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IBM WebSphere Application Server vs Microsoft .NET Framework comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary
 

Categories and Ranking

IBM WebSphere Application S...
Ranking in Application Infrastructure
5th
Average Rating
7.8
Number of Reviews
28
Ranking in other categories
Application Server (5th)
Microsoft .NET Framework
Ranking in Application Infrastructure
4th
Average Rating
8.4
Number of Reviews
50
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2024, in the Application Infrastructure category, the mindshare of IBM WebSphere Application Server is 10.5%, up from 10.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft .NET Framework is 6.5%, down from 6.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Application Infrastructure
 

Featured Reviews

Saleem Shar - PeerSpot reviewer
Mar 3, 2023
Compatible, stable, and scalable
We deploy the solution both on-premise and Azure, AWS, and IBM cloud. We use a solution for our e-commerce application. We have an application deployed on AWS Cloud, for a client, which has a large B2B customer base in Australia. Therefore, we use WebSphere Application Server for the e-commerce…
Pavan Kodur - PeerSpot reviewer
Mar 6, 2024
Intuitive, easier to develop, maintain, and migrate from the old framework to newer versions
There are a few areas where they could compete better with products like React or Angular – the popular SPA (Single Page Application) frameworks. Microsoft has its own product called Blazor, but I don't think it's quite as powerful yet as React or Angular. I think that's an area for improvement. For example, HR asked me to build something that worked offline and online. Microsoft products don't really support that well, as I'd have to rely on browser databases. React and Angular are better for that. If I need something faster, I'd definitely use React. So, I see Microsoft lagging a bit in that area.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The VPN service is quite useful."
"Network Deployment is the most useful feature for scalability. It has many features within the standard WebSphere Application Server edition."
"The performance is good."
"The solution is very stable and robust."
"High availability, alert management, and deployments are the most valuable features for us. We have the ND version so we can do deployments."
"The product offers good performance."
"Security: It is compatible with the latest Java 8 security features, supports FIPS 140-2 and NIST SP 800-53 with strong ciphers and cryptography keys, and supports TLS 1.2 completely. Also, configuring client and server certificates is relatively easy."
"The most valuable features are its user-friendliness and reliability in terms of application hosting."
"The solution is easy to use if the user is a developer or some technical person."
"The product has a good interface and easy-to-use programming language."
"Initial setup is straightforward. All the components are readily available."
"I like that ASP.NET is used for the framework and the core web services."
"The .NET Framework is a very good framework. It does what I need it to do."
"It facilitates running Windows business applications and leveraging enterprise application development."
"Ease of use, the richness of the libraries and basically very good development tools."
"The Windows Communication Foundation is the biggest advantage we get from the .NET Framework."
 

Cons

"I think that this is a good product but I think that the cloud environment could be improved. I think that the future is in the utilization of the product in a product as a service way which is something that is lacking at this moment."
"When we run into memory or locking issues, we resort to using third-party tools. However, it would be preferable to have native tools for debugging this type of problem."
"It should be able to serve more concurrent requests like Oracle. Oracle has more powerful stability, availability, and real-time serving."
"IBM WebSphere Application Server hasn't changed much. It's still a heavyweight for any company compared to what you get. Unless your code base is deeply linked with it, I don't think it's a great idea to go with this solution. The current trend is toward modularity and containerization, and given the product's requirements, containerization will be difficult. There is a memory requirement as well."
"When compared with WebLogic, Weblogic is lighter and consumes less memory."
"The solution could improve the integration."
"The licensing could be improved, and I would like it to give the longevity of the lifespan of the visions. In the next release, I would like to be able to download and extract the files so that I can just use my application server."
"Initial setup is very simple. Just use the IBM Installation Manager and add the packages. The install wizard takes care of the rest. The only thing that can be difficult is to find the right packages on the IBM website, because of all the changes that IBM does on its website(s)."
"Lacking in auto-scaling."
"Microsoft .NET Framework has a steep learning curve, which could be improved."
"One thing that could be improved is the tooling and IDE for .NET in non-Windows environments like Mac."
"The solution is difficult to learn if someone is learning it for the first time."
"The integration with DevOps tools, such as Azure DevOps, Jira, and GitLab, would be a valuable addition."
"The product is nearing its sunset, and we think that by 2028, we won't get support anymore"
"The solution could improve by optimizing the memory for better performance."
"The solution needs to update its security periodically because there are many security concerns."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"My company is on a perpetual or permanent license agreement with IBM WebSphere Application Server. There's also a pay-per-use option, but customers rarely choose that option. Most of the customers are on the perpetual license deal that's all-inclusive. As the license cost is quite expensive, I'm rating it two out of five."
"I don't remember the price, but there are no additional costs."
"We used to pay about $100,000-$120,000 US or somewhere around there. That was a bit cost-prohibitive for us to continue."
"Room for improvement would only be in the licensing. As with all IBM products the licensing can be complex and expensive. Bargain well and try to get as much discount as possible. Discounts of 85% are possible. Without the discount, I think the product is overrated."
"When you purchase Maximo, you get WebSphere for free."
"It's expensive."
"The licensing cost is 1,000 of euros for a 30-year table."
"The solution is quite expensive."
"Microsoft .NET Framework is free of cost."
"We have an annual license, and we pay extra for extended support."
"The product is not expensive."
"In the interim, there's no need to purchase videos for viewing. Microsoft has made significant moves in the .NET space, starting with their response in Visual Studio Code and now providing Visual Studio entirely for free. This is a notable shift from the past when we used to pay substantial amounts for technical subscriptions. Previously, a group of ten developers could cost several thousand dollars annually for licensing. However, the current trend is to offer these tools for free to maintain their dominance in the developer market. The market dynamics have changed, and now developers can freely download Visual Studio, making it a preferred choice over other paid options."
"The product and support for this solution are free for everyone."
"Microsoft .NET Framework is a free, open-source solution."
"Do your homework. Consider the partnership program."
"The support is an extra cost when purchasing the license. The price of the solution is overall reasonable and paid annually or every three years. Additionally, they have a monthly license. The cost is approximately $1,000 per user."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
31%
Computer Software Company
12%
Insurance Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Computer Software Company
12%
Government
10%
Construction Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about IBM WebSphere Application Server?
Network Deployment is the most useful feature for scalability. It has many features within the standard WebSphere Application Server edition.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM WebSphere Application Server?
The product is expensive. I rate the product’s pricing a seven out of ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive.
What needs improvement with IBM WebSphere Application Server?
I think in some moments, the security was a little bit more complex to configure when it was delegated to other systems, making it an area where improvements are required.
What do you like most about Microsoft .NET Framework?
Microsoft .NET Framework continually innovates, particularly in Visual Studio, which focuses on improving languages, debugging, and .NET functionality.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft .NET Framework?
The pricing is rated six out of ten. It provides value for the cost.
What needs improvement with Microsoft .NET Framework?
There is room for Microsoft .NET Framework to improve cloud platform capabilities. They have already made improvements in their new version by making it multi-platform and upgrading it for cloud pl...
 

Also Known As

WebSphere Application Server
MS .NET Framework
 

Learn More

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

TalkTalk, Property management group, E.SUN Bank, Ohio National Financial Services, Aviarc, Cincom Systems, FJA-US, D+H, Staples, Michigan Municipal League
Curtin University, Rockwell Automation, Aruba Networks, Insurity Inc., City of Barcelona, Pennsylvania DCNR, University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, A1 Telekom Austria AG, Eastman Chemical Company
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM WebSphere Application Server vs. Microsoft .NET Framework and other solutions. Updated: October 2024.
814,649 professionals have used our research since 2012.