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IBM Business Automation Workflow vs IBM Case Foundation comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 18, 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 Business Automation Wor...
Ranking in Business Process Management (BPM)
13th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
25
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
IBM Case Foundation
Ranking in Business Process Management (BPM)
30th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
14
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Business Process Management (BPM) category, the mindshare of IBM Business Automation Workflow is 1.9%, down from 2.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Case Foundation is 0.5%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Business Process Management (BPM) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
IBM Business Automation Workflow1.9%
IBM Case Foundation0.5%
Other97.6%
Business Process Management (BPM)
 

Featured Reviews

Ateeq Rehman - PeerSpot reviewer
Customizable features empower seamless workflow automation
The system is fully customizable, very resilient, and fault-tolerant. We have first-line support from IBM, so there are no issues. We have integrations with different banks, ERP systems, and other human resource management systems by integrating through different systems. It provides many ways to integrate, and we are utilizing it effectively.
Nouman Nawaz - PeerSpot reviewer
Mature product in terms of security and stable product
The architecture is a bit difficult, but in BAW, they introduced the Business Automation Workflow. It's a bit easier compared to Case Manager. Currently, we use Case Manager, so it's a bit difficult to upgrade and handle, but BAW is comparatively much better and easier to handle. The limitation is only for customization because IBM doesn't support it. In some scenarios, if you want some business processes to be customized, we have already spoken two or three times with IBM representatives that we have to customize some of the features in this business process. They would say that if you want to do this automation at your own end, then okay, fine, go ahead, but we are not supporting all this customization. The only thing is the customization because it's a complete standard application.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"One of the most valuable features is the way that they are adapting to the market. Initially, it was doing only workflow. Now it has started bringing all the other components like rules within the workflow and then the integration with RPA."
"The business process modeling is the most valuable feature."
"The system is fully customizable, very resilient, and fault-tolerant."
"The solution reduces the time to the resolution which is essential for businesses."
"IBM provides long-term support and maintains a traditionally good customer-vendor relationship."
"IBM has spent a lot of time on the connections between the rules engine and its other product, the core BPM platform. They've really centralized the suite as one offering now."
"It provides a solution for integration orchestration. This solution is for any organization in the banking, telecommunications, healthcare, manufacturing, and all domains and industries."
"IBM Business Automation Workflow is useful for helping us design custom user interfaces and processes we require."
"The most valuable feature is the content manager part of the file as it is very stable, robust, and reliable."
"The content management is great."
"It is easy to set up workflows that notify the user depending on certain events."
"It's very easy."
"A valuable feature includes seamless integration with the document management system, along with robust capabilities in analytics and reporting."
"Flexible and the ability to divide search screens, and to search for documents. The ECM feature inside the system is great."
"The only thing is that we can easily track where the application is in the process, from manual to automation."
"It provides us the capability of producing b​​usiness processes for documents that are launched immediately when a document comes into the repository."
 

Cons

"While everything is integrated into one platform, I'd like guidelines on when and how to use ODM. This applies not only to implementation but also to automation processes. Additionally, proper instructions should be provided when installing on the cloud."
"The UI of the solution is not good. They should work to update the solution and make it better and fresher."
"The monitoring features must be improved."
"IBM Business Automation Workflow could be more intuitive, with more advanced low-code features and services definition."
"The setup and installation process could be made easier."
"If the issue needs escalation to level two or level three, it can take time on a case-by-case basis."
"IBM Business Automation Workflow could be more intuitive, with more advanced low-code features and services definition."
"IBM Business Automation Workflow could improve the integration."
"Comparing the solution with other interfaces, IBM BPM is much better than Case Foundation. They need to make this solution's interface more user-friendly."
"​The place of improvement is merging or combining all of the workflow functionality into one seamless tool. Now, there are multiple installations that are different. Case Foundation, before you can put Case Manager and you've got IBM BPM, and the roadmap is there to merge them altogether. But that's the struggle at the moment, it's having multiple installations and disparate workflow applications.​"
"The interface needs to be more user-friendly."
"The cloud version could use more stability."
"We are now using microservices but there are some areas where the coordination with FileNet is problematic."
"The solution can be quite expensive."
"There is a need for more open and flexible integration capabilities, allowing seamless collaboration with a broader spectrum of business process management solutions, beyond the confines of IBM's document management offerings."
"The limitation is only for customization because IBM doesn't support it."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution has saved us time."
"IBM Business Automation Workflow has a flexible pricing mode, but the price is expensive. The price of the solution reflects the quality of the solution which is very high. The technical support is an additional cost."
"Licensing varies by use-case."
"While it can be quite costly, it offers significant benefits for users."
"It is on the expensive side, but it provides excellent supportability and an ecosystem that is proven to be a great fit for our organization."
"There is still a relatively high total cost of ownership to actually implement, support, and stand up solutions."
"When you compare with Laserfiche and M-Files, IBM is expensive."
"Our license is on a three-year term."
"This is not an expensive solution and we are using the standard license."
"IBM Case Foundation is a little expensive."
"The price falls in the middle range—not overly expensive but not extremely affordable either."
"Pricing is in the mid-range, it is not cheap, but it's not expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
32%
Computer Software Company
10%
Insurance Company
7%
Government
5%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business6
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise16
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business5
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise6
 

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 do you like most about IBM Business Automation Workflow?
It performs the basic tasks that are required for the BBM solution as part of the overall integration with ECM or enterprise contact management.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Business Automation Workflow?
The price of IBM Business Automation Workflow is on the higher side compared to the features it offers.
What do you like most about IBM Case Foundation?
A valuable feature includes seamless integration with the document management system, along with robust capabilities in analytics and reporting.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Case Foundation?
The tool is expensive for my customers; it is very expensive, more than other solutions. Some customers say it is more expensive. The license cost for Cloud Pak is per user and increases with the n...
What needs improvement with IBM Case Foundation?
We face some challenges with IBM Case Foundation from our customers, particularly with administration and configuration. We face many issues and open tickets with IBM regarding that, especially som...
 

Also Known As

Business Automation Workflow
Case Foundation, FileNet Business Process Manager
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Key Bank, Barclays, Control€xpert, MIR Insurance Brokers, Conqord Oil
Suncorp Group Limited
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Business Automation Workflow vs. IBM Case Foundation and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
870,701 professionals have used our research since 2012.