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 #13 with an average rating of 6.5, while OpenText is ranked #10 with an average rating of 8.0. IBM holds a 3.7% mindshare in ALM, compared to OpenText’s 4.7% mindshare. Additionally, 77% of IBM users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 92% of OpenText users who would recommend it.

IBM Engineering Lifecycle M...

Read 20 IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) reviews

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1,727 Comparison Views

77% willing to recommend

OpenText Software Delivery ...

Read 41 OpenText Software Delivery Management reviews

3,307 Views
3,109 Comparison Views

92% willing to recommend

IBM Engineering Lifecycle M...

OpenText Software Delivery ...

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 28, 2025

IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management and OpenText Software Delivery Management are competing products in the realm of software delivery and lifecycle management. IBM ELM holds an edge in support and seamless integration within its ecosystem, while OpenText offers a robust feature set and adaptability.

Features: IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management provides integrated tools that streamline development processes with exceptional traceability and reporting features. Key capabilities include requirements management, model-based systems engineering, and robust workflow capabilities. OpenText Software Delivery Management is known for its versatile collaboration tools, offering end-to-end visibility and strong process automation. Its standout features include extensive collaboration facilities, agile support at both team and portfolio levels, and comprehensive test management.

Room for Improvement: IBM ELM could enhance its user interface to be more intuitive and modern. The initial setup process might be complex for new users, and there is potential to improve the cloud integration capabilities. OpenText Software Delivery Management would benefit from offering more sophisticated reporting tools. Additionally, the user customization options could be expanded, and the integration capabilities with third-party tools could be improved.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: IBM ELM is noted for its extensive support and expertise, benefiting organizations within the IBM ecosystem through a centralized deployment model. In contrast, OpenText Software Delivery Management offers flexible deployment options, including cloud-based solutions, and is recognized for efficient customer service, satisfying organizations seeking adaptable strategies.

Pricing and ROI: IBM ELM involves a higher initial setup cost, but it provides strong ROI, especially for organizations using IBM products, with long-term integration benefits. OpenText Software Delivery Management presents a competitive pricing model, offering substantial ROI due to its adaptable solutions and lower initial investment, appealing to companies seeking cost-effective options.

To learn more, read our detailed IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) vs. OpenText Software Delivery Management Report (Updated: February 2026).

Buyer's Guide

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

February 2026

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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

13th

Average Rating

7.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

OpenText Software Delivery ...

Ranking in Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Suites

10th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Enterprise Agile Planning Tools (9th)

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Suites category, the mindshare of IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) is 3.7%, up from 2.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of OpenText Software Delivery Management is 4.7%, down from 6.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Suites Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
OpenText Software Delivery Management	4.7%
IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM)	3.7%
Other	91.6%

Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Suites

Featured Reviews

LasseMikkonen

CEO at byte

Has supported highly regulated documentation needs but requires a modernized user experience

I think usability should be improved in IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) as the top priority. If you look at the UI, it was literally designed ten years ago, and even at the time it was introduced, it was already somewhat outdated. Even though it is a professional tool, nowadays people expect at least some level of usability from their tools, regardless of how professional the task is. Additionally, if you want to utilize it on a wide scale in an organization, you need to train every person to use it. There is always a threshold for new users to start using it.

Read full review

Peter-Paul Eijkenboom

Senior Test Automation Specialist at APG

Generating audit evidence effortlessly saves time and money

OpenText ALM Octane is a new product with full development ongoing, where new ideas are launched regularly. Its ability to generate audit evidence with a single click is a significant advantage, as it saves considerable time and money compared to manual processes. This efficiency is especially valuable for audits required by financial regulators.

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

"It is relatively easy to use and user-friendly once the setup is complete."

"For companies in heavily regulated industries who are doing product development, IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) is a good tool as it helps them create documentation that satisfies auditors."

"The solution is customizable."

"The most valuable feature is how IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) allows me to present to the customer what the actual software, even hardware, will do."

"The transition to a SaaS-based solution is a distinct advantage."

"The planning feature is rich with Scrum concepts: Sprint, Sprint retrospective, the rules in the Scrum framework."

"It's easy to use."

"The integration with Git works well."

More IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) pros

"The most valuable feature of Micro Focus ALM Octane is the reports. We are able to do customization."

"We are seeing some real improvements in the way we do things. We are becoming more agile in the way we do it because of that and in a way that stories are managed. Stories are given lifecycles as opposed to just being entities within a tool."

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

"It’s easy to set up."

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

"It's more streamlined because we have it all under one umbrella. And once the business requirements and rules have been created, we can do test cases and apply them to the business rules."

"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 points are very good. Octane gives us a window not only into our manual testing, but also our automation testing and our performance testing. We can see all results from all three streams of testing in one place."

More OpenText Software Delivery Management pros

Cons

"The stability of IBM Rational ALM could be improved."

"The features should be more intuitive. If I'm looking for something, its location should be easy to locate."

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

"The solution can improve in the development area and the customized applications."

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

"Of course it would be related to customer experience. The solution is not user friendly at all. It needs an expert to use it, although the reporting feature was okay."

"The stability of this solution can be improved."

"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."

More IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) cons

"Though Micro Focus ALM Octane doesn't have much of a bug, it lacks integration with some solutions. For example, my company has fairly new software, but it can't be integrated with Micro Focus ALM Octane, so integration with other software, particularly with less popular software, could be improved. Micro Focus ALM Octane also requires a lot of resources during its setup, and I find this another area for improvement. An additional feature I'd like to see in the next release of Micro Focus ALM Octane is the ability to customize the interface, especially when doing a manual test."

"Also, while there is a Requirements Module in Octane, it is very plain. It's okay to have some requirements described there, but it's not really following the whole BDD approach. I would like to have more features for requirements in there."

"The biggest problem with ALM Octane is that it's very complex, so it's difficult to use and scale."

"We've only had a few stability issues. Generally, we have issues following any deployment they do, so if they do a deployment on a Sunday, then we may have a couple of issues on a Monday or Tuesday."

"I have yet to experience the CI/CD part of Micro Focus ALM Octane but as demonstrated by the team who is providing the services, I see that the CI/CD could improve. When we check in the code, for the code snippet that has been checked in by a particular user, you need to open a separate file. When comparing Micro Focus ALM Octane to Jira, they have a separate window in which you can click on the ID and the code is visible in the snippet. It's a two-step process in Micro Focus ALM Octane and it's a single-step process in Jira. It's essential for the developers to think about this difference."

"The Requirements Module could be better, to build up a better requirements process. There's a huge improvement from ALM.NET to Octane, but it's still not really facilitating all the needs of the product owners, to set up their requirements in Octane."

"It could use just some small improvements. I would like additional features, like planning features, user story mapping, or connection to collaboration tools."

"Currently, Micro Focus ALM Octane is considered an old-world tool in the industry and lacks the perception of being a new-age tool among its customers."

More OpenText Software Delivery Management cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

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

"The solution is not cheap."

"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."

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

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

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

"I rate the product price an eight on a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive. The product is neither cheap nor expensive."

"The senior management of my company handles the purchases of the solution. However, the price per developer was a major reason we switched from Jira. Apart from the complexity and the support, the price was a major reason that a team of 20 people unanimously decided that we would prefer to go with Micro Focus ALM Octane rather than Jira. The senior management had seen some benefit in it and they preferred it over Jira because the per developer cost was less and the support was superior."

"The tool's price is extremely high."

"Pricing is the weakest point. It is expensive, but the tool has plenty of features. The main problem we have is that the pricing is very high compared to some other solutions."

"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 comparison is always with Jira, so the pricing of Octane is a bit on the higher side. But if you look at what you have to add to Jira, on the plug-in side, to have the same abilities you have with Octane, you're more or less even, or even ahead with Octane."

"The cost of this product is very high."

More OpenText Software Delivery Management pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Manufacturing Company

20%

Government

11%

Computer Software Company

11%

Comms Service Provider

Financial Services Firm

21%

Manufacturing Company

12%

Computer Software Company

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	6
Midsize Enterprise	4
Large Enterprise	12

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	7
Midsize Enterprise	2
Large Enterprise	32

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?

See all answers

What is your primary use case for IBM Rational ALM?

For companies in heavily regulated industries who are doing product development, IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) is a good tool. It helps them create documentation that satisfies auditors.

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 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

What needs improvement with Micro Focus ALM Octane?

There is room for improvement in OpenText ALM Octane's flexibility. While it aims to be as flexible as possible for a large enterprise application, sometimes there are limitations that may not meet...

See all answers

Comparisons

Jira vs IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM)

Compared 19% of the time

Codebeamer vs IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM)

Compared 15% of the time

Jama Connect vs IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM)

Compared 9% of the time

Microsoft Azure DevOps vs IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM)

Compared 9% of the time

PTC Integrity vs IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM)

Compared 5% of the time

More IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) Competitors

Jira vs OpenText Software Delivery Management

Compared 41% of the time

OpenText Application Quality Management vs OpenText Software Delivery Management

Compared 12% of the time

Microsoft Azure DevOps vs OpenText Software Delivery Management

Compared 7% of the time

Rally Software vs OpenText Software Delivery Management

Compared 5% of the time

Polarion ALM vs OpenText Software Delivery Management

Compared 4% of the time

More OpenText Software Delivery Management Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM)

February 2026

IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) report

Download IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) product report

Buyer's Guide

OpenText Software Delivery Management

January 2026

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 (ELM) offers an integrated platform with customizable workflows, Scrum planning tools, and resource management features, enhancing project execution and collaboration.

ELM supports Agile and Scrum project management through its integration with tools like Git and IBM Doors, providing cataloging, traceability, and reporting capabilities. While users benefit from requirement management and dashboard functionalities, the interface and reporting could be improved for better navigation and customization. Its cloud-based architecture facilitates compliance and auditing, making it a valuable tool for engineering teams focusing on configuration and version control.

What are the essential features of IBM ELM?

Customizable Workflows: Tailor project processes to specific needs for adaptability.
Scrum-Based Planning: Facilitate Agile project management with Scrum tools.
Resource Management: Efficiently allocate and track resource usage.
Integration Capabilities: Seamlessly integrate with Git and IBM Doors for enhanced traceability.
Global Configuration: Manage configurations across locations for consistency.

What benefits should users consider?

Compliance Support: Provides tools essential for meeting industry regulations.
Collaboration: Streamlines team communication for smooth project execution.
Stakeholder Alignment: Enhances visibility and alignment with personalized dashboards.
Traceability: Ensures complete tracking of requirements and changes for accountability.

ELM is widely used in the automotive and manufacturing sectors for managing requirements and monitoring performance. Engineering teams leverage ELM for Agile methodologies, with central teams deploying it for end-to-end development processes including requirement gathering and backlog management. Stability and improved integration support remain critical implementation areas, along with enhanced governance features for comprehensive application.

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

February 2026

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

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