Pega Platform Reviews

The solution is used in banking, telecoms, and in insurance.

In certain circumstances, it can be fairly straightforward to execute and deploy new modifications.

The usability of the solution for developers is sometimes difficult to work with because instead of fixing the existing bugs in the previous version, there is always a rush to push out a new version leaving the bugs in the old versions unresolved. I would like the bugs to be fixed before moving on to a new version.

Upgrading versions is a challenge and expensive. PegaRULES should try to spend more time on developing the newest versions in such a way the upgrade could be easier, or in a way that clients don't need to upgrade every year to a new version or every couple of years in order to plan expenses and complicated upgrades.

The UI needs reworking. PegaRULES has added new features to the UI, but I'm not sure it's the right direction.

I have been using the solution for over ten years.                                                                                        

I give the stability a five out of ten. The solution is not the most stable solution available.

I rate the scalability of the solution a five out of ten, taking into account the requirements, user base, licensing, and hardware constraints that could potentially limit scalability.

The technical support is responsive, but sometimes negotiation is necessary to get the materials needed to address simple bugs. When working on a complex project sometimes patches can be found and the response is usually helpful. Often they'll come back with a fix and point to where the problem lies, however, there have been occasions where upgrading to the next version is the only solution, regardless of whether it is feasible for the client or even possible.

Neutral

The initial setup is challenging. I give the initial setup a three out of ten.

Some clients work with older versions and eventually choose to upgrade, which can take anywhere from five to ten years. This upgrade process is very expensive; although I haven't been on the sales team responsible for the pricing, I know it costs millions of dollars.

I give the price a five out of ten.

I give the solution a five out of ten.

We have around 20 people using the solution in our organization.

PegaRULES approach is unique; its own hierarchy and structure of applications are distinct from most other similar tools; which are more object-oriented and adhere to traditional methods.

We have two different projects right now using Pega BPM. In one we are doing a migration of applications regarding claims, and the process requires orchestration between different providers that this company needs to organize the work. When you have a claim and you need a repair for something, we need to organize the work that we send to the provider. One, for example, is doing water claims. Another one could be about car claims. These are our main processes right now for Pega BPM. 

The other project is regarding onboarding customers in a bank. We use Pega to orchestrate the different aspects we need to complete the onboarding for our customer.

One project is on-premise and another one is on cloud, but we started using the Pega cloud and right now we are migrating to Azure Cloud,

Yes it has improved the KPIs. For example, in the insurance project, the time required to complete the project with Appian was around a month and now with Pega it is around two weeks. We still have a lot that is manual, but we reduced the time of the process.

The best part of Pega, for me, is that they let you reuse a lot of the aspects in the product.

The main problem with Pega is that it is quite complex, so it is very difficult for the developer to learn. Sometimes it is like a black box where you can't develop other things. When you try to modify something on the product it is quite difficult. Also, when new people try to learn how to develop in Pega, it is quite difficult to learn, and it's a big product. I think that is the problem.

Maybe they could try to make an easier implementation. I don't know how. Maybe with more information on the Pega platform, in the Pega academy, or modifying the application to make it easier to implement. 

I started using Pega BPM 11 years ago.

Pega BPM is stable.

Pega BPM is more scalable than Appian. We can have more processes running, more data in the server, and the performance is better.

Both of our projects are in production right now, but in one of them the customer will require around 3,000 users. With the other project it will be around 300 people.

Right now, there are two or three people running this kind of project, so we will need more people for that.

The plan for Pega in both projects is to continue for around five years more - so we have a lot of work there.

We don't have too many problems. It's true that we have more ticket service requests with Pega, but they answer quickly, so I think that is good.

In one of our projects, we previously used an application called .NET by Microsoft and the solution was so slow. Well, I think it was created 20 years ago so the modification on that application was too slow because the code is much longer and you have to read more lines of code so it was not easy to modify the processes on that application. It was for that reason that we tended towards Pega, looking for more agility on the modifications and giving control to the business people to modify different business rules for themselves.

The initial setup is complex.

When you are doing a project in Pega, it is more complex than the processes that you are normally going to implement. When the product is complex to learn it's more complex to develop.

The deployment time is not too much. It is about the same as with Appian when you have the configuration down, no more than one or two hours.

Normally when we use Pega we are thinking about a more global application that you can use in different countries or for different areas.

It requires a Pega architect from the company.

The pricing with Pega BPM is a huge problem because it is quite expensive for the Spanish customers. It is higher than other BPMs.

My advice to anyone considering Pega BPM is that they have to think about that they want to do on it because not everything is possible. It is similar to Appian, so really think what you want do you in Pega. If you are thinking about moving an application towards innovation on Pega, it's not a big solution to do it. If you're thinking about something more, it's a good product. Don't spend money on that because Pega is more expensive than other products.

The main lessons regarding Pega are that you need people who know how to use it because it is a complex product. If you create the application from the beginning, you are going to need a lead system architect to do it, because if you don't do it correctly, the use and the good points that Pega has could be an issue for you. The main point here is that you need people who know Pega really well in your team.

As a product I have to say that I think Pega BPM is the best right now, and the only problem that we have with Pega is the people. So if I focus only on the product, on a scale of one to ten, I have to say Pega is a nine.

The product is so good. The only problem is that the people who work on it need more knowledge.

The primary use case includes working with Pega Platform, but the organization is planning to switch to another solution soon.

While there may be stability issues, they are minimal.

The technical support is very low, rated at a one or two out of ten. There is a lack of support and community presence in the country, leading to challenges in finding developers.

There have been some stability issues, however, they are not significant.

The technical support from Pega is very low, rating a one or two out of ten.

Negative

The pricing is expensive, and this is an issue.

The organization is in the process of selecting a new solution.

I'd rate the solution seven out of ten.

We use Pega BPM for backups, consumers, markets, payments, loans, etc.

The most valuable features of the solution are case management, routing, and low-code environment.

The solution's pricing model or licensing model could be a little better.

I have been using Pega BPM for 12 years.

I rate the solution’s stability an eight out of ten.

I rate the solution an eight out of ten for scalability.

The solution's technical support is good, but there are some things it needs to improve. Sometimes, the support takes longer because of the customer queries and the analysis it has to do.

Neutral

The solution’s initial setup could be made a bit easier.

We are using the solution's case management, many finance-related modules, and some frameworks. The solution's case management function has improved our daily operations. It was easy to customize Pega BPM for our industry. The solution handles some industry-leading tasks, like legal compliance.

Pega BPM has a huge offering, which includes CLM (Contract Lifecycle Management) and many frameworks built into their packages to comply with industry standards. Pega BPM is deployed mostly on-premises in banks for data security. Other BPM services, such as Oracle BPM, IBM BPM, Appian BPM, and Camunda BPM, are available in the market.

Small and medium enterprises have different needs and different costs. Pega BPM simplifies the modeling of a typical low-code workflow and data. There are other use cases where some other tool works better. Recommending Pega BPM depends on the business needs and journeys. Using the solution varies from case to case and depends on cost, complexity, infrastructure, and all other associated things that come with it.

Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.

We are using Pega BPM for all the major domains, insurance, banking, FMCG, and telecom.

The most valuable features of Pega BPM are low code, no code, functionality, and easy development.

Pega BPM can improve product management, case management, omnichannel, CDH, and the customer data hub. All the major domains can improve. Additionally, more AI functionality and proper integrations with Pega RPA would be helpful.

I have been using Pega BPM for approximately four years.

I rate the stability of Pega BPM a nine out of ten.

We have approximately 2,000 users using this solution.

I rate the scalability of Pega BPM a nine out of ten.

I have contacted the support from Pega BPM.

I rate Pega BPM an eight out of ten.

Positive

I have previously used OutSystems.

Both OutSystems and Pega BPM are Java-based applications with similar implementation methods. However, Pega BPM has a more integrated digital transformation solution and includes tools for RPA, while OutSystems does not have a specific focus on RPA. Pega BPM has more solutions geared toward digital transformations.

The initial setup of Pega BPM can be complex if the implementer does not have Java knowledge.

The price of Pega BPM is in the middle range compared to other solutions.

I rate the price of Pega BPM a five out of ten.

We have 30 people for the maintenance of the solution.

I rate Pega BPM n eight out of ten.

It is just for business rules. An example would be that you want to apply for a credit card limit, and if the credit limit amount is less than a certain value, we won't necessarily do a real-time check. We do basically auto adjudication. So, the rules can be used as part of the flow.

They're pretty easy to create, and they're pretty easy to deploy. 

In theory, business rules tend to be something that business users can use. What I mean by that is that I don't know whether it always works out that well because the problem in banking specifically is that you need auditing and you need some kind of control. So, even if you're doing rules, there has to be an approval process. You can do all that in Pega, but it is not exactly everything that the vendor says it is. I've spent some hands-on time with the platform, and you can do those things, and it is all low code, but is it as easy as they make it sound? No. That's my two cents. For example, if I want to do something, there is no way to switch from low code. I just want to do a simple If-Then-Else rule, but I have to go through their low-code tool and do dragging and dropping. I'm a development person, and in my opinion, even some business users could do this easier. There is no way to go back and forth to an editor where I can just type in an If-Then-Else rule, which would be much faster than drawing in their low-code editor. They don't support that. They lead you too much. It depends on your level of expertise, but in some cases, it is just not that easy to use.

I don't like their whole deployment pipeline. It is very closed in nature. You have to use their pipeline to push things out to production. It is a turnkey solution, and I'm not a big fan of that. That was one of the things that we liked better about Salesforce. With Salesforce, we could use our own deployment tools or we could use a third-party deployment tool. Pega is a pretty closed system. It is closed in the sense that the deployment pipeline and some of the things that you do go through their tool. They don't integrate with GitHub, Azure DevOps, and so forth, which are really effective for versioning. I just don't like that.

It works, and it is effective.

At a previous organization, there were a couple of thousand users executing PegaRULES, and there were 30 to 50 users creating and modifying rules.

They're decent. A big organization or a big bank is going to want to pay for the premium tech support. If you don't, then you got to be willing to wait. They're no different than any other enterprise solution. Their support, as an example, is better than MuleSoft because we had rather big challenges with MuleSoft support, but Pega was better.

We also have an IBM rules management solution, and we also have Appian, but the situation is that we're having challenges getting the productivity out of them.

I've also used FICO Blaze rules, but that was not here. It was at a previous job.

It took a while to onboard.

They're very cagey in giving out prices, and it is very difficult to find out the real price any organization is going to get. It is almost never their list price, if you can find it, and there are a lot of factors that go into the whole pricing. 

Their SaaS deployment model, which was the way we were going at a previous organization, had some benefits over Salesforce, but the concern was the price they were going to charge depending on the number of rules or something like that. We were afraid that the cost was going to blow us out of the water. We didn't choose it. We went with Salesforce.

Pega can be effective, but it is not trivial to get it set up, get it deployed, and get people to know it. That's not unlike some of the other big enterprise solutions. Even for Salesforce, as an example, you're going to need to staff appropriately. Pega isn't one of those solutions that you can basically put in an ecosystem and expect three or four people to roll out successfully. I just don't think that's the case. You're going to have a challenge finding people who already know it.

When we were doing the RFQ, there were some other organizations we talked to, and they were very successful, but now, they had quite a large installation base. I know at one of the organizations when they installed Pega, and this was circa 2018, they had a lot of road bumps. They had to get Pega consultants in. Maybe they had SI in because I was indirectly working with it with consumer lending, and it was one of the many factors that they were late and over budget for delivery. That's the challenge with these big platforms. For a simple point-click solution, they can be quick to get going, but most organizations, especially banks, don't have something simple. You've to integrate with a bunch of APIs. You have to do testing, and you got to do the deployment, etc. So, you need to create a center of excellence, and I hate that term, at least to get started until you get some organizational-wide talent.

In terms of maintenance, if you've got it on-premise, you're going to need two or three admins to work with your infrastructure team to stay on top, but it isn't something they're going to do full-time all the time. SaaS offering has a lot of advantages because it gets you out of that whole deployment perspective. To most companies, I would recommend seriously looking at the SaaS version and not getting involved with on-premise.

I'd rate it a seven out of ten.

There is a feature to accelerate the development so that business analysts can directly create their user stories and assign the task to the developers. It's called DCO.

Pega is claiming they're into low code but as per Gartner Magic Quadrant, Pega is not there now. Appian, OutSystems, Mendix, Salesforce, and Microsoft Power Platform are the major leaders in the market as low-code platforms as per Gartner Magic Quadrant. Pega has to improve if they would like to gain their position in the low-code space. They would have to improve major functionalities that these low-code vendors and low-code platforms have like their mobile compatibility. A citizen developer can easily make B2C mobile apps.

Pega has to come up with a lot of improvements in these low-code areas for the citizen developers who can easily create mobile apps with minimal coding or no coding. With other competitors like Appian, OutSystems, and Mendix, you can do it using visual modeling.

The price could also be improved.

I have been working with Pega for about six years as a solution architect.

Pega is a stable product. If you're solving a business problem for case management, Pega is the best for case management solution, but the product architecture is entirely different. It's rule based. It's not popular for UI or UX management.

Pega's technical support is not as friendly as Appian. 

I would rate Appian higher than Pega. The price of Pega is a bit higher than Appian and the software isn't as friendly.

The price could be lower.

I would rate this solution 8 out of 10.

I am the Head of Digital Transformation at my organization. Currently, I am implementing Pega for my customers. All of our customers want payment and collection solutions implemented.

We have multiple projects that have many use cases for Pega. For example, one client is in the insurance industry that uses insurance data. Another customer is in banking where we implemented a customer service system.

Pega can implement an automation system that catches incoming emails and can automatically triage and route them. 

Pega BPM has a full suite for any enterprise. It is a process orchestration platform. It has detailed features for case management and workflows. 

I value Pega's decision control, which can take care of your next transaction with all the decisions taken care of. 

The solution also has very strong customer service where all your issues will be taken care of across multiple channels like calls, email, and chat. It has a really powerful UI. It is a single platform for customer service automation for any enterprise.

I would like to see Pega BPM improve the user experience. The platform has a lot of restrictions. 

I have been using Pega BPM for 18 years.

Pega BPM is stable compared to other solutions on the market, even for high usage.

The solution is scalable. There are constraints when it comes to the terms of design and when you want to expand. When considering infrastructure scalability, there is nothing to worry about, it is scalable.

If you choose Pega BPM on the cloud, the initial setup will take care of the infrastructure. You will need to spend some time to identify the suitable infrastructure. Even after implementation, there is a certain amount of upfront work required in terms of design and foundation. Once this is complete, everything else is smooth. 

Deployment can take a few days to get on board with your foundation as it is very tedious.

Licensing varies across geographical regions for us. 

I would recommend this solution to anyone considering implementing Pega BPM. It is a scalable, reliable platform that is suitable for many kinds of organizations. 

I would rate this solution a nine out of 10 overall.