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IBM BPM vs ServiceNow Orchestration comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 17, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

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

Categories and Ranking

IBM BPM
Ranking in Process Automation
8th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
113
Ranking in other categories
Business Process Management (BPM) (6th), Application Infrastructure (10th)
ServiceNow Orchestration
Ranking in Process Automation
10th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
16
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Process Automation category, the mindshare of IBM BPM is 5.5%, down from 7.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of ServiceNow Orchestration is 2.8%, down from 3.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Process Automation Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
IBM BPM5.5%
ServiceNow Orchestration2.8%
Other91.7%
Process Automation
 

Featured Reviews

Ateeq Rehman - PeerSpot reviewer
Unit Head System Implementor at Allied Bank Limited
Automation platforms streamline processes and offer flexibility, but AI integration and version upgrades pose challenges
In the technology world, there is always room for improvement. Technologies evolve day by day, especially with the emergence of artificial intelligence and generative AI models. Although IBM BPM is a substantial product, adopting and integrating new technologies quickly is not easy due to the migration and upgrade paths involved. Every time new versions are released, we face business and production challenges that make rapid adoption challenging. The main concern bothering me today regarding IBM BPM is the integration of AI components.
Claude-Yameogo - PeerSpot reviewer
Consultant at a comms service provider with 1,001-5,000 employees
Has helped orchestrate processes and integrate workflows across cloud environments
I recommend ServiceNow Orchestration for larger companies because they have the capability to manage complex environments where it performs better. I promote low-code solutions for these implementations. I don't currently have an idea regarding the pre-built integrations of ServiceNow Orchestration, but I plan to check my area to determine what added value it can bring. I would rate this solution a nine overall.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It is quite a scalable product, as on one of our projects we are running something like 50,000 processes a day and are able to actually handle that efficiently without a lot of hassle."
"This solution is very stable."
"The process creation."
"It helps maintain, and in many instances, lower costs, as well as to maintain those costs, keeping them stable."
"It allowed us visibility of key business processes."
"It has improved my organization quite a bit; it brought awareness to what the business processes are, even to the business side, who did not necessarily know what they are."
"For me, the most important feature is the easy-to-use business process dashboard. It's simple to orchestrate business processes, and the interface is clean and intuitive. Once your workflow is designed on paper, it's easy for the business process manager to implement and follow it. Another IBM product that was good in the past is the IBM Case Manager. I haven't used it for three or four years, so I'm unsure if it's still available, but it was quite effective."
"It makes the company business processes work more efficiently."
"This is a user-friendly solution where scripts can be made with ease. There are also many integration options, including Microsoft products, which gives the product a competitive edge."
"I use it to orchestrate processes and integration features to gather and update data during specified timeframes or exchange data in real-time when changes occur based on certain criteria."
"The data visualization is good."
"It's scalable."
"The solution effectively automates business processes."
"Employee onboarding, de-boarding, and other service-provision features make the process easier and it saves us a lot of time."
"The iTerm suite is also crucial for visibility and optimization."
"Great with IT processes and business processes."
 

Cons

"I suggest establishing a developer forum for better communication and issue resolution. Also, the administration panel could be improved for task management."
"All our clients are changing to microservice and cloud service. However, BPM does not have a solution for microservice and cloud service."
"Tech support is an area that could be improved. What we've seen over the years is that they had better support in the past than they do now."
"We would appreciate more user-friendly definitions of processes with a more user-friendly interface for documenting processes."
"There is a lot of room for improvement of the dashboards."
"When you have to integrate files for enterprise applications."
"I think the best way it can be improved is to make it easier to install. It's a very complicated piece of software, and there are a lot of things you have to do to get it set up."
"Importing and exporting between multiple environments is more difficult with other tools."
"From my space, the only thing that I can say is the spinning up with Google Cloud Services."
"Frequent upgrades may negatively impact the performance of instances. Therefore, for now, I don't recommend any additional upgrades."
"I would like a user experience module to be added."
"If I compare the interface of ServiceNow Orchestration with Boomi, it is easier to use Boomi than ServiceNow Orchestration."
"The flow rate for releases and updates is very, very slow and does not meet customers' objectives for scalability."
"If I compare the interface of ServiceNow Orchestration with Boomi, it is easier to use Boomi than ServiceNow Orchestration."
"Efficiency of some features could be improved."
"It is a highly complex platform to work on."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I wish it was less expensive. I don't know why their pricing model is so high for a piece of software that could benefit so many. It just seems to me that they could have a lower cost, maybe with fewer features or whatever, but it should be possible to do a lower cost workflow software that uses the same interface and underlying engine but does not cost so much that you have to be a Fortune 50 company to buy it. It is annoying to me. There are a lot of solutions that IBM has that are really powerful but nobody can afford them. They know their business, but I still feel that there are a lot of customers who would benefit from this sort of thing. I don't know what this elitism is all about. I am sure they have people doing the money numbers, but it seems like you can make a lot more money by selling it to way more people for a little bit less."
"It's expensive. All software is always extremely high. The manufacturing cost that we have compared to the selling cost, it's not like you're building a house or building a car. But putting that aside, considering that it's expensive, it's a lot of money. If you compare it with some of the other alternatives in the market, it's a similar price. For instance, if you compare it with Pegasystems, it's a similar price."
"I rate the solution's pricing a four out of ten."
"Its price is on the higher side, and it can be improved. Its licensing is on a yearly basis. There are no additional costs."
"It may be cheaper for organizations to pay for the Viewer licenses that are immediately up and running in the cloud, rather than paying for someone to administer publishing to an intranet."
"Our customers do see ROI. They'll identify some particularly painful or uncoordinated processes to start with, then build out from there, picking off low hanging fruit."
"The price is good but could be a little lower."
"It is pricey."
"This is an expensive product, but it is the best in the market considering the features and lack of competitors."
"ServiceNow doesn't give a clear cost indication. They have different contracts with different organizations and it's all about negotiation, so you don't know how they are doing at the cost level."
"Pricing is custom to every customer."
"The cost of the solution is based on the number of plugins, conductors and integrations used and is charged annually. The licensing cause has been increasing gradually which makes it difficult to access. Initially offer free features but over the time the charges rise which make it an expensive solution with limited features. Along with that, the integration issues persist and require additional middle where and internet connectivity for effective usage."
"It is quite expensive because we've had some customers come back and say it's quite pricey because in order for them to go ahead with Orchestration, they must have already been paying for Discovery, service mapping, and a few other things."
"The solution is costly and orchestrations are very expensive."
"In terms of price, this solution is at the higher end of what you'll find."
"It is not very expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
22%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Computer Software Company
7%
Insurance Company
5%
Financial Services Firm
21%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Computer Software Company
6%
Insurance Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business30
Midsize Enterprise19
Large Enterprise72
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise9
 

Questions from the Community

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 BPM?
Once it is installed, maintaining it is not a big issue.
What do you like most about ServiceNow Orchestration?
The interface of the solution is very user friendly and it is easily accessible via a simple URL. This makes it easier to complete the UI based tasks but using other features require expertise in l...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ServiceNow Orchestration?
The cost of ServiceNow Orchestration is considered medium; it is expensive but powerful. I would rate the pricing experience as a six out of ten.
What needs improvement with ServiceNow Orchestration?
If I compare the interface of ServiceNow Orchestration with Boomi, it is easier to use Boomi than ServiceNow Orchestration. Boomi is an ESB with orchestration features to integrate and exchange dat...
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

WebSphere Lombardi Edition, IBM Business Process Manager, IBM WebSphere Process Server
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Barclays, EmeriCon, Banca Popolare di Milano, CST Consulting, KeyBank, KPMG, Prolifics, Sandhata Technologies Ltd., State of Alaska, Humana S.A., Saperion, esciris, Banco Espirito Santo
experian, BEACHBODY, HealthPartners, Banosoft
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM BPM vs. ServiceNow Orchestration and other solutions. Updated: March 2026.
884,933 professionals have used our research since 2012.