IBM Business Automation Workflow vs IBM Case Foundation comparison

IBM Business Automation Workflow and IBM Case Foundation are both solutions in the Business Process Management (BPM) category. IBM Business Automation Workflow is ranked #14 with an average rating of 7.4, while IBM Case Foundation is ranked #32 with an average rating of 8.0. IBM Business Automation Workflow holds a 2.2% mindshare in BPM, compared to IBM Case Foundation’s 0.4% mindshare. Additionally, 80% of IBM Business Automation Workflow users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 86% of IBM Case Foundation users who would recommend it.

IBM Business Automation Wor...

Read 26 IBM Business Automation Workflow reviews

2,206 Views
1,484 Comparison Views

80% willing to recommend

IBM Case Foundation

Read 13 IBM Case Foundation reviews

298 Views
204 Comparison Views

86% willing to recommend

IBM Business Automation Wor...

IBM Case Foundation

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 18, 2024

IBM Case Foundation and IBM Business Automation Workflow compete in the enterprise content and workflow management market. IBM Business Automation Workflow appears to have the upper hand due to its comprehensive feature set and process automation capabilities.

Features: IBM Case Foundation offers excellent integration with existing systems, effective management of unstructured data, and supports content-driven processes. IBM Business Automation Workflow excels in seamless workflow and case management integration, advanced orchestration capabilities, and a wide array of tools for end-to-end process automation.

Room for Improvement: IBM Case Foundation could enhance its user interface and reporting capabilities and expand its feature set to better compete with modern workflow solutions. IBM Business Automation Workflow could improve its learning curve, simplify user experience, and enhance customer feedback mechanisms for better usability.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: IBM Business Automation Workflow offers a cloud-based deployment model simplifying installation and scaling but has a steeper learning curve. IBM Case Foundation is more straightforward in implementation and receives higher ratings for tailored and responsive customer support.

Pricing and ROI: IBM Case Foundation has a lower initial setup cost and is economical for document-centric workflows, offering solid ROI. IBM Business Automation Workflow requires a higher investment but provides superior long-term value through enhanced process automation potential, justifying its cost with higher ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed IBM Business Automation Workflow vs. IBM Case Foundation Report (Updated: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

IBM Business Automation Workflow vs. IBM Case Foundation

April 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:

Categories and Ranking

IBM Business Automation Wor...

Ranking in Business Process Management (BPM)

14th

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)

32nd

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Business Process Management (BPM) category, the mindshare of IBM Business Automation Workflow is 2.2%, down from 2.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Case Foundation is 0.4%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

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

"IBM Business Automation Workflow is useful for helping us design custom user interfaces and processes we require."

"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."

"It has integrated UI and deployment models, and it has a deep set of consultant and service provider ecosystem features."

"The system is fully customizable, very resilient, and fault-tolerant."

"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."

"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."

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

"Its interface is well-designed and user-friendly"

More IBM Business Automation Workflow pros

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

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

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

"The most valuable feature is its stability, which is why we are using it."

"The solution is scalable."

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

"It provides us the capability of producing business processes for documents that are launched immediately when a document comes into the repository."

"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."

More IBM Case Foundation pros

Cons

"The setup and installation process could be made easier."

"Code management lacks merging capabilities. If parallel development requires merging, improvements in this area would be beneficial."

"Improvements could be made in debugging and troubleshooting."

"I would definitely like to see a unified interface between the BPM side of the house and the case side of the house. Something that just seems a bit more cohesive, because right now there is sort of a disconnect between the BPM and the case side of the house. That makes it a bit of a hard sell sometimes. That is definitely first and foremost on my wish list."

"I would like to see more streamlined install and provisioning; preferably containerized IBM BPM would be helpful."

"The monitoring features must be improved."

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

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

More IBM Business Automation Workflow cons

"The limitation is only for customization because IBM doesn't support it."

"We are now using microservices but there are some areas where the coordination with FileNet is problematic."

"There are some features that could be enhanced like the document viewer"

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

"The cloud version could use more stability."

"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 service as it currently stands is out-of-date and lacks flexibility."

"The solution can be quite expensive."

More IBM Case Foundation cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

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

"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."

"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."

"The solution's pricing is a little bit expensive."

"The product is expensive."

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

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

More IBM Business Automation Workflow pricing and cost advice

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

"IBM Case Foundation is a little expensive."

"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

36%

Computer Software Company

10%

Government

Insurance Company

Computer Software Company

18%

Government

16%

Insurance Company

11%

University

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

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...

See all answers

What do you like most about IBM Business Automation Workflow?

The most valuable feature of IBM Business Automation Workflow is cost management.

See all answers

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.

See all answers

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.

See all answers

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

It was affordable, but right now, ten years later, the cost of the product is extremely high. That's why we are looking for another product.

See all answers

What needs improvement with IBM Case Foundation?

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

IBM Business Automation Workflow

May 2025

Download IBM Business Automation Workflow product report

Buyer's Guide

IBM Case Foundation

May 2025

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

Buyer's Guide

IBM Business Automation Workflow vs. IBM Case Foundation

April 2025

Free Report: IBM Business Automation Workflow vs. IBM Case Foundation

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