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IBM ECM vs OpenText Content Manager comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 4, 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 ECM
Ranking in Enterprise Content Management
15th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
2.8
Number of Reviews
17
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
OpenText Content Manager
Ranking in Enterprise Content Management
8th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
23
Ranking in other categories
File Archiving (3rd), Document Management Software (4th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the Enterprise Content Management category, the mindshare of IBM ECM is 2.4%, up from 2.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of OpenText Content Manager is 3.7%, down from 4.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Enterprise Content Management Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
OpenText Content Manager3.7%
IBM ECM2.4%
Other93.9%
Enterprise Content Management
 

Featured Reviews

Thinh Tran - PeerSpot reviewer
BPM Consultant at TECHCOMBANK
Has supported enterprise document storage but lacks cloud readiness and AI capabilities
The new version of IBM ECM is at the end of support, and we need to migrate to a new version to get open support. We need AI capabilities from IBM ECM for additional functionalities in the next release. Specifically, AI is needed for finding documents. The trend is moving toward AI, and for managing many documents effectively, we need AI capabilities. Currently, IBM ECM only handles physical files, not unstructured files. IBM needs to work alongside customers and share best practices for IBM ECM. Reading the IBM Redbook alone is not sufficient for the knowledge we need to build the best architecture for my company. IBM ECM needs to improve the cloud version, such as compatibility with Amazon Cloud, not only IBM Cloud, to make their product more competitive.
Maurice Riverso - PeerSpot reviewer
Records Management Officer at ANZPAA
Our our official repository and it has disposal management and retention management
The security architecture is the only problem as it's a little bit complex and too torturous at times. So it could be improved a little bit, but it is regarded as a very good system in Australia. It's probably overly subscribed. Also, what's missing is what people would like, which is basically online collaboration. That's a problem. But it has so many other things to offer that SharePoint, I'm sure, will not have. So, that will be an interesting issue to come up. It's not very good at providing stable and robust add-ins to Microsoft. That's a bit of a problem with Content Manager. They're kind of very volatile. So, that's been definitely something that could be improved.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"With the new version of Datacap that we're on now, what had took nine months to train somebody, now takes just a couple weeks."
"We have been using it for awhile for the content management purposes of some of the bank's co-functionality, and we have not seen many issues lately, thus, so far, so good in terms of performance."
"Case Manager’s most valuable feature is its ability to store all of our documents in a single place that we can give the business lines access to."
"The vertical scalability, as we can use it across some of our applications."
"The scalability of Datacap is amazing; we really like it."
"It has allowed us to take all of our faxes and put them directly into our systems versus having to print them off first and then scan them in, greatly speeding up our front-end processing and making us a lot more efficient."
"IBM Enterprise Content Management suite (ICN 2.0.3 for FileNet CM 5.2.1) is an enterprise-ready robust collaboration solution for knowledge workers that would meet the broad needs of the entire enterprise (e.g., document-records management, search, scanning (Datacap), cloud ready, etc.), compared to the other competitors' offerings in the market."
"We were using an old technology and with the move to FileNet, we now have new capabilities, new features, and a new roadmap."
"My advice to others is that they cannot go wrong with the solution."
"There many ways that this application has improved our organization. The most significant is the reduction in paper generation and the ability to electronically annotate and manage all our documents."
"It helps us in terms of efficiency when working with multiple people at the same time, on the same case."
"Customer Service: We appreciate HPE's team of resources, who assist us as issues arise."
"Eliminated the need for paper records."
"HPE Content Manager provides organizations with a reliable system for managing massive amounts of information, in a structured, compliant and secure way, with a level of functionality and reliability that I have not seen matched by custom-built or other systems."
"The product allows us to run our Notice of Destructions seamlessly and produces our annual folders with ease."
"The product is valuable generally due to its wide use and acceptance in the public sector in my region."
 

Cons

"With Datacap, the development piece should definitely be improved; the usability. It's a little hard to use."
"I would recommend not going with ECM 8 and going with FileNet instead. It seems like that is the future of the lower-volume repository. It seems like they are moving away from ECM 8.5 so I think we're going to have some challenges coming up, getting off of that technology."
"It didn't implement as easy as we had hoped. We had some partner issues."
"More importantly, it is sometimes overly complex, and requires a lot of work from the infrastructure and administration standpoint; a lot of hands-on patches."
"Datacap is a very complex system. It is very much an ease-of-use issue."
"Datacap's solution development time is sometimes a multiple of other solutions’ development time, even for simple capture processes, because nothing is out of the box."
"I think it's already getting away from Java applets. A lot of our users struggle with keeping up to date with Java versioning, so a lot of the functions they're doing, like printing, emailing, and even some of the viewing, they're struggling with."
"However, I've heard from other users, other IBM customers, that's not necessarily the case. Nothing out of the box can really be used immediately."
"Due to very limited use in the industry, vendor and contract support are hard to find."
"It's not very good at providing stable and robust add-ins to Microsoft."
"Generally speaking, HPE’s support for the product has been weak since the acquisition from TOWER Software."
"The stability of the solution is an area of concern where improvements can be made."
"The ease of use should be addressed."
"Support could be enhanced. The first line of support consists of individuals who lack experience with some key aspects. When you create a support ticket, the time to resolve the issue may be prolonged because the first person may not understand the system or the solution."
"Functionality gets removed as new versions are released."
"Users are intimidated by the Content Manager client application, especially when it comes to searching and managing content at an individual’s level."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Reach out to local IBM partners.​"
"The solution's licensing cost depends on the customer domain. Though its costs are high, the product is worth the money. You have to pay a one-time cost and support costs."
"The fees incurred are for the licensing and maintenance."
"I would suggest that you do a thorough evaluation of all competing products and look for support for these products in your local area."
"I rate the product price an eight or nine on a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive. The solution is expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
21%
Construction Company
16%
Outsourcing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
6%
Government
12%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business1
Large Enterprise16
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business8
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise8
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with IBM ECM?
The new version of IBM ECM is at the end of support, and we need to migrate to a new version to get open support. We need AI capabilities from IBM ECM for additional functionalities in the next rel...
What is your primary use case for IBM ECM?
I can answer a few short questions about my experience with IBM ECM. On our system, we put documents into IBM ECM, which has helped us with the document management process. We use the store documen...
What advice do you have for others considering IBM ECM?
We use both IBM BPM and Camunda together. We still maintain IBM BPM, and for new development, we develop on Camunda. We continue to use other IBM products. We use IBM BPM and ECM, but we don't use ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Micro Focus Content Manager?
Pricing is a disadvantage as it is very expensive, especially in this market.
What needs improvement with Micro Focus Content Manager?
Pricing is an issue, as it is too expensive. Support and services need to be more user-friendly. The support has been slow, and there is room for improvement. Additionally, they could improve build...
What is your primary use case for Micro Focus Content Manager?
We are a system integrator. We deal with client requirements to determine the best solutions that should be deployed. Our primary use case for OpenText Content Manager is managing enterprise conten...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Micro Focus Content Manager, HPE Records Manager, HPE Content Manager
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

KeyBank, Standard Chartered Bank, Union Bank, Sistema Tecnol‹gico de Monterrey, Illinois Department of Human Services, UnitedHealth Group
Missouri State Courts
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM ECM vs. OpenText Content Manager and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
900,747 professionals have used our research since 2012.