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IBM Business Automation Workflow vs Pega Platform comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 20, 2025

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
7.6
IBM Business Automation Workflow enhances efficiency, reduces costs, and accelerates digital transformation for improved ROI and user experience.
Sentiment score
7.6
Pega Platform boosts efficiency, revenue, and ROI up to 80% through improved processes, automation, and quick digital transformation.
Initially performed manually, workflows now provide a better user experience and increased efficiency.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
5.9
IBM Business Automation Workflow's support has mixed reviews, but many find value once acquainted with their processes.
Sentiment score
6.8
Pega Platform's customer support receives mixed reviews; premium service users report higher satisfaction but slower response for critical issues.
IBM provides long-term support and maintains a traditionally good customer-vendor relationship.
If the solution is readily available to IBM support team, they provide it instantly.
The technical support from Pega is very low, rating a one or two out of ten.
I never needed support from the platform standpoint, but if additional features are required, we have regular meetings with the product team for feedback.
Pega's technical support team is very helpful.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.8
IBM Business Automation Workflow is highly scalable, supporting extensive transactions, concurrent users, and both cloud and on-premises deployments.
Sentiment score
7.6
Pega Platform is scalable across industries with some performance challenges, requiring robust infrastructure and strategic capacity planning.
We can manage the license usage and scale our environment while optimizing license use.
We are implementing load balancing and horizontal scalability.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.6
IBM Business Automation Workflow is stable, with minor bugs, improving over time; users rate stability highly due to IBM's robust infrastructure.
Sentiment score
7.7
Pega Platform is generally stable and reliable, but high task volumes or configurations can cause occasional glitches.
Outside of these maintenance periods, the environment is quite stable.
 

Room For Improvement

IBM Business Automation Workflow needs improved integration, usability, cloud features, and support to enhance user experience and modernize the platform.
Users report Pega Platform's complexity, UI issues, and limited customization, seeking improved AI, better support, and enhanced integration.
Many developments are focused on AI, LLM models, and data science.
Code management lacks merging capabilities.
IBM Business Automation Workflow could be more intuitive, with more advanced low-code features and services definition.
Pega introduced Constellation, which allows a user to build a more engaging visual experience.
My learning curve in robotics has been challenging.
 

Setup Cost

IBM Business Automation Workflow is costly but offers high-quality features, flexible licensing, and worthwhile enterprise-level capabilities.
Pega Platform is costly for small businesses, offering scalable features and negotiable pricing, ideal for large enterprises.
It is not a cheap license but in line with expectations for such software.
The price of IBM Business Automation Workflow is on the higher side compared to the features it offers.
The pricing is expensive, and this is an issue.
Pega is priced higher than open-source options like Flowable but is suitable for large-scale industries like banking and insurance.
 

Valuable Features

IBM Business Automation Workflow offers agile, user-friendly workflow solutions with RPA integration, enhancing collaboration, customization, and AI-driven processes.
Pega Platform offers rapid deployment, strong integration, and flexible workflows with extensive functionalities for diverse industry needs.
This solution has streamlined previously manual processes into orchestrated workflows.
It assisted in making users concentrate on the process flow rather than just features.
We have integrations with different banks, ERP systems, and other human resource management systems by integrating through different systems.
Pega Platform is excellent for enterprise-level solutions with integrations to entire systems, including case management, service orchestration, CRM, decision-making capabilities, digital process automation, and AI-driven functionalities.
Management capabilities such as dashboards.
 

Categories and Ranking

IBM Business Automation Wor...
Ranking in Business Process Management (BPM)
16th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
26
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Pega Platform
Ranking in Business Process Management (BPM)
4th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
82
Ranking in other categories
Business Rules Management (1st), Process Automation (2nd), Rapid Application Development Software (6th), Low-Code Development Platforms (7th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Business Process Management (BPM) category, the mindshare of IBM Business Automation Workflow is 2.2%, down from 2.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Pega Platform is 5.5%, down from 6.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
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.
Mallik-Kesavaraju - PeerSpot reviewer
Significantly improves the overall cycle time, and offers robotic automation, and the BPM workflow
The extensive availability of ready-made gadgets in Pega BPM is a double-edged sword. While it offers convenience, it also leads to a steeper learning curve. Our developers and business analysts need to invest significant time and effort to fully understand and utilize the platform's capabilities. In essence, it's a complex product that demands a deep understanding to be used effectively. So, it cuts both ways. This complexity can be both an advantage and a disadvantage, depending on the user's expertise. So, the learning curve is pretty high! So, it's very good if you are a professional user, but you need to be a really good professional user to use this solution effectively.
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Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Business Process Management (BPM) solutions are best for your needs.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
37%
Computer Software Company
10%
Government
7%
Insurance Company
5%
Financial Services Firm
28%
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
6%
 

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?
The most valuable feature of IBM Business Automation Workflow is cost management.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Business Automation Workflow?
The pricing of IBM Business Automation Workflow is within the expected range for our organization, which is in the enterprise sphere. We ensure everything is economical and well-regulated while mai...
Is Pega BPM easy to work with and can beginners utilize this software?
You do need some preparation to be able to use all functions of Pega BPM. However, all users of this platform are in luck as it comes with good documentation and you can learn pretty much everythin...
Have you encountered any issues while using Pega BPM and were you assisted by the company?
My company has been using this tool for years and the only issue we have had, if you can call it that, was while setting it up. When we were setting it up initially, we had some drawbacks and could...
When you consider the features and benefits of Pega BPM, would you say this product is fairly priced?
Pega BPM can be considered overpriced for some; it all depends on the size of your company and the requirements of your customers. Sure, there are products out there that do the things that Pega B...
 

Also Known As

Business Automation Workflow
Pega BPM, Pegasystems, SmartBPM, PegaRULES
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Key Bank, Barclays, Control€xpert, MIR Insurance Brokers, Conqord Oil
The State of Maine, ANZ, Coca-Cola, Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA), ME, New South Wales, OptumRx, Texas Department of Transportation, UnitedHealthcare Medicare & Retirement
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Business Automation Workflow vs. Pega Platform and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
848,270 professionals have used our research since 2012.