IBM Business Automation Workflow vs. Microsoft Power Automate

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
IBM Business Automation Workflow
Score 9.3 out of 10
N/A
IBM 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
Microsoft Power Automate
Score 8.3 out of 10
N/A
Microsoft Power Automate is an advanced automation platform offering a range of features, including AI-powered automation, robotic process automation (RPA), business process automation (BPA), digital process automation (DPA), and process/task mining. The platform aims to empower organizations to securely automate their operations at scale by leveraging low-code and AI technologies.
$15
per month per user
Pricing
IBM Business Automation WorkflowMicrosoft Power Automate
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Power Automate Premium
$15
per month per user
Power Automate Process
$150
per month per bot
Hosted RPA add-on
$215
per month per bot
Process Mining add-on
$5,000
per month per tenant
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
IBM Business Automation WorkflowMicrosoft Power Automate
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
IBM Business Automation WorkflowMicrosoft Power Automate
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
IBM Business Automation WorkflowMicrosoft Power Automate
Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
IBM Business Automation Workflow
10.0
4 Ratings
20% above category average
Microsoft Power Automate
-
Ratings
Dashboards10.04 Ratings00 Ratings
Standard reports10.04 Ratings00 Ratings
Custom reports10.04 Ratings00 Ratings
Process Engine
Comparison of Process Engine features of Product A and Product B
IBM Business Automation Workflow
10.0
4 Ratings
17% above category average
Microsoft Power Automate
-
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 Product A and Product B
IBM Business Automation Workflow
10.0
3 Ratings
20% above category average
Microsoft Power Automate
-
Ratings
Social collaboration tools10.03 Ratings00 Ratings
Content Management Capabilties
Comparison of Content Management Capabilties features of Product A and Product B
IBM Business Automation Workflow
10.0
4 Ratings
21% above category average
Microsoft Power Automate
-
Ratings
Content management10.04 Ratings00 Ratings
Best Alternatives
IBM Business Automation WorkflowMicrosoft Power Automate
Small Businesses
Square 9 Softworks
Square 9 Softworks
Score 9.7 out of 10
Creatio
Creatio
Score 9.1 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Square 9 Softworks
Square 9 Softworks
Score 9.7 out of 10
Quickbase
Quickbase
Score 9.2 out of 10
Enterprises
IBM Cloud Pak for Business Automation
IBM Cloud Pak for Business Automation
Score 9.1 out of 10
Quickbase
Quickbase
Score 9.2 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
IBM Business Automation WorkflowMicrosoft Power Automate
Likelihood to Recommend
10.0
(8 ratings)
8.6
(71 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.0
(4 ratings)
10.0
(2 ratings)
Usability
8.0
(2 ratings)
9.0
(6 ratings)
Support Rating
8.0
(2 ratings)
7.3
(11 ratings)
In-Person Training
9.0
(1 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Online Training
-
(0 ratings)
8.0
(1 ratings)
Implementation Rating
9.0
(1 ratings)
8.8
(26 ratings)
Product Scalability
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
IBM Business Automation WorkflowMicrosoft Power Automate
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
Microsoft Power Automate is the best tool to extend Microsoft services you already use. Hands down. Prototyping workflows is very easy in Microsoft Power Automate. It's also the best choice for sending custom cards through Teams and email. It's the easiest way to get data from Microsoft Graph.
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
  • Sending confirmation email to clients and user once the flow is triggered.
  • Fetching or Dumping files from one location to another if the flow is triggered.
  • Schedule flow helps to send alerts and triggers the flow at a specific interval of time to carry out the required task.
  • Power Automate also be used to convert any file format to a specific file format and save it to the required location
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.
Read full review
Microsoft
  • Many times it doesn't feel very "low-code" or intuitive. AI builder is helping more and more.
  • Workflows should have a longer lifespan in days, we have approval processes that take months and it's very annoying to fix if the instance is stopped.
  • Better debugging and quick fix help
Read full review
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
my employer is absolutely fearful of ever changing anything, ever.
Read full review
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
Read full review
Microsoft
Power Automate has an intuitive interface that is easy for novices to use. It doesn't require programming knowledge, however having that experience will help troubleshoot potential issues if they do arise. There are advanced features that allow the use of "code-like" steps that will help power users get more advanced automations set up quickly.
Read full review
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.
Read full review
Microsoft
I really have had a need to contact Win Automation support, but when I do google how to do a task, Win Automation has an extensive message board with a broad number of topics and questions answered where I could see how other people were able to solve similar problems to the ones I have.
Read full review
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
after reviewing the main features of Power Automate, the Microsoft trainer focused on some of our real life use cases implementation, from simple to more advanced.
Read full review
Online Training
IBM
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
although it was productive, it is more difficult to stay focused and in a 7 hours a day online training (including screen share issues and the fact that the trainer just can't precisely show the exact location of your mistake)
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
I had to migrate from Robocorp to Power Automate. The automation was using API and sharepoint. So it was better to use Power Automate instead of Robocorp so we did the migration. in some areas the migration was easy but creating flows and making it smaller codes was difficult. Debugging the code was tough so we took lots of time.
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.
Read full review
Microsoft
Power Automate is a no-code/low-code solution tailored for workflow automation, data integration, and AI integration, making it an excellent choice for Microsoft-centric organizations. OutSystems, on the other hand, is a comprehensive application development platform, offering rapid app development with both low-code and traditional development options. This platform is well-suited for organizations seeking custom application development. Nintex specializes in workflow and process automation with a strong focus on SharePoint and Office 365 integration. It also includes advanced features like document generation and robotic process automation (RPA).The choice among these platforms should align with your organization's specific needs, considering factors like integration requirements and the desired level of technical expertise. In the bottomline, it's up to cost and licensing.
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.
Read full review
Microsoft
  • It has encouraged everyday users to get a feel for low code no code without the detailed technical programmings skills
  • This has encouraged the use of Power Automate to replace what was once an excel filled with complex macros and VBA!
  • It has significantly saved time for someone like myself from chasing people for information and now I can create an auto alert using PA
Read full review
ScreenShots

Microsoft Power Automate Screenshots

Screenshot of Microsoft Power Automate (Interface Screenshot) - Work Queues, Initial pageScreenshot of Microsoft Power Automate (Interface Screenshot) - Signed-in web portal home pageScreenshot of Microsoft Power Automate (Interface Screenshot) - Signed-in web portal create pageScreenshot of Microsoft Power Automate (Interface Screenshot) - Desktop designerScreenshot of Microsoft Power Automate (Interface Screenshot) - Hosted RPAScreenshot of Microsoft Power Automate (Interface Screenshot) - Display of DLP violations (on Run)