Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

IBM Blueworks Live vs iServer comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 3, 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

IBM Blueworks Live
Ranking in Business Process Design
10th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
20
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
iServer
Ranking in Business Process Design
13th
Average Rating
7.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
18
Ranking in other categories
Enterprise Architecture Management (7th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Business Process Design category, the mindshare of IBM Blueworks Live is 3.5%, up from 3.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of iServer is 1.6%, down from 1.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Business Process Design
 

Featured Reviews

AjarMathur - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
Antonios Lazanakis - PeerSpot reviewer
Flexible, easy to use, and easy to import data
We use iServer to establish an enterprise architecture function in our organization iServer is a very flexible platform for defining your own enterprise architecture model. It is very easy to import data, and we also have good integration with Visual Drawing Tools and SharePoint. The solution is…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It has a built-in capability to capture process owners and managers against processes along with other process governance roles."
"Valuable features include real-time modeling and design work, the ability to perform workshops with clients in real-time with the tool, and getting instant output."
"It is a stable solution since there has not been any downtime. Everything loads fast."
"Collaboration is most valuable. You can collaborate online with many people. People can comment, and you can comment back. It is just like a social network, and that, for me, is very good."
"The stability is pretty good. It is highly available, which is key. You don't lose your work and can autosave."
"Business users understand it really well, which means we can then help them automate their business processes."
"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."
"It has helped having data lineage in the business cluster, which is used as control artifacts."
"There were lots of different requirements, and collaboration and review is one of the biggest things. There is also Office 360 integration, and there's flexibility to use it as a database as well."
"The most valuable features of iServer are the integration with Microsoft Office and the interface is similar to Microsoft applications making them easy to use."
"The most valuable feature is its reporting capability. It offers various packages for different types of reports, such as business and project management reporting packs."
"iServer is a very flexible platform for defining your own enterprise architecture model."
"The solution is easily modified to suit your needs."
"Good and effective reporting features, which help in decision making."
"Tech support is very responsive. They solved issues within a prompt response time."
 

Cons

"We'd also like to see it be Six Sigma or Lean compatible, a lot of people have asked about that."
"I wish Blueworks Live had simulations built in, but it doesn't. It also lacks a feature of reporting; ad hoc, drag and drop reporting. A lot of senior people are always asking for reports, and there's no reporting feature within IBM Blueworks."
"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."
"I would like to see integration with ERP systems. This would help us to simulate the process and see where the problems are. Though IBM Blueworks Live is a good tool for documenting, it is not good for simulating."
"Spaces are not well organized; space controls are lacking."
"In the Blue Works Live software boxes and lines are automatically placed by the programme and can't be easily manipulated."
"IBM Blueworks is BPMN 2.0 compliant, but it does not adapt to the overarching BPMN 2.0 concepts."
"The APIs are great, except the normal business user doesn't know how to create APIs. So it's hard because IBM comes to us as the business users and tell us to create reporting with APIs, except we don't know that, so we have to turn around and flip it to our IT people."
"It runs relatively slowly."
"Cannot see which activities are control activities."
"There could be features for process mining, process simulation, and analytics."
"There are other solutions out there that have a better user interface."
"There can be some performance issues using the solution that should be improved. When you make modifications modify to files there are embedded data within that can take a while to process."
"The performance is slow, which is something that should be improved."
"The migration tool needs to be included in the main package, and not as a separate license."
"The modelling needs improvement, specifically forecasting capabilities and scenarios."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Price wise, IBM Blueworks Live is in the middle range, and I would give it a five out of ten."
"The solution is not very expensive."
"The solution is very, very cost-effective."
"We are seeing ROI from this solution. The solution has saved us time."
"They have a free subscription model that gives a lot of power to the users."
"There are editor licenses that are around 50 euros per month, and contributor licenses that are around 30 euros per month."
"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."
"Making it less expensive would be good."
"The price of iServer is reasonable compared to other solutions."
"It's about 13K to set up and 9K for the license for three months. I think it's about 20K a year, but we haven't firmed up on pricing yet because the price depends on how long we commit to the solution."
"The product has a moderate pricing."
"They offer annual subscriptions for developing countries, which are not affordable for small or medium businesses."
"The solution is cheaper than its competitors."
"Aim for the exact number of people who shall define/review approve and view the processes, as it will impact the cost."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Business Process Design solutions are best for your needs.
859,129 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
19%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Government
7%
Educational Organization
18%
Financial Services Firm
16%
Government
11%
Computer Software Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

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.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Blueworks Live?
The solution costs around 600-700 dollars/year, which is quite affordable.
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.
What do you like most about iServer?
iServer has valuable features for workflow and document management.
What needs improvement with iServer?
iServer should invest in enhancing the capabilities of the embedded drawing tool, draw.io. draw.io is a drawing tool used to draw architectural diagrams, flow diagrams, etc. It is an alternative to...
What is your primary use case for iServer?
We use iServer to establish an enterprise architecture function in our organization.
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

IBM Lombardi Blueprint
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Cloudsoft Corp. Ltd., Bayer, S¾SS, Essex County Council
Barclays, Cathay Pacific, Deloitte, British Gas, MasterCard
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Blueworks Live vs. iServer and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
859,129 professionals have used our research since 2012.