IBM Business Automation Workflow vs IBM Case Foundation comparison

IBM Business Automation Workflow vs. IBM Case Foundation

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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)

14th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

IBM Case Foundation

Ranking in Business Process Management (BPM)

32nd

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Business Process Management (BPM) category, the mindshare of IBM Business Automation Workflow is 2.2%, down from 2.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Case Foundation is 0.4%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Business Process Management (BPM)

Featured Reviews

Ateeq Rehman

Unit Head System Implementor at Allied Bank Limited

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.

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Nouman Nawaz

Deputy Director - IT(Plans) at DHA Lahore

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.

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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

"The business process modeling is the most valuable feature."

"It has had a positive effect on decision-making in my organization. It helps us with our dispute process."

"Productivity improvements are notable because processes have been orchestrated and streamlined with IBM Business Automation Workflow."

"The product is suitable for knowledge management processes."

"The system is fully customizable, very resilient, and fault-tolerant."

"The most valuable feature is automation, which is quite strong and we are quite happy with it."

"The system is fully customizable, very resilient, and fault-tolerant."

"The solution's most valuable aspect is the fact it is highly configurable. We can do configurations very easily."

More IBM Business Automation Workflow pros

"The most valuable feature is its stability, which is why we are using it."

"It provides us the capability of producing business processes for documents that are launched immediately when a document comes into the repository."

"The most valuable features are those involving decision making, analysis, and anything related to event documents because those processes are related to content as well."

"The client and the IBM content navigation are the solution's most valuable features."

"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."

"Flexible and the ability to divide search screens, and to search for documents. The ECM feature inside the system is great."

"It's very easy."

More IBM Case Foundation pros

Cons

"The development UI is sometimes a little slow."

"The main improvement would be to make it easier to implement and deploy so that customers can kick it off and run quickly."

"Improvements could be made in debugging and troubleshooting."

"IBM Business Automation Workflow could improve the integration."

"One significant challenge is the lack of accessible forums or resources to seek help or information when problems arise."

"Every client is moving to the cloud. We are still a little behind with IBM, but we are catching up from my point of view."

"The SCADA Systems are very sophisticated and have a hard time integrating with our older scales. The technical support in regards to the partner side needs some improvement."

"If the issue needs escalation to level two or level three, it can take time on a case-by-case basis."

More IBM Business Automation Workflow cons

"The interface needs to be more user-friendly."

"90% of the feedback we receive states that the UI is not very user-friendly."

"Once a workflow is launched then it stays static forever, which is a problem because if there is a change in the business then you cannot change the workflow."

"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 service as it currently stands is out-of-date and lacks flexibility."

"The cloud version could use more stability."

"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 limitation is only for customization because IBM doesn't support it."

More IBM Case Foundation cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Our license is on a three-year term."

"The product is expensive."

"There is still a relatively high total cost of ownership to actually implement, support, and stand up solutions."

"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."

"Licensing varies by use-case."

"While it can be quite costly, it offers significant benefits for users."

"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."

"When you compare with Laserfiche and M-Files, IBM is expensive."

More IBM Business Automation Workflow pricing and cost advice

"The price falls in the middle range—not overly expensive but not extremely affordable either."

"This is not an expensive solution and we are using the standard license."

"IBM Case Foundation is a little expensive."

"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

35%

Computer Software Company

Government

Insurance Company

Government

15%

Insurance Company

11%

University

Computer Software Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

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?

It was affordable, but right now, ten years later, the cost of the product is extremely high. That's why we are looking for another product.

What needs improvement with IBM Case Foundation?

Camunda vs IBM Business Automation Workflow

Comparisons

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AWS Step Functions vs IBM Business Automation Workflow

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Product Reports

IBM Business Automation Workflow

Download IBM Business Automation Workflow product report

IBM Case Foundation

Download IBM Case Foundation product report

Also Known As

Business Automation Workflow

Case Foundation, FileNet Business Process Manager

Overview

IBM Business Automation Workflow combines business process management and case management capabilities in one workflow solution. It integrates the capabilities of business process and case management into a single workflow offering. It unites information, process, and users to provide a 360-degree view of work to drive more successful optimized business outcomes. IBM Business Automation Workflow on Cloud provides the same capabilities that are offered in the IBM Business Automation Workflow offering, all within a ready-to-use, cloud-based environment that is hosted in IBM Cloud data centers and managed by IBM.

IBM

IBM Case Foundation is for organizations that need to harness unstructured information and integrate it with business processes to drive critical business decisions. It enables organizations to create, manage and optimize case-based processes and is designed to decrease development costs while significantly improving process performance. Case Foundation links specific pieces of content with a structured workflow. It's an on ramp for organizations that choose to move from document-centric workflow solutions to the advanced capabilities of IBM Case Manager.

IBM

Sample Customers

Key Bank, Barclays, Control€xpert, MIR Insurance Brokers, Conqord Oil

Suncorp Group Limited

IBM Business Automation Workflow vs. IBM Case Foundation