down from 7.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of ServiceNow Orchestration is 2.7%, down from 4.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Process Automation Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
IBM BPM5.2%
ServiceNow Orchestration2.7%
Other92.1%
Process Automation
 

Featured Reviews

Ateeq Rehman - PeerSpot reviewer
Unit Head System Implementor at Allied Bank Limited
Automation platforms streamline processes and offer flexibility, but AI integration and version upgrades pose challenges
In the technology world, there is always room for improvement. Technologies evolve day by day, especially with the emergence of artificial intelligence and generative AI models. Although IBM BPM is a substantial product, adopting and integrating new technologies quickly is not easy due to the migration and upgrade paths involved. Every time new versions are released, we face business and production challenges that make rapid adoption challenging. The main concern bothering me today regarding IBM BPM is the integration of AI components.
Claude-Yameogo - PeerSpot reviewer
Consultant at a comms service provider with 1,001-5,000 employees
Has helped orchestrate processes and integrate workflows across cloud environments
I recommend ServiceNow Orchestration for larger companies because they have the capability to manage complex environments where it performs better. I promote low-code solutions for these implementations. I don't currently have an idea regarding the pre-built integrations of ServiceNow Orchestration, but I plan to check my area to determine what added value it can bring. I would rate this solution a nine overall.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"When you use it for the right use cases (e.g., a loan origination process for a bank, claims processing for an insurance company, or a healthcare provider accepting a claim and settling it), processes which typically range from hours to weeks, then when you apply BPM, you bring the processes down by an order of magnitude to minutes to hours, respectively."
"Our customers use the solution as a workflow platform to manage their processes."
"This is one of the best tools to support the business and the way we work, and the numerous processes we need to implement."
"There is a component of this BPM pool - I can't recall the name. What it does is, it allows you to create various scenarios and then run them quickly, before actually putting them onto a tool. So I think that part of the tool is really fantastic, because that enables you to create scenarios, create simulations, before actually going out and putting it into the tool itself"
"We are moving to this tool because we have more than 40,000 transactions a month, and we would like to triple this amount."
"It excels at analytics. It provides visibility across all activities of a company's processes and performance."
"One thing that I love about them is that they make it easier to integrate with other systems, especially with the use of smaller files."
"We started four years ago with one or two process apps, but now we've got close to 40, so that's a lot of incremental development in the last three years."
"Employee onboarding, de-boarding, and other service-provision features make the process easier and it saves us a lot of time."
"Employee onboarding, de-boarding, and other service-provision features make the process easier and it saves us a lot of time."
"I would definitely recommend Orchestration if you're already on the ServiceNow platform."
"The iTerm suite is also crucial for visibility and optimization."
"It is a very stable product, highly affordable."
"There are a lot of ready to use orchestration custom packs."
"It's scalable."
"I use it to orchestrate processes and integration features to gather and update data during specified timeframes or exchange data in real-time when changes occur based on certain criteria."
 

Cons

"The business would like to use the product with a lot less IT and equipment involvement."
"IBM could improve the price. It is far too expensive."
"The solution didn’t play well with the Microsoft SQL Server and there was a stand-off between the two vendors blaming each other for performance issues."
"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."
"Importing and exporting between multiple environments is more difficult with other tools."
"The interface is limited and should improve in the future."
"Import/export of attachments Transfer of attachments to/from JIRA"
"There is a lot of room for improvement of the dashboards."
"From my space, the only thing that I can say is the spinning up with Google Cloud Services."
"The flow rate for releases and updates is very, very slow and does not meet customers' objectives for scalability."
"It is a highly complex platform to work on."
"We have found some gaps in integration because all of our customers require niche tools."
"There can be gaps in integration."
"Frequent upgrades may negatively impact the performance of instances. Therefore, for now, I don't recommend any additional upgrades."
"We had a few use cases where we couldn't find solutions in Orchestration and had to go with the publishers to solve them."
"There should be connectors to cover at least the top industry applications, and they should be easier to configure in a plug-and-play fashion."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It may be cheaper for organizations to pay for the Viewer licenses that are immediately up and running in the cloud, rather than paying for someone to administer publishing to an intranet."
"The product is expensive considering the hardware and software costs."
"The price is good but could be a little lower."
"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."
"I rate the tool's pricing a seven out of ten."
"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 pricing is quite high, I would rate it two out of five."
"The solution is expensive since it is an enterprise application."
"It is quite expensive because we've had some customers come back and say it's quite pricey because in order for them to go ahead with Orchestration, they must have already been paying for Discovery, service mapping, and a few other things."
"The solution is costly and orchestrations are very expensive."
"In terms of price, this solution is at the higher end of what you'll find."
"This is an expensive product, but it is the best in the market considering the features and lack of competitors."
"ServiceNow doesn't give a clear cost indication. They have different contracts with different organizations and it's all about negotiation, so you don't know how they are doing at the cost level."
"It is not very expensive."
"Pricing is custom to every customer."
"The cost of the solution is based on the number of plugins, conductors and integrations used and is charged annually. The licensing cause has been increasing gradually which makes it difficult to access. Initially offer free features but over the time the charges rise which make it an expensive solution with limited features. Along with that, the integration issues persist and require additional middle where and internet connectivity for effective usage."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
23%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Computer Software Company
6%
Construction Company
6%
Financial Services Firm
22%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Computer Software Company
6%
Insurance Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business30
Midsize Enterprise19
Large Enterprise72
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise9
 

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 is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM BPM?
Once it is installed, maintaining it is not a big issue.
What needs improvement with IBM BPM?
There are negative aspects, such as IBM BPM being quite heavy and not lightweight, and the licensing cost is higher, which has caused some companies to shift away. IBM BPM is complicated to install...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ServiceNow Orchestration?
The cost of ServiceNow Orchestration is considered medium; it is expensive but powerful. I would rate the pricing experience as a six out of ten.
What needs improvement with ServiceNow Orchestration?
If I compare the interface of ServiceNow Orchestration with Boomi, it is easier to use Boomi than ServiceNow Orchestration. Boomi is an ESB with orchestration features to integrate and exchange dat...
What is your primary use case for ServiceNow Orchestration?
I use ServiceNow Orchestration's third-party integrations, and when I benchmarked ServiceNow Orchestration, I ensured that there are connectors and API capabilities available to integrate it with o...
 

Also Known As

WebSphere Lombardi Edition, IBM Business Process Manager, IBM WebSphere Process Server
No data available
 

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
experian, BEACHBODY, HealthPartners, Banosoft
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM BPM vs. ServiceNow Orchestration and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
886,858 professionals have used our research since 2012.