IBM Engineering Workflow Management vs Polarion ALM comparison

IBM Engineering Workflow Management vs. Polarion ALM

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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 Engineering Workflow Ma...

Ranking in Enterprise Agile Planning Tools

10th

Average Rating

6.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Software Configuration Management (4th)

Polarion ALM

Ranking in Enterprise Agile Planning Tools

6th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Suites (6th)

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Enterprise Agile Planning Tools category, the mindshare of IBM Engineering Workflow Management is 1.2%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Polarion ALM is 4.0%, up from 3.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Enterprise Agile Planning Tools

Featured Reviews

Suvajit Chakraborty

Manager, Digital Engineering at Harman International

Offers good traceability elements but UI needs improvement

There is room for improvement in the UI. The UI has to improve a lot compared to the competitive tools, like Atlassian Jira, for example. It's very easy to use. It is easy to manage and easy to use. Anybody can learn it right quickly and start with it. But IBM ELM is something where somebody has to have good knowledge, training, and understanding and then only start using it. But there's a big known knowledge curve for IBM ELM. But once that is there, it's normally; organizations do have their own internal team to basically manage it IBM ELM portfolio, the tool chain. So if they have internal teams who are doing it for quite some time, not something new, then it is definitely better. But if there's if somebody is starting new, definitely there is a knowledge curve time it can take at least a year or maybe a couple of years before they can start realizing the benefits.

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Dina Bindi

Information and Communication technology at CNH Industrial

Provides traceability and compliance with high flexibility

It's extremely flexible. Configuring items is straightforward and doesn't require involving the supplier each time. We find the requirement management, test management, documentation, and dashboards very effective. However, we don't use DevOps-related features, such as integration with tools like SVN or Git, because we use Azure DevOps. The aspects related to requirements, testing, changes, tasks, and agile methodology are excellent, which is why we've been using it for a long time.

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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

"Agile templates give us a standard methodology for every Agile project. Also, the ability to create our own object types and linkages to features/epics allows us to enhance the verification of feature readiness."

"It was an all-in-one solution for source code, integrated source control, defect tracking, and project planning."

"Traceability reporting is inbuilt and includes all your requirements."

"Good for managing stories, sprints, hydration and releases."

"Work distribution among team members and accountability for completion with a clearer picture."

"We can track the status of test cases (passed or saved) in a single view. Based on releases and other attributes, we generate various reports and extract metrics from the data."

"All of the features work together to provide a powerful holistic solution - from the dashboard all the way through to security."

"The tool provides traceability and reporting, which are important for compliance and measuring progress."

More IBM Engineering Workflow Management pros

"Polarion ALM helps us better structure our customer requirements, and we can also validate the specs of our products against those. If anything changes on our side, we see the impact, and we can see the effect If a customer changes requirements."

"It offers good performance."

"Polarion ALM has some valuable tools for managing our targets and requirements. I think that's its best feature."

"Polarion ALM delivers both document views and table views simultaneously and organizes configurations according to norms and standards."

"The tool's most valuable feature is its browser experience. I rate its traceability feature a ten out of ten. From the initial stage to the release, you can manage everything through a single point."

"The tool helped us to more effectively and efficiently gather and structure the information (requirements, test plans, project management data, etc.), and share it with the involved stakeholders in a safe and change-controlled manner."

"The features I find the most valuable are requirement tracking and schematics."

"It meets with everybody's needs without having to grab plugins."

More Polarion ALM pros

Cons

"Lacks ability to customize and reporting can be slow."

"Improved graphics in terms of metrics and connectivity to SharePoint from Microsoft products would be beneficial."

"I would rate the IBM Engineering Workflow Management a seven or an eight. I am leaning closer to seven based on a couple of items I mentioned that I would like to see or know more about, such as improved reporting."

"We have encountered issues with stability. We have seen where the entire system kind of goes for a toss when certain people use certain types of queries, which are very costly. Then the system kind of slows down a bit, and we have to monitor it."

"The solution is very heavily vendor dependent."

"Some administrative tasks are difficult to perform. These could be simplified."

"It's becoming less relevant. For example, Maven has evolved, and in its later versions, there are plugins for integrating with source control systems, such as Git-based systems. Support for these plugins is diminishing."

"Teams need clearer pictures of resource availability in charts and dashboards along with plans."

More IBM Engineering Workflow Management cons

"The tool needs to improve its planning. It also needs to add more integrations."

"Nowadays, the dashboard is too complex to be created."

"The solution can be improved by making it more user-friendly, and a server-based application rather than client based."

"Integration requires a lot of effort. You typically need to work with an implementation partner to get it done. Most connectors available for Polarion ALM are paid. Unlike other vendors offering several standard connectors for free, integrating third-party software with Polarion ALM involves discussing and coordinating with the third-party software providers, which requires effort."

"The system’s technology is not the most current, leading to missing features that are common in web-based applications."

"Test management lacks an automated process."

"We use PTC Windchill, and Polarion ALM doesn't have native integration, so we had to purchase the connector to integrate it with Polarion ALM. We still haven't implemented it."

"The interface for this solution needs to be made more user-friendly to provide a better user experience."

More Polarion ALM cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Licensing: The solution cost is high and should be brought down to increase competition."

"I've heard IBM Engineering Workflow Management is more expensive than other tools."

"It's an expensive investment to make, so the decision should be driven on individual requirements."

"It is not a free tool. We use a token-based licensing model, which is specific to IBM. The cost per token is around $115-$120."

"The license model is okay for large companies but would be quite expensive for smaller enterprises."

"If the pricing would come down and it was more affordable then we wouldn't have to switch."

"It is an expensive product."

"You have to pay around 50-60 euros per user."

"Software for medical devices is always expensive."

"The solution is expensive."

"Our license for Polarion ALM is yearly. And it's not the cheapest tool that we've looked at. So if we had made our decision purely based on the licensing cost, we wouldn't have selected Polarion."

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845,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Manufacturing Company

20%

Government

16%

Computer Software Company

11%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

26%

Computer Software Company

15%

Healthcare Company

Financial Services Firm

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about IBM Engineering Workflow Management?

We can track the status of test cases (passed or saved) in a single view. Based on releases and other attributes, we generate various reports and extract metrics from the data.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Engineering Workflow Management?

I've heard IBM Engineering Workflow Management is more expensive than other tools. On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing a six out of ten.

What needs improvement with IBM Engineering Workflow Management?

Improved graphics in terms of metrics and connectivity to SharePoint from Microsoft products would be beneficial.

What do you like most about Polarion ALM?

It is a very stable solution.

What needs improvement with Polarion ALM?

Polarion ALM ( /categories/application-lifecycle-management-alm-suites ) could see improvements in performance and scalability. The system’s technology is not the most current, leading to missing f...

What is your primary use case for Polarion ALM?

Polarion ALM ( /products/polarion-alm-reviews ) is a tool that delivers both document views and table views simultaneously. It organizes configurations according to norms and standards, making it s...

Jira vs IBM Engineering Workflow Management

Comparisons

Compared 56% of the time

Codebeamer vs IBM Engineering Workflow Management

Compared 14% of the time

GitLab vs IBM Engineering Workflow Management

Compared 10% of the time

Microsoft Azure DevOps vs IBM Engineering Workflow Management

Compared 7% of the time

IBM Rational ClearCase vs IBM Engineering Workflow Management

Compared 7% of the time

More IBM Engineering Workflow Management Competitors

Codebeamer vs Polarion ALM

Compared 28% of the time

Jira vs Polarion ALM

Compared 27% of the time

Microsoft Azure DevOps vs Polarion ALM

Compared 16% of the time

Jama Connect vs Polarion ALM

Compared 8% of the time

PTC Integrity vs Polarion ALM

Compared 6% of the time

More Polarion ALM Competitors

Product Reports

IBM Engineering Workflow Management

Download IBM Engineering Workflow Management product report

IBM Engineering Workflow Management report

Polarion ALM

Download Polarion ALM product report

Also Known As

IBM Rational Team Concert (IBM ALM), IBM RTC

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Overview

IBM Engineering Workflow Management manages plans, tasks, the project status and acts as the critical link between required and delivered work. It provides flexibility to adapt to any process, which enables companies to adopt faster release cycles and manage dependencies across both small and complex development projects. This solution offers no-charge server software and flexible pricing models. It becomes a complete IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management solution—when purchased as a set of seamlessly integrated tools: IBM Engineering Workflow Management, IBM Engineering Test Management, and IBM Engineering Requirements Management DOORS Next.

IBM

The world’s first 100% browser-based ALM enterprise solution, which enables seamless collaboration across disparate teams, multi-directionally linked work items, full traceability, accelerated productivity and automated proof of compliance.

Siemens

Sample Customers

Telstra Corporation, Visteon, Atos SE, Panasonic Automotive Systems, IBM Global Technology Services, CareCore National, JTEKT Corp., ItaÒ BBA, Avea, CACEIS, Danske Bank Group, APIS IT

Engineering Ingegneria Informatica, IBS AG, Zumtobel Group

IBM Engineering Workflow Management vs. Polarion ALM