Hyland OnBase vs IBM ECM vs IBM FileNet comparison

Hyland and IBM are both solutions in the Enterprise Content Management category. Hyland is ranked #5 with an average rating of 7.7, while IBM is ranked #13 with an average rating of 8.0. Hyland holds a 6.4% mindshare in ECM, compared to IBM’s 2.4% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Hyland users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 94% of IBM users who would recommend it.

Hyland OnBase

Read 13 Hyland OnBase reviews

3,080 Views
1,971 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

IBM ECM

Read 16 IBM ECM reviews

675 Views
641 Comparison Views

94% willing to recommend

IBM FileNet

Read 102 IBM FileNet reviews

3,570 Views
3,284 Comparison Views

91% willing to recommend

Hyland OnBase

IBM ECM

IBM FileNet

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Hyland OnBase, IBM ECM, and IBM FileNet based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, OpenText, IBM and others in Enterprise Content Management.

To learn more, read our detailed Enterprise Content Management Report (Updated: July 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Enterprise Content Management

July 2025

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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:

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Enterprise Content Management category, the mindshare of Hyland OnBase is 6.4%, up from 5.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM ECM is 2.4%, up from 2.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM FileNet is 9.4%, down from 10.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Enterprise Content Management

Featured Reviews

Srinivas Rao Kagitha

Senior Onbase Developer & Administrator at HTC Global Services (INDIA) Private

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.

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Omar_Ismail

ECM, Archives and Digital Preservation Consultant at DataServe

A stable solution for automation with high availability

Moving to the cloud with IBM ECM is not allowed. In Saudi Arabia, the cloud infrastructure is still non-operational, potentially for the next two to three months. Static clouds are prevalent among foundational enterprises such as IBM and Oracle. IBM offers its cloud insights, maintaining its cloud ecosystem. IBM's efforts to enhance the user experience within its ECM platform are lacking compared to competitors like OpenText. Progress in implementing new technologies and features seems sluggish. Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.

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Emad Rizki

System integrator at Indépendant

Facilitates seamless integration for large enterprises with strong deployment capabilities

FileNet was scalable and could be implemented into big multinational organizations. However, it has become very expensive recently. Compared to low-code solutions such as Appian and outsystems, FileNet has gaps, mainly because it requires coding, which is not preferred by clients due to pricing concerns in Pakistan. We transitioned clients to cloud solutions, although FileNet has been strongly integrated with on-prem deployments.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The retention module is one of the most valuable features. Whatever we scan onto the system can be identified and we are notified when the records are due to be disposed."

"The solution is very developed and we are not taking full advantage of its functionalities."

"Its most valuable aspect is its flexibility"

"We found the setup process to be okay since they do offer a troubleshooting guide."

"The most valuable features are that it's very secure and provides audit trails for our documents."

"It provided data security features, allowing restrictions on sensitive documents, such as who could view or modify them."

"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 solution's most valuable features are integration and flexibility."

More Hyland OnBase pros

"The vertical scalability, as we can use it across some of our applications."

"The content management is all about you as you can make the same content for minimal purpose solutions applications."

"The scalability is a valuable feature, that we're able to display our documents to so many people."

"The tool is a very stable solution with high availability and no information leakage. It has built-in API integration on-site. You can integrate with other components and applications like SAP, Microsoft, Oracle, etc."

"The beauty is the response time. It is very good nowadays within the platform."

"The main features we find impactful are the workflow and document management along with FileNet file stores."

"The ability to tag data, as it seems to be indexed well. It is a good space to manage data, keep track of it, and organize it."

"The most critical benefit has been ease of use. It speeds along our development helping us go to market a lot sooner."

"There aren't very many ECM solutions that scale properly, both up and out. We have customers who hold billions of documents. There aren't very many that can scale that far, and that can also scale out so that they can handle lots of users, lots of documents, and that understand how to handle external users. FileNet is one that can."

"IBM FileNet has improved our organization with its single collaboration space."

"One of our clients, a customer of IBM, rolled out and replaced their existing ECM system with FileNet. Their productivity has increased pretty dramatically."

"The best part of FileNet includes its advantages and most valuable features, which are its scalability and stability."

More IBM FileNet pros

Cons

"We are struggling with duplicates and would like to have OCR functionality when using this solution."

"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."

"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."

"The application could potentially be more open-source, allowing integration with more solutions."

"The migration is a bit difficult in the tool."

"The solution’s initial setup is a little difficult."

"The look and feel could be better. The integration with the user could be better. It could also be more user-friendly."

"Software malfunctioning usually occurs when we receive documents from external sources."

More Hyland OnBase cons

"The development platform is not local. For example, you need 100 days in IBM, whereas other platforms, like ServiceNow, need only 20 days."

"I think it's already getting away from Java applets. A lot of our users struggle with keeping up to date with Java versioning, so a lot of the functions they're doing, like printing, emailing, and even some of the viewing, they're struggling with."

"I would recommend not going with ECM 8 and going with FileNet instead. It seems like that is the future of the lower-volume repository. It seems like they are moving away from ECM 8.5 so I think we're going to have some challenges coming up, getting off of that technology."

"I would like to see seamless application integration."

"The response time and resolution of issues by technical support need improvement."

"FileNet and similar enterprise-level tools require substantial costs, starting in the millions, which limits their use to large enterprises."

"The initial setup was pretty complex. There are too many options, and it can get a bit confusing."

"It would be nice if they could make it like containers are working in Kubernetes to auto-scale based on demand."

"The new software and trends with the cloud solution is a little slow. I would like them to move toward more cloud-based and microservices rather than a SaaS model. This is where the industry is going and what customers are asking for."

"For end-users there is a lack of administrative features. The interface of basic FileNet is not very good."

"I would like to see in FileNet integrated with Watson, which can read something and send it without any human contact or interaction."

"I would love it if single sign-on was a lot easier to set up. That's the most difficult part of it."

More IBM FileNet cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution costs around $6,000 per month."

"There are a number of different types of licenses. There are concurrent licenses, individual licenses and imaging licenses."

"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."

"OnBase is reasonably priced."

"The tool's price is high."

"Reach out to local IBM partners."

"There are lots of components to the product. Make sure before you invest that you know which components you need."

"The tool is expensive, and I rate its pricing a ten out of ten."

"It is still a leading ECM solution provider, however the cost to implement and maintain are higher than other solutions."

"The physical space that we have gained back pays for the service. Therefore, it has reduced our operating costs overall. We have definitely seen ROI. I would estimate $30,000 a year."

"FileNet is quite expensive, although Documentum is expensive too."

"Yearly, we pay for the maintenance, which is $20,000."

"The solution saves time and money. It helps us to be able to accomplish the goals of our business, as opposed to being tangled in the weeds of what we could do."

"Talking about the cost is difficult because IBM has offers that combine different products, and each of these offers has different types of licensing. IBM also has a policy that the actual price for a given customer may be very different from the stated book price. It's hard to say whether it's expensive or not."

More IBM FileNet pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Government

14%

Financial Services Firm

13%

Computer Software Company

10%

Insurance Company

Financial Services Firm

32%

Government

11%

Computer Software Company

Performing Arts

Financial Services Firm

23%

Computer Software Company

11%

Government

10%

Insurance Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Hyland OnBase?

The solution is very developed and we are not taking full advantage of its functionalities.

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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. Transitio...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Hyland OnBase?

I believe the reporting features need improvement, as other competitors in the market provide better analytics. Hylan...

See all answers

What do you like most about IBM ECM?

The tool is a very stable solution with high availability and no information leakage. It has built-in API integration...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM ECM?

The product is expensive and has a perpetual license.

See all answers

What needs improvement with IBM ECM?

The development platform is not local. For example, you need 100 days in IBM, whereas other platforms, like ServiceNo...

See all answers

What do you like most about IBM FileNet?

The product is robust and can process a lot of documents for enterprise content management.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM FileNet?

From the company's perspective, the licensing cost for IBM FileNet is still affordable. Though the license cost is so...

See all answers

What needs improvement with IBM FileNet?

The API provided by IBM FileNet is a very out-of-date implementation. From the beginning, we cannot use a REST API; w...

See all answers

Comparisons

Alfresco vs Hyland OnBase

Compared 17% of the time

OpenText Documentum Content Management vs Hyland OnBase

Compared 14% of the time

SharePoint vs Hyland OnBase

Compared 12% of the time

OpenText Content Management vs Hyland OnBase

Compared 9% of the time

Nuxeo vs Hyland OnBase

Compared 3% of the time

More Hyland OnBase Competitors

SAP Extended Enterprise Content Management vs IBM ECM

Compared 11% of the time

OpenText Content Management vs IBM ECM

Compared 10% of the time

Alfresco vs IBM ECM

Compared 9% of the time

OpenText Content Manager vs IBM ECM

Compared 9% of the time

SharePoint vs IBM ECM

Compared 8% of the time

More IBM ECM Competitors

SharePoint vs IBM FileNet

Compared 17% of the time

OpenText Content Management vs IBM FileNet

Compared 15% of the time

OpenText Documentum Content Management vs IBM FileNet

Compared 14% of the time

Alfresco vs IBM FileNet

Compared 7% of the time

M-Files vs IBM FileNet

Compared 5% of the time

More IBM FileNet Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Hyland OnBase

July 2025

Download Hyland OnBase product report

Buyer's Guide

IBM ECM

July 2025

Download IBM ECM product report

Buyer's Guide

IBM FileNet

July 2025

Download IBM FileNet product report

Also Known As

OnBase

No data available

Overview

Hyland OnBase is acclaimed for its robust document management, automating workflows, and improving organizational efficiency across various industries. Praised for its ability to manage records compliantly, especially in regulated sectors like healthcare and finance, the tool also integrates smoothly with other enterprise systems. Users benefit significantly from streamlined processes, reduced manual tasks, and enhanced data accuracy, boosting productivity and customer satisfaction.

Hyland

IBM Content Foundation on Cloud

IBM Content Foundation on Cloud allows organizations to deliver extensive enterprise content management capabilities to their users very quickly. IBM Content Foundation is powered by the FileNet content and process platform and IBM Content Navigator user experience. This cloud offering can be leveraged for a variety of use cases including collaborative document management, imaging solutions, social content management, archiving, and more. It also offers a platform for developing Enterprise Content Management (ECM) solutions in the cloud.

IBM Case Manager on Cloud

IBM Case Manager on Cloud is a solution platform that engages people with business content, provides contextual insight through real-time analytics, and enhances teamwork through collaboration tools and flexible workflow. Enables Business and IT to work together to create solutions across the enterprise that enables an organization to make smarter decisions for better business outcomes, while balancing the need for security and compliance in a world of heightened risk.

IBM

IBM FileNet is a leading IBM enterprise content management product family. IBM FileNet is one of the ECM solutions that can change the way a company does business by enabling users to capture, activate, socialize, analyze, and govern content throughout its lifecycle.

There are many IBM FileNet products available, all of which are integrated and based on the FileNet P8 Platform.

IBM

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

KeyBank, Standard Chartered Bank, Union Bank, Sistema Tecnol‹gico de Monterrey, Illinois Department of Human Services, UnitedHealth Group

Suncorp Group Limited, St. Vincent Health, Citigroup, SRCSD, and UK Dept for Work and Pensions.

Buyer's Guide

Enterprise Content Management

July 2025

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