ARIS BPA vs iServer comparison

Software AG and Orbus Software are both solutions in the Business Process Design category. Software AG is ranked #6 with an average rating of 8.3, while Orbus Software is ranked #13 with an average rating of 8.4. Software AG holds a 7.6% mindshare in BPD, compared to Orbus Software’s 1.6% mindshare. Additionally, 88% of Software AG users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 85% of Orbus Software users who would recommend it.

ARIS BPA

Read 66 ARIS BPA reviews

4,394 Views
2,417 Comparison Views

88% willing to recommend

iServer

Read 18 iServer reviews

1,611 Views
355 Comparison Views

85% willing to recommend

ARIS BPA

iServer

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 3, 2024

ARIS BPA and iServer are leading solutions in business process analysis. ARIS BPA gains an edge due to its extensive enterprise modeling features and integration capabilities, while iServer's strength lies in its ease of use complementing Microsoft Office integration.

Features: ARIS BPA provides comprehensive tools like EPC modeling and simulation, notable for an all-encompassing view of enterprise architecture. Its support for various integrations enhances process documentation and analysis. iServer offers seamless integration with Microsoft Office, intuitive use for document management, and workflow alignment with Office tools, making it user-friendly for organizations heavily invested in Microsoft products.

Room for Improvement: ARIS BPA could improve its complexity and lack of a real-time workflow engine, while its limited API support poses integration challenges. iServer could enhance its modeling capabilities and data visualization, as well as address performance issues. Both platforms can benefit from more intuitive user interfaces and streamlined integration features.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: ARIS BPA supports flexible deployment options including Hybrid Cloud and on-premises, receiving mixed reviews on customer service but with strong community support. iServer, offering various deployment methods except hybrid, is noted for reasonable support but may require vendor assistance for complex problems, with potential delays.

Pricing and ROI: ARIS BPA, though perceived as expensive, offers high value for large enterprises due to its features and integration capabilities, with a complex licensing model. iServer is considered more cost-effective, with a generally lower price point, appealing to organizations seeking budget-friendly solutions. The return on investment is substantial for both, enhancing process understanding and operational efficiency.

To learn more, read our detailed ARIS BPA vs. iServer Report (Updated: June 2025).

Buyer's Guide

ARIS BPA vs. iServer

June 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 Design

6th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Business Process Management (BPM) (8th)

iServer

Ranking in Business Process Design

13th

Average Rating

7.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Enterprise Architecture Management (7th)

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Business Process Design category, the mindshare of ARIS BPA is 7.6%, down from 9.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of iServer is 1.6%, down from 1.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Business Process Design

Featured Reviews

Cirvesh-Daga

Director at T-Systems International GmbH

Capable of handling a wide range of business processes but presents users complexity with two interfaces (Java application and web interface)

ARIS needs to make a better user interface. The user interface sucks. The problem with ARIS is that they have two interfaces for the same product. You can use either a Java application or a web interface. The web interface doesn't give you access to the same features as the Java application. You have to switch between the two interfaces to get some things done. The web interface is more intuitive, but it lacks the functionality of the Java interface. So I'd give it a six for that reason. The Java interface has more functionality, but it tends to run out of memory and has its own set of problems. So, I'd also give it a six out of ten because of the technology choice. It was really frustrating having two UIs for the same product, with some functionality in one and not in the other. They've got to do something about that.

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Antonios Lazanakis

Senior IT Solution Architect at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees

Flexible, easy to use, and easy to import data

We use iServer to establish an enterprise architecture function in our organization iServer is a very flexible platform for defining your own enterprise architecture model. It is very easy to import data, and we also have good integration with Visual Drawing Tools and SharePoint. The solution is…

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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

"The most valuable feature in the latest versions is the connect portal, where you can do very simple modeling using the web-based portal."

"The solution is user-friendly and easy to expose."

"I am impressed with the tool's integration. It also facilitates collaboration in the organization."

"This solution has helped us in terms of discovering business processes."

"The tool has good navigation."

"The capability to integrate all information of the business and to generate simulations of processes. It can analyze the model of operations quickly."

"It helps the business make an informed decision."

"Also, the UML parts have been improved very much in the last two years. And it's very powerful now to combine the BPMN and UML parts in the product, because you can make a connection between them, so that you have the right interoperability between them. So if you're doing data modeling, you can use your class diagram and bind that to the BPMN part."

More ARIS BPA pros

"The solution is easily modified to suit your needs."

"The initial setup is easy."

"The solution has wide use within Microsoft products. The integration with Microsoft products, and, in particular, Microsoft Office, is great."

"Tech support is very responsive. They solved issues within a prompt response time."

"I have to think less with this solution. It's simple."

"This flexibility is the most helpful part in the standard version."

"iServer is a solution that helps catalog enterprise architect solutions and catalog information."

"Integrating the Microsoft documents to the product and visualization matrix where we can see the end-to-end relationship of the network is of great importance to our company."

More iServer pros

Cons

"The tool needs to improve its support since they take long to respond."

"The governance mechanism could be better, as could automation."

"I had this decentralization mission where I had some friendly fights with the consultants of Software AG. My opinion was the business department should be able to publish their processes and do all their evaluation stuff in ARCM themselves. It has to be a one stop shop. I want a one stop shop to go from ARIS BPM to ARIS ARCM, because having everything go through that would be an improvement due to the inputs that we made with Software AG. They will make it possible that the trigger sent from BPM to ARCM will start their object generation."

"Areas for improvement include sales, prospecting, shopping, customer service, after-sales (claims and advice for the client), and all processes pertaining to customer loyalty."

"There is not enough documentation provided for the tool's support or administration."

"There are reports available in ARIS and you can modify them a bit if you want something more specific, but it's not that easy to adjust them and make modifications. It would be nice to have some kind of tool to do that, something that is more user-friendly for people who are not too technical, so that they could create reports the way they want them."

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

"The model graphics can be exported in PDF, but the model is too small to read."

More ARIS BPA cons

"The one issue is that if you want to import predefined work, you need to put the licensing model in. So if you wanted to import work that was done before, you then need to buy a separate product for that."

"iServer is a solid tool. Occasionally, we needed to contact the vendor to clarify details such as porting issues, missing components, and model specifics."

"There can be some performance issues using the solution that should be improved. When you make modifications modify to files there are embedded data within that can take a while to process."

"The modelling needs improvement, specifically forecasting capabilities and scenarios."

"There are other solutions out there that have a better user interface."

"The performance is slow, which is something that should be improved."

"There could be features for process mining, process simulation, and analytics."

"I haven't used this solution long enough to know what areas could be improved."

More iServer cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"You will never get a fixed price for this product because they will go in and ask you what kind of environment would you like to set up? How many people will you work with? How big is your organization? Today, they have a fixed price to say, "Okay, just to start the business area, buy two licenses for modeling and eight people that can look into the product." They have this kind of fixed price. It's 50,000 Danish Krone. If you divided that by about six, then you get the pricing in dollars. Still, when you are going out, negotiate and find the right price. You will never get a fixed price: "It costs this and, if you take ten of these, seven of these and eight of these, and then it costs this." No, you negotiate every time."

"I would recommend the product to only enterprise companies because of the pricing."

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

"If you can afford it, it's the best so far."

"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."

"It is on the higher side."

"It is an expensive solution."

"Pricing is a bit on the higher side."

More ARIS BPA pricing and cost advice

"The price of iServer is reasonable compared to other solutions."

"It's about 13K to set up and 9K for the license for three months. I think it's about 20K a year, but we haven't firmed up on pricing yet because the price depends on how long we commit to the solution."

"They offer annual subscriptions for developing countries, which are not affordable for small or medium businesses."

"The product has a moderate pricing."

"The solution is cheaper than its competitors."

"Aim for the exact number of people who shall define/review approve and view the processes, as it will impact the cost."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

17%

Computer Software Company

12%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Government

Educational Organization

21%

Financial Services Firm

15%

Government

11%

Computer Software Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

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.

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What needs improvement with ARIS BPA?

I find it difficult to access the database as I want with direct querying. I must write scripts, which requires specific knowledge. Software AG could improve this by making the database more open. ...

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What do you like most about iServer?

iServer has valuable features for workflow and document management.

See all answers

What needs improvement with iServer?

iServer should invest in enhancing the capabilities of the embedded drawing tool, draw.io. draw.io is a drawing tool used to draw architectural diagrams, flow diagrams, etc. It is an alternative to...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for iServer?

We use iServer to establish an enterprise architecture function in our organization.

See all answers

Comparisons

SAP Signavio Process Manager vs ARIS BPA

Compared 24% of the time

ADONIS vs ARIS BPA

Compared 10% of the time

Camunda vs ARIS BPA

Compared 7% of the time

Bizagi vs ARIS BPA

Compared 6% of the time

More ARIS BPA Competitors

LeanIX vs iServer

Compared 24% of the time

OrbusInfinity vs iServer

Compared 15% of the time

Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect vs iServer

Compared 14% of the time

BiZZdesign HoriZZon vs iServer

Compared 8% of the time

Visio vs iServer

Compared 7% of the time

More iServer Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

ARIS BPA

June 2025

Download ARIS BPA product report

Buyer's Guide

Enterprise Architecture Management

June 2025

Download iServer product report

Also Known As

ARIS, ARIS BPM

No data available

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

iServer is a unified software platform and enterprise modeling environment that extends and enhances the familiar, market leading Microsoft Visio and Office products. Core capabilities provided by iServer include an enhanced Microsoft Visio diagramming interface, a powerful central repository for all enterprise architecture or business process models and documentation, and a range of tools for visualization, analysis and decision making.

Orbus Software

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.

Barclays, Cathay Pacific, Deloitte, British Gas, MasterCard

Buyer's Guide

ARIS BPA vs. iServer

June 2025

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