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IBM WebSphere Application Server vs Oracle SOA Suite 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)
Oracle SOA Suite
Ranking in Application Infrastructure
9th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
65
Ranking in other categories
SOA Governance (1st)
 

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 Oracle SOA Suite is 4.0%, down from 4.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Application Infrastructure
 

Featured Reviews

Saleem Shar - PeerSpot reviewer
Compatible, stable, and scalable
IBM WebSphere Application Server is one of the best servers due to its stability and paid license. I have never encountered any issues when installing and deploying applications, as it never goes down. Currently, there are two versions of WebSphere Application Server: the old version, known as WebSphere Application ND, and the newer version, Liberty, which is Docker-based. I have experience with both and have never encountered any issues. I believe that WebSphere Application Server is a great feature.
Manoj Satpathy - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides good performance and error handling, but its initial setup is complex and could be improved
We use Oracle SOA Suite for application integration in our company. We were using the on-premises version of the product. Since Oracle SOA Suite has its own engine, you can build your integrations, deploy, and use them. We used the Oracle BPEL Process Manager for Orchestration when we had a lot of business logic. Oracle Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) and Oracle VPN come under the Oracle SOA integration platform. Compared to other solutions like SnapLogic, Oracle SOA Suite is not easy to use. Oracle SOA Suite is suitable for customers with a big complex integration process, where performance and infrastructure stability are more important. Overall, I rate the solution a seven out of ten.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution is very stable and robust."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is Portal Virtualization."
"The solution has good performance."
"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."
"High availability, alert management, and deployments are the most valuable features for us. We have the ND version so we can do deployments."
"The most valuable features are its user-friendliness and reliability in terms of application hosting."
"We needed this type of integration and WebShepere is the best tool for it."
"The only reason why we're currently using WebSphere is that the integration of the authentication with Azure is very quick. WebSphere has something that can immediately connect with Azure Active Directory."
"We were able to scale out using multiple application and web servers balanced by hardware load balancers and Weblogic clustering."
"The most valuable features for us are the APIs, which we commonly use, as well as the scheduling capabilities and file transfers."
"The new product has come out with SOA Cloud Service and Integration Analytics as well, which gives more options for clients to pick their point of requirements."
"I found the adapters to be most useful."
"The solution's XSLT or XSL Transformation feature was very useful."
"I would rate my experience with the initial setup an eight out of ten, where one is difficult, and ten is easy."
"Valuable features include web service development and cloud connectivity."
"Conceptually, how it integrates a lot of essential enterprise process components. That's the most valuable."
 

Cons

"It should be able to serve more concurrent requests like Oracle. Oracle has more powerful stability, availability, and real-time serving."
"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 installation has room for improvement."
"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."
"The solution could improve the integration."
"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."
"The footprint could be reduced so that we can use a smaller virtual machine to run the application. We could also use more scripts. I would like this solution to be more script oriented, rather than GUI oriented."
"Installing or configuring a WAS server instance as a Windows Service causes a lot of problems, especially when the server needs credentials to stop."
"Another area of improvement is performance. Because with multiple solutions connecting to the SOA platform, the performance of the SOA platform can be affected in time. So, that could be one area that could be improved with the SOA."
"SOA"
"The Maven integration in JDeveloper is very basic and might be enhanced to allow the proper use of Maven."
"It's also not developer-friendly."
"I want to see easier integration connections with other cloud-based tools."
"The solution’s initial setup is complex and could be improved."
"The solutions can improve the communication or translations between formats, such as JSON and XML. The JSON REST API could improve."
"If the disk space expansion can be made more flexible, not requiring a database restart, it would be a major benefit."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of IBM WebSphere Application Server could be less expensive and there is an annual license required for this solution."
"IBM WAS base is part of the deal when you purchase IBM FileNet P8 Content Engine."
"We used to pay about $100,000-$120,000 US or somewhere around there. That was a bit cost-prohibitive for us to continue."
"The solution is quite expensive."
"If your application is just a web app that does not need to scale big, you can obtain a single core license of WAS Express edition, which has almost the same features with limited processing cores. If you manage a very big application farm (i.e. need to run 10 or more WAS servers) it is better to get IBM WAS Hypervisor Edition."
"There is an Eclipse Plugin provided by IBM, so no need to buy IBM Rational Application Developer or Rational Software Architect tools."
"It costs more than some of the others, but, you get what you pay for."
"It's expensive."
"This product is WebLogic based, hence it can be both resource hungry as well as expensive from a licensing point of view."
"The product is moderately priced."
"Oracle pricing is expensive. Support is based on your license. AWS is much better than Oracle in this regard."
"Oracle SOA Suite is an expensive solution."
"Based on my knowledge, Oracle SOA Suite doesn't have user-based licensing. It has a system-based licensing model, so you pay for whole systems. Oracle SOA Suite is an expensive solution, so it's a four out of ten for me."
"It is necessary to evaluate the requirement regarding the platform usage and what the main operation area of the platform will be."
"The pricing is not very high as compared to its competitors."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
32%
Computer Software Company
12%
Insurance Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Computer Software Company
19%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Government
9%
Educational Organization
7%
 

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 Oracle SOA Suite?
The solution's XSLT or XSL Transformation feature was very useful.
What needs improvement with Oracle SOA Suite?
The solution’s initial setup is complex and could be improved. A big challenge for Oracle SOA Suite is that you don't get too many technical resources.
 

Also Known As

WebSphere Application Server
SOA Suite
 

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
7-Eleven, Arcor SAIC, Banca Transilvania, Eaton Corporation, Emdeon, Ferrovial, Griffith University, National Instruments, Pella Corporation, Vodafone Group Plc,
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM WebSphere Application Server vs. Oracle SOA Suite and other solutions. Updated: October 2024.
816,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.