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IBM Engineering Workflow Management vs IBM Rational ClearQuest comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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 Workflow Ma...
Ranking in Software Configuration Management
4th
Average Rating
6.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
17
Ranking in other categories
Enterprise Agile Planning Tools (10th)
IBM Rational ClearQuest
Ranking in Software Configuration Management
8th
Average Rating
7.2
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
Defect Tracking (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Software Configuration Management category, the mindshare of IBM Engineering Workflow Management is 3.2%, up from 3.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Rational ClearQuest is 5.3%, up from 5.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Software Configuration Management
 

Featured Reviews

Suvajit Chakraborty - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers good traceability elements but UI needs improvement
There is room for improvement in the UI. The UI has to improve a lot compared to the competitive tools, like Atlassian Jira, for example. It's very easy to use. It is easy to manage and easy to use. Anybody can learn it right quickly and start with it. But IBM ELM is something where somebody has to have good knowledge, training, and understanding and then only start using it. But there's a big known knowledge curve for IBM ELM. But once that is there, it's normally; organizations do have their own internal team to basically manage it IBM ELM portfolio, the tool chain. So if they have internal teams who are doing it for quite some time, not something new, then it is definitely better. But if there's if somebody is starting new, definitely there is a knowledge curve time it can take at least a year or maybe a couple of years before they can start realizing the benefits.
it_user541326 - PeerSpot reviewer
Tracks change requests, problems, and physical asset management. I would like to see data type for floating point numbers.
Customer Service: Customer service has been adequate. Most of the times we've had any issues IBM has been able to provide a solution. We've dealt mostly with customer service representatives in Brazil. Technical Support: Technical support from IBM is pretty good since you can create a PMR with them and they’re very responsible.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The tool provides traceability and reporting, which are important for compliance and measuring progress."
"Agile templates give us a standard methodology for every Agile project. Also, the ability to create our own object types and linkages to features/epics allows us to enhance the verification of feature readiness."
"It was an all-in-one solution for source code, integrated source control, defect tracking, and project planning."
"Work distribution among team members and accountability for completion with a clearer picture."
"We can track the status of test cases (passed or saved) in a single view. Based on releases and other attributes, we generate various reports and extract metrics from the data."
"All of the features work together to provide a powerful holistic solution - from the dashboard all the way through to security."
"The tool provides traceability and reporting, which are important for compliance and measuring progress."
"The most valuable features of the solution are highly customizable reports and visibility for all the higher management."
"The combination of a highly flexible state machine together with a platform independent API enables possibilities to automate many steps that in many systems are manual."
"It can be adapted to any process flow and easily be integrated with other in-house tools using the ClearQuest API."
 

Cons

"If you have multiple projects on one server, the tool becomes very slow, and some reports take longer to load."
"We have encountered issues with stability. We have seen where the entire system kind of goes for a toss when certain people use certain types of queries, which are very costly. Then the system kind of slows down a bit, and we have to monitor it."
"Lacks ability to customize and reporting can be slow."
"The solution is very heavily vendor dependent."
"It's becoming less relevant. For example, Maven has evolved, and in its later versions, there are plugins for integrating with source control systems, such as Git-based systems. Support for these plugins is diminishing."
"Teams need clearer pictures of resource availability in charts and dashboards along with plans."
"I would rate the IBM Engineering Workflow Management a seven or an eight. I am leaning closer to seven based on a couple of items I mentioned that I would like to see or know more about, such as improved reporting."
"Some administrative tasks are difficult to perform. These could be simplified."
"Lack of a modern web interface compared to other systems might discourage customers."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I've heard IBM Engineering Workflow Management is more expensive than other tools."
"Licensing: The solution cost is high and should be brought down to increase competition."
"It is not a free tool. We use a token-based licensing model, which is specific to IBM. The cost per token is around $115-$120."
"It's an expensive investment to make, so the decision should be driven on individual requirements."
Information not available
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
20%
Government
16%
Computer Software Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Manufacturing Company
29%
Government
11%
Computer Software Company
9%
Energy/Utilities Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about IBM Engineering Workflow Management?
We can track the status of test cases (passed or saved) in a single view. Based on releases and other attributes, we generate various reports and extract metrics from the data.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Engineering Workflow Management?
I've heard IBM Engineering Workflow Management is more expensive than other tools. On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing a six out of ten.
What needs improvement with IBM Engineering Workflow Management?
Improved graphics in terms of metrics and connectivity to SharePoint from Microsoft products would be beneficial.
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Earn 20 points
 

Also Known As

IBM Rational Team Concert (IBM ALM), IBM RTC
Rational ClearQuest
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Telstra Corporation, Visteon, Atos SE, Panasonic Automotive Systems, IBM Global Technology Services, CareCore National, JTEKT Corp., ItaÒ BBA, Avea, CACEIS, Danske Bank Group, APIS IT
Atos SE, STM, Regence BlueCross BlueShield
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Engineering Workflow Management vs. IBM Rational ClearQuest and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
845,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.