IBM Blueworks Live Reviews

We primarily use the solution for process discovery, from end to end.

The mega process maps are very easy to use. You can do standard things like indicating which applications to use or to look at different pieces of information that are linked to the process. This helps with polices, etc.

The solution is a very basic discovery product so it doesn't have that much modeling capability. This can be improved.  

The solution needs to be seamlessly integrated with downstream automation.

The solution is stable. All the refreshes run very well.

The solution is scalable. It can work for companies that have 50,000 or 200,000 users and can be managed quite well.

Technical support rolled out according to the licensing scheme. 

The initial setup is straightforward. The solution offers up a lot of documentation that helps with the process. Deployment takes about one month.

The licensing costs are based on the number of users. There are editor licenses and UA licenses.

We use the on-premises deployment model.

I'd advise users that they need to look at how relevant the discovery process is, and how quickly you can maintain it or its life cycle as things change. They should also note how it interfaces with other platforms that are integrated into their automation robotics. It's important users know what they are doing and what problems the solution will solve for them.

I'd rate the solution seven out of ten. It's a competitive field, so there's always somebody who's better in some aspects.

We are resellers. Our use case varies from client to client, but the most common are for initial demonstration, cut mapping, and workshops with the clients.

We are always looking for opportunities to expand. We work with clients, but we also look at our processes internally and where we could streamline some of those.

We are using the following tools from the IBM DBA portfolio: Blueworks Live, BPM, ODM, and RPA.

We have implemented the IBM Automation Platform for Digital Business with our customers, but not internally.

We use automation in a few different areas. We have a number of internal (as well as external) processes, like expense reporting, sales handoff, and time tracking, which are all done in the IBM automation suite.

In terms of direction, one of the things that we value of a tool is not just that we are getting benefit from it, but can we apply that benefit to other client situations. One of the things that we look at when assessing if something is a candidate for automation: "Is it repeatable, or is it something that we could bring about to our customers?" This is definitely something that we consider when we are thinking about automation.

It has the ability to document in different formats. It is not tied to a specific model. You can look at it from different angles and see the intuitive nature of it. It always generates a valid diagram. You cannot create something that is not BPMN compliant.

It is very usable. That is probably one of its biggest selling features: Its ability to have someone sit down and spend a couple minutes on it, then they are off and running. 

In the past, we have seen some projects not start on time. This is because we had some process gaps in our automation. By removing those and getting the right people involved at the right time, we were able to send notifications and make sure the information was in the right place. This has really helped to eliminate that risk.

We would like the ability to add additional custom colors. We would like to color additional items to add notes to the blueprint.

We would like to see more robust API access. We want it to be able to interact not just through the front-end, and have the ability to integrate with other systems more easily.

The reporting and analytics features have room for improvement, as well as some of the management and governance. These should be done out-of-the-box, as opposed to being built manually.

The system is very stable, if it is setup the right way.

The cloud versions that we use for custumer-facing things are usually more resilient, as opposed to us standing something up internally. Sometimes, we miss something, or something is not setup exactly right, but these are not product issues.

It's very scalable, either horizontally, adding more servers to the cluster, or vertically, where we are increasing the server size. It is pretty easy to keep up with demand and being able to spin things up and down.

We don't have a lot of interaction with the technical support. In most cases, we are the technical support, since we have the background. For Blueworks, they are very responsive. 

Often, we will either log tickets ourselves or log tickets on behalf of our customers. Then, the Blueworks support team is very responsive and will get back to us right away.

We try it ourselves before putting in front of our customers.

The initial setup is straightforward. For Blueworks, because it is cloud-based, they stand it up for you and provision it usually within 24 hours.

The solution has increased productivity and reduced operating costs (in soft costs). 

It saves time, probably a couple days a month, but this is dependent on the process. E.g., it reduces our onboarding from about five days to three days. Therefore, it saves us about 30 days over the course of a year. This is how it helps us from a business process management use case.

For automation projects, the ROI varies depending on the tools. The RPA capability definitely has the fasted ROI and lowest investment. However, we see a more significant ROI with some of the deeper automation tools, like BPM and ODM.

Our licensing costs are very minimal, because we get a lot of the solutions for free (as a partner).

We only work with IBM.

Try it out. It is clear once you start using the solution that it is a different type of application. There is no direct competition to the tool.

I don't think that there is another product out there quite like it. There are some competitors certainly, but they are either more complex, costly, or too simplistic and not geared towards process documentation.

The integration process is pretty open-ended. You need to be fairly technical to make it work, but we have seen success in integrating it with QuickBooks and Salesforce. Now, we are looking at other systems to integrate it with, as well.

I learned the best approach to adopting process improvement across an organization from using this solution.

It was for business process, modeling and analytics, and it performed really well.

It has improved the way the organization functions. We were using it for design and modeling purposes. We didn't actually follow through with the tool into an operational process. So it was very much a discrete workshop-based activity.

We didn't use the document repository, at least, not extensively. We used it as a mapping tool.

• Real-time modeling and design work
• The ability to perform workshops with clients in real-time with the tool
• Getting instant output

In terms of the collaboration features, from the point of discovery, it was useful to go to load up the policies and the rule sets that the client had. And in terms of exploring options and being able to model a variety of different processes, that was incredibly useful as well.

Building out my first process model took quite a while, because I hadn't done it before. But the teething problems were very limited and very short-lived. Within 24 - 48 hours, we were pretty much in full flight.

As for process version control issues, that wasn't something we were particularly suffering from.

We didn't really explore the opportunities for process execution. So moving from the modeling to the process orchestration, it wasn't very clear how we would do that from a BPM perspective, and then into the larger tool set perspective. But I can't talk with authority on it. We just never actually got there.

Some of the import functionality was a bit restrictive, in terms of loading data in from other data sources. Something as simple as Excel, loading data tables from Excel, wasn't great. And vice-versa. Some of the export and import functionality with something like Visio - which, I know it's a slightly different tool - but being able to work seamlessly with those other tool sets would've been quite useful. I know it was something that was in the pipeline to be looked at. So that would be useful.

Really stable. We didn't have any stability issues at all.

I don't know about this actually. We didn't experience any problems with it, but we didn't use it at scale. It was fairly localized. I wouldn't have any concerns with using it at scale though.

We didn't use technical support.

We were using a previous solution, it was called "paper and ink." So we needed to something slightly more, well, less 19th-century and slightly more 21st-century.

When selecting a vendor, what's important is a vendor that understands and is able to provide a clear solution for the problem that's in front of us. In this particular instance, it was an answer to a question we didn't even know we were asking. We had what we thought was our set of requirements, and then we found we actually had a different set. Meaning, we had that first set of requirements and then some others. We were able to not just take one step but take several steps at once. So, having a vendor that understands the problem and is able to deliver the answer is important.

Straightforward. It was just really intuitive. It's not a particularly complicated tool to set up. There are fairly limited configuration requirements. It was reasonably straightforward.

We really only evaluated IBM in this particular scenario.

For what it did, for what we used it for, it was relatively complete.

Discovery workshops and collaborative sessions with customers.

Very collaborative, and business users understand it really well, which means we can then help them automate their business processes.

We don't use the document repository.

In terms of utilizing the collaboration features, really we use everything. We use it for creating the as-is and the to-be business process model; for activities, decisions, documentation.

We are you using the product as a process mapping tool and as part of a larger process improvement project. We use it with IBM BPM and IBM ODM. We get an automated workflow solution for our customers, an improved workflow automation. We're helping our business.

I think it's pretty good. I can't think of any additional features it needs.

Stability is pretty good. It has never broken on me. I've been able to do my job.

Scalability is pretty good. 

Pretty good, pretty responsive.

Pretty straightforward.

I rate it a nine out of 10 because it does the work.

I've recommended Blueworks Live to many people, for collaboration.