Box vs IBM FileNet comparison

Box and IBM are both solutions in the Enterprise Content Management category. Box is ranked #9 with an average rating of 7.5, while IBM is ranked #2 with an average rating of 7.9. Box holds a 4.1% mindshare in ECM, compared to IBM’s 6.5% mindshare. Additionally, 85% of Box users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 91% of IBM users who would recommend it.

Box

Read 42 Box reviews

3,334 Views
1,300 Comparison Views

85% willing to recommend

IBM FileNet

Read 105 IBM FileNet reviews

4,015 Views
3,694 Comparison Views

91% willing to recommend

Box

IBM FileNet

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 4, 2024

Box and IBM FileNet compete in the cloud storage and document management category. Box seems to have an upper hand in ease of deployment and customer service based on user feedback, while IBM FileNet is preferred for extensive enterprise capabilities and scalability.

Features: Box offers real-time collaboration, integration with Microsoft Office, and secure file sharing that appeal to businesses looking for flexible cloud storage solutions. IBM FileNet provides robust document management features, including scalability, record management, and deep content management capabilities suitable for larger enterprises.

Room for Improvement: Box users have indicated a need for better search functionality, expanded integration options, and enhanced security features for enterprise use. IBM FileNet faces challenges with a complex installation process, high licensing costs, and difficulties in integrating with other solutions.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Box supports both private and public cloud solutions, offering more flexible deployment and receiving positive feedback for its proactive customer service, though some delays in technical support are noted. IBM FileNet, primarily deployed on-premises, is valued for its stability but criticized for complex deployment and variable customer service quality dependent on the service contract level.

Pricing and ROI: Box is considered cost-effective and offers both free and enterprise-level options, although it could improve pricing transparency regarding API calls. It shows strong ROI in terms of time savings. IBM FileNet, while more expensive with costly licensing and complex agreements, is seen as a worthwhile investment for data management efficiencies in large enterprises due to its scalability and integration capabilities.

To learn more, read our detailed Box vs. IBM FileNet Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Box vs. IBM FileNet

December 2025

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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

6.6

Organizations using Box report efficiency in file management, reduced compliance risks, and notable returns despite some awaiting detailed calculations.

Sentiment score

4.3

IBM FileNet improved efficiency, reduced errors and costs, saving clients up to $30,000 annually with enhanced automation and accuracy.

No quotes available

For more quotes and insights, download the Box report

Cost savings come from re-engineering the business processes using IBM FileNet and related strategies.

Shankar-Kambhampaty

Consulting CTO at a tech consulting company with 1-10 employees

There is a significant ROI from IBM FileNet because before its introduction, the company needed to do all the work manually.

Shoichiro Takeshita

Chief Architect at NEUSOFT JAPAN

For more quotes and insights, download the IBM FileNet report

Customer Service

Sentiment score

5.2

Box customer service is generally praised, but users want improved response times and frontline expertise for better experiences.

Sentiment score

7.0

IBM FileNet customer service is praised for responsiveness but faces challenges with time zones and specific expertise issues.

No quotes available

For more quotes and insights, download the Box report

People come from all over the world, and they have specialists at the other end of the world to help if needed.

reviewer2585457

Senior Consultant EIM and ECM at a computer software company with 51-200 employees

IBM has a different division that provides consultation to end users, and most customers utilize consultation from IBM, which costs approximately $100k USD to $200k USD.

Shoichiro Takeshita

Chief Architect at NEUSOFT JAPAN

The consulting experts that IBM provides sometimes do not understand the tool very well.

ARTHUR BRUNO

Consultor at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees

For more quotes and insights, download the IBM FileNet report

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score

7.7

Box offers strong scalability and performance for large organizations, but some limitations appear in enterprise-level deployments and large file handling.

Sentiment score

7.6

IBM FileNet excels in scalability and adaptability, effortlessly handling growth, integration, and large-scale operations, meeting diverse business needs.

I am uncertain about its effectiveness at an enterprise level, where SharePoint might be preferred.

LouisHeidensohn

Consultant at a tech vendor with 51-200 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Box report

The bigger products like IBM FileNet can handle billions of documents and thousands of users.

reviewer2585457

Senior Consultant EIM and ECM at a computer software company with 51-200 employees

With Kubernetes, we can simply add instances of the worker, CPU, or memory without needing deployment.

Shoichiro Takeshita

Chief Architect at NEUSOFT JAPAN

We have about 80 transactional systems connected to IBM FileNet.

ARTHUR BRUNO

Consultor at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees

For more quotes and insights, download the IBM FileNet report

Stability Issues

Sentiment score

7.9

Box is highly stable and secure, with minimal outages, though users seek improvements in upload speed.

Sentiment score

8.0

IBM FileNet is praised for stability and reliability, though some clients face issues with high-volume ingestion or outdated APIs.

Box was very stable and did not have any latency issues.

LouisHeidensohn

Consultant at a tech vendor with 51-200 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Box report

I have never encountered a problem of data corruption, losing data files, insecure access, or anything of that nature.

Shankar-Kambhampaty

Consulting CTO at a tech consulting company with 1-10 employees

FileNet was restricted to DB2's enterprise edition instead of the standard edition, causing complications.

Emad Rizki

System integrator at Indépendant

In terms of stability, we haven't experienced any big technical issues or downtime with IBM FileNet.

reviewer2585457

Senior Consultant EIM and ECM at a computer software company with 51-200 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the IBM FileNet report

Room For Improvement

Box needs improved sync, search, file management, security, integration, interface, performance, permissions, API, pricing, and data recovery.

IBM FileNet users seek improved cloud integration, enhanced usability, automation, analytics, modern interface, and better integration with existing systems.

To open and see who is accessing the document now and see my movements across the document or the file we are sharing together.

Ahmed Rashad

Senior Projects Manager at Tech-hub

Collaborative editing was challenging if multiple people were in a document at once.

LouisHeidensohn

Consultant at a tech vendor with 51-200 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Box report

Ease of use with IBM FileNet is a disadvantage of this tool. It is complex and hard to use.

ARTHUR BRUNO

Consultor at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees

The response time and resolution of issues by technical support need improvement.

reviewer2141718

Assistant Vice President at a insurance company with 10,001+ employees

From the beginning, we cannot use a REST API; we have to use the IBM FileNet native API, which is quite outdated.

Shoichiro Takeshita

Chief Architect at NEUSOFT JAPAN

For more quotes and insights, download the IBM FileNet report

Setup Cost

Box pricing is initially steep but offers excellent value, with discounts and free versions available for businesses and education.

IBM FileNet is costly, with high licensing and setup fees; negotiation can reduce prices, yet remains expensive for smaller enterprises.

I found the pricing reasonable because when I was working for an IBM partner, Box was free for us.

Ahmed Rashad

Senior Projects Manager at Tech-hub

For more quotes and insights, download the Box report

We are living in a world where the minimal license from IBM costs anywhere from seventy-five thousand to one hundred thousand US dollars.

Shankar-Kambhampaty

Consulting CTO at a tech consulting company with 1-10 employees

The product has become more expensive and requires significant investment for enterprise solutions.

Emad Rizki

System integrator at Indépendant

The price is high, with yearly subscriptions increasing day by day.

reviewer2141718

Assistant Vice President at a insurance company with 10,001+ employees

For more quotes and insights, download the IBM FileNet report

Valuable Features

Box provides secure file sharing, collaboration, advanced security, and seamless Microsoft integration, making it ideal for organizations.

IBM FileNet offers scalable document management, seamless integration, automation, strong security, and high performance for efficient business processes.

Box had a very easy-to-use search feature and a good user interface on its website, which was faster and better than SharePoint.

LouisHeidensohn

Consultant at a tech vendor with 51-200 employees

I find the synchronization feature most valuable in Box. When I use multiple devices, it syncs them together and gives excellent results.

Ahmed Rashad

Senior Projects Manager at Tech-hub

For more quotes and insights, download the Box report

There is a significant ROI from IBM FileNet because before its introduction, the company needed to do all the work manually.

Shoichiro Takeshita

Chief Architect at NEUSOFT JAPAN

The impact when using IBM FileNet is the faster retrieval of documents and how end users are happy with the ability to retrieve documents faster than before in an easier way.

Mohamed-AbdelAziz

Development Lead at Public Authority for Civil Information

The main features we find impactful are the workflow and document management along with FileNet file stores.

reviewer2141718

Assistant Vice President at a insurance company with 10,001+ employees

For more quotes and insights, download the IBM FileNet report

Categories and Ranking

Box

Ranking in Enterprise Content Management

9th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Cloud Storage (13th), Digital Asset Management (3rd), Document Management Software (5th), Content Collaboration Platforms (9th)

IBM FileNet

Ranking in Enterprise Content Management

2nd

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.4

Number of Reviews

105

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Enterprise Content Management category, the mindshare of Box is 4.1%, up from 4.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM FileNet is 6.5%, down from 10.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Enterprise Content Management Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
IBM FileNet	6.5%
Box	4.1%
Other	89.4%

Enterprise Content Management

Featured Reviews

Ahmed Rashad

Senior Projects Manager at Tech-hub

Team collaboration has improved through shared access and real-time synchronization

I find the synchronization feature most valuable in Box. When I use multiple devices, it syncs them together and gives excellent results. I can assess the benefits of Box's file sharing. Box's integration with third-party apps is valuable, especially with Outlook. Box has helped my team's productivity by being very helpful with team collaboration when we are sharing certain shared documents between us. I mostly value Box's automation capabilities. They have helped optimize my business processes by saving time for sharing or sending files between the team. This gives us a shared workspace to work together on the same document or the same ideas. Box's security features have helped my organization meet compliance needs.

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Shankar-Kambhampaty

Consulting CTO at a tech consulting company with 1-10 employees

Business workflows have been automated and document processes are streamlined at large scale

I believe IBM FileNet could be improved or enhanced in the future, specifically the user interface development support, which, despite all the improvements, still feels from the 2010s or 2000s. The current state of the user interface development support and the ability to customize it leaves much to be desired. The backend engine, process engine, and object engine are fantastic. However, the user interface, which is required to provide an impressive experience to the user, is difficult to build. IBM will need to do something about this area. Over time, IBM has made improvements with enhancements through CP4BA and other tools, with which user interfaces can be built. But there is much more is needed. The initial setup process for IBM FileNet requires specialists. IBM FileNet is not a click-click-click deploy kind of product. It has several components that need to be installed in different versions and in a particular order. Additionally, IBM Cloud does not provide a proper experience. The problem is I cannot use IBM Cloud easily. I cannot even get a membership easily. With AWS, I just use my credit card, sign up, and I am done. With IBM Cloud, that is not how it is. They go through all validation processes, and it is a nightmare at times. There are problems around IBM FileNet, not exactly with IBM FileNet itself, but the point is that it is not a click-click-click deploy either on the cloud or on-premise. It requires specialists, and there is a big learning curve toward deploying and managing the whole infrastructure as well as the software. I communicate with the technical support of IBM frequently. I have communicated several times, and frankly, there is much to be desired on that side. When you raise a ticket, it takes 24 to 48 hours for them to respond. We live in a time where business moves at the speed of light. Twenty-four hours is a very long time. You need to be able to get technical support instantaneously. It is not like the more contemporary support models where you get turnaround in minutes, not days.

Read full review

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

11%

Government

Manufacturing Company

University

Financial Services Firm

18%

Computer Software Company

Government

Insurance Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	17
Midsize Enterprise	9
Large Enterprise	27

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	32
Midsize Enterprise	13
Large Enterprise	74

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Box?

The solution is used for data storage and any kind of visualization.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Box?

I found the pricing reasonable because when I was working for an IBM partner, Box was free for us. We did not go to payment and other matters like this.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Box?

I believe Box has a lot of features that put it in a good rank among the file-sharing apps. I would like to see features for online collaboration between team members in the future, to open and see...

See all answers

What do you like most about IBM FileNet?

The product is robust and can process a lot of documents for enterprise content management.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM FileNet?

From the company's perspective, the licensing cost for IBM FileNet is still affordable. Though the license cost is somewhat expensive, it remains manageable. The company rates it between 3 and 5 be...

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What needs improvement with IBM FileNet?

We almost do not utilize the automation capabilities of IBM FileNet to streamline our business processes. The process automation and business automation features are barely used. Currently, we prim...

See all answers

Comparisons

SharePoint vs Box

Compared 14% of the time

ShareFile vs Box

Compared 8% of the time

Microsoft OneDrive for Business vs Box

Compared 7% of the time

Dropbox Business - Enterprise vs Box

Compared 5% of the time

Hyland OnBase vs Box

Compared 4% of the time

More Box Competitors

OpenText Content Management vs IBM FileNet

Compared 14% of the time

SharePoint vs IBM FileNet

Compared 13% of the time

Hyland OnBase vs IBM FileNet

Compared 9% of the time

Alfresco vs IBM FileNet

Compared 9% of the time

Nuxeo vs IBM FileNet

Compared 5% of the time

More IBM FileNet Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Box

January 2026

Download Box product report

Buyer's Guide

IBM FileNet

January 2026

Download IBM FileNet product report

Overview

Box is a Modern Content Management Platform for companies of all sizes and industries. The difference that Box brings is that it offers the security and controls admins need with the sharing and collaboration capabilities end users want. Box has made it easier for people to securely share ideas, collaborate and get work done faster. Today, more than 62,000 businesses, including 59% of the Fortune 500, trust Box to manage content in the cloud.

The Box platform provides HIPAA, FINRA, FedRAMP, and many other compliances to go with granular access permissions and advanced security capabilities.

By using Box you can sync, share, and collaborate on all types of files, anywhere, on any device - but that's just the beginning. You can choose where to store your data, to manage your own encryption keys, and set workflows to automate content-based processes. You can also assign custom metadata tags to content, watermark sensitive content, and set file retention or legal hold policies.

Box has deep, native integrations with Microsoft Office and Outlook, Google Apps for Work, Salesforce, Netsuite, Docusign, Adobe, and many other best-of-breed solutions you may already be using.

Box

IBM FileNet is a leading IBM enterprise content management product family. IBM FileNet is one of the ECM solutions that can change the way a company does business by enabling users to capture, activate, socialize, analyze, and govern content throughout its lifecycle.

There are many IBM FileNet products available, all of which are integrated and based on the FileNet P8 Platform.

IBM

Sample Customers

GE, Toyota, P&G, Caterpillar, Flex, Schneider Electric, Sally Beauty, Eurostar, AstraZeneca, AirBnB, Whirlpool, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Nationwide, Aeropostale etc

Suncorp Group Limited, St. Vincent Health, Citigroup, SRCSD, and UK Dept for Work and Pensions.

Buyer's Guide

Box vs. IBM FileNet

December 2025

Free Report: Box vs. IBM FileNet

Find out what your peers are saying about Box vs. IBM FileNet and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.

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