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IBM BPM vs vCenter Orchestrator 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:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
6.7
IBM BPM delivers ROI by optimizing workflows, cutting errors, and reducing issuance time, despite initial costs, within a year.
Sentiment score
6.0
Medium to large enterprises gain ROI from virtualization, but quantifying returns is challenging; vCenter Orchestrator suits specific needs.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.7
IBM BPM's customer service is highly rated for responsiveness, despite occasional delays, with quality varying by location and issue complexity.
Sentiment score
6.2
VMware support is praised for communication and resolution but needs faster response and deeper expertise in some cases.
The customer service is outstanding.
Project Manager at Ora-Tech Systems
On a scale from 1 to 10, support deserves a rating of 7 to 8.
Unit Head System Implementor at Allied Bank Limited
We had a contract that provided on-site support, which was very satisfactory.
Compliance Sanctions Senior Analyst at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
6.9
IBM BPM is scalable, supports large workloads and complex tasks, but scalability varies by architecture, configuration, and concurrent transactions.
Sentiment score
7.3
vCenter Orchestrator effectively scales from small to large environments, adapting well despite some hardware-specific challenges.
The solution has scalability issues; on a scale, I would rate it at eight out of ten.
Project Manager at Ora-Tech Systems
The architecture of the solution offers scalability; we can scale both vertically and horizontally.
Unit Head System Implementor at Allied Bank Limited
I found IBM BPM to be scalable to a certain level but it struggled with large volumes of concurrent transactions.
Compliance Sanctions Senior Analyst at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.2
IBM BPM is generally stable, with on-premises better than cloud, but faces challenges in migrations and occasionally infrastructure-related issues.
Sentiment score
7.9
vCenter Orchestrator is highly stable, reliable, and efficient, with occasional issues, praised for trustworthy performance by users.
 

Room For Improvement

IBM BPM needs better configuration, improved UI, flexibility, enhanced performance, affordability, cloud capabilities, and easier debugging and maintenance.
vCenter Orchestrator requires affordability, interface improvements, better integration, automation features, simpler workflows, and accessible support and resources.
Technologies evolve day by day, especially with the emergence of artificial intelligence and generative AI models.
Unit Head System Implementor at Allied Bank Limited
IBM BPM also lacks smaller solutions, so I must purchase multiple solutions to start with workflows and applications.
Compliance Sanctions Senior Analyst at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
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.
Senior Project Manager at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Setup Cost

IBM BPM is costly with complex licensing, favored by large enterprises, but impractical for small businesses due to high expenses.
Enterprise users have mixed opinions on vCenter Orchestrator pricing, with some finding it expensive due to complex licensing.
SAP is more expensive, but IBM BPM is very expensive.
Compliance Sanctions Senior Analyst at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
 

Valuable Features

IBM BPM enhances business efficiency with robust process execution, integration, responsive UI, automation, and comprehensive management tools.
vCenter Orchestrator offers seamless automation, easy integration, scalability, user-friendly interface, and cost-effective virtual machine management.
Coordination across data silos is effective, and IBM BPM can be used for that purpose.
Senior Project Manager at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees
The integration capabilities of IBM BPM are excellent.
Compliance Sanctions Senior Analyst at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
 

Categories and Ranking

IBM BPM
Ranking in Process Automation
5th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
113
Ranking in other categories
Business Process Management (BPM) (5th), Application Infrastructure (6th)
vCenter Orchestrator
Ranking in Process Automation
10th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
51
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Process Automation category, the mindshare of IBM BPM is 4.9%, down from 7.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of vCenter Orchestrator is 0.7%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Process Automation Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
IBM BPM4.9%
vCenter Orchestrator0.7%
Other94.4%
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.
NB
Hybrid Cloud Engineer at RealPage
Boosts operational efficiency with flexible workflows and reliable cluster management
We currently use vCenter Orchestrator's pre-built workflow templates for our IT processes. The templates are flexible, allowing us to create and convert processes simply and manage patches. Regarding integration capabilities, we do not integrate any third-party tools. We exclusively use VMware products. The integration within the VMware infrastructure is limited to Single Sign-On (SSO). I have not created any workflows in vCenter Orchestrator as workflows are only used for change management. I have not encountered any drag and drop interface. The version control and logging features of vCenter Orchestrator have significantly improved the reliability of our automated processes, particularly during upgrades or patching to the cluster-wise. Previously, it would be done on a one-to-one cluster or one-to-one host basis, but now we only need to monitor it for upgrading or patching the entire cluster. I cannot comment on the pricing and licensing of vCenter Orchestrator as these aspects are managed by our onsite counterpart. Overall, I rate vCenter Orchestrator 8 out of 10. The rating reflects occasional delays in support response times and portal stability issues.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
26%
Computer Software Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Insurance Company
6%
Computer Software Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Performing Arts
8%
 

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 Business18
Midsize Enterprise13
Large Enterprise20
 

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 do you like most about vCenter Orchestrator?
The stability of the product is very good.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for vCenter Orchestrator?
We're running a low-profile budget. This is not our main focus on investment technology, so we're trying to reduce costs due to the change from perpetual to subscription licenses.
What needs improvement with vCenter Orchestrator?
For our environment, I do not see any areas of vCenter Orchestrator that could be improved or enhanced. We are currently satisfied with the orchestrator. If any improvements are needed, I will prov...
 

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
Beiersdorf Shared Services
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM BPM vs. vCenter Orchestrator and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
879,899 professionals have used our research since 2012.