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IBM Business Automation Workflow vs. Microsoft SharePoint

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    IBM Business Automation Workflow

    Score10 out of 10
    N/AIBM Business Automation Workflow is a solution that helps users automate digital workflows to increase productivity, efficiency and insights — on premises or on cloud.N/A

    SharePoint

    Score7.9 out of 10
    N/AMicrosoft's SharePoint is an Intranet solution that enables users to share and manage content, knowledge, and applications to empower teamwork, quickly find information, and collaborate across the organization.

    $5

    Per User Per Month

    Pricing
    IBM Business Automation WorkflowSharePoint
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    Plan 1
    $5.00
    Per User Per Month
    Plan 2
    $10.00
    Per User Per Month
    Office 365 E3
    $20.00
    Per User Per Month
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    IBM Business Automation WorkflowSharePoint
    Free Trial
    YesYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    IBM Business Automation WorkflowSharePoint
    Considered Both Products
    IBM
    No answer on this topic
    Microsoft
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    No answers on this topic
    89%
    Would buy again
    51 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    No answers on this topic
    96%
    Delivers good value for the price
    45 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    No answers on this topic
    95%
    Happy with the feature set
    54 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    No answers on this topic
    96%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    27 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    No answers on this topic
    97%
    Implementation went as expected
    37 Answers
    Features
    IBM Business Automation WorkflowSharePoint
    Reporting & Analytics
    Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of IBM Business Automation Workflow and Microsoft SharePoint
    Feature
    IBM Business Automation Workflow
    10.0
    4 Ratings
    26% above category average
    Microsoft SharePoint
    -
    Ratings
    Dashboards10.04 Ratings00 Ratings
    Standard reports10.04 Ratings00 Ratings
    Custom reports10.04 Ratings00 Ratings
    Process Engine
    Comparison of Process Engine features of IBM Business Automation Workflow and Microsoft SharePoint
    Feature
    IBM Business Automation Workflow
    10.0
    4 Ratings
    18% above category average
    Microsoft SharePoint
    -
    Ratings
    Process designer10.04 Ratings00 Ratings
    Process simulation10.03 Ratings00 Ratings
    Business rules engine10.04 Ratings00 Ratings
    SOA support10.04 Ratings00 Ratings
    Process player10.03 Ratings00 Ratings
    Support for modeling languages10.04 Ratings00 Ratings
    Form builder10.04 Ratings00 Ratings
    Model execution10.04 Ratings00 Ratings
    Collaboration
    Comparison of Collaboration features of IBM Business Automation Workflow and Microsoft SharePoint
    Feature
    IBM Business Automation Workflow
    10.0
    3 Ratings
    18% above category average
    Microsoft SharePoint
    -
    Ratings
    Social collaboration tools10.03 Ratings00 Ratings
    Content Management Capabilties
    Comparison of Content Management Capabilties features of IBM Business Automation Workflow and Microsoft SharePoint
    Feature
    IBM Business Automation Workflow
    10.0
    4 Ratings
    21% above category average
    Microsoft SharePoint
    -
    Ratings
    Content management10.04 Ratings00 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    IBM Business Automation WorkflowSharePoint
    Small Businesses
    Process Street
    Score8.2 out of 10
    HCL Connections
    Score9 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    TIBCO® BPM Enterprise
    Score8 out of 10
    HCL Connections
    Score9 out of 10
    Enterprises
    IBM Blueworks Live
    Score9.1 out of 10
    HCL Connections
    Score9 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    IBM Business Automation WorkflowSharePoint
    Likelihood to Recommend
    10.0
    (8 ratings)
    8.1
    (271 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    8.0
    (4 ratings)
    9.8
    (26 ratings)
    Usability
    8.0
    (2 ratings)
    8.2
    (31 ratings)
    Support Rating
    8.0
    (2 ratings)
    8.8
    (13 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    4.5
    (1 ratings)
    Online Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    6.4
    (1 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    6.0
    (5 ratings)
    Data Sharing and Collaboration
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.2
    (51 ratings)
    Data Sources
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.6
    (50 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    IBM Business Automation WorkflowSharePoint
    Likelihood to Recommend
    IBM
    Have your process first on paper Its important to first document the process before venturing into BPMS. It will save a lot of pain and heartaches. A BPM tool is no magic bullet, it merely automates your process. Its upto you to put visibility and tracking on top of it. Provide monitoring so that you get a chance to improve your process continously. BPM is not an application If you are trying to build an application with BPM, chances are that your are alraedy failing. BPM must be a strategic initiative for an organization. Yes, you build Dashboards, Reports and other software in BPMS, however you do it at a process level not at an application level. http://bpmstech.blogspot.com/2011/05/bpm-initiative.html Know the difference between process data and business data http://bpmstech.blogspot.com/2011/05/lombardi-best-practices.html http://bpmstech.blogspot.com/2012/02/bpm-system-architecture.html
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    It's Microsoft, so it rarely goes down or unnecessarily limits access. It works, though page load times can be long if you have lots of data. I feel like the Mac vs. PC divide has started to show up for MS products, but SharePoint works well with both.
    Read full review
    Pros
    IBM
    • System does a great job normalizing business process and automating order processing tasks. Before TeamWorks, the process was much more manual and more expensive staff ($65k to $70K) were required to manage the process. Since implementing TeamWorks, we need much lower-skilled workers to manage order processing.
    • System ensures that we have consistent data across all systems.
    • Rules engine is really the “company playbook” – it is the heart and soul of how the company works. It handles thousands of orders per day
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    • We track employees' performance sheets, which are accessible to the employee, his manager, and HR, and this helps with transparency.
    • We maintain technical process documents and SOPs, which help us quickly provide relevant documents during audits.
    • We maintain incident documents change request forms in SharePoint, which helps us in tracking the changes.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    IBM
    • The system gets crashed when many instances go into the queue stage. The system even crashes and sometimes restarts automatically when the load on the server increases. We had to develop a separate software for this and maintain the same.
    • We cannot manipulate the data during run time. It is difficult to develop user-interfaces with complex functionality.
    • In order to consume external services that follow HTTP protocol, we need to use IDE for that, and consuming services from IDE takes a lot of time to give a response.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    • Windows Explorer users have some difficulty having to constantly UPLOAD / DOWNLOAD files. Specifically on the DOWNLOAD when they are used to Drag & Drop in & out of LOCAL folders via Window's explorer.
    • Microsoft SharePoint supports multiple "library" types. When implementing our "image" library the search function is done via "tags" and boolean logic. This is challenging to most end users. I'd like our users to be able to search our Microsoft SharePoint image library without having to enter KEYWORD or other BOOLEAN logic.
    • Microsoft SharePoint can also be an internal website for each department or company wide communication tool but I believe these features are geared for much larger organizations. Since we are a SMB we really aren't using these features. So maybe something more useful to SMBs would be nice.
    Incentivized
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    Likelihood to Renew
    IBM
    This particular decision will be made by other people. Overall IBM BPM is the best BPM engine that I have worked with. It is implemented at our company and IT and business are already somewhat familiar with it. Therefore if asked I will recommend renewal as long as the price is reasonable.
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    It's integral to our business. It's already included with most of the Office 365 licensing we buy, so the cost is effectively zero. It stores our files, it is the foundation for custom applications, and Microsoft only continues to enhance its functionality and its connections to other Microsoft tools. SharePoint just keeps getting better and better.
    Incentivized
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    Usability
    IBM
    • The system is easy enough to use but, by definition, is a complex tool. However, they have done a good job generally balancing tool complexity / capability with usability. When comparing to MS Biz Talk, for example, Biz Talk has less functionality but is actually harder to use.
    • Software is very flexible. For somebody with the right technical background, it’s quite easy to write some Java code to overcome any hurdles or make the product do what is needed
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    Microsoft
    No usability issues reported. Individual teams also have allocated areas which replace legacy shared drives on local LANs. Access to Sharepoint resources is fully integrated with corporate Active Directory with additional two-factor authentication required for administrative users. Users have access to Microsoft Services Hub which allows you to create, manage, and track support requests while staying current on Microsoft technologies with access to select self-paced learning paths
    Incentivized
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    Support Rating
    IBM
    Issues can be raised through tickets and it works based on the priority of the issue. The Support Team response is also good and the solution is provided in a short span of time. In a case where the issue is serious, they try to find out the root cause and provide an alternative for it.
    Incentivized
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    Microsoft
    Support for SharePoint is quite good. Microsoft provides good support. Microsoft offers
    • Quick turnaround time for issues
    • A range of support services
    • Access to a network of resources
    • Escalation of issues
    • Ongoing development and commitment to produce enhancement
    The majority of support is required for initial installation. Once complete and the system is operating we have had very few support issues.
    Incentivized
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    In-Person Training
    IBM
    • Attended on premise sysadmin training for 4 days, 8 hours per day. Although further follow-up training was available, I never felt the need to go back. Training was very hands-on with real modeling (rather than just following a manual). Very effective.
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    The face to face training I received was on SharePoint Administration. It was rushed as there was a lot of information to cover and the application of the labs weren't that great either. I like to be able to relate what I am learning to what I am currently doing.
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    Online Training
    IBM
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    I like to learn at my own pace and online training allows for that. Additionally, you can skip through pieces of content that you already know or are already comfortable with. Microsoft actually offers great videos on their website for basic fundamental SharePoint Training. I have used these training videos in some of my own training sessions with end users.
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    IBM
    • Very satisfied – not too difficult at all.
    • We had a consultant available as part of our contract, but we didn’t really need to use (except for some advice on ActiveDirectory and single sign-on)
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    Planning to the last detail would be advised. SharePoint is a very large application that takes a lot of finesse to get operational
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    IBM
    Pega Pega is a comprehensive suite which offers a unique theme of BPM development in the market. A no-coding approach based on rules with inheritance makes Pega a very powerful product. However Pega, falls short on integration centric capabilities and very rigid to customize. On the other hand IBM comes with array of products which suits needs of varying degree. Advanced integration is solved by BPEL Process Server which has support for state based patterns and mediation. Dynamic rules and event management can be solved with WODM, Cloud to on-premise connectivity with Cast Iron, Enterprise gateway and security usecases with DataPower, Social BPM with IBM BPM , WODM, mobify with Worklight. Pega has a little bit of eveything here and there. It solves the dynamic rule management, brings out the flavor of Social BPM and mobility with Antenna ( I guess) and predictive analytics as well in one single suite. There are certain usecases which needs to have a little bit of everything, however this little bits and pieces of functionality when its blows, Pega would have problems to scale. With IBM its a bit nightmare to maintain a variety of technologies, however you can wish to go for one without the other and go for something only when you truly need it. Pega vs IBM Its difficult to pick a winner. In nutshell when you want a full scale BPM with rich integration capabilities go for IBM BPM. On the other hand if you hava mature integration capability already, Pega can yield quick results for you as well. Pega's strength is its methodology. IBM BPM's strength is integration. Actually you can't go wrong with both in terms of implementation. My strong recommendation is to invest time to process analysis and pick a good vendor to support consulting and implementation.
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    Microsoft
    The reasons for selecting MS SharePoint are: SharePoint provides ease of use and web design assistance and support SharePoint helps you schedule your content for publishing. enables users to share documents with external parties and offers a better internal structure of the content and better indexing and searching capabilities.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Scalability
    IBM
    It scales from small team interactions to business processes serving thousands of employees, as well as straight-through-processing needs that go well beyond. Of course, scale is always in the eye of the beholder, but IBM BPM does a good job of giving you all of the hooks, APIs, and data that you need to take on whatever scaling approaches you need to meet the load
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    Return on Investment
    IBM
    • It has added value to the upper management to give visibility into what is happening at any time in the enterprise.
    • Boosted employee morale because it gives them all the information to work the case/task in a single location.
    • Identifies bottlenecks and improves the turnover.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    • It comes with Office 365. It won't cost you any additional charges.
    • It will help you to streamline your communication and work as a central hub for all tasks, files[,] and events[.]
    • Setting it up will need a bit [of] planning. If you jump blindly it will become a confusing place for your team members and make them frustrated[.]
    Incentivized
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