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IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) vs Polarion ALM comparison

IBM and Siemens are both solutions in the Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Suites category. IBM is ranked #12 with an average rating of 7.8, while Siemens is ranked #9 with an average rating of 8.3. IBM holds a 2.8% mindshare in ALM, compared to Siemens’s 7.4% mindshare. Additionally, 75% of IBM users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 86% of Siemens users who would recommend it.
IBM Engineering Lifecycle M...
Read 18 IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) reviews
  • 1,394 Views
  • 1,029 Comparison Views
75% willing to recommend
Polarion ALM
Read 20 Polarion ALM reviews
  • 4,429 Views
  • 3,036 Comparison Views
86% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 23, 2024

IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management and Polarion ALM compete in the application lifecycle management category. IBM ELM has the upper hand with its robust integration capabilities, while Polarion ALM is favored for adaptability and user-centric features.

Features: IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management offers advanced collaboration tools, requirements management, and traceability features, catering to complex projects with rigorous compliance needs. Polarion ALM features innovative work item tracking, customizable workflows, and intuitive traceability, ideal for teams valuing flexibility and ease of use.

Room for Improvement: IBM ELM could enhance its ease of deployment and streamline user experience due to its complex setup. Polarion ALM may benefit from simplifying its advanced features for new users and improving out-of-the-box functionality in planning and management.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Polarion ALM is recognized for straightforward installation and agile support, enabling quicker adaptation to project needs. IBM ELM requires a more intricate deployment process but offers comprehensive support tailored to customization.

Pricing and ROI: IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management incurs higher initial costs but offers substantial ROI through functionality and scalability. Polarion ALM, with lower upfront expenses, delivers quicker ROI by leveraging adaptability and reduced deployment time.

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To learn more, read our detailed IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) vs. Polarion ALM Report (Updated: January 2025).
Buyer's Guide
IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) vs. Polarion ALM
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 Engineering Lifecycle M...
Ranking in Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Suites
12th
Average Rating
7.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
18
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Polarion ALM
Ranking in Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Suites
9th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
20
Ranking in other categories
Enterprise Agile Planning Tools (7th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2025, in the Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Suites category, the mindshare of IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) is 2.8%, up from 1.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Polarion ALM is 7.4%, up from 5.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Suites
 

Featured Reviews

Harold Pogue - PeerSpot reviewer
A complex deployment that is not stable, but is cloud-based
The team of 15 to 20 software engineers uses IBM Rational ALM and Jira for testing. They coupled different online packages together because the Duration Enterprise was impossible to use IBM Rational ALM did not help the organization and we ended up moving to another solution. The most valuable…
Read full review
Dina Bindi - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides traceability and compliance with high flexibility
It's extremely flexible. Configuring items is straightforward and doesn't require involving the supplier each time. We find the requirement management, test management, documentation, and dashboards very effective. However, we don't use DevOps-related features, such as integration with tools like SVN or Git, because we use Azure DevOps. The aspects related to requirements, testing, changes, tasks, and agile methodology are excellent, which is why we've been using it for a long time.
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's easy to use."
"The solution is customizable."
"The tools for requirement capture we have found very useful."
"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 most valuable feature is the reporting of the CPU usage on the dashboard."
"The cataloging is a very valuable feature. For a lot of enterprises, they end up not knowing which applications do specific features. The cataloging helps with this. It's not that verbose, but it still gives you allowances to put in more detail."
"The word emulation and importing is good."
"We have something called the GC (global configuration), which is a unique feature compared to any other competitor we have in the ALM space."
More IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) pros
"The tool helped us to more effectively and efficiently gather and structure the information (requirements, test plans, project management data, etc.), and share it with the involved stakeholders in a safe and change-controlled manner."
"You can see the work ticket and you can circulate that within the teams. You can define your flows, customize according to your needs, and you can create dashboards and create the reports according to your needs."
"It offers good performance."
"Scalability is good...The integration is quite good."
"It's extremely flexible. Configuring items is straightforward and doesn't require involving the supplier each time. We find the requirement management, test management, documentation, and dashboards very effective."
"It is a very stable solution."
"The initial setup of this solution was straightforward, and there were not too many problems with it."
"The most valuable feature is the function of the ALM system."
More Polarion ALM pros
 

Cons

"The solution can improve in the development area and the customized applications."
"The directory designer manager is uncivil. The design manager is clearly really unstable."
"The user interface requires significant improvement as it is overly complex."
"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."
"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."
"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."
"There is not enough beginner support material in the form of FAQs or simple training to help you get started."
"The interconnectivity between packages is a major support problem and can be improved."
More IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) cons
"The solution needs to improve its user experience and graphics."
"Based on my understanding, the tool's integration capabilities with multiple tools is an area of concern that Polarion needs to focus on more."
"As Polarion ALM is a development-oriented tool, easy support or easy access is provided by default, but if I want to use detailed features, I need to write the script, particularly the VM script, and this is its area for improvement. I want Polarion ALM to have a graphical user interface that doesn't need scripting. In the next release of the tool, I'd like for it to not require scripting and programming because needing to run script language is time-consuming."
"The solution can be improved by making it more user-friendly, and a server-based application rather than client based."
"The configuration aspect of the solution is not easy. A person needs a lot of programming knowledge in order to successfully handle the job."
"The planning and task management aspects of the solution were not that easy."
"Integration requires a lot of effort. You typically need to work with an implementation partner to get it done. Most connectors available for Polarion ALM are paid. Unlike other vendors offering several standard connectors for free, integrating third-party software with Polarion ALM involves discussing and coordinating with the third-party software providers, which requires effort."
"The interface for this solution needs to be made more user-friendly to provide a better user experience."
More Polarion ALM cons
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"IBM Rational ALM has both monthly and yearly licensing options."
"The solution is not cheap."
"This product is a little expensive and we had to pay extra to have them set it up for us."
"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."
"You have to pay around 50-60 euros per user."
"The license model is okay for large companies but would be quite expensive for smaller enterprises."
"It is an expensive product."
"Software for medical devices is always expensive."
"The solution is expensive."
"Our license for Polarion ALM is yearly. And it's not the cheapest tool that we've looked at. So if we had made our decision purely based on the licensing cost, we wouldn't have selected Polarion."
"If the pricing would come down and it was more affordable then we wouldn't have to switch."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
23%
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Government
7%
Manufacturing Company
25%
Computer Software Company
15%
Healthcare Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
5%
 

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?
The user interface requires significant improvement as it is overly complex. For business users with no experience in IT, it can be particularly challenging to understand the UI and create test cas...
See all answers
What is your primary use case for IBM Rational ALM?
We use IBM Rational ALM as part of our overall application suite for our manufacturing company. It is used by our engineering team to capture requirements, perform testing, and manage defects. Spec...
See all answers
What do you like most about Polarion ALM?
It is a very stable solution.
See all answers
What needs improvement with Polarion ALM?
I also recently suggested that CMS consider incorporating generative artificial intelligence into the system. This could greatly enhance requirement checking, improve form, content, and clarity, an...
See all answers
What is your primary use case for Polarion ALM?
We use Polarion ALM for software development, including requirements management, testing, change requests, and task tracking. We set up the environment by configuring items and reports based on use...
See all answers
 

Comparisons

Jira vs IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) Logo
Jira vs IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM)
Compared 30% of the time
Codebeamer vs IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) Logo
Codebeamer vs IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM)
Compared 22% of the time
Microsoft Azure DevOps vs IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) Logo
Microsoft Azure DevOps vs IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM)
Compared 19% of the time
PTC Integrity vs IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) Logo
PTC Integrity vs IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM)
Compared 10% of the time
Atlassian ALM vs IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) Logo
Atlassian ALM vs IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM)
Compared 5% of the time
More IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) Competitors
Jira vs Polarion ALM Logo
Jira vs Polarion ALM
Compared 29% of the time
Codebeamer vs Polarion ALM Logo
Codebeamer vs Polarion ALM
Compared 24% of the time
Microsoft Azure DevOps vs Polarion ALM Logo
Microsoft Azure DevOps vs Polarion ALM
Compared 18% of the time
Jama Connect vs Polarion ALM Logo
Jama Connect vs Polarion ALM
Compared 7% of the time
GitLab vs Polarion ALM Logo
GitLab vs Polarion ALM
Compared 4% of the time
More Polarion ALM Competitors
 

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM)
January 2025
IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) reportDownload IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) product report
Buyer's Guide
Polarion ALM
January 2025
Polarion ALM reportDownload Polarion ALM product report
 

Also Known As

IBM Engineering Rhapsody, Rational ALM, MKS
No data available
 

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

The world’s first 100% browser-based ALM enterprise solution, which enables seamless collaboration across disparate teams, multi-directionally linked work items, full traceability, accelerated productivity and automated proof of compliance.

Siemens
 

Sample Customers

Tennis Australia, WeCloud AB, Port Otago Limited, Logicalis US, Valmer, The Chevrolet Volt, Ashurst
Engineering Ingegneria Informatica, IBS AG, Zumtobel Group
Buyer's Guide
IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) vs. Polarion ALM
January 2025
Free Report: IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) vs. Polarion ALM
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