ARIS BPA vs IBM Case Foundation comparison

Software AG and IBM are both solutions in the Business Process Management (BPM) category. Software AG is ranked #8 with an average rating of 8.1, while IBM is ranked #31 with an average rating of 8.0. Software AG holds a 4.2% mindshare in BPM, compared to IBM’s 0.5% mindshare. Additionally, 89% of Software AG users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 86% of IBM users who would recommend it.

ARIS BPA

Read 68 ARIS BPA reviews

5,697 Views
3,646 Comparison Views

89% willing to recommend

IBM Case Foundation

Read 14 IBM Case Foundation reviews

405 Views
401 Comparison Views

86% willing to recommend

ARIS BPA

IBM Case Foundation

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 18, 2024

ARIS BPA and IBM Case Foundation are prominent players in the business process management and content management sectors. ARIS BPA seems to have the upper hand with its comprehensive process modeling and enterprise analysis capabilities.

Features: ARIS BPA offers extensive process modeling and enterprise analysis with object-oriented flexibility, supporting notations like BPMN and EPC. It features robust integration across IT and business processes, making it highly adaptable for visual management and process governance. IBM Case Foundation excels in content management, providing document templates and facilitating decision-making with robust integration capabilities, particularly within IBM's enterprise solutions suite.

Room for Improvement: ARIS BPA lacks a workflow engine, restricting business process execution and automation. Users cite integration challenges and high costs, along with a complex interface and steep learning curve. IBM Case Foundation needs better support for updated development platforms and languages, with users desiring a more intuitive interface and improved integration with emerging technologies.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: ARIS BPA offers versatile deployment options including Hybrid, Public, Private Cloud, and On-premises, providing flexibility within IT infrastructures, though support response times can improve. IBM Case Foundation is mainly On-premises, noted for traditional deployment and improved technical support, although further enhancement in response and adaptation is wished for.

Pricing and ROI: ARIS BPA is considered expensive but offers various license models appropriate for enterprises valuing modeling capabilities. Users find robust ROI through process transparency and efficiency. IBM Case Foundation's pricing is perceived mid-range, often viewed as high given functionality, with ROI heavily dependent on implementation and usage scales.

To learn more, read our detailed ARIS BPA vs. IBM Case Foundation Report (Updated: September 2025).

Buyer's Guide

ARIS BPA vs. IBM Case Foundation

September 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

ARIS BPA

Ranking in Business Process Management (BPM)

8th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Business Process Design (6th)

IBM Case Foundation

Ranking in Business Process Management (BPM)

31st

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2025, in the Business Process Management (BPM) category, the mindshare of ARIS BPA is 4.2%, down from 5.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Case Foundation is 0.5%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Business Process Management (BPM) Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
ARIS BPA	4.2%
IBM Case Foundation	0.5%
Other	95.3%

Business Process Management (BPM)

Featured Reviews

Tamer Eldamanhouri

Software Engineering & Manager at Arab Infromation Management Services

Empowers teams with robust business process modeling capabilities

They should examine competitor solutions to identify differentiators. One issue related to ARIS BPA is its integration with AI; it has AI features for cloud solutions, yet many in the government sector in Kuwait do not view the cloud as viable. Software AG should focus on developing AI models for ARIS BPA on-premises, particularly in user interfaces, as well as creating predefined business processes for common areas such as HR and finance. This aspect is crucial for adapting to the market's needs and streamlining custom solutions. While they have been helpful regarding pricing, I cannot compare ARIS BPA to other business process modeling tools because I understand some competitors have significantly lower costs than ARIS BPA. To maintain market share, good discounts should be provided to customers.

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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

"ARIS BPA is customizable as per specific business requirements."

"The most valuable feature is the flexibility of the solution to fully customize the methodology according to the company's needs, and to enforce that methodology with features like filters, semantic checks, and reports."

"Platform that it supports covers legacy and new. Caters to moving older objects into an integrated DB, relatively popular ones: SQL, Oracle, etc."

"The shared repository allows for cross-functional cooperation instead of doing things in a silo. You can operate cross-functionally and really work end-to-end, instead of dividing everything up on a functional basis."

"Objects can be reused across different BPMNs and processes, so we can design new processes quicker and easier."

"ARIS process modeling and analysis allows integration of end-to-end business processes with the organization's vision, strategies, and business objectives, through visual management."

"The EPC modeling is very detailed, the semantic check is helpful, and auto-layout simplifies the formatting."

"The most valuable feature is the process documentation. For us, ARIS is a lifestyle more than a tool. It helps us learn how to think and how to plan for our system."

More ARIS BPA pros

"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."

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

"The content management is great."

"Case Foundation provides a strong security boost."

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

"It's very easy."

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

"A valuable feature includes seamless integration with the document management system, along with robust capabilities in analytics and reporting."

More IBM Case Foundation pros

Cons

"The user interface could be more intuitive and better designed."

"I believe the solutions BPM tools are not very good and need improvements."

"The areas of ARIS where we see room for improvement are actually related to the background services that support it. Over the last number of years, Software AG has moved from an on-premises solution into deploying a SaaS solution to their enterprise base. That has been really successful from my point of view, as I have been a customer of ARIS, managing the relationship, for a couple years. Certain support functions around the knowledge base, customer service, and the cross and upselling of modules within the core ARIS component are lagging behind the SaaS movement."

"One thing that could be improved is regarding the handling of the content itself. Maybe ARIS could provide a set of best practices, or best processes, so that people do not have to start from scratch."

"The user experience's usability (in general) should be improved as the tool is updated."

"With ARIS BPM, the script creation is quite cumbersome. With version ten, we needed our developers to do scripting."

"The solution's processes are huge and it is not easy to get an overview of how things work. It needs to improve the interface. I would like to see the product include a better overview of processes and improve search."

"It needs external API and the ability to navigate back, similar to "Back" in web browser."

More ARIS BPA cons

"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"

"IBM needs to update the user interfaces of all its products to make them more intuitive and accessible to beginners. Compared to Microsoft products, IBM solutions are less user-friendly. IBM programs are hard to master. It's a problem in my region because it's hard to find IT staff who can work with IBM."

"There is a need for more open and flexible integration capabilities, allowing seamless collaboration with a broader spectrum of business process management solutions, beyond the confines of IBM's document management offerings."

"Once a workflow is launched then it stays static forever, which is a problem because if there is a change in the business then you cannot change the workflow."

"The solution can be quite expensive."

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

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

More IBM Case Foundation cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is an expensive solution."

"ARIS BPA is too costly from a licensing perspective."

"The product is expensive."

"The pricing and licensing costs are available on their website. They will assign a relationship manager to assist if you show further interest in their products."

"ARIS is quite expensive."

"ARIS Express is free."

"From my point of view, no, it is not cheap, but it is not too expensive because you get this big organization behind it, technical support, and all those things. It's not so expensive to use. It's a Rolls Royce in this field, I know that. Even for small organizations, they can get so much effect from using this tool, in a very fast way, so the money will be back in the customer's pocket very fast."

"It depends on different parameters."

More ARIS BPA pricing and cost advice

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

"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."

"IBM Case Foundation is a little expensive."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

15%

Computer Software Company

12%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Government

No data available

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	32
Midsize Enterprise	8
Large Enterprise	47

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	5
Midsize Enterprise	5
Large Enterprise	6

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about ARIS BPA?

The most valuable features of ARIS BPA are its flexibility and reporting.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ARIS BPA?

Pricing for ARIS BPA is average, not cheap or expensive. It's cost-effective and worth the money we pay.

See all answers

What needs improvement with ARIS BPA?

ARIS BPA needs to be more accurate when generating documents. While it covers many blueprints and functions that I need, the document generation feature could be enhanced for better accuracy.

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?

The tool is expensive for my customers; it is very expensive, more than other solutions. Some customers say it is more expensive. The license cost for Cloud Pak is per user and increases with the n...

See all answers

What needs improvement with IBM Case Foundation?

We face some challenges with IBM Case Foundation from our customers, particularly with administration and configuration. We face many issues and open tickets with IBM regarding that, especially som...

See all answers

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Compared 6% of the time

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Compared 41% of the time

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Compared 31% of the time

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Compared 28% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

ARIS BPA

September 2025

Download ARIS BPA product report

Buyer's Guide

IBM Case Foundation

September 2025

Download IBM Case Foundation product report

Also Known As

ARIS, ARIS BPM

Case Foundation, FileNet Business Process Manager

Overview

ARIS is the market-leading solution for professional business process management and modeling. Whether you want to document the "as-is" state of your operations for quality or certification reasons or design the "to-be" in terms of continuous improvement in your transformation program, ARIS is the best choice for establishing a single source of truth regarding all process excellence topics in your organization. It is for any organization looking to digitally transform their business, increase operational excellence and customer experience and ensure compliance in execution. ARIS helps you to make the most out of your processes with Process Mining, Risk & Compliance Management, RPA and much more.

What makes the difference?

The most comprehensive platform for process excellence in the market
Easy to use
Covers business & IT architecture from all angles
Full flexibility and >100 diagram types
Customer-driven development based on best practices
Strong partner ecosystem

ARIS is the market-leading solution for any organization and ideally suited to digitally transform the organization, increase operational excellence and customer experience and ensure compliance in execution.

Software AG

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

Tesco, Weifu, Airbus, Siemens, Proximus, Alicorp, Sekerbank, Bancor, Philips,Sky, Emirates NBD, Dubai Municipality, Suva, U.S. Army, Australia Post, Westfalen Weser Energie - ARIS serves customers across all industries and of every size worldwide. Companies trust ARIS as the market leader for process excellence with more than 30 years of experience in the market, 10 million users worldwide, from 1 user companies to the Fortune 500.

Suncorp Group Limited

Buyer's Guide

ARIS BPA vs. IBM Case Foundation

September 2025

Free Report: ARIS BPA vs. IBM Case Foundation

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