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ARIS BPA vs IBM Business Automation Workflow comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 18, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
6.2
ARIS BPA varies in ROI timelines, enhancing process understanding and control but with hard-to-quantify financial impacts.
Sentiment score
7.6
IBM Business Automation Workflow enhances efficiency, reduces costs, and accelerates digital transformation for improved ROI and user experience.
Initially performed manually, workflows now provide a better user experience and increased efficiency.
Senior Systems Developer at a healthcare company with 5,001-10,000 employees
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.7
ARIS BPA's support is praised for technical assistance and flexibility but could improve in responsiveness and communication.
Sentiment score
5.9
IBM Business Automation Workflow's support has mixed reviews, but many find value once acquainted with their processes.
I would give ten points to the technical support from Software AG for ARIS BPA product, from zero to ten, with ten being the best.
Consultant at KAFD DMC
The consultants are fine, however, reliance on single experts for modules can be risky.
Consultant at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
If the solution is readily available to IBM support team, they provide it instantly.
Unit Head System Implementor at Allied Bank Limited
IBM provides long-term support and maintains a traditionally good customer-vendor relationship.
Deputy CEO, CIO at a insurance company with 51-200 employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.6
ARIS BPA is scalable for small to large enterprises, offering flexibility, modular features, and easy licensing for process management expansion.
Sentiment score
7.8
IBM Business Automation Workflow is highly scalable, supporting extensive transactions, concurrent users, and both cloud and on-premises deployments.
For user scalability, it is a matter of licenses, while functional scalability is supported and easy to implement.
Consultant at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
ARIS BPA has high scalability and wide scalability for any enterprise or organization.
Enterprise Architect at Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT), Egypt
We are implementing load balancing and horizontal scalability.
Unit Head System Implementor at Allied Bank Limited
We can manage the license usage and scale our environment while optimizing license use.
Deputy CEO, CIO at a insurance company with 51-200 employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.2
ARIS BPA is generally stable, with minor issues primarily in large environments, but responsive support enhances stability perception.
Sentiment score
7.6
IBM Business Automation Workflow is stable, with minor bugs, improving over time; users rate stability highly due to IBM's robust infrastructure.
The stability of ARIS BPM is quite strong, rated eight out of ten.
Consultant at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
We do experience a lot of glitches with ARIS BPA.
Consultant at KAFD DMC
Outside of these maintenance periods, the environment is quite stable.
Senior Systems Developer at a healthcare company with 5,001-10,000 employees
 

Room For Improvement

ARIS BPA needs better integration, user interface, scripting, documentation, training, pricing, and simplicity for wider accessibility.
IBM Business Automation Workflow needs improved integration, usability, cloud features, and support to enhance user experience and modernize the platform.
Software AG should focus on developing AI models for ARIS BPA on-premises, particularly in user interfaces, as well as creating predefined business processes for common areas such as HR and finance.
Software Engineering & Manager at Arab Infromation Management Services
Software AG could improve this by making the database more open.
Consultant at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
ARIS BPA needs to be more accurate when generating documents.
Enterprise Architect at Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT), Egypt
Many developments are focused on AI, LLM models, and data science.
Unit Head System Implementor at Allied Bank Limited
IBM Business Automation Workflow could be more intuitive, with more advanced low-code features and services definition.
Deputy CEO, CIO at a insurance company with 51-200 employees
Code management lacks merging capabilities.
Senior Systems Developer at a healthcare company with 5,001-10,000 employees
 

Setup Cost

ARIS BPA pricing is high but valued by large enterprises; smaller firms may find costs prohibitive due to complex licensing.
IBM Business Automation Workflow is costly but offers high-quality features, flexible licensing, and worthwhile enterprise-level capabilities.
ARIS BPA does save a lot of effort because this is one tool which can be used for multiple purposes and the viewers have the capability to perform different kinds of analysis, extract reports, and see processes.
Consultant at KAFD DMC
It is not a cheap license but in line with expectations for such software.
Deputy CEO, CIO at a insurance company with 51-200 employees
The price of IBM Business Automation Workflow is on the higher side compared to the features it offers.
Senior Systems Developer at a healthcare company with 5,001-10,000 employees
 

Valuable Features

ARIS BPA offers powerful modeling, customization, and collaboration tools, integrating SAP and databases, ensuring strategic alignment and governance.
IBM Business Automation Workflow offers agile, user-friendly workflow solutions with RPA integration, enhancing collaboration, customization, and AI-driven processes.
ARIS BPA is a tool to build models and frameworks for organizations or reengineer business processes from both functional and business perspectives.
Software Engineering & Manager at Arab Infromation Management Services
Everything related to ARIS BPA is helping us with regards to enhanced processes, strengthened controls, identifying risks, assessing process capabilities, and identifying where the gaps are and what kinds of activities within the processes are automated and manual.
Consultant at KAFD DMC
The maintenance capabilities of ARIS BPM and the strong underlying database are particularly valuable.
Consultant at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
The system is fully customizable, very resilient, and fault-tolerant.
Unit Head System Implementor at Allied Bank Limited
It assisted in making users concentrate on the process flow rather than just features.
Deputy CEO, CIO at a insurance company with 51-200 employees
It offers robust workflow features and, despite being a low-code tool, provides extensive customization options.
Senior Systems Developer at a healthcare company with 5,001-10,000 employees
 

Categories and Ranking

ARIS BPA
Ranking in Business Process Management (BPM)
10th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
69
Ranking in other categories
Business Process Design (6th)
IBM Business Automation Wor...
Ranking in Business Process Management (BPM)
12th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
25
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Business Process Management (BPM) category, the mindshare of ARIS BPA is 3.1%, down from 5.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Business Automation Workflow is 1.7%, down from 2.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Business Process Management (BPM) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
ARIS BPA3.1%
IBM Business Automation Workflow1.7%
Other95.2%
Business Process Management (BPM)
 

Featured Reviews

BM
Consultant at KAFD DMC
Has improved process modeling and analysis while supporting integration with organizational data
The process design in ARIS BPA does help with our operational efficiency. What we are doing is object library management for various kinds of objects that we are using in ARIS BPA during our process modeling. We are using that to do a lot of analysis on how many times a system is being used in how many processes, who are the major stakeholders, and if we enhance one system, how is it going to impact other processes and integrated processes. This is helping us a lot. Everything related to ARIS BPA is helping us with regards to enhanced processes, strengthened controls, identifying risks, assessing process capabilities, and identifying where the gaps are and what kinds of activities within the processes are automated and manual. We are doing a lot of things with regards to the processes as it is at our heart. Processes are one thing and then we have different kinds of things which are related to it, such as SLAs, guidelines, and policy. We are identifying areas of improvement in other documents as well.
Ateeq Rehman - PeerSpot reviewer
Unit Head System Implementor at Allied Bank Limited
Customizable features empower seamless workflow automation
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.
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Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Business Process Management (BPM) solutions are best for your needs.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
15%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Computer Software Company
10%
Government
7%
Financial Services Firm
31%
Computer Software Company
9%
Insurance Company
7%
Government
5%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business32
Midsize Enterprise9
Large Enterprise47
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business6
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise16
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about ARIS BPA?
The most valuable features of ARIS BPA are its flexibility and reporting.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ARIS BPA?
It is a bit expensive regarding ARIS BPA. However, ARIS BPA does save a lot of effort because this is one tool which can be used for multiple purposes and the viewers have the capability to perform...
What needs improvement with ARIS BPA?
We are not using any what-if scenario features in ARIS BPA. Currently, we are not using the performance monitoring and compliance checks features in ARIS BPA. We have plans to use them, but current...
Which is better, IBM BPM or IBM Business Automation Workflow?
We researched both IBM solutions and in the end, we chose Business Automation Workflow. IBM BPM has a good user interface and the BPM coach is a helpful tool. The API is very useful in providing en...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Business Automation Workflow?
The price of IBM Business Automation Workflow is on the higher side compared to the features it offers.
What needs improvement with IBM Business Automation Workflow?
Code management lacks merging capabilities. If parallel development requires merging, improvements in this area would be beneficial. Additionally, the user interface could be more visually appealin...
 

Also Known As

ARIS, ARIS BPM
Business Automation Workflow
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Tesco, Weifu, Airbus, Siemens, Proximus, Alicorp, Sekerbank, Bancor, Philips,Sky, Emirates NBD, Dubai Municipality, Suva, U.S. Army, Australia Post, Westfalen Weser Energie - ARIS serves customers across all industries and of every size worldwide. Companies trust ARIS as the market leader for process excellence with more than 30 years of experience in the market, 10 million users worldwide, from 1 user companies to the Fortune 500.
Key Bank, Barclays, Control€xpert, MIR Insurance Brokers, Conqord Oil
Find out what your peers are saying about ARIS BPA vs. IBM Business Automation Workflow and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.