IBM ECM vs IBM FileNet comparison

IBM ECM and IBM FileNet are both solutions in the Enterprise Content Management category. IBM ECM is ranked #13 with an average rating of 8.0, while IBM FileNet is ranked #4 with an average rating of 8.0. IBM ECM holds a 2.0% mindshare in ECM, compared to IBM FileNet’s 10.6% mindshare. Additionally, 94% of IBM ECM users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 91% of IBM FileNet users who would recommend it.

IBM ECM

Read 16 IBM ECM reviews

645 Views
533 Comparison Views

94% willing to recommend

IBM FileNet

Read 101 IBM FileNet reviews

3,588 Views
2,318 Comparison Views

91% willing to recommend

IBM ECM

IBM FileNet

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 4, 2024

IBM ECM and IBM FileNet are both enterprise content management solutions. IBM FileNet appears to have the upper hand due to its advanced integration capabilities, offering a more comprehensive solution.

Features:IBM ECM focuses on document management and workflow optimization, enhancing productivity with content organization, easy document storage, retrieval capabilities, and access control features for enterprise environments. IBM FileNet provides advanced content management, seamless integration with other business applications, robust customization options, efficient data scalability, and versatile workflow management systems.

Room for Improvement:IBM ECM could enhance its integration capabilities, improve scalability for large enterprises, and offer more customization options for specific business processes. IBM FileNet may benefit from simplifying its deployment process, reducing complexity in its initial setup, and offering more user-friendly documentation to assist new users.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service:IBM ECM offers a simple and straightforward deployment model that customers appreciate for its ease of setup. IBM FileNet provides more sophisticated deployment options with extensive customization, though requiring a more involved setup process. Its strong customer support is recognized as crucial to its adoption by large enterprises.

Pricing and ROI:IBM ECM generally has a lower initial setup cost, attracting businesses that aim to minimize upfront expenses. IBM FileNet, with its higher investment requirements, offers significant returns in operational efficiency and value, aligning with its broader feature set and providing a potentially higher ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed IBM ECM vs. IBM FileNet Report (Updated: March 2025).

Buyer's Guide

IBM ECM vs. IBM FileNet

March 2025

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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 ECM

Ranking in Enterprise Content Management

13th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

5.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

IBM FileNet

Ranking in Enterprise Content Management

4th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

101

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2025, in the Enterprise Content Management category, the mindshare of IBM ECM is 2.0%, down from 2.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM FileNet is 10.6%, up from 9.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Enterprise Content Management

Featured Reviews

Omar_Ismail

ECM, Archives and Digital Preservation Consultant at DataServe

A stable solution for automation with high availability

Moving to the cloud with IBM ECM is not allowed. In Saudi Arabia, the cloud infrastructure is still non-operational, potentially for the next two to three months. Static clouds are prevalent among foundational enterprises such as IBM and Oracle. IBM offers its cloud insights, maintaining its cloud ecosystem. IBM's efforts to enhance the user experience within its ECM platform are lacking compared to competitors like OpenText. Progress in implementing new technologies and features seems sluggish. Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.

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Emad Rizki

System integrator at Indépendant

Facilitates seamless integration for large enterprises with strong deployment capabilities

FileNet was scalable and could be implemented into big multinational organizations. However, it has become very expensive recently. Compared to low-code solutions such as Appian and outsystems, FileNet has gaps, mainly because it requires coding, which is not preferred by clients due to pricing concerns in Pakistan. We transitioned clients to cloud solutions, although FileNet has been strongly integrated with on-prem deployments.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The tool is a very stable solution with high availability and no information leakage. It has built-in API integration on-site. You can integrate with other components and applications like SAP, Microsoft, Oracle, etc."

"The content management is all about you as you can make the same content for minimal purpose solutions applications."

"The scalability is a valuable feature, that we're able to display our documents to so many people."

"The vertical scalability, as we can use it across some of our applications."

"The product is very stable."

"I like the security and also the configuration. It is easy to configure and most of our business use cases have everything just with the configuration itself."

"The product has helped with compliance and governance issues. There are some archiving policies which a financial organization has to keep. Our organization can keep up with them because of the IBM product."

"Centralized our business documents."

"IBM FileNet was more scalable."

"It has a very broad market share and a lot of people know about it."

"It also helps with compliance and governance issues because it's a datastore that is not modifiable, and you can guarantee that. You cannot guarantee that with a folder-based file structure, where multiple people have access."

"The most valuable features are the interconnectivity and the collaboration. No longer do I have to wonder what system I need to go to for the data I need. I know it's in FileNet."

More IBM FileNet pros

Cons

"I think it's already getting away from Java applets. A lot of our users struggle with keeping up to date with Java versioning, so a lot of the functions they're doing, like printing, emailing, and even some of the viewing, they're struggling with."

"I would like to see seamless application integration."

"I would recommend not going with ECM 8 and going with FileNet instead. It seems like that is the future of the lower-volume repository. It seems like they are moving away from ECM 8.5 so I think we're going to have some challenges coming up, getting off of that technology."

"The development platform is not local. For example, you need 100 days in IBM, whereas other platforms, like ServiceNow, need only 20 days."

"It was complex. There were a lot of dependencies depending on the product. It had to be compatible with the Windows matching."

"The response time and resolution of issues by technical support need improvement."

"It could be simpler to use, considering multiple use cases."

"We do have some individuals that do need to come up to speed on it technically, and the only onsite training for Case Manager is in Europe, there is not a lot of US-based training. So they have to do all their training online rather than being able to go and have a good bootcamp-style training somewhere nearby."

"The application's processing engineer needs to be more advanced."

"A little better control into the ACLs of FileNet and databases."

"To start with there are too many add-ons, which makes it hard for us. If they simplified the add-ons and plugins to be added to our existing systems, it would definitely help us in the future."

"I would rate the technical support as medium. I do not like the login process. It is not great."

More IBM FileNet cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Reach out to local IBM partners."

"Talking about the cost is difficult because IBM has offers that combine different products, and each of these offers has different types of licensing. IBM also has a policy that the actual price for a given customer may be very different from the stated book price. It's hard to say whether it's expensive or not."

"FileNet is not cheap, but you absolutely get what you pay for. "

"The cost is about $40,000, plus yearly maintenance."

"FileNet is quite expensive, although Documentum is expensive too."

"It has reduced operating costs by reducing the amount of manual work needed."

"The physical space that we have gained back pays for the service. Therefore, it has reduced our operating costs overall. We have definitely seen ROI. I would estimate $30,000 a year."

"The biggest issue is the cost of the FileNet, because the license cost is very high. If a customer doesn't have good technical guides that are aware of the license calculation, they will pay too much. FileNet's license calculation depends on the processor and number of users. So my advice to a new customer is to be very careful with your calculations before purchasing FileNet."

"For the medium scale or large scale, I would recommend FileNet. FileNet is free of licensing expenses, thus good for the money. It is not expensive, but worth for the money, especially for medium scale and large scale industries."

More IBM FileNet pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

36%

Computer Software Company

12%

Government

11%

Insurance Company

Financial Services Firm

23%

Computer Software Company

12%

Government

10%

Insurance Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about IBM ECM?

The tool is a very stable solution with high availability and no information leakage. It has built-in API integration on-site. You can integrate with other components and applications like SAP, Mic...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM ECM?

The product is expensive and has a perpetual license.

See all answers

What needs improvement with IBM ECM?

The development platform is not local. For example, you need 100 days in IBM, whereas other platforms, like ServiceNow, need only 20 days.

See all answers

What do you like most about IBM FileNet?

The product is robust and can process a lot of documents for enterprise content management.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM FileNet?

The product has become more expensive and requires significant investment for enterprise solutions.

See all answers

What needs improvement with IBM FileNet?

FileNet needs improvement in pricing as it has become very expensive. Also, in comparison to local solutions, the need for coding is a disadvantage.

See all answers

Comparisons

Alfresco vs IBM ECM

Compared 16% of the time

SAP Extended Enterprise Content Management vs IBM ECM

Compared 16% of the time

OpenText Extended ECM vs IBM ECM

Compared 13% of the time

Hyland OnBase vs IBM ECM

Compared 10% of the time

More IBM ECM Competitors

OpenText Documentum vs IBM FileNet

Compared 17% of the time

OpenText Extended ECM vs IBM FileNet

Compared 17% of the time

SharePoint vs IBM FileNet

Compared 16% of the time

Hyland OnBase vs IBM FileNet

Compared 9% of the time

M-Files vs IBM FileNet

Compared 5% of the time

More IBM FileNet Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

IBM ECM

February 2025

Download IBM ECM product report

Buyer's Guide

IBM FileNet

February 2025

Download IBM FileNet product report

Overview

IBM Content Foundation on Cloud

IBM Content Foundation on Cloud allows organizations to deliver extensive enterprise content management capabilities to their users very quickly. IBM Content Foundation is powered by the FileNet content and process platform and IBM Content Navigator user experience. This cloud offering can be leveraged for a variety of use cases including collaborative document management, imaging solutions, social content management, archiving, and more. It also offers a platform for developing Enterprise Content Management (ECM) solutions in the cloud.

IBM Case Manager on Cloud

IBM Case Manager on Cloud is a solution platform that engages people with business content, provides contextual insight through real-time analytics, and enhances teamwork through collaboration tools and flexible workflow. Enables Business and IT to work together to create solutions across the enterprise that enables an organization to make smarter decisions for better business outcomes, while balancing the need for security and compliance in a world of heightened risk.

IBM

IBM FileNet is a leading IBM enterprise content management product family. IBM FileNet is one of the ECM solutions that can change the way a company does business by enabling users to capture, activate, socialize, analyze, and govern content throughout its lifecycle.

There are many IBM FileNet products available, all of which are integrated and based on the FileNet P8 Platform.

IBM

Sample Customers

KeyBank, Standard Chartered Bank, Union Bank, Sistema Tecnol‹gico de Monterrey, Illinois Department of Human Services, UnitedHealth Group

Suncorp Group Limited, St. Vincent Health, Citigroup, SRCSD, and UK Dept for Work and Pensions.

Buyer's Guide

IBM ECM vs. IBM FileNet

March 2025

Free Report: IBM ECM vs. IBM FileNet

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