AWS Step Functions vs IBM Business Automation Workflow comparison

AWS Step Functions vs. IBM Business Automation Workflow

February 2026

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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:

ROI

Sentiment score

5.3

AWS Step Functions reduce development time and costs, enhance scalability and reliability, streamline workflows, and improve ROI.

Sentiment score

7.7

IBM Business Automation Workflow boosts ROI by enhancing productivity, streamlining tasks, and improving efficiency with real-time monitoring.

No quotes available

For more quotes and insights, download the AWS Step Functions report

Initially performed manually, workflows now provide a better user experience and increased efficiency.

Senior Systems Developer at a healthcare company with 5,001-10,000 employees

IBM Business Automation Workflow demonstrates strong return on investment, particularly through the operation model and real-time monitoring capabilities provided by the embedded dashboards.

For more quotes and insights, download the IBM Business Automation Workflow report

CEO at Exact Holding NV

Customer Service

Sentiment score

5.9

AWS Step Functions support is reliable, but users desire quicker, tailored assistance; enterprise support offers rapid, expensive yet effective help.

Sentiment score

6.0

IBM Business Automation Workflow's customer service is mixed, with both timely support and challenges like slow responses and communication delays.

The speed of reply and the content of their responses usually solve the problems that arise.

Carlos JARDIM

EPM Practice Manager at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees

I use enterprise support, which is excellent, providing responses within fifteen minutes.

For more quotes and insights, download the AWS Step Functions report

Senior AWS Tech Lead at Nextios

If the solution is readily available to IBM support team, they provide it instantly.

Ateeq Rehman

Unit Head System Implementor at Allied Bank Limited

IBM provides long-term support and maintains a traditionally good customer-vendor relationship.

For more quotes and insights, download the IBM Business Automation Workflow report

Deputy CEO, CIO at a insurance company with 51-200 employees

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score

7.0

AWS Step Functions are valued for efficient scalability, handling demand spikes and multiple requests, suitable for medium to large organizations.

Sentiment score

7.9

IBM Business Automation Workflow is highly scalable, accommodating extensive users and transactions with flexibility in deployment and resource efficiency.

They can handle multiple simultaneous requests effectively.

For more quotes and insights, download the AWS Step Functions report

Senior AWS Tech Lead at Nextios

There isn't much need for scalability when creating orchestration in AWS Step Functions, which explains the rating of six.

reviewer2706945

Assistant Manager at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees

We can manage the license usage and scale our environment while optimizing license use.

For more quotes and insights, download the IBM Business Automation Workflow report

Deputy CEO, CIO at a insurance company with 51-200 employees

We are implementing load balancing and horizontal scalability.

Ateeq Rehman

Unit Head System Implementor at Allied Bank Limited

Stability Issues

Sentiment score

7.8

AWS Step Functions are praised for stability and reliability, ensuring consistent performance and uptime across multiple availability zones.

Sentiment score

7.5

IBM Business Automation Workflow is stable and reliable, praised for functionality but impacted by maintenance and OS challenges.

I never faced any faults or issues due to its stability with AWS, making it very reliable with no downtime and 100% reliability.

reviewer2706945

Assistant Manager at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees

If one zone fails, others handle the demand, ensuring high availability.

For more quotes and insights, download the AWS Step Functions report

Senior AWS Tech Lead at Nextios

On Windows, I believe considerable administration tasks are required to maintain environment stability.

CEO at Exact Holding NV

Outside of these maintenance periods, the environment is quite stable.

For more quotes and insights, download the IBM Business Automation Workflow report

Senior Systems Developer at a healthcare company with 5,001-10,000 employees

Room For Improvement

AWS Step Functions needs improvements in data limits, integrations, pricing, and execution visibility while enhancing fault tolerance and third-party support.

IBM Business Automation Workflow enhancements requested include better UI, AI features, simplified setup, and improved support and resources.

It would benefit from more integration with different applications or services.

Carlos JARDIM

EPM Practice Manager at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the AWS Step Functions report

Rather than sending URLs or documentation for customers to solve problems independently, the support team should be more involved in addressing the client's specific issues in a targeted manner, providing clear guidance on what actions need to be taken.

CEO at Exact Holding NV

Many developments are focused on AI, LLM models, and data science.

Ateeq Rehman

Unit Head System Implementor at Allied Bank Limited

Code management lacks merging capabilities.

For more quotes and insights, download the IBM Business Automation Workflow report

Senior Systems Developer at a healthcare company with 5,001-10,000 employees

Setup Cost

AWS Step Functions pricing fluctuates based on usage, leading to potential high bills despite being cheaper than Azure Workflow.

IBM Business Automation Workflow is expensive but valued for high-quality features, flexible licensing, and productivity enhancement compared to competitors.

Pricing for Step Functions is very cheap.

For more quotes and insights, download the AWS Step Functions report

Senior AWS Tech Lead at Nextios

The cost is average, provided it is configured correctly.

Dmytro Burmistrenko

Big Data Architect at SoftServe Ltd.

It is not a cheap license but in line with expectations for such software.

Deputy CEO, CIO at a insurance company with 51-200 employees

The price of IBM Business Automation Workflow is on the higher side compared to the features it offers.

For more quotes and insights, download the IBM Business Automation Workflow report

Senior Systems Developer at a healthcare company with 5,001-10,000 employees

Valuable Features

AWS Step Functions enable efficient workflow automation with integration, orchestration, parallel tasking, and management through a user-friendly interface.

IBM Business Automation Workflow integrates RPA, offering rapid app development, AI-enhanced automation, and robust cross-departmental communication tools.

Step Functions provide seamless integration with AWS services, which enhances the speed of application development.

For more quotes and insights, download the AWS Step Functions report

Senior AWS Tech Lead at Nextios

It was particularly valuable for its integration capabilities, allowing for execution of scripts and data migration.

Carlos JARDIM

EPM Practice Manager at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees

AWS Step Functions offers advanced workflows that save time and enhance efficiency by reducing delays and ensuring consistent orchestration among various services.

Dmytro Burmistrenko

Big Data Architect at SoftServe Ltd.

The product itself is powerful and contains a lot of built-in software support, including an inspector, dashboard, analytics, and databases, and allows users to work with development and administration from the same interface.

CEO at Exact Holding NV

It assisted in making users concentrate on the process flow rather than just features.

Deputy CEO, CIO at a insurance company with 51-200 employees

This solution has streamlined previously manual processes into orchestrated workflows.

For more quotes and insights, download the IBM Business Automation Workflow report

Senior Systems Developer at a healthcare company with 5,001-10,000 employees

Categories and Ranking

AWS Step Functions

Ranking in Business Process Management (BPM)

10th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Workload Automation (11th)

IBM Business Automation Wor...

Ranking in Business Process Management (BPM)

12th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the Business Process Management (BPM) category, the mindshare of AWS Step Functions is 1.6%, down from 2.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Business Automation Workflow is 1.6%, down from 2.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Business Process Management (BPM) Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
AWS Step Functions	1.6%
IBM Business Automation Workflow	1.6%
Other	96.8%

Business Process Management (BPM)

Featured Reviews

reviewer2706945

Assistant Manager at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees

Orchestration and integration simplify processes with seamless stability and reliability

I use the Visual Workflow Editor feature of AWS Step Functions. I mainly work through code and then improve it through the visual aspect. There are two ways to do orchestration: through code and through visual. My main task is to develop flows. I have only implemented AWS Step Functions with AWS services, not with any third-party tools. The integration between AWS Step Functions and other AWS services is excellent, working seamlessly with EventBridge, Glue jobs, and databases. I have not encountered any challenges with customers regarding AWS Step Functions that needed me to find a workaround. The pricing of AWS Step Functions is moderate and not particularly costly. AWS Step Functions is affordable for small, medium, and enterprise businesses as an orchestration tool. I have not used any documentation, manuals, or guides for AWS Step Functions as it's very simple to implement. When help is needed, I consult Stack Overflow or AI for commands. Overall rating for AWS Step Functions: 9 out of 10.

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Automation has transformed financial workflows and has improved revenue tracking and compliance

CEO at Exact Holding NV

Regarding Watsonx, I am uncertain whether it is fully complied and fully integrated with IBM Business Automation Workflow yet. Currently, we use some AI in Enterprise Content Management, particularly when searching documents. Archiving snapshots would be very beneficial. It would be good to reduce the administration effort required to archive snapshots, as this is a main issue with the product. I would also recommend that IBM engage with customers more deeply. Rather than sending URLs or documentation for customers to solve problems independently, the support team should be more involved in addressing the client's specific issues in a targeted manner, providing clear guidance on what actions need to be taken.

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881,455 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

26%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Computer Software Company

Insurance Company

Financial Services Firm

31%

Computer Software Company

Insurance Company

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	7
Midsize Enterprise	2
Large Enterprise	5

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	6
Midsize Enterprise	3
Large Enterprise	17

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Amazon Step Functions?

The integration capability is easy, whereas building state machines is tricky.

What is your primary use case for Amazon Step Functions?

My customer's usual use cases for AWS Step Functions that I've been working with include orchestration, flows, diagram creation, and creating a flow for multiple Glue jobs to run a single pipeline.

What advice do you have for others considering Amazon Step Functions?

Which is better, IBM BPM or IBM Business Automation Workflow?

We researched both IBM solutions and in the end, we chose Business Automation Workflow. IBM BPM has a good user interface and the BPM coach is a helpful tool. The API is very useful in providing en...

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Business Automation Workflow?

The price of IBM Business Automation Workflow is on the higher side compared to the features it offers.

What needs improvement with IBM Business Automation Workflow?

Code management lacks merging capabilities. If parallel development requires merging, improvements in this area would be beneficial. Additionally, the user interface could be more visually appealin...

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Product Reports

Download AWS Step Functions product report

AWS Step Functions

January 2026

IBM Business Automation Workflow

January 2026

Download IBM Business Automation Workflow product report

Also Known As

Amazon Step Functions, Step Functions

Business Automation Workflow

Overview

AWS Step Functions integrate seamlessly with other AWS services to offer efficient pipeline and workflow management. Its intuitive design allows for streamlined orchestration, easily handling complex tasks.

AWS Step Functions provide robust orchestration and automation capabilities, simplifying the creation of workflows with graphical and JSON-based designs. It excels in managing tasks through advanced parallelization and error handling features. Automatic scaling further enhances performance, ensuring reliability in varied environments. However, improvements are needed in IDE integration, larger data handling, and fault tolerance. Users find value in its capacity for microservice orchestration and data integration, although dependency on the Amazon ecosystem and limited third-party integrations pose challenges.

What are the key features of AWS Step Functions?

Integration with AWS Services: Facilitates seamless coordination with AWS offerings like Lambda and Glue.
Graphical and JSON-Based Design: User-friendly interfaces simplify workflow design and management.
Advanced Orchestration: Efficiently manages task execution with parallelization and error handling.
Automatic Scaling: Ensures optimal performance by adjusting resources as needed.
Microservice Integration: Supports smooth microservice communication and operation.

What benefits should organizations assess when considering AWS Step Functions?

Enhanced Efficiency: Automates and streamlines task execution across platforms.
Scalability: Adapts to workloads, providing flexibility in resource management.
Improved Workflow Management: Facilitates reliable and error-free operations.
Visualization and Automation: Simplifies complex processes with visual tools.
Data Validation and Script Execution: Integrates data operations smoothly within data lakes.

In industries managing data pipelines, AWS Step Functions orchestrate workflows, execute parallel ETL jobs, and integrate various AWS services, enabling smoother operations and efficient data migration. Companies benefit from streamlined processes and robust handling of interdependent tasks.

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

IBM Business Automation Workflow combines business process management and case management capabilities in one workflow solution. It integrates the capabilities of business process and case management into a single workflow offering. It unites information, process, and users to provide a 360-degree view of work to drive more successful optimized business outcomes. IBM Business Automation Workflow on Cloud provides the same capabilities that are offered in the IBM Business Automation Workflow offering, all within a ready-to-use, cloud-based environment that is hosted in IBM Cloud data centers and managed by IBM.

IBM

Sample Customers

Alpha Apps, The Guardian, SGK, Bigfinite

Key Bank, Barclays, Control€xpert, MIR Insurance Brokers, Conqord Oil