BiZZdesign HoriZZon vs IBM Blueworks Live comparison

BiZZdesign and IBM are both solutions in the Business Process Design category. BiZZdesign is ranked #9 with an average rating of 8.3, while IBM is ranked #12 with an average rating of 7.3. BiZZdesign holds a 2.4% mindshare in BPD, compared to IBM’s 3.4% mindshare. Additionally, 78% of BiZZdesign users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 90% of IBM users who would recommend it.

BiZZdesign HoriZZon

Read 18 BiZZdesign HoriZZon reviews

2,981 Views
1,699 Comparison Views

78% willing to recommend

IBM Blueworks Live

Read 20 IBM Blueworks Live reviews

2,419 Views
2,080 Comparison Views

90% willing to recommend

BiZZdesign HoriZZon

IBM Blueworks Live

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 3, 2024

IBM Blueworks Live and BiZZdesign HoriZZon are key players in the business process management tools category. BiZZdesign HoriZZon has the upper hand due to its extensive modeling capabilities, despite IBM Blueworks Live's competitive pricing and strong support.

Features: BiZZdesign HoriZZon excels in real-time modeling, collaborative workshops, and architecture management, supporting standards like ArchiMate for enterprise architects. IBM Blueworks Live is valuable for its intuitive central repository, effective collaboration for process mapping, and features like BPMN compliance.

Room for Improvement: IBM Blueworks Live could improve process modeling, reporting features, and workflow management. BiZZdesign HoriZZon is costly and complex, requiring better integration of tools and more user-friendly interfaces. Both tools can enhance API and data exchange functionalities.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Both offer cloud deployment. IBM Blueworks Live is praised for its responsive customer support, while BiZZdesign's customer service satisfaction varies, encountering some technical support challenges.

Pricing and ROI: IBM Blueworks Live is viewed as cost-effective with affordable licensing. BiZZdesign HoriZZon is expensive but seen as justified by its advanced features, appealing to organizations needing comprehensive architecture solutions with promises of high ROI through enhanced productivity and operational cost reductions.

To learn more, read our detailed BiZZdesign HoriZZon vs. IBM Blueworks Live Report (Updated: July 2025).

Buyer's Guide

BiZZdesign HoriZZon vs. IBM Blueworks Live

July 2025

Download the complete report

Helped 864,155 peers since 2012

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

BiZZdesign HoriZZon

Ranking in Business Process Design

9th

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Enterprise Architecture Management (6th)

IBM Blueworks Live

Ranking in Business Process Design

12th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Business Process Design category, the mindshare of BiZZdesign HoriZZon is 2.4%, up from 1.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Blueworks Live is 3.4%, up from 3.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Business Process Design

Featured Reviews

BijoyTalukder

Enterprise Architect at Tata Consultancy

Helps to get a clear overview of our enterprise architecture, especially when dealing with multiple departments

One area where BiZZdesign HoriZZon could use some improvement is in its REST APIs. While the platform offers REST APIs, they have limitations when it comes to retrieving and exporting data. Obtaining detailed information at the individual application or component level, including IDs, costs, and deployment-related data, can be challenging through these APIs. This limitation makes it difficult to smoothly export such granular data. I have raised this issue with the BiZZdesign team, and they expressed interest in addressing it, but I'm not aware of the current status of this improvement effort. Nonetheless, improving the usability and flexibility of the REST APIs for data extraction is an area that could enhance the platform's capabilities.

Read full review

AjarMathur

Global Innovation Director at Ernst & Young

An easily scalable and affordable solution that enables users to document and digitize processes with ease

IBM Blueworks is BPMN 2.0 compliant, but it does not adapt to the overarching BPMN 2.0 concepts. There is only one kind of BPMN 2.0 diagram. It is a process diagram. It doesn't have the concept of separate tools, which other products offer. If I had to do a hardcore BPMN 2.0 modeling, the product would have its own reservations. There were features we could not explore from a BPMN 2.0 perspective. Most of the time, people who are shifting from Microsoft Office tools to a digitized way of working still want the reporting capabilities to be strong. Some tools, like ARIS or Signavio, offer customized solutions from the reporting perspective. If I have documented my whole finance process and want to fetch out a complete SOP report in a very customized manner, IBM Blueworks cannot provide it. We have to rely on some other services. So that's one area in which we always struggled, how to really customize the reporting aspects. I understand that we need to keep the tool a little more asset-light. It's very difficult to keep adding many options, but at least a few BPMN 2.0 options were needed. We have been suggesting to IBM that we should have some way of customizing the reporting. At least we should get a custom way of reporting it into different formats like Excel or putting up a logo for one of the clients so that their SAP can be printed that way.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"t's a good tool. My colleagues that are making use of it for application, business processes, or data modeling, are very satisfied with it. They find it easy to use. The graphical representation is simple but therefore efficient, so I know that they are planning a very good commencement on the use of these tools."

"The initial setup of this solution was very straightforward."

"The most valuable features of BiZZdesign HoriZZon include the diagrammatic representation of BPMN models, which I find good for modeling, and things such as capability maps."

"The feature I find most valuable is that the start times and loading times are short. It takes only a few seconds to load the repository and whenever I want to open diagrams, they are there almost immediately."

"The tool's most valuable feature is that its collaboration part is very good."

"The enterprise studio where the modelling happens is valuable."

"The most valuable feature is that it allows you to work with different methods, using the same tool."

"The most valuable features are the application, portfolio, data, architectures, and modeling things."

More BiZZdesign HoriZZon pros

"You can use if from your mobile device or you can be on the desktop. It doesn't matter. You are always connected. It is cloud-based, so you don't have to install anything."

"For me, what I find to be the most valuable is its simplicity and the association with Microsoft Office."

"This solution is good at utilizing standards rules for connectivity."

"The reporting that we can generate from IBM Blueworks Live has been interesting. We found the KPIs, risks, process modeling, format, and colors, to be very good. We use the EY template and it is interesting to generate reporting in this format."

"The ease of documenting and digitizing the processes was valuable to us."

"It's very easy, very quick to create a process map. It has templates. The look and feel is very nice. What we want to achieve out of the process map, we can achieve it using Blueworks."

"The solution is easy to operate. Also, there is an automatic mode to make the business flow. You don't have to put any lines or arrows in a decision point in IBM Blueworks Live; it's very automatic."

"I like the two-tiered approach, that is, discover and then drill down to the main steps. You can right click and attach risk, policies, and much more. It is a user-friendly solution."

More IBM Blueworks Live pros

Cons

"There could be simpler modelling."

"One area where BiZZdesign HoriZZon could use some improvement is in its REST APIs."

"Integration definitely needs improvement. There are some restrictions. We've seen that it doesn't integrate with everything we might expect."

"It lacks capabilities with regard to infrastructure modeling."

"Scalability is a bit of a problem for BiZZdesign. There is always a possibility it will failover."

"It should be more open to integrating with other existing tools. Although there has been progress in the past."

"This tool is something of a beast - it takes a long time to learn, and it isn't possible for casual users and most architects. Unless a person spends 500 or 1,000 hours on the tool or does very concentrated sessions using all its functionalities, it's very difficult to master."

"There is room for improvement in making it more seamless between the modeling and the analysis pieces. Sometimes you have to do some work in the backend to ensure that the HoriZZon portal really gets all of the information the way you want it. They are working on the seamlessness between what they call Enterprise Studio and HoriZZon."

More BiZZdesign HoriZZon cons

"Spaces are not well organized; space controls are lacking."

"We would like the ability to add additional custom colors. We would like to color additional items to add notes to the blueprint."

"The ability to create a very structured rule. With the capability that we have right now, Blueworks Live is more process focused. We should be able to enhance it to include a lot more of decisions as well."

"In the Blue Works Live software boxes and lines are automatically placed by the programme and can't be easily manipulated."

"There should be an option to import from and export to Microsoft Visio. Being able to move files back and forth between Blueworks Live and Visio would be good."

"The font size is really, really small and it's really not useful to print out process models because you cannot read what's written in different boxes. This makes it necessary for people to have access to the tool. We view licenses to see how the printing or output is. It's not very good."

"The user interface is quite easy at first but process analysts soon run into roadblocks of limited functionality, which is disappointing."

"Sometimes, the tool is automatic, which can complicate it, but once you're accustomed to manipulating it, you can use it very effectively."

More IBM Blueworks Live cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I haven't found any issues with the scalability and licensing parts that are access-related."

"[The] Orbus... pricing model was based on every single functionality having a price. The pricing was comparable but if we wanted to scale, it would have ended up being a lot more expensive. BiZZdesign gave us one price with all of the functionality, and we could scale as much as we needed."

"The pricing model is slightly on the high side and could be more competitive for long-term partnerships."

"We were customers and bought licenses from them. We used their remote instance initially but upgraded to the on-device version due to lag. For pricing, we paid about 2200 pounds a year per seat for the client installation at an educational rate. I'm not sure about commercial rates. I managed to get a free copy at BBC since it was for evaluation purposes."

"First and foremost within the scope of improvement for the solution would be the cost. It's very costly..."

"In terms of this particular product usage, my clients currently only use per-user licenses."

"The price is reasonable."

"If one is very cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the product price as a seven out of ten."

"The solution is not very expensive."

"Price wise, IBM Blueworks Live is in the middle range, and I would give it a five out of ten."

"They have a free subscription model that gives a lot of power to the users."

"The solution is very, very cost-effective."

"Making it less expensive would be good."

"Based on the licenses purchased, from a footprint perspective, you can have as many people as you want. You have multiple different categories of licenses to keep the cost low."

"We are seeing ROI from this solution. The solution has saved us time."

"There are editor licenses that are around 50 euros per month, and contributor licenses that are around 30 euros per month."

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Business Process Design solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

864,155 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

21%

Government

11%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Energy/Utilities Company

Financial Services Firm

18%

Computer Software Company

10%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about BiZZdesign HoriZZon?

This is one of the best tools, especially because of its collaborative nature. Anyone using it can access previous projects and related data. It's definitely a strong collaborative tool.

See all answers

What needs improvement with BiZZdesign HoriZZon?

There is room for improvement in BiZZdesign HoriZZon. It's quite robust and has good online forums where people discuss it, though maybe the interface can improve, but I don't want to criticize it ...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for BiZZdesign HoriZZon?

The typical use case with BiZZdesign HoriZZon is basically for enterprise architecture and also for business process modeling.

See all answers

What do you like most about IBM Blueworks Live?

The solution is easy to operate. Also, there is an automatic mode to make the business flow. You don't have to put any lines or arrows in a decision point in IBM Blueworks Live; it's very automatic.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Blueworks Live?

The solution costs around 600-700 dollars/year, which is quite affordable.

See all answers

What needs improvement with IBM Blueworks Live?

Sometimes, the tool is automatic, which can complicate it, but once you're accustomed to manipulating it, you can use it very effectively.

See all answers

Comparisons

LeanIX vs BiZZdesign HoriZZon

Compared 16% of the time

Alfabet Enterprise Architecture Management vs BiZZdesign HoriZZon

Compared 11% of the time

MEGA HOPEX vs BiZZdesign HoriZZon

Compared 10% of the time

Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect vs BiZZdesign HoriZZon

Compared 9% of the time

ARIS BPA vs BiZZdesign HoriZZon

Compared 7% of the time

More BiZZdesign HoriZZon Competitors

Visio vs IBM Blueworks Live

Compared 31% of the time

SAP Signavio Process Manager vs IBM Blueworks Live

Compared 23% of the time

Lucidchart vs IBM Blueworks Live

Compared 13% of the time

ARIS Cloud vs IBM Blueworks Live

Compared 12% of the time

ARIS BPA vs IBM Blueworks Live

Compared 7% of the time

More IBM Blueworks Live Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

BiZZdesign HoriZZon

July 2025

Download BiZZdesign HoriZZon product report

Buyer's Guide

IBM Blueworks Live

July 2025

Download IBM Blueworks Live product report

Also Known As

HoriZZon

IBM Lombardi Blueprint

Overview

Make smarter decisions and optimize outcomes by unifying all your strategy, capabilities, operating models and change portfolios in a single platform.

With all the data about your business in one place you can see the big picture and make properly informed strategic decisions to drive growth. Bizzdesign Horizzon brings together strategy, IT architecture, operating models, data, capabilities, change portfolios and ideas into a single, intuitive collaborative business design platform. Real-time visibility of key metrics and trends allows you to take action more quickly. Accelerating the speed and accuracy of your operations now – and into the future.

Core Platform Capabilities:

Multi-discipline collaboration
Data Integration
Advanced analytics
Models and Roadmaps
Governance & Security
Business Insight Graph

BiZZdesign

IBM Blueworks Live is a cloud-based business process modeling tool that helps you discover, map and document your processes. It is easy to use, allowing you to learn and perform business process modeling in minutes.

With Blueworks Live you can:

Simplify business process modeling
Quickly build business processes in a straightforward, cloud-based interface designed for both IT and business users.

Improve process efficiency and accuracy
A central process repository eliminates version control and consistency issues by providing users real-time access to process workflows.

Enhance cross-team collaboration
A shared team workspace engages all business process owners, encouraging cross-team participation and continuous process improvement.

IBM

Sample Customers

T-Mobile, Shell, HSBC, Erasmus University, VIVAT Insurance

Cloudsoft Corp. Ltd., Bayer, S¾SS, Essex County Council

Buyer's Guide

BiZZdesign HoriZZon vs. IBM Blueworks Live

July 2025

Free Report: BiZZdesign HoriZZon vs. IBM Blueworks Live

Find out what your peers are saying about BiZZdesign HoriZZon vs. IBM Blueworks Live and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.

DOWNLOAD NOW

864,155 professionals have used our research since 2012.

See our BiZZdesign HoriZZon vs. IBM Blueworks Live report.

See our list of best Business Process Design vendors.

We monitor all Business Process Design reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.