IBM Business Automation Workflow Reviews

The automation services were implemented in the financial sector, including ACH transfers, e-payments, credit limit approvals, and account opening, among many others.

There are three main points regarding the benefits. First, it returns revenue. Second, it reduces costs and burden. Third, many of these tasks are mandatory requirements. For example, ACH, which means automatic transfer, is the bulk transfer of money between banks. This is a must-do process within the process workflow. I believe IBM Business Automation Workflow fits well with these requirements and benefits.

The integration capabilities are excellent. IBM Business Automation Workflow integrates seamlessly with other IBM products, such as Enterprise Content Management, FileNet, Case Manager, and Operational Decision Management. There are many adapters available, and we can communicate everything through the same business process management scenario.

Additionally, the product itself is powerful and contains a lot of built-in software support, including an inspector, dashboard, analytics, and databases, and allows users to work with development and administration from the same interface.

Another valuable feature is the connection with RPA scenarios. The system integration with IBM RPA is very useful for seamlessly integrating robotic process automation, which is one of the main advantages.

Regarding Watsonx, I am uncertain whether it is fully complied and fully integrated with IBM Business Automation Workflow yet. Currently, we use some AI in Enterprise Content Management, particularly when searching documents.

Archiving snapshots would be very beneficial. It would be good to reduce the administration effort required to archive snapshots, as this is a main issue with the product.

I would also recommend that IBM engage with customers more deeply. Rather than sending URLs or documentation for customers to solve problems independently, the support team should be more involved in addressing the client's specific issues in a targeted manner, providing clear guidance on what actions need to be taken.

I have been using IBM Business Automation Workflow for seven years, starting from version 8.5.5 to the current version. The product was previously called Business Process Management before its rebranding.

Stability depends on the environment. I would rate stability between seven and nine out of ten, depending on the operating system. When installed on AIX, IBM Business Automation Workflow performs very well. On Linux, it performs acceptably. However, on Windows, I believe considerable administration tasks are required to maintain environment stability.

I would rate scalability as ten out of ten.

I would rate technical support as seven out of ten.

Positive

IBM Business Automation Workflow demonstrates strong return on investment, particularly through the operation model and real-time monitoring capabilities provided by the embedded dashboards.

Oracle BPM and Nintex are comparable solutions, although Nintex is not as direct a competitor. Additionally, low-code and no-code platforms using AI scenarios are now competitive alternatives. Open-source tools, such as Camunda, also compete in this space.

I am currently working with IBM software, specifically IBM Cloud Pak for Business Automation, which includes IBM Business Automation Workflow and Enterprise Content Management, as well as Cloud Pak for Integration, which includes DataPower, App Connect, API Connect, and webMethods. The latest version is 24.

It is very easy to integrate IBM Business Automation Workflow with the Operational Decision Management product. IBM Business Automation Workflow also has its own rule engine, which allows us to develop customized solutions. We have integrated with Operational Decision Management before, and it is straightforward to work with the rules.

There is a feature called Enterprise Content Search Services using Watson that provides additional capability.

My overall review rating for IBM Business Automation Workflow is eight out of ten.

We are a pension and invalidity insurance fund in Europe. The requirements for such an organization are given by law, which means we need to have our own development and custom-built applications. We use IBM Business Automation Workflow to integrate our entire applications for the implementation of insurance in terms of business processes. Our clerks log into a portal and start the process or tasks through Business Automation Workflow.

The most important aspect is that it helped us focus on the business process perspective. We were renovating our ICT and built an entire new system from scratch. It assisted in making users concentrate on the process flow rather than just features. It also helped organize our project management structure as we digitized our business processes. We implemented our old processes on IBM Business Automation Workflow, which runs on our document management solution. This digitization confirmed that we had renovated and digitized our entire business.

IBM Business Automation Workflow could be more intuitive, with more advanced low-code features and services definition. It is quite traditional, requiring significant effort, which is manageable with a development team, but it could be faster.

I have been working with IBM Business Automation Workflow since before it was IBM BPM, including its earlier incarnation as Lombardi.

It is absolutely scalable enough. We have not yet dockerized it, but we plan to move to the OpenShift version. In our current environment, IBM Business Automation Workflow is controllable. We can manage the license usage and scale our environment while optimizing license use.

IBM provides long-term support and maintains a traditionally good customer-vendor relationship. This sets it apart from open-source tools with subscription models, which may not reach the same level of support.

Positive

We have our own team and some partners helping us with the implementation.

The pricing of IBM Business Automation Workflow is within the expected range for our organization, which is in the enterprise sphere. We ensure everything is economical and well-regulated while maintaining licenses and support. The licensing model allows usage per user or per CPU. If managed and implemented economically, it is absolutely worth the money. It is not a cheap license but in line with expectations for such software.

For environments like ours, IBM Business Automation Workflow is valuable, especially given the long-term vendor support. It is recommended for complex environments with many integrations. However, for smaller organizations with less complexity, it might be too heavy. 

I would rate it eight out of ten as it lacks a modern touch that speeds up development.

I have been using the platform for four to five years, both as a customer and as a developer on the ITG side. 

Explaining the use cases might be confidential for me and my organization. However, on a high level, there are many backend processes of approvals for different documents, such as memos, expenditures, and budget management. Generally, such approvals work in a flow, moving from department to department and table to table among different users. These approvals are automated and digitized through this VPN platform. 

Users working in different locations are utilizing this platform to obtain management approval and handle workflows digitally.

The system is fully customizable, very resilient, and fault-tolerant. We have first-line support from IBM, so there are no issues. We have integrations with different banks, ERP systems, and other human resource management systems by integrating through different systems. It provides many ways to integrate, and we are utilizing it effectively.

There is always space for improvement and to adopt more features as the industry and technology evolve. Many developments are focused on AI, LLM models, and data science. I would like to hear more about these advancements.

I have used the solution for four to five years.

The solution has the flexibility to scale up to multinode servers. We are implementing load balancing and horizontal scalability. It is easy to add servers and clusters.

The nature of the issue determines the response, whether it pertains to product functionality or a technical glitch. If the solution is readily available to IBM support team, they provide it instantly. 

However, if the issue needs escalation to level two or level three, it can take time on a case-by-case basis.

Neutral

There are certain roles, such as the infrastructure specialist and professionals who oversee the infrastructure and operating system server installations. They get involved in the implementation. 

On the other end, the developer team handles customization development and feature implementation. I am currently leading a team of three to four people, comprising developers and infrastructure specialists, making it a combination of team and expertise.

At the moment, I don't have any thoughts on this solution until I have fully implemented and used it. I am currently working as a unit head of system implementation. 

The overall product rating is between eight to ten out of ten.

Neutral

We use the tool for workflow management and business process automation. 

The tool streamlines operations, especially from an operational perspective, by facilitating decision-making and ensuring timely approvals. This helps prevent delays in the approval process, where business process management adds significant value for us.

What I find most valuable is how it creates process instances and handles issues. There's no delay in addressing process issues and getting approvals on time. It provides a product-agnostic approach to business process management, allowing us to create workflows quickly. 

Case management helps us create, handle, and resolve cases step by step, providing an end-to-end solution. It's especially useful when using cloud-based business automation, often including built-in case management features.

The main benefit is creating workflows. For example, with IBM BAW, we can handle end-to-end processes, from taking requests to assigning tasks for approvals. It can also integrate with third-party APIs and business rules to make decisions, providing flexibility in our operations.

AI is integrated into the IBM BAW in two main ways. First, we can use RPA for tasks requiring human intervention. Second, we can leverage IBM's Watson AI to accelerate business processes with automation. I can predict how soon requests will be approved and decide based on certain criteria. 

For example, let's consider our recent implementation in the customer care center. When customers call in, they often have common queries. We've incorporated AI features to address these queries by leveraging data from our customer database. We use tools like OpenAI. Additionally, we've automated most processes for business process automation to minimize the need for human intervention. However, we hold requests for certain scenarios until a resource takes action. But for common tasks that can be automated quickly, we've integrated AI and machine learning features to expedite approvals.

While everything is integrated into one platform, I'd like guidelines on when and how to use ODM. This applies not only to implementation but also to automation processes. Additionally, proper instructions should be provided when installing on the cloud. 

Additionally, the tool should consider incorporating other Gen AI products. 

I have been using the product for a decade.

We had stability issues initially. The solution is stable. 

The solution is scalable. The total number of users is over 10,000, and it's increasing. We're currently at over 40,000 concurrent users.

We raise service tickets with IBM for technical support. We usually get a response within twenty-four hours when we prioritize them as one. We haven't faced many challenges, but resolution may take some time for product-related issues.

The initial setup process is straightforward. Even if I must incorporate complex business processes, it's reasonable and easy to do with IBM BAW. I can implement them using IBM BAW with some customization, but it's quite straightforward overall.

The deployment process involves using Red Hat, which IBM provides as a cloud environment. We install IBM Cloud Pak for Business Automation and IBM ODM. Deployment is straightforward with Red Hat, but due to configuration, it can be a bit more complex with open-source platforms like Kubernetes and EKS. IBM recommends Red Hat OpenShift for cloud deployment.

Deploying the application doesn't take much time as it's quite straightforward. In the case of IBM BAW, creating and deploying a snapshot is the process. Moving between different environments is also easy because we've implemented DevOps as a CI/CD pipeline. With one click, it gets deployed into the same environments.

The initial deployment process takes around two to three weeks. This includes tasks such as identity certificate enrollment, installation, and configuration. It may take an additional week or two for development and QA environments if we need to integrate various components like IBM BAW with case management, IBM Cloud Pak, and ODM. Setting up disaster recovery with clustered nodes and high availability can add another two weeks. However, once the system is set up, subsequent deployments are much quicker, often taking less than an hour.

We require only one or two resources for deployment. Ideally, one resource manages lower environments while another handles higher environments. This ensures that we have dedicated support in case of any production issues. It's not difficult to maintain. However, upgrades on the cloud environment may take some time.

The tool's ROI is good.

The product is expensive. 

I rate the solution a nine out of ten. I would recommend IBM BAW, especially for enterprise-level users with a large customer base, such as tier-one companies or banking institutions. However, if they prioritize immediate market entry and are focused on BPM applications and local technologies, I would suggest considering other products. 

It's case management solutions. It's very connected to documents. 

It performs the basic tasks that are required for the BBM solution as part of the overall integration with ECM or enterprise contact management.

The main improvement would be to make it easier to implement and deploy so that customers can kick it off and run quickly.

I would like to see easier tools for implementing and integrating the solution with other software.

I have been working with this solution for ten years. We work with latest version. 

I would rate the stability a seven out of ten. From time to time, there are problems, and we have to reach out to support.

I would rate the scalability an eight out of ten. It is suitable for enterprise-level businesses. 

From the vendor, IBM is okay. 

Neutral

The initial setup is difficult and complex. I would rate my experience with the initial setup a five out of ten, where one is difficult and ten is easy.

The deployment takes weeks. 

For deploying this solution, we have to follow long documentation to configure different pieces, and it's on until you have a push solution that's up and running.

I would rate the pricing a five out of ten, where one is expensive, and ten is cheap. 

I would recommend looking at more than one vendor and which one provides you with easier behavior to understand and scale. 

Overall, I would rate the solution a five out of ten. 

Our organization is in the banking business, and we are extensively operating with downstream and upstream systems that are being automated with IBM Business Automation Workflow.

IBM Business Automation Workflow provides a seamless streamlined collaboration within the organizations. It enables better communication between different departments by operating as a unified platform for process management.

There have been issues regarding component management since all of the components that we are currently operating with are IBM-bound. Integrating the solution with existing systems can be complicated and it needs careful planning and execution. The pricing structure can be better adapted to unique business requirements.  

I have been working with this solution for more than ten years.

The stability has improved a lot throughout the years, so I would rate it eight out of ten.

The scalability is challenging due to its customization limitations. Even though customization options are provided, there are certain limitations in terms of flexibility and adaptability of licenses to specific business requirements.

The initial setup and implementation may require a significant investment of time and resources depending on the complexity of the workload.

It is on the expensive side, but it provides excellent supportability and an ecosystem that is proven to be a great fit for our organization.

The solution allows businesses to manage cases and track their progress, so in terms of case management and workflow automation, along with other features, we highly recommend it. I would rate it eight out of ten.

We use the solution for business processes for our internal users, and for our clerks. All our applications are integrated into business processes and our clerks work so that they connect to their business BPM portal to access all their tasks. We use the solution as our main platform for digitizing business processes.

We were a document-oriented organization, and we digitized all of our documents and used them in business processes from our document management system, which is beneath these processes. The solution played a great role in unifying the business processes in our entire organization and in our digital transformation.

For us, it is important that robust systems are in place so that business users can focus on the business process, rather than only on functionalities. The solution reduces the time to the resolution which is essential for businesses.

The modularity of processes can make them more complex, but it depends more on the architecture approach than on the product itself. This makes maintenance more difficult, especially when code is written in JavaScript or a similar script. Improvements could be made in debugging and troubleshooting.

If we have a lot of business processes, it's very important how we organize them so that we have as little influence on other processes when we change some code or change one process. This could be better organized, but I think it's really more on the architectural approach of the solutions, that we cannot expect the product to help us a lot with this. But on the other hand, this can be an issue. 

Sometimes it can be difficult to get the help we need. Specialists with different backgrounds are required to understand the problem. And sometimes it's helpful to have design guidelines to prevent process dependencies.

I have been using the solution for ten years.

We have not had any problems with the product's stability; it is very stable when it is properly maintained. I give the stability a nine out of ten.

We never faced any problems while scaling the cluster of the service beneath the solution. The scalability is very good.

We have two options for deployment: on-premises or in the cloud. The on-premises version is reasonable and scalable, while the cloud version is even more easily scalable. I give the scalability a nine out of ten.

When we have a problem and need help, we turn to PMR. This is when there is a bug in the software version or something else we need help with. We often use their worldwide experts for health checks or other similar tasks. They are very good at providing technical support.

Positive

The deployment is somewhere in the middle. Not extremely difficult to implement, but of course, we need a lot of integrations. The product itself is not very difficult to implement.

I give the initial setup a six out of ten.

The deployment process was relatively fast, but of course, we had to implement and develop all the software, which was very long. This was actually the process that had nothing to do with the product in terms of its speed. We analyzed the business process, then we migrated it to this platform for its digitalization. We spent years on this, but this is not the full implementation of the product. The full implementation of the product was a matter of several months. There were several staff involved in the deployment of the solution.

The initial implementation, which was years ago, with the solutions predecessor, which was called Lombardi, was done together with our business partners and of course with some IBM tech support.

We have seen a good return on investment because we usually use the solution to improve digital transformation. There were a lot of savings and the license cost is not something that would be difficult to return quickly. However, it is difficult to calculate a return on investment for this specific product because it is only one piece of the entire infrastructure and software we use for digital transformation. IBM BAW is one of the parts, but the entire cost of IT had a really high return on investment.

IBM BAW is an enterprise product. The price is reasonable, but it's not one of the cheapest products. If we compare it to other BPM solutions, it is somehow more expensive. The solution is oriented to user interaction processes. When we analyzed the costs of ownership, we calculated that it was actually an okay price. If we compare the solution with a different BPM, we also have some open-source products and I think IBM BAW is worth the investment if we use it correctly. The investment is not because the solution is priced lower because it's a relatively high price.

The price of the licenses is actually quite manageable because not everything is in the public cloud yet. In years to come it will be more problematic, but for now, I would rate it somewhere in the middle. I give the price a six out of ten because we can really look at it from very different aspects. The solution is definitely not cheap but on the other hand, we can also not say that it is highly priced for everything it offers to organizations.

Our license is on a three-year term.

I give the solution a nine out of ten.

The solution has 1,000 users and hundreds of thousands of transactions daily. We have to regularly maintain it, but it's not especially difficult to maintain. Overall the solution is an easy product to maintain. We use one administrator for the primary maintenance of the solution, but of course, we also require the database administrator because this product also has a support database, and then we need administrators for other parts of the entire solution such as the document system, application servers, et cetera.

All our departments utilize the solution. All our business processes are implemented in IBM BAW.

I definitely advise others to review other organizations that use the solution so that they can see how it is implemented and get some good practice.

IBM Business Automation Workflow is used for the financial sector like the loan management process cycle. It is not worth to use for simple process.

The most valuable feature of IBM Business Automation Workflow is plenty of functionality.

IBM Business Automation Workflow can improve UI flexibility and integration. Additionally, the solutions from IBM should provide more solution on paper template auto generation and digitize paper templates, allowing for digital versions of documents.

In a future release, they should focus on improving current functionality rather than adding new features. Existing features are enough.

I have been using IBM Business Automation Workflow for approximately six years.

IBM Business Automation Workflow is stable because the different infrastructure elements, such as the OS and middleware have been used for a long time.

The stability of IBM Business Automation Workflow is a four out of five

The scalability of IBM Business Automation Workflow is very good.

I rate the scalability of IBM Business Automation Workflow a four out of five.

In my customer's companies, there are approximately 200 to 500 people using the solution. All the positions of the financial sector employees are using it.

The support I experienced was good.

I rate the support from IBM Business Automation Workflow a four out of five.

Positive

The initial setup of IBM Business Automation Workflow is not simple. It's quite complicated, but it's acceptable because if you want a solution to adapt to an enterprise on demand, it must be complicated. The full deployment takes approximately six months to one year to complete.

We have 20 people for the deployment of IBM Business Automation Workflow.

I have found the return on investment good.

I rate the return on investment of IBM Business Automation Workflow a four out of five.

IBM Business Automation Workflow has a flexible pricing mode, but the price is expensive. The price of the solution reflects the quality of the solution which is very high. The technical support is an additional cost.

I rate the price of IBM Business Automation Workflow a four out of five.

I rate IBM Business Automation Workflow a nine out of ten.

We use it to manage our client's business processes. This process is related to insurance claims, particularly for situations like house damage, accidents, or loss. When a policyholder files a claim, a person uses a mobile device to collect all the necessary information. Once all the data is gathered, it triggers a series of backend processes. Recently, one of our clients provided us with a workflow that needs to be implemented in both Business Automation Workflow and Business Automation Manager to estimate the project's scope and requirements.

Its interface is well-designed and user-friendly. Often, when you initiate an action, you get a pop-up notification that appears on the screen. The issue with this is that it's disruptive and can interrupt your workflow. You have to either close it or wait for it to disappear before you can proceed to the next step. This can be quite frustrating, especially if these notifications keep coming up frequently. As an IT user, it's important for me that the interface doesn't constantly disrupt my work with a barrage of pop-ups.

One significant challenge is the lack of accessible forums or resources to seek help or information when problems arise. This can indeed slow down the learning process and add to the time required for mastering the tool.

I have been working with it for the last three months.

I would rate the stability capabilities nine out of ten.

I would rate its scalability abilities eight out of ten.

I recall posting something on their support platform, but it was a bit frustrating because I had to wait for the next day to receive a response due to the time zone difference. This delay felt like it was wasting my time. I would rate it seven out of ten.

Neutral

Setting up is relatively straightforward, with a clear and simple installation process.

While it can be quite costly, it offers significant benefits for users. It excels in terms of features, functionality, and handling of various tasks, making it a valuable asset for improving efficiency and productivity. I would rate it seven out of ten.

Implementing IBM Automation Workflow has the potential to significantly enhance business operations by reducing game time and increasing post-automation efficiency. This includes the ability to generate reports for analyzing and optimizing processes. In the long term, it's a seamless investment that can lead to substantial savings in terms of both time and money and this improvement will result in increased customer satisfaction, making it a valuable choice for businesses. Overall, I would rate it eight out of ten.