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IBM FileNet vs OpenText Documentum Content Management comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 19, 2025

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 FileNet
Ranking in Enterprise Content Management
4th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
102
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
OpenText Documentum Content...
Ranking in Enterprise Content Management
2nd
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
32
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Enterprise Content Management category, the mindshare of IBM FileNet is 9.1%, down from 10.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of OpenText Documentum Content Management is 11.4%, up from 10.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Enterprise Content Management
 

Featured Reviews

Emad Rizki - PeerSpot reviewer
Facilitates seamless integration for large enterprises with strong deployment capabilities
FileNet was scalable and could be implemented into big multinational organizations. However, it has become very expensive recently. Compared to low-code solutions such as Appian and outsystems, FileNet has gaps, mainly because it requires coding, which is not preferred by clients due to pricing concerns in Pakistan. We transitioned clients to cloud solutions, although FileNet has been strongly integrated with on-prem deployments.
Salih çakır - PeerSpot reviewer
User-friendly content management but needs more customizations
We use OpenText Documentum for managing the command life cycle and for content management Documentum helps by saving time during daily operations. The product is user-friendly. The BPM side should be improved. It would be beneficial to have more ability to customize features for specific use…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The standout feature for us is undoubtedly the Google-like search functionality, which allows us to search for documents within the system effortlessly. Instead of just querying the document database, this feature retrieves all relevant documents, akin to searching on the internet. It is very easy to use."
"The beauty is the response time. It is very good nowadays within the platform."
"It improves the time when providing customer service to our constituents."
"It has increased our productivity."
"It also helps with compliance and governance issues because it's a datastore that is not modifiable, and you can guarantee that. You cannot guarantee that with a folder-based file structure, where multiple people have access."
"IBM FileNet supports our document management and compliance processes."
"It has improved my organization by how we release documents, claims, and policies."
"FileNet is very user-friendly... We have business users using and it is quite friendly for them."
"OpenText Documentum is a robust choice for enterprise-level document management."
"The most valuable feature of Documentum for our content management needs is its ability to segregate access based on department and role."
"We primarily use it for storing documents. We host a variety of documents in OpenText Documentum. This includes raw files, analyzed files, and documents in multiple formats."
"Documentum is a highly scalable document management solution because it's built on a solid platform."
"The product is tamper-proof and enables us to return to the document source, which is helpful in legal issues."
"It has reduced the amount of paper documents; reducing time and errors in the process."
"I recommend Documentum as it supports big systems and offers good integration."
"OpenText Documentum has improved availability and performance in our organization."
 

Cons

"Our client feels FileNet does not provide them with content searchability. They feel it's cumbersome. They're only using Metadata. If the Metadata is not well-populated, it becomes a problem to retrieve a document."
"Programmers have to translate user needs into IBM FileNet, which causes misinterpretations."
"The usability is fair. It could be a bit better. It could be better designed. They could put more effort into the user experience and do a better job of integrating other components, like Datacap, to be a bit more seamless."
"The initial setup was pretty complex. There are too many options, and it can get a bit confusing."
"I know it took them seven months to convert, so the initial setup was, probably to some degree, complex."
"We'd like to use the docker, to have it containerized."
"FileNet and similar enterprise-level tools require substantial costs, starting in the millions, which limits their use to large enterprises."
"I think the support could be better, and it could improve."
"The biggest issue for us is the price of the product."
"They should develop something so that bugs don't happen in our project. We make changes manually and some bugs happen."
"While generally secure, some noted security issues need consideration. The installation process for on-premise setup needs improvement as well."
"OpenText Documentum's user interface could be improved a little bit."
"OpenText Documentum needs to improve its support."
"We mostly use the Life Sciences package. That package is somewhat dated. There should be enhancements to the Life Science package and additional offerings to support pharma in particular."
"The price is quite high as the licensing prices are significant."
"The BPM side should be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Talking about the cost is difficult because IBM has offers that combine different products, and each of these offers has different types of licensing. IBM also has a policy that the actual price for a given customer may be very different from the stated book price. It's hard to say whether it's expensive or not."
"The biggest issue is the cost of the FileNet, because the license cost is very high. If a customer doesn't have good technical guides that are aware of the license calculation, they will pay too much. FileNet's license calculation depends on the processor and number of users. So my advice to a new customer is to be very careful with your calculations before purchasing FileNet."
"​There are lots of components to the product. Make sure before you invest that you know which components you need.​​"
"Licensing costs depend on the size of the storage."
"FileNet is quite expensive, although Documentum is expensive too."
"For small scale industries, they allow different options. They can do open source. It is the complexity of the data security that they should think about before they choose."
"The licensing cost of FileNet is comparable."
"The cost is about $40,000, plus yearly maintenance."
"It is quite an expensive product."
"It falls in line with a lot of things that are out there on the market. There is nothing extraordinary in terms of great or bad."
"The product is expensive."
"OpenText Documentum's pricing is good."
"The price is considered affordable now."
"OpenText Documentum has announced a new licensing model, which could be more expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
21%
Computer Software Company
10%
Government
10%
Insurance Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
18%
Government
13%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about IBM FileNet?
The product is robust and can process a lot of documents for enterprise content management.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM FileNet?
From the company's perspective, the licensing cost for IBM FileNet is still affordable. Though the license cost is somewhat expensive, it remains manageable. The company rates it between 3 and 5 be...
What needs improvement with IBM FileNet?
The API provided by IBM FileNet is a very out-of-date implementation. From the beginning, we cannot use a REST API; we have to use the IBM FileNet native API, which is quite outdated.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Documentum?
It falls in line with a lot of things that are out there on the market. There is nothing extraordinary in terms of great or bad.
What do you like most about OpenText Documentum?
The most valuable feature of Documentum for our content management needs is its ability to segregate access based on department and role.
What needs improvement with OpenText Documentum?
The interface of OpenText Documentum could be more intuitive; sometimes it is hard to find where the information is located.
 

Also Known As

No data available
Dell EMC Documentum, Documentum , Documentum xCelerated Composition Platform
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Suncorp Group Limited, St. Vincent Health, Citigroup, SRCSD, and UK Dept for Work and Pensions.
Agility; Bibliotheca Alexandrina; Capitec Bank; Department of Social Development, Republic of South Africa; County of Los Angeles, Department of Human Resources; Fresenius Kabi; Heathrow Airport; Lahey Health; Linde PLC; Milestone Pharma Co. Ltd; National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development; Open Grid Europe GmbH; REPCO NEX Industrial Solutions; Springer Nature; Syngene International; Tata Power DDL; University of Texas Austin
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM FileNet vs. OpenText Documentum Content Management and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
865,295 professionals have used our research since 2012.