No more typing reviews! Try our Samantha, our new voice AI agent.

CA Process Automation vs IBM BPM comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 17, 2024

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

CA Process Automation
Ranking in Process Automation
37th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
12
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
IBM BPM
Ranking in Process Automation
8th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
113
Ranking in other categories
Business Process Management (BPM) (4th), Application Infrastructure (8th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Process Automation category, the mindshare of CA Process Automation is 1.0%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM BPM is 5.7%, down from 6.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Process Automation Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
IBM BPM5.7%
CA Process Automation1.0%
Other93.3%
Process Automation
 

Featured Reviews

SJ
Automation Solutions Developer at HCL Technologies
Added value to the delivery of services and the customer experience
We design end-to-end automation solutions for repetitive tasks performed by IT support teams This tool is used in my organization for automating IT infrastructure related incidents or service requests.  Built-in operators available for most integrations. Easy to manage. Attended/unattended…
Ateeq Rehman - PeerSpot reviewer
Unit Head System Implementor at Allied Bank Limited
Automation platforms streamline processes and offer flexibility, but AI integration and version upgrades pose challenges
In the technology world, there is always room for improvement. Technologies evolve day by day, especially with the emergence of artificial intelligence and generative AI models. Although IBM BPM is a substantial product, adopting and integrating new technologies quickly is not easy due to the migration and upgrade paths involved. Every time new versions are released, we face business and production challenges that make rapid adoption challenging. The main concern bothering me today regarding IBM BPM is the integration of AI components.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It’s a great product, extremely versatile but takes a certain skillset to use and implementation of automation can be time consuming when done properly."
"Before implementing this product, our Problem and Change Management Processes were very poor, but nowadays, thanks to CA Process Automation (PAM), we no longer have this problem, as we now have all of the processes' rules placed inside of it."
"Technical support is unequivocally excellent; in fact, the best customer service and technical support I’ve experienced during my 12 years in IT."
"We took our server provisioning process from about 30 days to about 4 days on the first iteration of implementation."
"The benefits are the efficiency we achieve with such a product, as we could automate processes which were done in the past by humans, speeding up the reaction by 10 times and saving us a lot of money."
"It has provided ROI by auto-resolving incidents or requests in the ITSM queue, improved MTTR and SLA adherence, and added value to the delivery of services and the customer experience."
"This tool is used in my organization for automating IT infrastructure related incidents or service requests."
"CA Process Automation manager is a very powerful production tool."
"IBM BPM is equipped with all the functionalities which are needed for building BPM enterprise-level applications."
"Using it, I have created elegant, user-friendly, and performant end-user graphical interfaces that allow end users to complete their tasks in the most enjoyable and easy way."
"In terms of ROI through scaling, one of the processes we automatated with BPM is running smoothly with fewer people than before, and in fact the size of the demand has scaled, very notably."
"If you are looking for a good solution where you don't need to do multiple enhancements and there is a good troubleshooting and support team, you can definitely go ahead with this solution."
"Automation is the most valuable feature of IBM BPM."
"Generally, we recommend this tool for any enterprise-grade project."
"The platform's most valuable features are its process automation capabilities and its ability to provide a comprehensive view of business operations."
"With the Process Center, I can go to one place and view what all the environments are doing."
 

Cons

"Although it's drag-and-drop, there's a little bit of a learning curve to use it correctly."
"Better reporting, because we have to true up our licenses every three months because we license on running concurrent processes, so we have to provide a report to CA every three months using their tool -- which never works."
"OCR capability should be added as a feature."
"Every so often the service needs to be restarted otherwise it runs slower and slower. I think this may be due to a memory leak."
"It needs auto-triggering of workflows based on machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI)."
"CA offers minimal public information pertaining to the performance drain the usage of some objects and operators introduce to processing."
"I'd like to see additional form functionality and having Python as an available common script language."
"A lot of times they don't get resolved, but I'm okay with those kind of responses sometimes."
"The integration could be improved."
"It should have a more powerful and faster form builder, also the license is complex using PVUs."
"The initial setup was complex."
"They should incorporate an API gateway functionality within it to simplify integrations."
"From the testing perspective and minor enhancements perspective, customization is something that is a little tedious as compared to new tools. In addition, various open-source tools that are available are not working with IBM BPM."
"Performance on large scale requirements could also be improved."
"I hope IBM uses something from IBM Content Navigator to make the interface easier to navigate."
"They could provide case studies to investigate and understand the functionality of business processes before development."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"There are a lot of automation savings from any process which is repeatable."
"It has provided ROI by auto resolving incidents or requests in the ITSM queue, improved MTTR and SLA adherence, and added value to the delivery of services and the customer experience."
"I give the pricing an eight out of ten."
"It's expensive. All software is always extremely high. The manufacturing cost that we have compared to the selling cost, it's not like you're building a house or building a car. But putting that aside, considering that it's expensive, it's a lot of money. If you compare it with some of the other alternatives in the market, it's a similar price. For instance, if you compare it with Pegasystems, it's a similar price."
"Our customers do see ROI. They'll identify some particularly painful or uncoordinated processes to start with, then build out from there, picking off low hanging fruit."
"It is pricey."
"IBM could improve the price. It is far too expensive."
"The product is expensive considering the hardware and software costs."
"When considering the features of the solution the price is expensive compared to competitors."
"I rate the solution's pricing a four out of ten."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Process Automation solutions are best for your needs.
909,725 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
19%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Performing Arts
7%
Financial Services Firm
20%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Construction Company
9%
Outsourcing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business2
Large Enterprise10
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business30
Midsize Enterprise19
Large Enterprise72
 

Questions from the Community

Ask a question
Earn 20 points
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 BPM?
Once it is installed, maintaining it is not a big issue.
What needs improvement with IBM BPM?
There are negative aspects, such as IBM BPM being quite heavy and not lightweight, and the licensing cost is higher, which has caused some companies to shift away. IBM BPM is complicated to install...
 

Also Known As

CA IT Process Automation Manager
WebSphere Lombardi Edition, IBM Business Process Manager, IBM WebSphere Process Server
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Unum, HCL Technologies, Logicalis
Barclays, EmeriCon, Banca Popolare di Milano, CST Consulting, KeyBank, KPMG, Prolifics, Sandhata Technologies Ltd., State of Alaska, Humana S.A., Saperion, esciris, Banco Espirito Santo
Find out what your peers are saying about CA Process Automation vs. IBM BPM and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
909,725 professionals have used our research since 2012.