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Hyland OnBase vs IBM BPM comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 18, 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

Hyland OnBase
Ranking in Business Process Management (BPM)
14th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
17
Ranking in other categories
Enterprise Content Management (6th), Low-Code Development Platforms (15th)
IBM BPM
Ranking in Business Process Management (BPM)
6th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
113
Ranking in other categories
Application Infrastructure (10th), Process Automation (8th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Business Process Management (BPM) category, the mindshare of Hyland OnBase is 1.3%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM BPM is 4.3%, down from 7.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Business Process Management (BPM) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
IBM BPM4.3%
Hyland OnBase1.3%
Other94.4%
Business Process Management (BPM)
 

Featured Reviews

Arjurn Dakash - PeerSpot reviewer
Project Manager at Deloitte
Workflow automation has transformed case management and reduced errors across our processes
Hyland OnBase is a great tool for document storage and retrieval, automating business processes using workflow, and building applications in WorkView. It saves a lot of time, reduces human errors, and is very cost-effective. Hyland OnBase has drastically improved our business processes and made everyone's jobs easier. Hyland OnBase is a fantastic system that does a lot for my organization. We use it for indexing and storing documents as the main reason we use Hyland OnBase, but it also has many features that we use every day. Workflows are the most common way that our employees interact with Hyland OnBase. We also ingest thousands of documents every day, and with our continued rate of growth, we do not see Hyland OnBase having any trouble handling the added traffic. It is very scalable. The best features Hyland OnBase offers include workflows, document retention and security, document ingesting and indexing, and document retrieval and storage. The user-friendly interface makes it very easy to use and provides a smooth learning curve for new users. Workflow is used to quickly and easily configure and improve business processes. We also have automation through workflow, which saves time and cost. Reporting dashboards allow us to create useful reports to keep personnel informed, making data-driven decisions easier. While we have grown a lot over the past five years, Hyland OnBase has allowed us to maintain our existing workflows rather than hiring additional employees, requiring fewer employees thanks to Hyland OnBase. Since Hyland OnBase is our central repository for all documents, our documents are more secure, allow greater work flexibility, especially for remote work, are more easily accessible, and are smarter. It has changed the way we as a company work. Through workflow automation, we have been able to save a lot of time, with forty to fifty-five percent of time being saved currently.
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 provided data security features, allowing restrictions on sensitive documents, such as who could view or modify them."
"OnBase provides high-value solutions for organizations with much less cost in comparison to other ECM solutions."
"The product's initial setup phase is not difficult."
"Hyland OnBase is valued for its security, especially for those in the finance domain who require data confidentiality."
"The solution's most valuable features are integration and flexibility."
"We found the setup process to be okay since they do offer a troubleshooting guide."
"The impact of Hyland OnBase on our organization is that automating manual processes has had an incredible effect on our return on investment, and the man-hours saved by automating processes pays for the system, ranging from one to five hours."
"Hyland OnBase has drastically improved our business processes and made everyone's jobs easier."
"There is information during the process that the analyst will look at, their procedures. We created a part of the application such that the business can change those procedures as needed, on a daily, weekly, monthly basis. As the reps go through the process, they don't necessarily know it's changing, they just know they have to refer to some documentation, and the business can keep that up to date."
"BPM has become a backbone of our organization, handling major processes."
"Some of the features that I like the most are team management and process performance. They are both very useful and very powerful with regard to the workflow."
"IBM BPM is equipped with all the functionalities which are needed for building BPM enterprise-level applications."
"Our clients were previously using Excel sheets for processes, and it has changed their whole life as now the processes are all automated."
"The functionality to design UI to be responsive and can run on multiple devices."
"By automating several tasks, we have already reduced a lot of work for the business."
"Automating the whole workflow process to give our data steward the ability to take actions rapidly, and making sure we have all the data synced within the different platforms that we are using."
 

Cons

"The migration is a bit difficult in the tool."
"Software malfunctioning usually occurs when we receive documents from external sources."
"As the system grows in terms of number of modules, features, and functionality, options can be confusing and they can conflict with other options that you enable."
"Hyland OnBase can be improved by reducing the many different applications that need to be used when being an administrator for this product."
"For user experience, they would have to do more with the interface. It is not easy to work with and is a little messy. It is getting better, but it is not yet good enough. Other products are comparatively doing better in terms of the user interface. I have been hearing about Box, which is very easy to use and learn for the users. OnBase has to work on this aspect. It should have BPM capabilities. We compete with tools that provide the BPM feature and support those standards. They can do better in terms of the pricing model. It is a really expensive tool in Latin America. They should have different prices for different regions."
"We are struggling with duplicates and would like to have OCR functionality when using this solution."
"For my case, there should be a cleaner, easy-to-use change management and migration tool, which would be great."
"I find OnBase's monolithic architecture to be expensive, and adopting microservices could be beneficial."
"One suggestion for IBM BPM is to provide better integration between their products, such as DataCap, which we use for scanning. Although the new CP4BA offers offline capabilities, not everyone is on CP4BA, so enhanced integration for those on older versions would be beneficial."
"I would like to see a lot more case studies."
"Consider an admin console during deployment. I would like to migrate single instances, not the whole bunch at once."
"I suggest establishing a developer forum for better communication and issue resolution. Also, the administration panel could be improved for task management."
"The engine itself tends to accumulate a lot of data that needs to be cleaned up, and that's the kind of thing that keeps it from, in some scenarios, scaling as much as it needs to."
"The pricing is a little bit high. It's gone up in cost."
"It was complex for some of us (IT but non technical profiles)."
"The initial setup was complex."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"OnBase is reasonably priced."
"The tool's price is high."
"The solution costs around $6,000 per month."
"They can do better in terms of the pricing model. It is a really expensive tool in Latin America. They should have different prices for different regions."
"There are a number of different types of licenses. There are concurrent licenses, individual licenses and imaging licenses."
"The price is good but could be a little lower."
"The pricing is quite high, I would rate it two out of five."
"It should provide more flexibility to connect with external systems, and there should be in-built services that can be used to integrate with other systems quickly."
"We chose to purchase IBM BPM because it was bundled with the actual RPA program/solution that we decided to purchase. We decided to use Automation Anywhere tool (RPA), and it is was bundled with IBM BPM."
"Its price is on the higher side, and it can be improved. Its licensing is on a yearly basis. There are no additional costs."
"The product is expensive considering the hardware and software costs."
"It is pricey."
"It has a low cost to implement. You'll get your money back in the same year that you complete the project."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Government
11%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Healthcare Company
9%
Computer Software Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
22%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Computer Software Company
7%
Insurance Company
5%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business5
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise13
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business30
Midsize Enterprise19
Large Enterprise72
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Hyland OnBase?
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing is that it is very cost-effective and affordable.
What needs improvement with Hyland OnBase?
Hyland OnBase could be improved in terms of service support response time. More timely updates to solution software support documentation also should be improved.
What is your primary use case for Hyland OnBase?
Hyland OnBase is used across the entirety of the organization in a variety of different ways, and its primary use is as a document storage solution that is used in conjunction with other systems su...
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.
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

OnBase
WebSphere Lombardi Edition, IBM Business Process Manager, IBM WebSphere Process Server
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Honda France Industries, Hill County Texas, Hylant Group, ING Lease France, State of South Carolina, Syracuse University, Swindon College, Rhode Island Department of Human Services, Rochester Institute of Technology, Moen, Odense University Hospital
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 Hyland OnBase vs. IBM BPM and other solutions. Updated: March 2026.
884,933 professionals have used our research since 2012.