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IBM BPM vs IIS comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 5, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
7.1
IBM BPM offers quick ROI by enhancing process efficiency and transparency, outweighing high costs through accelerated operations and reduced errors.
Sentiment score
6.5
IIS offers positive ROI with authentication benefits, affordability, and security, though user-friendly improvements are suggested for accessibility.
It should be more user-friendly overall, because unless you know how IIS works as a Microsoft product, a system admin cannot just manage it.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.7
IBM BPM support is responsive and helpful but could improve response speed; high-priority issues receive swift attention.
Sentiment score
6.4
Microsoft support gets mixed reviews; praised for efficiency and resources, but criticized for slow response and entry-level understanding.
The customer service is outstanding.
On a scale from 1 to 10, support deserves a rating of 7 to 8.
We had a contract that provided on-site support, which was very satisfactory.
There are typically no significant issues.
Microsoft provides a lot of online documentation to consult before speaking to an expert.
I would rate the support from Microsoft very high because I definitely got all the help during the testing time of the development kit while we were configuring features on our on-premises server.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
6.8
IBM BPM excels in scalable performance on WebSphere, offering customization and flexibility, with expertise crucial for optimal setup.
Sentiment score
7.1
IIS is scalable for varied applications, though dependent on hardware, with improvements in clustering and flexible service management.
The solution has scalability issues; on a scale, I would rate it at eight out of ten.
The architecture of the solution offers scalability; we can scale both vertically and horizontally.
I found IBM BPM to be scalable to a certain level but it struggled with large volumes of concurrent transactions.
I would rate the scalability of IIS as a six, mainly due to integration issues since it cannot integrate with other environments.
It depends on the server environment and the presence of a UPS for power backup.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.1
IBM BPM stability varies, with recent versions showing improvements; issues exist under heavy loads and weak network conditions.
Sentiment score
7.8
IIS is stable and reliable, excelling with .NET but facing stability issues with non-Microsoft technologies. Rated 7-9/10.
It was secured for us, as we launched the product, and people were accessing it from India and Virginia, and we had no problem.
I would give it a nine out of ten for stability.
I would rate IIS's stability as an eight out of ten.
 

Room For Improvement

IBM BPM needs UI enhancements, better integrations, improved performance, simplified installation, advanced reports, AI features, and security updates.
IIS struggles with compatibility, user-friendliness, integration, performance, security, and documentation challenges, posing significant user and scalability issues.
IBM BPM also lacks smaller solutions, so I must purchase multiple solutions to start with workflows and applications.
Although IBM BPM is a substantial product, adopting and integrating new technologies quickly is not easy due to the migration and upgrade paths involved.
If I compare IIS to other web servers such as Apache, which can be deployed in other environments like Linux, I find IIS is mostly used for simple things.
It should be more user-friendly because unless you know how IIS works as a Microsoft product, a system admin cannot just manage it.
It's influenced by the server's service performance.
 

Setup Cost

IBM BPM is a costly solution suited for large enterprises, with licensing options often pricier than competitors like Camunda.
IIS licensing is bundled with Windows Server, offering flexible options but may incur extra costs for services and fees.
SAP is more expensive, but IBM BPM is very expensive.
If you have a Windows license, there is no additional cost for IIS.
We never had any pricing issue, but I don't know if it is competitive or not.
 

Valuable Features

IBM BPM offers robust SOA, easy process modulation, responsive UI, and seamless integration for effective business process management.
IIS is user-friendly, efficient, secure, and integrates well with Microsoft, offering scalability and control for IT administrators.
The integration capabilities of IBM BPM are excellent.
It is easy to publish websites with SSL, and it integrates well within the local environment and cloud.
The configurations are simple, making it very easy to use and to set up everything.
The best features of IIS are that you can design your own website and manage it yourself, creating as many websites as you want.
 

Categories and Ranking

IBM BPM
Ranking in Application Infrastructure
6th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
112
Ranking in other categories
Business Process Management (BPM) (7th), Process Automation (6th)
IIS
Ranking in Application Infrastructure
1st
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
59
Ranking in other categories
Application Server (4th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Application Infrastructure category, the mindshare of IBM BPM is 3.1%, up from 3.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IIS is 10.5%, down from 12.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Application Infrastructure Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
IIS10.5%
IBM BPM3.1%
Other86.4%
Application Infrastructure
 

Featured Reviews

Ateeq Rehman - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
Krishnakumar Natarajan - PeerSpot reviewer
Designs and manages multiple websites while ensuring data backup and disaster recovery
I have experience with AWS, and I am most familiar with the server environment, as we just use the server environment and then use Microsoft products on an AWS environment. I have experience with Windows Server IIS, which I ran on my own on-premise data center. The website was developed and then hosted, and through IIS, we managed the servers. The manageability within the IIS environment is not very difficult. For server management, you need to ensure data backup, data restore, and you have a DR configured to keep the database intact. It was done on-premises, so I had no problem doing that. If you have to go to the cloud, then you should have the storage connected to the IIS server and also have a DR set up for that. I didn't use Microsoft Azure tools, but since it is a Microsoft product, Azure has all the portability, so you don't have to worry about compatibility on the cloud. On a scale of 1-10, I would rate this solution a 10.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
28%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Insurance Company
5%
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Government
8%
Comms Service Provider
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business30
Midsize Enterprise19
Large Enterprise71
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business28
Midsize Enterprise11
Large Enterprise21
 

Questions from the Community

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.
Which is better - IIS or NGINX Plus?
IIS is a flexible, secure, and manageable web server to host anything on the web. IIS’s scalable and open architecture can handle the most demanding tasks. From media streaming to web applications,...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IIS?
For the pricing, setup cost, and licensing for IIS, as a Microsoft product, I didn't think much about separately purchasing an IIS product as it is part of Microsoft Windows. We bought a developmen...
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

WebSphere Lombardi Edition, IBM Business Process Manager, IBM WebSphere Process Server
Windows Server IIS
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

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
Erste Bank Group, NJVC, Samsung Electronics, Sheraton Hotels and Resorts, Tata Steel Europe, Urban Software Institute
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM BPM vs. IIS and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
869,566 professionals have used our research since 2012.