IBM Business Automation Workflow vs IBM Case Foundation comparison

IBM Business Automation Workflow vs. IBM Case Foundation

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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:

Categories and Ranking

IBM Business Automation Wor...

Ranking in Business Process Management (BPM)

13th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

IBM Case Foundation

Ranking in Business Process Management (BPM)

30th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Business Process Management (BPM) category, the mindshare of IBM Business Automation Workflow is 1.9%, down from 2.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Case Foundation is 0.5%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Business Process Management (BPM) Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
IBM Business Automation Workflow	1.9%
IBM Case Foundation	0.5%
Other	97.6%

Business Process Management (BPM)

Featured Reviews

Ateeq Rehman

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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Nouman Nawaz

Deputy Director - IT(Plans) at DHA Lahore

Mature product in terms of security and stable product

The architecture is a bit difficult, but in BAW, they introduced the Business Automation Workflow. It's a bit easier compared to Case Manager. Currently, we use Case Manager, so it's a bit difficult to upgrade and handle, but BAW is comparatively much better and easier to handle. The limitation is only for customization because IBM doesn't support it. In some scenarios, if you want some business processes to be customized, we have already spoken two or three times with IBM representatives that we have to customize some of the features in this business process. They would say that if you want to do this automation at your own end, then okay, fine, go ahead, but we are not supporting all this customization. The only thing is the customization because it's a complete standard application.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"No matter what somebody's technical experience level is, the tool can start adding value immediately. Even if that is just an analyst who doesn't have any technical background, they can use some of these no quote accelerators to get things from ideation to deployment in a matter of minutes."

"One of the most valuable features is the way that they are adapting to the market. Initially, it was doing only workflow. Now it has started bringing all the other components like rules within the workflow and then the integration with RPA."

"The workflow of BAW's automation is handled inside of BPM, so we can see what state it is at and how things are processing through."

"The most valuable feature is automation, which is quite strong and we are quite happy with it."

"Productivity improvements are notable because processes have been orchestrated and streamlined with IBM Business Automation Workflow."

"The solution reduces the time to the resolution which is essential for businesses."

"IBM provides long-term support and maintains a traditionally good customer-vendor relationship."

"The business process modeling is the most valuable feature."

More IBM Business Automation Workflow pros

"The most valuable feature is the content manager part of the file as it is very stable, robust, and reliable."

"The most valuable features are those involving decision making, analysis, and anything related to event documents because those processes are related to content as well."

"A valuable feature includes seamless integration with the document management system, along with robust capabilities in analytics and reporting."

"The client and the IBM content navigation are the solution's most valuable features."

"Flexible and the ability to divide search screens, and to search for documents. The ECM feature inside the system is great."

"The content management is great."

"The only thing is that we can easily track where the application is in the process, from manual to automation."

"It is easy to set up workflows that notify the user depending on certain events."

More IBM Case Foundation pros

Cons

"The monitoring features must be improved."

"IBM Business Automation Workflow could improve the integration."

"Sometimes, we feel like we are not getting the full features of the content management capabilities."

"The UI of the solution is not good. They should work to update the solution and make it better and fresher."

"I feel that the features are not user-friendly."

"The development UI is sometimes a little slow."

"IBM Business Automation Workflow could be more intuitive, with more advanced low-code features and services definition."

"The main areas which need improvement are specifically around reporting and analytics."

More IBM Business Automation Workflow cons

"IBM needs to update the user interfaces of all its products to make them more intuitive and accessible to beginners. Compared to Microsoft products, IBM solutions are less user-friendly. IBM programs are hard to master. It's a problem in my region because it's hard to find IT staff who can work with IBM."

"Comparing the solution with other interfaces, IBM BPM is much better than Case Foundation. They need to make this solution's interface more user-friendly."

"The solution can be quite expensive."

"Once a workflow is launched then it stays static forever, which is a problem because if there is a change in the business then you cannot change the workflow."

"The place of improvement is merging or combining all of the workflow functionality into one seamless tool. Now, there are multiple installations that are different. Case Foundation, before you can put Case Manager and you've got IBM BPM, and the roadmap is there to merge them altogether. But that's the struggle at the moment, it's having multiple installations and disparate workflow applications."

"The interface needs to be more user-friendly."

"There is a need for more open and flexible integration capabilities, allowing seamless collaboration with a broader spectrum of business process management solutions, beyond the confines of IBM's document management offerings."

"90% of the feedback we receive states that the UI is not very user-friendly."

More IBM Case Foundation cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."

"There is still a relatively high total cost of ownership to actually implement, support, and stand up solutions."

"The product is expensive."

"While it can be quite costly, it offers significant benefits for users."

"Licensing varies by use-case."

"Nowadays, clients are looking at pricing as one of the major factors. For IBM products, they always think it is expensive for them. We are still educating our clients on the IBM FlexPoints licensing."

"Our license is on a three-year term."

"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."

More IBM Business Automation Workflow pricing and cost advice

"IBM Case Foundation is a little expensive."

"This is not an expensive solution and we are using the standard license."

"The price falls in the middle range—not overly expensive but not extremely affordable either."

"Pricing is in the mid-range, it is not cheap, but it's not expensive."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

32%

Computer Software Company

Insurance Company

Government

No data available

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	6
Midsize Enterprise	3
Large Enterprise	16

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	5
Midsize Enterprise	5
Large Enterprise	6

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 do you like most about IBM Business Automation Workflow?

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

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 do you like most about IBM Case Foundation?

A valuable feature includes seamless integration with the document management system, along with robust capabilities in analytics and reporting.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Case Foundation?

The tool is expensive for my customers; it is very expensive, more than other solutions. Some customers say it is more expensive. The license cost for Cloud Pak is per user and increases with the n...

What needs improvement with IBM Case Foundation?

We face some challenges with IBM Case Foundation from our customers, particularly with administration and configuration. We face many issues and open tickets with IBM regarding that, especially som...

Camunda vs IBM Business Automation Workflow

Comparisons

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Compared 21% of the time

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Compared 11% of the time

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Compared 8% of the time

AWS Step Functions vs IBM Business Automation Workflow

Compared 4% of the time

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IBM BPM vs IBM Case Foundation

Compared 33% of the time

OpenText MBPM vs IBM Case Foundation

Compared 28% of the time

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Product Reports

IBM Business Automation Workflow

Download IBM Business Automation Workflow product report

IBM Case Foundation

Download IBM Case Foundation product report

Also Known As

Business Automation Workflow

Case Foundation, FileNet Business Process Manager

Overview

IBM Business Automation Workflow combines business process management and case management capabilities in one workflow solution. It integrates the capabilities of business process and case management into a single workflow offering. It unites information, process, and users to provide a 360-degree view of work to drive more successful optimized business outcomes. IBM Business Automation Workflow on Cloud provides the same capabilities that are offered in the IBM Business Automation Workflow offering, all within a ready-to-use, cloud-based environment that is hosted in IBM Cloud data centers and managed by IBM.

IBM

IBM Case Foundation is for organizations that need to harness unstructured information and integrate it with business processes to drive critical business decisions. It enables organizations to create, manage and optimize case-based processes and is designed to decrease development costs while significantly improving process performance. Case Foundation links specific pieces of content with a structured workflow. It's an on ramp for organizations that choose to move from document-centric workflow solutions to the advanced capabilities of IBM Case Manager.

IBM

Sample Customers

Key Bank, Barclays, Control€xpert, MIR Insurance Brokers, Conqord Oil

Suncorp Group Limited

IBM Business Automation Workflow vs. IBM Case Foundation