IBM BPM Reviews

The most valuable feature of the solution is IBM Cloud Pak for Business Automation and how it's integrated with case management and the RPA and all these things with flexible deployment.

UI is an area with a shortcoming that needs improvement.

I have been using IBM BPM for six and a half to seven years. We're currently working on a migration project from IBM BPM Version 8.5.7 to IBM BPM Version 21.0.3. My current company is a platinum partner for IBM.

Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.

It's a very scalable solution. Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.

In my current environment, the solution has more than 500 users.

I rate the technical support a seven or eight out of ten. Sometimes IBM support takes a long time to respond or responds wrongly on some issues, and there is some fixed practice at their end because of which they take some time to come. Hence, I lean more toward seven.

Neutral

I rate the setup a seven on a scale of one to ten, where one is difficult, and ten is easy. If you are using the UI to do the installation or setup, the rating would be nine. But if you're using shell commands on AIX or Linux, I think it should be almost two or three since I did the shell commands for the services. It also included some server performance tuning and stuff, like, database connections for BPM databases and all such things. It's not easy.

Since I am working in the banking industry, the tool is deployed on-premises.

The deployment takes around two days since there is a need to prepare a development environment.

One person can do deployment with help from a database person. Some database scripts should be deployed on Oracle or Db2.

On a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive, I rate the pricing a ten. It is an expensive product compared to other tools.

I evaluated options like Appian, OpenText AppWorks, and Pega. However, I prefer IBM BPM over other solutions owing to its level of integration and the already existing adapters, and how it is easy to create your files to be connected with IBM BPM.

I rate the overall solution an eight out of ten.

We are using it to automate specific processes in cooperation with robotic process automation. We have some manual tasks that we want to automate and are using this to link different tasks under one process.

IBM BPM and Automation Anywhere working together automate manual tasks with a reduction in FTEs, creating about a 30% reduction in FTEs by automating processes. Part of the benefit is due to the automated execution and the other part is due to linking tasks and their specific processes.

The integration with the robotic process automation tool that we are using. We are using Automation Anywhere tool, as it appears that the two product integrate quite well together. It was actually the reason we chose them.

I would like it more documentation during the design phase.

We would appreciate more user-friendly definitions of processes with a more user-friendly interface for documenting processes. Also, the ability to produce process documentation automatically in a readable manner.

It appears to be quite stable.

We haven't actually stressed it because we do small processes.

We did not switch solutions. We chose to purchase IBM BPM because it was bundled with the actual RPA program/solution that we decided to purchase. We decided to use Automation Anywhere tool (RPA), and it is was bundled with IBM BPM.

The initial setup was quite straightforward.

We needed about a week of assistance from the vendor.

Most important criteria when selecting a vendor:

• Price
• Sales support
• All the technical requirements or functional requirements of the product.

As a bank, any business processes which run on it:

• A treasury application
• A lost and stolen credit card application
• New accounts, etc.

There are many use cases that are now administrated through one BPM processor.

It has performed pretty well. One of the concerns, which is a question of our processes more than the product, we like to do a monthly release cycle and that is not fast enough for some people. Therefore, we have created a separate BPM that we call our DevOps box, which allows them to update it anytime they want. This is in production.

We use it as a combination of machine processes and human processes. There is a workflow, then somebody kicks it off and enters the data. Some decisions are made automatically, and other decisions are made by human beings. Just the mix of these two makes it a good combination.

We are incorporating ODM to some degree.

We are creating a new box because we have all these forms. They have to be signed, therefore we have not been able to take advantage of the ease of deployment. However, we now have separate boxes, which do not need all the same approvals in order to get something into production. You can just put it in whenever you need to.

I like the Process Center. I can go to one place and view what all the environments are doing, the ease of deployment, etc.

Stability is good. We have had a few problems, but IBM has helped us to resolve them.

We had a weird problem that whenever the database would go down, even for a few seconds, it broke the connection. It would not come back up as it was supposed to. However, working with IBM, we were able to figure out a fix, then it came back up, even after an interruption of the database.

Scalability is good. In the time that I have been there, we have added more JVMs to help with the increased workload, so it does scale.

Technical support is good. They are very responsive. It is usually me who takes more time to get back to them than they take to get back to me, which is good.

We did use Oracle for a little while, but we did not like the Oracle BPM product.

IBM BPM allow us to streamline manually processes.

I have been involved in the setup of this new box (DevOps). I installed and configured it, but I did not do the original install. I did the new install, which was complex. However, the documentation is good, and we did it pretty much without incident.

We did the implementation directly with IBM.

Try it out on a small scale. Do one project which is relatively simple, then work out the bugs this way. Do not try to put too much in it at one time.

Most important criteria when selecting a vendor: We are a bank, so security is extremely important. We are looking for someone who is going to be here a year from now, and someone who will support us. 

The number one thing is support. If we are down, we want somebody helping us now, because we can't be down.

We've been using BPM for most of the enrollment process, for banking, infrastructure, the financial side. So we've been using BPM to improve our business management process.

Performance so far has been pretty good. We've been using for almost five years now. A lot of auditing is in there, so we're pretty good with it.

We will be using the automation product, that's a new version, I think. These are new things we just learned about it. So we'll be discussing that more now.

The audit functionality.

IBM BPM has had an impact on our ability to change or update our processes in a good way. We have improved our process with it.

The business process management, where we can avoid lot of paperwork.

I'm more on the infrastructure side, not on the development side of it. So I'm not sure I can answer this. It's scalable right now from the infrastructure perspective. But I'm not sure of the development side of it. I'm not a developer.

The latest versions have been more stable. Initially, we were using older versions. With the latest version it is more stable.

It's pretty good. I would rate it eight or nine out of 10.

I'm not sure if we've seen ROI as a result of implementing BPM.

It's pretty good. We've been on calls with IBM. We have a technical account manager, so it's pretty good. I can almost rate it 10 out of 10. Good relationship.

Mainly for auditing purposes, and security concerns. That's why we started using the BPM tool.

When looking at vendors, we do a PoC with them to find out their support structure, etc.

I was not involved in the initial setup. It was done in-house.

Right now we're looking at BP3.

On the infrastructure side, I'd rate this a 10 out of 10.

I would recommend this solution, it's a pretty stable, good environment and platform for business process management. 

We use this solution for business workflow automation.

It is a a very powerful solution.

It is not user-friendly and requires a knowledgeable and skilled user to work with it. If an end-user has no idea about the technology, they will have difficulties. The product requires the end user to be skilled with prerequisites and have the ability to configure and tailor the product to express the workflow. Most IBM products in layer seven, middleware or the application layer, are not user-friendly.

The workflow is also difficult. In any organization, many departments are involved in the workflow from the start to the end of the procedure. That's why we must be aware of an organization's manual process to reflect it in the product. The product could ask the user questions, and based on the answers, it can develop the workflow, which makes it much easier.

We have been using this solution for more than 12 years. It is deployed on private cloud.

It is a stable and powerful solution.

It is a scalable solution, and one small company that is a customer uses this solution. They do tender development proposal evaluations for clients.

The initial setup was easy but using it after became a bit challenging. Deployment took about one day, and we are a big organization.

I rate this solution an eight out of ten. I would advise others to compare IBM BPM with other equivalent products in the market before deciding.

It provides a very robust environment to build an integration framework or workflow patterns that we have. A lot of changes or modifications have been made to this solution over the past few years. The features that they have added this time have helped developers like us to work on the developmental environment and leverage all the capabilities of the tool. This is what I like about this solution.

The coaches and the user interface are the areas that can be improved a lot. It is good in terms of data processing, but the UI, scripting, and coaches are not very user-friendly and developer-friendly. Performance is always an issue. The scripting and the pattern that it uses are very tedious for new developers to understand, and it takes time to master it in depth.

When comparing IBM BPM with IBM APN, a lot of things are provided out of the box in IBM APN. We don't have to write code or a Java connector to make a functionality work. It would be very helpful and time-saving for developers if IBM BPM is improved in this area to provide many functionalities or drag-and-drop options so that the developers don't have to write the code.

I have been using this solution for eight years. I have been involved with this tool since the beginning. It was called Lombardi before it was taken over by IBM. I've seen how this solution has progressed in the last few years. 

I don't have much experience with their technical support.

It is straightforward.

I would recommend IBM BPM to others depending on the use case that they are planning to implement and the actual specification they are looking for. If they are focusing more on user interfaces, I would not recommend IBM BPM, but if they are focusing more on workflows, integration designs, and straightforward processing, IBM BPM would be a good choice.

I would rate IBM BPM a seven out of ten.

My primary use case is to take a lot of the business processes from the client portfolio and smoothly, seamlessly transfer it over into a solution for them to grow their business. The key ideas are to eliminate a lot of the proprietary footprint in development and try to seamlessly go with their business logic in a framework, which we have developed, and be able to mitigate a lot of the risk and to make the front-end interaction with the customer optimal.

We use the solution as a workflow platform to manage processes. It really gets into understanding the business logic of the clients, seeing how closely that aligns with the frameworks that we've built out in the BPM portfolio, and keeping that locked into the solution.

In some of our use cases, we have used it in conjunction with IBM Case Manager and other IBM automation products.

Having good experience with the portfolio of IBM products, we have the capability of leveraging them, and part of our practice is to take our clients through the journey, very specifically mapping out the approach for each client. We don't have a niche solution, but rather we are true partners, much like we find with the IBM portfolio of products. We are true partners in leveraging only those which are relevant, applicable, and can add a progressive value. A lot of times, we want to give them the leadership but we base that upon rock-solid capabilities of the delivery in the IBM portfolio.

As an example of the impact on a customer's ability to change or update processes, one customer, in particular, wanted to link the front-end through the enterprise. The BPM solution frameworks that we were able to provide them through the IBM portfolio, they have enabled them to lock in from the back-end processes through the middleware to the front-end, so they can go to market and sell their company.

It has a mature delivery already spec'd out with almost global applicability through IBM's many customers, and being able to put that on it. It helps maintain, and in many instances, lower costs, as well as to maintain those costs, keeping them stable. It mitigates a lot of the risk of scaling to the enterprise. It also gives the best possible customer experience for that particular client.

If you're trying to lower and contain your costs or mitigate a lot of risk, there is nothing like the IBM Cloud. It can take on the security and regulatory risks.

I would like to see a lot more case studies. 

I'd like to see a lot more of the partners who've adopted these solutions come forward and demonstrate themselves. We have done this in the past where we had our clients at the IBM Think events interconnect, come forward and say, "This is what we've done with Miracle and IBM," and make that presentation known. I'd like to see a lot more of that available on a case by case basis. 

I'd like to see a lot more of the partners come forward and talk about how various partners have assisted them rather than just this is what it is and this is what it can do. Nothing like kicking the tires after you've bought it. Understand where the value is.

The product has been well-orchestrated and proven. Through a lot of our own blood, sweat, and tears in terms of our frameworks, we've been able to validate them in every instance.

Because we try to understand the full enterprise, whether it's an SMB or a larger organization, we already have the scalability understood, and we've already taken a look at that architecture, we've taken a look at the delivery. The scalability is part of what we deliver as a company, in terms of the thought leadership, which is all hallmarked on the IBM product like that we're able to leverage.

Everything is complex. There's no easy-peasy. Intelligent process automation becomes a complex matter. Most people are terrified of moving from their on-prem into the automation and digital transformation. 

We often times will map out according to what we've done in the industry. There is nothing simple, everything is very focused on a true partnership with our customer base.

We demonstrate ROI even before we go on. We show it to our clients from our understanding of the business assessments, expectations, and objectives. We then transcribe that into our technical solution, in which we portray and show them the ROI, from the user base from day one. Then, they can understand what they will realize in terms of time and in terms of growth.

Competing solutions are SAP, Microsoft, and Oracle.

With IBM, you have only a few roadmaps, and I think that's the value of IBM.

Stay as close as you can to what the current business model is; don't try to reinvent or recreate it. Just because it has appeal on all the buzzwords and new technologies, stay with what you've currently done and utilize that in each incremental stage.

I always like to have an early start. I find early adopters to be amongst the best proponents. In every case, I would like to get in earlier.

I'd like to see a lot more partners come forward in the present. This is where IBM has stepped forward previously and helped me in our world.