IBM ECM vs SharePoint comparison

IBM and Microsoft are both solutions in the Enterprise Content Management category. IBM is ranked #14 with an average rating of 8.0, while Microsoft is ranked #1 with an average rating of 7.9. IBM holds a 2.0% mindshare in ECM, compared to Microsoft’s 17.3% mindshare. Additionally, 94% of IBM users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 78% of Microsoft users who would recommend it.

IBM ECM

Read 16 IBM ECM reviews

617 Views
540 Comparison Views

94% willing to recommend

SharePoint

Read 158 SharePoint reviews

5,630 Views
4,667 Comparison Views

78% willing to recommend

IBM ECM

SharePoint

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 4, 2024

SharePoint and IBM ECM are competing in the enterprise content management category. SharePoint seems to have the edge with more favorable pricing and customer support.

Features: SharePoint includes integrated collaboration tools, scalability, and easy integration with Microsoft products, useful for team collaboration. IBM ECM offers advanced document management, robust compliance, and enhanced security, essential for industries with strict regulations.

Room for Improvement: SharePoint could improve customization options and mobile interface robustness. Documentation can also be improved for custom coding. IBM ECM may require simplification in its deployment process and user interface; more intuitive navigation would benefit users considerably. A focus on reducing initial setup complexity would enhance its appeal.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: SharePoint utilizes a cloud-based deployment, simplifying installation, with excellent support services from Microsoft. IBM ECM, offering both on-premise and hybrid deployment options, requires more complex setup but provides dedicated support services, suitable for large-scale operations.

Pricing and ROI: SharePoint is a cost-effective solution with flexible pricing plans, providing high ROI through enhanced collaboration efficiency. IBM ECM, though demanding a higher initial investment, promises substantial long-term ROI due to its extensive feature set and scalability, particularly advantageous for handling large volumes of sensitive data.

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

Buyer's Guide

IBM ECM vs. SharePoint

January 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

14th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

5.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

SharePoint

Ranking in Enterprise Content Management

1st

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

158

Ranking in other categories

Web Content Management (3rd), Corporate Portals (Enterprise Information Portals) (1st), Enterprise Intranet (1st)

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 SharePoint is 17.3%, down from 20.8% 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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Sanil Paul

IT Service Manager at a energy/utilities company with 10,001+ employees

Streamlined collaboration through seamless integration and customization

I have been an administrator for SharePoint and have used it as an end-user for document storage. Predominantly, I've been involved in administration SharePoint helps a lot since we've moved from using it directly to using it as a backend for Teams, which makes collaboration easier. It supports…

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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 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 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."

"Information is now available instantly to managers on all devices."

"It has an easy to distribute administration capability, and can also scale to meet a large number of future needs."

"For any organization with more than one person in it, if they are trying to organize things to let people in the company know what others are doing, then this solution is good for them."

"This solution has helped us with the categorization, organization, management, discovery, and delivery of program and project related information."

"It offers ease of use, which is crucial."

"It has made us faster and more efficient."

"The search feature is valuable."

"SharePoint enabled the staff to share documents and work on a document simultaneously."

More SharePoint pros

Cons

"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."

"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."

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

"The initial setup was very complex."

"No good process to import emails from several users into a single comprehensive SP repository."

"There are some limitations on storage."

"It will fully use your system resources."

"The product does not perform 100% when used outside of a Microsoft based browser, Chrome, Firefox, etc."

"The support is the worst. It is bad when Microsoft support does not even know what to do and you have to tell them. Also, they take too long to solve a problem."

"Replication needs improvement."

"You still need a bit of expertise to add branding."

More SharePoint cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Reach out to local IBM partners."

"The pricing works for us."

"It is pretty reasonable. It is $5 per month per user. We have 12 users now, so it is about $60 per month."

"The licensing model for SharePoint Online is based on per user, and it is monthly. The price of the solution overall is good."

"The cost is expensive, but worthwhile."

"The solution's pricing is relatively expensive because it's bundled with other products."

"Any extended support from Microsoft is expensive."

"It is very expensive."

"It comes bundled with the Microsoft 365 pricing plans."

More SharePoint pricing and cost advice

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Comparison Review

it_user8925

Developer with 51-200 employees

Aug 23, 2013

Jive vs Sharepoint vs Drupal Commons

At Mediacurrent we often get requests to compare Drupal to other platforms used for intranet sites and social business platforms (like https://dev.twitter.com/ for example). This is often referred to as “Social Business Software”, which has grown in popularity in recent years. I decided to do a…

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

36%

Computer Software Company

12%

Government

11%

Insurance Company

Government

13%

Computer Software Company

10%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Manufacturing 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...

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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.

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Would Alfresco give an organization more benefits in terms of cost, features & security as compared to Sharepoint?

Alfresco scores are high on all features of an ECM solution and tools. Back office processing, rated as 3.36 good. Business Process Application 3.55 Good to excellent. Document Management 4.12...

See all answers

What do you like most about SharePoint?

The search feature is valuable.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SharePoint?

I am not involved in the licensing, but Microsoft offers bundled pricing for Office, SharePoint, and Exchange, making it cost-effective.

See all answers

Comparisons

IBM FileNet vs IBM ECM

Compared 45% of the time

SAP Extended Enterprise Content Management vs IBM ECM

Compared 17% of the time

Alfresco 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

Amazon WorkDocs vs SharePoint

Compared 9% of the time

OpenText Documentum vs SharePoint

Compared 9% of the time

WordPress vs SharePoint

Compared 8% of the time

ShareFile vs SharePoint

Compared 8% of the time

OpenText Extended ECM vs SharePoint

Compared 7% of the time

More SharePoint Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

IBM ECM

February 2025

Download IBM ECM product report

Buyer's Guide

SharePoint

February 2025

Download SharePoint product report

Also Known As

No data available

SharePoint 2007, SharePoint 2010

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

SharePoint is a Microsoft-based platform for building web applications. It covers a widerange of capabilities and while it is appropriate for experienced webdevelopers, even non-technical minded users can easily navigate through thesystem and execute functions such as collaborating data, managing documents andfiles, creating websites, managing social networking solutions, and automatingworkflow.

Major areas that SharePoint deals with are websites,communities, content, search, insights, and composites. The purpose is to give usersthe ability to create or develop these key business components on their owneven without technical knowledge of, for example, how to build a website or howto integrate coding. Configuring SharePoint into a business's system is meantto cut out all of the complicated steps, and pave the way for easierimplementation all around.

Microsoft

Sample Customers

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

Toyota, Aeroports de Paris, ASBBank Ltd., Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals, CambridgeshireConstabulary, D&M Group, NPL Construction Company, and The Regional Municipality of Niagara.

Buyer's Guide

IBM ECM vs. SharePoint

January 2025

Free Report: IBM ECM vs. SharePoint

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