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Alfresco vs IBM FileNet vs OpenText Documentum Content Management comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

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

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2025, in the Enterprise Content Management category, the mindshare of Alfresco is 8.6%, up from 7.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM FileNet is 8.4%, down from 10.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of OpenText Documentum Content Management is 10.6%, down from 11.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Enterprise Content Management Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
OpenText Documentum Content Management10.6%
IBM FileNet8.4%
Alfresco8.6%
Other72.4%
Enterprise Content Management
 

Featured Reviews

Karthi Keyan - PeerSpot reviewer
Streamlining document management with enhanced digitalization features needed
We used Alfresco as a document management system for automating and digitizing manual forms. Those were the main use cases The digitalization of workflow, forms, operations, and business processes has improved our organization. The most valuable features of Alfresco include its integration with…
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

"Alfresco allows broad searches with many index fields that you can search on, although the created fields and their values may not be intuitive."
"The digitalization of workflow, forms, operations, and business processes is also significant."
"I like the ease of use, sections, and calendar."
"The most valuable features of Alfresco include its integration with the scanning solution, the ability to search, and the capability to store and index to capture metadata."
"The most valuable feature is the flexibility of the searching elements of the metadata."
"Document repository."
"You can meet your users' expected features without having Alfresco's involvement."
"The product allows engineering teams and developers to introduce new things in a seamless and easy way."
"The key way that this product has improved the way that that our business functions is by its stability. Its ability to remain up despite other pressures, its consistency, and lack of downtime are really the greatest things that it brings."
"The API's extensibility and new user interface are its most valuable features."
"The ability to manage the content well."
"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."
"IBM FileNet has improved our organization with its single collaboration space."
"IBM provides good support since it's a big company."
"IBM FileNet supports our document management and compliance processes."
"IBM FileNet was more scalable."
"The most valuable features of this solution are the security, storage, and document search capability."
"We like Documentum for its capacity and reliability."
"I recommend Documentum as it supports big systems and offers good integration."
"It is a very secure system. It is reliable, and that is one of the reasons people manage their content within Documentum. It gives them the confidence that the content is accessible to the right people and not to the wrong people."
"It is quite good."
"The most valuable feature is the good automation engine, which helps in reducing the development cost and allows easy development of applications."
"Documentum is a highly scalable document management solution because it's built on a solid platform."
"I am satisfied with OpenText Documentum so far; it has great integration capabilities."
 

Cons

"Alfresco has a very steep learning curve, and unfortunately, during the learning process, it's very easy to make errors, which often are unforgiving."
"I would like them to consider document capture functionality."
"Alfresco could improve workflow digitalization and enhance artificial intelligence capabilities."
"If you don't have proper governance, things can go wrong. You have to make rules, such as one folder should not have more than 5,000 subfolders or children."
"I think the presentation layer could be improved - currently, it's too complex, and there are too many features cluttered all over the screen."
"The setup process for Alfresco was complex."
"Metadata, auto class, disposition log, and legal hold."
"The configuration of Alfresco is a big challenge."
"It is ability to display legacy content needs improvement."
"I would like to have an offline DR deployment. If that is doable, then it would be a big win."
"I think the support could be better, and it could improve."
"Simplifying both training and maintenance would be an improvement."
"IBM doesn't offer new technologies every year, they offer new technologies after five years, for each release of the product."
"I would like to see expanded search features, like content search."
"It could be simpler to use, considering multiple use cases."
"We do have some individuals that do need to come up to speed on it technically, and the only onsite training for Case Manager is in Europe, there is not a lot of US-based training. So they have to do all their training online rather than being able to go and have a good bootcamp-style training somewhere nearby."
"The product needs to improve the way documents are logged together. I believe running it on the cloud or containerization will bring value to it. The tool's Time to Market and deployment cycle need to be improved. Finding suitable training materials for OpenText Documentum is also a bottleneck. If we can find the training modules easily, we can bring together people, give them quick training, and start working on the deployment. It can help with quick outputs."
"The vertical application could be improved."
"One area for improvement in OpenText Documentum is its handling of outdated documents, especially technical ones."
"The user interface can be a bit more intuitive."
"It's difficult to manage and customize Documentum."
"The interface of OpenText Documentum could be more intuitive; sometimes it is hard to find where the information is located."
"I would like to see performance improvements, especially regarding slow response times."
"The main issue is the software's performance when storing around 10 million or more documents. It becomes slow and needs improvement. Perhaps it's a cloud-related issue, but it needs to be addressed. It could be due to our S3 bucket or something else. Nevertheless, this is a significant challenge we're facing."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The license for Alfresco is expensive - not the maximum, but close. There are also extra costs once you start building integrations, as implementation seems to be very costly."
"If you buy Alfresco through a partner, there is usually a OEM licensing option."
"It is cheaper compared to head-to-head competitors."
"There are costs for any upgrade or additional functions."
"IBM FileNet is an expensive solution."
"The platform is inexpensive."
"1. It will be more expensive than estimated to setup. 2. You will need to double the staff while you are running the old system and installing the new system. 3. Depending on the number of documents to be migrated, make sure you understand the potentially massive amount of time and effort required to migrate the existing content to the new platform."
"Licensing costs depend on the size of the storage."
"The solution saves time and money. It helps us to be able to accomplish the goals of our business, as opposed to being tangled in the weeds of what we could do."
"The physical space that we have gained back pays for the service. Therefore, it has reduced our operating costs overall. We have definitely seen ROI. I would estimate $30,000 a year."
"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."
"Yearly, we pay for the maintenance, which is $20,000."
"OpenText Documentum has announced a new licensing model, which could be more expensive."
"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 price is considered affordable now."
"It is quite an expensive product."
"OpenText Documentum's pricing is good."
"The product is expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
16%
Government
12%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
5%
Financial Services Firm
21%
Computer Software Company
10%
Government
9%
Insurance Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
17%
Government
13%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business15
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise3
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business31
Midsize Enterprise12
Large Enterprise73
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business10
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise28
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Alfresco?
The pricing of Alfresco starts at $100,000, which can be expensive for small projects. There is often a transition fr...
What needs improvement with Alfresco?
Currently, the challenge is the general availability to users. Initially, they had poor documentation, but over the y...
What is your primary use case for Alfresco?
This is mainly for unstructured document management systems with workflow and data classification.
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 so...
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; w...
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 gr...
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 ...
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 l...
 

Also Known As

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

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Over 1,300 companies from 180 different countries. Including EuroStar, Saks Fifth Avenue, NASA Langley Research Center, and KLM.
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 Microsoft, OpenText, IBM and others in Enterprise Content Management. Updated: August 2025.
867,349 professionals have used our research since 2012.