IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) vs OpenText Software Delivery Management comparison

IBM and OpenText are both solutions in the Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Suites category. IBM is ranked #12 with an average rating of 7.5, while OpenText is ranked #7 with an average rating of 8.3. IBM holds a 3.7% mindshare in ALM, compared to OpenText’s 6.0% mindshare. Additionally, 76% of IBM users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 92% of OpenText users who would recommend it.

IBM Engineering Lifecycle M...

Read 19 IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) reviews

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1,473 Comparison Views

76% willing to recommend

OpenText Software Delivery ...

Read 41 OpenText Software Delivery Management reviews

3,879 Views
3,685 Comparison Views

92% willing to recommend

IBM Engineering Lifecycle M...

OpenText Software Delivery ...

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 19, 2025

IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management and OpenText Software Delivery Management compete in project lifecycle management. ELM holds an edge in integration capabilities, while OpenText is noted for its flexible deployment options, aligning with cloud strategies.

Features: ELM excels in tool integration and traceability features, enhancing streamlined workflows. It offers strong collaboration, allowing requirement, development, and testing lifecycle traceability. OpenText enhances team collaboration via real-time analytics and supports Agile management with customizable Kanban components and workflow tools.

Room for Improvement: ELM could improve on simplifying its deployment process and slightly enhancing collaboration features. There may also be a need for more customizable analytics to aid smaller teams. OpenText could benefit from expanding its integration capabilities and enhancing its traceability of project metrics. Improving support for on-premise deployments and refining its Agile management tools could also be beneficial.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: OpenText Software Delivery Management provides a cloud-based deployment model, facilitating scalability and straightforward updates. ELM's on-premise setup is more complex but is supported by reliable customer service, offering assistance during the deployment process. OpenText’s cloud-first approach contrasts with ELM’s traditional methods.

Pricing and ROI: ELM features a higher initial setup cost due to its extensive features, yet promises long-term ROI through effective project management. OpenText poses a more economical upfront cost with flexible pricing, attractive for smaller organizations seeking steady returns on investment.

To learn more, read our detailed IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) vs. OpenText Software Delivery Management Report (Updated: July 2025).

Buyer's Guide

IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) vs. OpenText Software Delivery Management

July 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 Engineering Lifecycle M...

Ranking in Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Suites

12th

Average Rating

7.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

OpenText Software Delivery ...

Ranking in Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Suites

7th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Enterprise Agile Planning Tools (7th)

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Suites category, the mindshare of IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) is 3.7%, up from 2.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of OpenText Software Delivery Management is 6.0%, up from 5.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Suites

Featured Reviews

Juergen Albrecht

Managing Director at CCC Systems Engineering Suisse GmbH

Combining tools for effective data analysis while customization and integration need improvement

The most valuable feature is how IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) ( /products/ibm-engineering-lifecycle-management-elm-reviews ) allows me to present to the customer what the actual software, even hardware, will do. It helps them gain an impression of the complexity of the functionality and find an easier way to decide whether to implement it. A picture says more than one thousand words, which is why I work with the combination of ELM and the specification of DOORS. The automation capabilities I built use column-based scripts for analysis to search, fetch, and transfer information. When I open modules, it automatically analyzes the changes since the last opening by me.

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GeorgNauerz

Managing Partner at Georg Nauerz Consulting

A stable tool for sprint planning, test management, quality management, and automated testing

I think the area of release management in the tool is an area of concern where improvements are required. In general, the connection between releases and scrum teams needs improvement, as it could be optimized owing to its linkages, making it very uncomfortable as soon as you have strong teams or scrum teams that work with different items over several releases. In future product releases, the solution needs to focus a bit more on the metric part. The product's dashboard is a metric for productivity and process control.

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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

"It's easy to use."

"The solution is customizable."

"I would rate the stability of this product a nine out of ten."

"Everyone in a team can work on the same platform and share the same information."

"One of the key advantages of IBM Rational ALM is its workflow capabilities, which enable seamless collaboration between development and production teams and ensure that all stakeholders are aware of the progress and readiness of the solution. Additionally, the solution is good for integration."

"The tools for requirement capture we have found very useful."

"The most valuable feature is the reporting of the CPU usage on the dashboard."

"It helped us contain critical things, like source code and several documents, which is very important to us."

More IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) pros

"Current version of the solution is fairly stable."

"A valuable feature is the pipeline, so that we can now connect to Jenkins and then have all the results from testing, from external, in the tool, so that we can see the whole approach from there. Also, We can work with labels so we have better filtering solutions than in ALM. And it's much smarter and leaner to use than ALM."

"The most valuable features of the solution are its ability to manage test scenarios, test results, and test automation, which are its primary functionalities."

"The filtering options are very good once you learn them. The document reports are also valuable. You can create reports in Word and PDF formats. That's very useful."

"The way testing is closely tied into the product Backlog has made it more intuitive, or easier to manage the relationship between building out an application and testing it. In other tools, that is more segregated. The way it's designed in Octane, people have said it makes more sense to them, and that it's easier for them to understand their data and to maintain and test their solutions."

"The integration capability of ALM Octane was very straightforward. We had a supporting team, and they provided us with detailed documentation."

"It is a very stable tool. The tool has been in the industry for so many years. Stability-wise, I rate the solution a nine out of ten."

"It's brought our entire team into a single tool. We're all looking at the same real-time data. Our project management office has been able to set up dashboards for individual teams, and do comparisons by teams, of integration, and cross-team integration, burn-up, burn-down, and cumulative flow..."

More OpenText Software Delivery Management pros

Cons

"I would like to see better reporting features. The out-of-box reporting is - I don't want to say limited - but the focus is on the Scrum and Sprint reports. We need more reporting features regarding the history of the work, tracking it more deeply."

"The interconnectivity between packages is a major support problem and can be improved."

"There is not enough beginner support material in the form of FAQs or simple training to help you get started."

"I think nowadays people are getting into Jira and other tools. What is happening is, this solution is becoming more traditional, whereas Jira and other tools are more attractive for the new users to learn and start using because of the graphical interfaces."

"Improvement is needed in bridging DNG and Rhapsody and vice versa for better data exchange from both sides with some trigger technologies."

"IBM Rational ALM should remove the features not used by the customers and keep this product as lightweight as possible."

"The stability of this solution can be improved."

"One of the complaints from users is that they have to click buttons too many times for just a simple task. Changing this would lead to a better user experience."

More IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) cons

"We’d like to see Platform One/Iron Bank compliant containers."

"The reporting is lacking from a requirements matrix and a traceability perspective."

"There's a trend in our requests to have the ability to export data, en masse, out of Octane. There are capabilities within Octane to export data, but there are specifics around test suites and requirements and relations, as well as certain attributes, that we would like to be able to export easily out of Octane and into a database or Excel."

"Improvements could be made by way of additional integrations across the lifecycle."

"Technical support can be slow."

"Documentation is not clear."

"I like their smart analytics; perhaps they should continue to expand and improve there because it's a fantastic start."

"I think the area of release management in the tool is an area of concern where improvements are required."

More OpenText Software Delivery Management cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"This product is a little expensive and we had to pay extra to have them set it up for us."

"We have a contract, but I am not aware of the details."

"IBM Rational ALM has both monthly and yearly licensing options."

"The price of the solution could be reduced. Many of our customers are not using all the features and this could be why our clients feel the price is too high."

"The solution is not cheap."

"Microsoft is a big challenge for Micro Focus when it comes to pricing because they are much cheaper. But it definitely depends on the complexity of the environment. If it has multiple technologies, at that point, looking at other options and Microsoft would be a feasible approach."

"The tool's price is extremely high."

"It's expensive. HPE products, and now Micro Focus, have always been expensive. The license is not cheap, and it will always be a challenge, particularly for small organizations like ours."

"I would say that it is an affordable product. There is an annual service fee, which is one of the additional payments to be made apart from the standard licensing costs attached to the solution."

"Going forward, I think we will want to explore adding more licenses."

"For what it does, it's very reasonably priced. I like the licensing model as well, because it's very flexible. You can scale licenses up and down for short periods of time."

"The price of Micro Focus ALM Octane is too high compared to other solutions."

"If you compare the price with the functionality, it is pretty much the same as other solutions. If you compare it to Jira, for instance, it has a lot more functionality. You don't need any plug-ins, but it's also more expensive. Once you start adding your different plug-ins to Jira, you'll probably end up with the same amount or more. There is also a yearly support cost, which is usually 25% of the initial cost of the license."

More OpenText Software Delivery Management pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Manufacturing Company

25%

Computer Software Company

15%

Government

12%

Transportation Company

Financial Services Firm

25%

Manufacturing Company

12%

Computer Software Company

10%

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about IBM Rational ALM?

The solution is customizable.

See all answers

What needs improvement with IBM Rational ALM?

Improvement is needed in bridging DNG and Rhapsody and vice versa for better data exchange from both sides with some trigger technologies. This would provide a visual reminder of changes in a modul...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for IBM Rational ALM?

Most of my primary use cases involve the combination of IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) ( /products/ibm-engineering-lifecycle-management-elm-reviews ) and DOORS, including both Classic D...

See all answers

Is Jira better or would you go with Micro Focus ALM Octane?

Hi Netanya, Basically , it all depends on the use cases for your environment and the business needs. Hope the below data may be relevant to you for identifying your needs and deciding on the approp...

See all answers

What do you like most about Micro Focus ALM Octane?

The platform's most valuable feature is pipeline integration or continuous integration services.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Micro Focus ALM Octane?

OpenText ALM Octane is an expensive product. However, it offsets costs by saving time and money, thus creating a balance between expenses and benefits. Our organization with over 1500 users sees sa...

See all answers

Comparisons

Jira vs IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM)

Compared 26% of the time

Microsoft Azure DevOps vs IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM)

Compared 18% of the time

Codebeamer vs IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM)

Compared 17% of the time

Polarion ALM vs IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM)

Compared 10% of the time

Jama Connect vs IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM)

Compared 3% of the time

More IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) Competitors

Jira vs OpenText Software Delivery Management

Compared 45% of the time

OpenText Application Quality Management vs OpenText Software Delivery Management

Compared 27% of the time

Microsoft Azure DevOps vs OpenText Software Delivery Management

Compared 8% of the time

Rally Software vs OpenText Software Delivery Management

Compared 4% of the time

Atlassian ALM vs OpenText Software Delivery Management

Compared 2% of the time

More OpenText Software Delivery Management Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM)

July 2025

IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) report

Download IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) product report

Buyer's Guide

OpenText Software Delivery Management

June 2025

OpenText Software Delivery Management report

Download OpenText Software Delivery Management product report

Also Known As

IBM Engineering Rhapsody, Rational ALM, MKS

Micro Focus ALM Octane, Micro Focus Octane

Overview

IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management stands out for its robust Agile Scrum planning, lifecycle traceability, and tool management, offering cloud-based configurability and strong collaboration features.

IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management provides rich capabilities for Agile project management, facilitating requirements and test management, configuration management, and version control. Its integration with IBM Doors supports comprehensive requirements handling, and the cloud-based platform enhances collaborative efficiency across teams. Despite needing advances in user-friendliness and reporting, ELM's global configuration and compliance features make it invaluable in demanding environments.

What are the key features of IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management?

Scrum-based planning: Supports Agile methodologies with rich planning tools.
Lifecycle traceability: Offers complete traceability across development stages.
Customizable workflows: Adaptable workflows with Kanban for flexibility.
Git integration: Supports efficient version control and collaboration.
Global Configuration: Manages complex configurations globally.
Compliance and reporting: Ensures robust auditing and comprehensive reporting capabilities.

What benefits should be evaluated in reviews?

Collaboration: Enhanced sharing across platforms for seamless teamwork.
Cost-effectiveness: Delivers efficient tools that optimize project spend.
Comprehensive requirement handling: Facilitates detailed requirement management through IBM Doors integration.

IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management is vital in sectors like automotive and manufacturing, where it implements Agile frameworks to manage requirements, conduct testing, and handle defects. It integrates into development pipelines ensuring live traceability and visibility, supporting critical engineering processes efficiently.

IBM

OpenText Software Delivery Management provides application lifecycle management with Agile and Waterfall support. It features intuitive interfaces, CI/CD integration, automated testing, and robust reporting, improving project management efficiency and usability.

Designed to enhance teams' productivity and streamline processes, OpenText Software Delivery Management integrates seamlessly with Agile methodologies. Its comprehensive backlog and requirements management, user stories, and test management make it a complete tool for managing the development lifecycle. The platform aligns with DevOps, providing traceability and extensive customization options. Traceability from requirements to deployments is enhanced, making it easier for teams to track progress. It offers integration with popular tools like Jenkins and JIRA, ensuring a unified approach to continuous delivery and testing management.

What key features does OpenText Software Delivery Management include?

Versatile across browsers with consistent performance.
Seamless CI/CD integration for smooth development processes.
Intuitive interface aiding in efficiency and ease of use.
Comprehensive backlog management ensures organized prioritization.
Automated testing aligns with Agile and DevOps principles.

What benefits can users expect when evaluating OpenText Software Delivery Management?

Enhanced traceability from inception to delivery.
Improved project management efficiency through streamlined processes.
Robust reporting capabilities offering detailed insights.
Increased flexibility in customization enabling tailored experiences.
Predictive analytics for better decision-making.

OpenText Software Delivery Management is implemented across technology-focused industries, supporting Agile processes like requirements management and defect tracking. Organizations use it to standardize development workflows and optimize continuous delivery integration, choosing it for its ability to support both Agile and Waterfall methodologies within application lifecycle management.

OpenText

Sample Customers

Tennis Australia, WeCloud AB, Port Otago Limited, Logicalis US, Valmer, The Chevrolet Volt, Ashurst

Orange, Airbus, Haufe Group, Kellogg's, Claro, Bon Secours, World Wide Technology

Buyer's Guide

IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) vs. OpenText Software Delivery Management

July 2025

Free Report: IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) vs. OpenText Software Delivery Management

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