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Hyland OnBase vs IBM Business Automation Workflow 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)
16th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
13
Ranking in other categories
Enterprise Content Management (5th), Low-Code Development Platforms (13th)
IBM Business Automation Wor...
Ranking in Business Process Management (BPM)
13th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
25
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2025, in the Business Process Management (BPM) category, the mindshare of Hyland OnBase is 1.0%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Business Automation Workflow is 1.9%, down from 2.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Business Process Management (BPM) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
IBM Business Automation Workflow1.9%
Hyland OnBase1.0%
Other97.1%
Business Process Management (BPM)
 

Featured Reviews

Srinivas Rao Kagitha - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers good dashboards and reports but fails to offer better migration features
The migration is a bit difficult in the tool. Whenever we make certain changes to workflow or other stuff, migrating the code from one environment to another is a bit tedious. The tool has an option for export and import, which is not robust. Most of the time, we need to do things stuff manually. For example, if we make any changes in the existing life cycle or any queues, we have to move those changes manually. There is no robust way to migrate code from one environment to a lower environment, like prod. When it comes to the product's technical support, the turnaround time is a bit longer than expected. The issue may be because there are a number of issues or a large number of customers who are reaching out to the support team for help. I believe that the solution's technical team can provide a solution more quickly.
Ateeq Rehman - PeerSpot reviewer
Customizable features empower seamless workflow automation
The system is fully customizable, very resilient, and fault-tolerant. We have first-line support from IBM, so there are no issues. We have integrations with different banks, ERP systems, and other human resource management systems by integrating through different systems. It provides many ways to integrate, and we are utilizing it effectively.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The product's initial setup phase is not difficult."
"Its most valuable aspect is its flexibility"
"OnBase is a remarkable tool. It is a well-done product. Hyland has a lot of experience in building it and looking for new things for clients in terms of functionalities. It has amazing stability, and it can grow horizontally and vertically. It is built for growth. Their technical support is also quite good and available throughout the year."
"The solution is very developed and we are not taking full advantage of its functionalities."
"Integrating Hyland OnBase with our systems enabled us to automate document designs and templates, which was extremely helpful in the finance and banking industry."
"The most valuable features are that it's very secure and provides audit trails for our documents."
"The solution's most valuable features are integration and flexibility."
"It provided data security features, allowing restrictions on sensitive documents, such as who could view or modify them."
"This is a low-code software where you can just drag and drop on the user interface. There are also a lot of quality integrations such as TMS."
"It gives us the ability to create toolkits and use them across many different applications. It allows us to write things one time, instead of having to write a diary for every single different application. We can write at once and reuse it."
"One of the most valuable features is the way that they are adapting to the market. Initially, it was doing only workflow. Now it has started bringing all the other components like rules within the workflow and then the integration with RPA."
"IBM Business Automation Workflow provides a seamless streamlined collaboration within the organizations."
"No matter what somebody's technical experience level is, the tool can start adding value immediately. Even if that is just an analyst who doesn't have any technical background, they can use some of these no quote accelerators to get things from ideation to deployment in a matter of minutes."
"IBM Business Automation Workflow is stable because the different infrastructure elements, such as the OS and middleware have been used for a long time."
"It performs the basic tasks that are required for the BBM solution as part of the overall integration with ECM or enterprise contact management."
"IBM has spent a lot of time on the connections between the rules engine and its other product, the core BPM platform. They've really centralized the suite as one offering now."
 

Cons

"The application could potentially be more open-source, allowing integration with more solutions."
"An area for improvement would be the training - getting our people up to speed on how to use it required more training than we expected due to the complexity of the solution."
"I find OnBase's monolithic architecture to be expensive, and adopting microservices could be beneficial."
"The migration is a bit difficult in the tool."
"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 need to troubleshoot why our reports didn't get downloaded in a day. There is a workflow feature which powerful but also complicated."
"The dashboards do have some room for improvement as compared to the other vendors which are there in the market."
"We are struggling with duplicates and would like to have OCR functionality when using this solution."
"In terms of improvement, it could be less complex."
"Every client is moving to the cloud. We are still a little behind with IBM, but we are catching up from my point of view."
"I would like to see more streamlined install and provisioning; preferably containerized IBM BPM would be helpful."
"Requires a lot of customization code writing which could be reduced."
"Sometimes, we feel like we are not getting the full features of the content management capabilities."
"From what I understand, in the next release they're actually going to combine all of this together as one integrated solution... If we could have one unified way to build a solution, that would really help."
"The main improvement would be to make it easier to implement and deploy so that customers can kick it off and run quickly."
"One significant challenge is the lack of accessible forums or resources to seek help or information when problems arise."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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 solution costs around $6,000 per month."
"The tool's price is high."
"OnBase is reasonably priced."
"When you compare with Laserfiche and M-Files, IBM is expensive."
"The product is expensive."
"IBM Business Automation Workflow has a flexible pricing mode, but the price is expensive. The price of the solution reflects the quality of the solution which is very high. The technical support is an additional cost."
"While it can be quite costly, it offers significant benefits for users."
"Licensing varies by use-case."
"It is on the expensive side, but it provides excellent supportability and an ecosystem that is proven to be a great fit for our organization."
"Our license is on a three-year term."
"Nowadays, clients are looking at pricing as one of the major factors. For IBM products, they always think it is expensive for them. We are still educating our clients on the IBM FlexPoints licensing."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Government
14%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Computer Software Company
10%
Insurance Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
32%
Computer Software Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Insurance Company
5%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise8
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business6
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise16
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Hyland OnBase?
I find pricing to be on the higher side due to its monolithic architecture. I would rate it six out of ten. Transitioning to microservices, allowing users to pay for only what they use, could reduc...
What needs improvement with Hyland OnBase?
I believe the reporting features need improvement, as other competitors in the market provide better analytics. Hyland is working on a new platform (HXP) to integrate features from all products, ad...
What is your primary use case for Hyland OnBase?
I was a vendor managing Hyland OnBase ( /products/hyland-onbase-reviews ) for Hyland, not as a direct user but as a business partner. We managed the solution and were a partner with Hyland.
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 do you like most about IBM Business Automation Workflow?
It performs the basic tasks that are required for the BBM solution as part of the overall integration with ECM or enterprise contact management.
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.
 

Also Known As

OnBase
Business Automation Workflow
 

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
Key Bank, Barclays, Control€xpert, MIR Insurance Brokers, Conqord Oil
Find out what your peers are saying about Hyland OnBase vs. IBM Business Automation Workflow and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
867,370 professionals have used our research since 2012.