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IBM WebSphere Application Server vs Oracle GlassFish comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary
 

Categories and Ranking

IBM WebSphere Application S...
Ranking in Application Server
5th
Average Rating
7.8
Number of Reviews
28
Ranking in other categories
Application Infrastructure (5th)
Oracle GlassFish
Ranking in Application Server
9th
Average Rating
6.0
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2024, in the Application Server category, the mindshare of IBM WebSphere Application Server is 11.9%, up from 11.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Oracle GlassFish is 2.3%, down from 3.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Application Server
 

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…
it_user517413 - PeerSpot reviewer
Sep 21, 2016
Offers EE Support. I would like to see integration with MQ systems.
The products offers EE support. It offers ease of use. I would like to see integration with MQ systems.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"What's most valuable in IBM WebSphere Application Server is its resilience. When you use the solution, you know that after the communication has been done, there will be no doubt that the data has reached its destination."
"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."
"Ease of administration: It has an Integrated Solutions Console, what we call the administrative console, with very detailed configurations and Help pages for each configurable item."
"It does integrate well with the Tivoli Federated Identity Management system."
"The thing about WebSphere, as opposed to other ones that I am aware of such as JBoss and Liberty, is that WebSphere has the most comprehensive scaffolding available to it."
"Without the Admin Console it would be very hard to configure JVM settings, JDBC datasources, mail session settings, and security providers."
"As compared to other applications, it has tremendous support. We have built internal capability so that we use it extensively internally. It is also easier to use with the outside data. You can write in ESQL, Java, or any other technology that you want to use for development. So, it is a lot more flexible in the language that it supports."
"IBM WebSphere Application Server is the best in terms of scalability and performance, as well as the support for managing distributed transactions."
"The products offers EE support."
 

Cons

"IBM needs to pay attention to market changes more quickly. We now have Java 9 and very soon Java EE8. We do not want to wait for two or three years after their release until they are supported by the new version."
"The solution consumes hardware."
"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."
"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."
"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."
"In spite of the solution's robustness, it is expensive and a bit difficult to support."
"It should be able to serve more concurrent requests like Oracle. Oracle has more powerful stability, availability, and real-time serving."
"The main issue we faced was its limited compatibility with non-Java technologies, which can result in difficulty detecting potential bugs and requiring additional integration efforts."
"I would like to see integration with MQ systems."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of this product is higher than that of competitors."
"The price of IBM WebSphere Application Server could be less expensive and there is an annual license required for this solution."
"We pay around $200,000 annually."
"The solution is quite expensive."
"I don't remember the price, but there are no additional costs."
"It costs more than some of the others, but, you get what you pay for."
"The licensing policy is based on the PVU base."
"It's expensive."
Information not available
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
31%
Computer Software Company
12%
Insurance Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Computer Software Company
21%
Government
15%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing 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 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.
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Also Known As

WebSphere Application Server
GlassFish
 

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
TravelMuse, Clarity Accounting
Find out what your peers are saying about Oracle, Apache, Red Hat and others in Application Server. Updated: October 2024.
814,649 professionals have used our research since 2012.