IBM Business Automation Workflow vs IBM Case Foundation comparison

IBM Business Automation Workflow and IBM Case Foundation are both solutions in the Business Process Management (BPM) category. IBM Business Automation Workflow is ranked #13 with an average rating of 7.8, while IBM Case Foundation is ranked #32 with an average rating of 8.0. IBM Business Automation Workflow holds a 2.1% mindshare in BPM, compared to IBM Case Foundation’s 0.5% mindshare. Additionally, 84% of IBM Business Automation Workflow users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 86% of IBM Case Foundation users who would recommend it.

IBM Business Automation Wor...

Read 25 IBM Business Automation Workflow reviews

1,938 Views
1,919 Comparison Views

84% willing to recommend

IBM Case Foundation

Read 14 IBM Case Foundation reviews

344 Views
344 Comparison Views

86% willing to recommend

IBM Business Automation Wor...

IBM Case Foundation

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 18, 2024

IBM Case Foundation and IBM Business Automation Workflow compete in the enterprise content and workflow management market. IBM Business Automation Workflow appears to have the upper hand due to its comprehensive feature set and process automation capabilities.

Features: IBM Case Foundation offers excellent integration with existing systems, effective management of unstructured data, and supports content-driven processes. IBM Business Automation Workflow excels in seamless workflow and case management integration, advanced orchestration capabilities, and a wide array of tools for end-to-end process automation.

Room for Improvement: IBM Case Foundation could enhance its user interface and reporting capabilities and expand its feature set to better compete with modern workflow solutions. IBM Business Automation Workflow could improve its learning curve, simplify user experience, and enhance customer feedback mechanisms for better usability.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: IBM Business Automation Workflow offers a cloud-based deployment model simplifying installation and scaling but has a steeper learning curve. IBM Case Foundation is more straightforward in implementation and receives higher ratings for tailored and responsive customer support.

Pricing and ROI: IBM Case Foundation has a lower initial setup cost and is economical for document-centric workflows, offering solid ROI. IBM Business Automation Workflow requires a higher investment but provides superior long-term value through enhanced process automation potential, justifying its cost with higher ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed IBM Business Automation Workflow vs. IBM Case Foundation Report (Updated: July 2025).

Buyer's Guide

IBM Business Automation Workflow vs. IBM Case Foundation

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:

Categories and Ranking

IBM Business Automation Wor...

Ranking in Business Process Management (BPM)

13th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

IBM Case Foundation

Ranking in Business Process Management (BPM)

32nd

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Business Process Management (BPM) category, the mindshare of IBM Business Automation Workflow is 2.1%, down from 2.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Case Foundation is 0.5%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Business Process Management (BPM)

Featured Reviews

Ateeq Rehman

Unit Head System Implementor at Allied Bank Limited

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.

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Nouman Nawaz

Deputy Director - IT(Plans) at DHA Lahore

Mature product in terms of security and stable product

The architecture is a bit difficult, but in BAW, they introduced the Business Automation Workflow. It's a bit easier compared to Case Manager. Currently, we use Case Manager, so it's a bit difficult to upgrade and handle, but BAW is comparatively much better and easier to handle. The limitation is only for customization because IBM doesn't support it. In some scenarios, if you want some business processes to be customized, we have already spoken two or three times with IBM representatives that we have to customize some of the features in this business process. They would say that if you want to do this automation at your own end, then okay, fine, go ahead, but we are not supporting all this customization. The only thing is the customization because it's a complete standard application.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution's most valuable aspect is the fact it is highly configurable. We can do configurations very easily."

"IBM Business Automation Workflow is stable because the different infrastructure elements, such as the OS and middleware have been used for a long time."

"The tool streamlines operations, especially from an operational perspective, by facilitating decision-making and ensuring timely approvals. This helps prevent delays in the approval process, where business process management adds significant value for us."

"The product is suitable for knowledge management processes."

"It is the only product that includes capture content management and a process suite, as well as rules in RPA."

"IBM provides long-term support and maintains a traditionally good customer-vendor relationship."

"The business process modeling is the most valuable feature."

"It performs the basic tasks that are required for the BBM solution as part of the overall integration with ECM or enterprise contact management."

More IBM Business Automation Workflow pros

"The most valuable feature is the content manager part of the file as it is very stable, robust, and reliable."

"The client and the IBM content navigation are the solution's most valuable features."

"It's very easy."

"The solution is scalable."

"It provides us the capability of producing business processes for documents that are launched immediately when a document comes into the repository."

"A valuable feature includes seamless integration with the document management system, along with robust capabilities in analytics and reporting."

"Case Foundation provides a strong security boost."

"The only thing is that we can easily track where the application is in the process, from manual to automation."

More IBM Case Foundation pros

Cons

"The development UI is sometimes a little slow."

"In terms of improvement, it could be less complex."

"The SCADA Systems are very sophisticated and have a hard time integrating with our older scales. The technical support in regards to the partner side needs some improvement."

"The main areas which need improvement are specifically around reporting and analytics."

"Improvements could be made in debugging and troubleshooting."

"The UI of the solution is not good. They should work to update the solution and make it better and fresher."

"Code management lacks merging capabilities. If parallel development requires merging, improvements in this area would be beneficial."

"If the issue needs escalation to level two or level three, it can take time on a case-by-case basis."

More IBM Business Automation Workflow cons

"There are some features that could be enhanced like the document viewer"

"The solution can be quite expensive."

"We are now using microservices but there are some areas where the coordination with FileNet is problematic."

"Once a workflow is launched then it stays static forever, which is a problem because if there is a change in the business then you cannot change the workflow."

"Comparing the solution with other interfaces, IBM BPM is much better than Case Foundation. They need to make this solution's interface more user-friendly."

"The limitation is only for customization because IBM doesn't support it."

"The place of improvement is merging or combining all of the workflow functionality into one seamless tool. Now, there are multiple installations that are different. Case Foundation, before you can put Case Manager and you've got IBM BPM, and the roadmap is there to merge them altogether. But that's the struggle at the moment, it's having multiple installations and disparate workflow applications."

"There is a need for more open and flexible integration capabilities, allowing seamless collaboration with a broader spectrum of business process management solutions, beyond the confines of IBM's document management offerings."

More IBM Case Foundation cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."

"The product is expensive."

"When you compare with Laserfiche and M-Files, IBM is expensive."

"Licensing varies by use-case."

"There is still a relatively high total cost of ownership to actually implement, support, and stand up solutions."

"While it can be quite costly, it offers significant benefits for users."

"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."

"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."

More IBM Business Automation Workflow pricing and cost advice

"Pricing is in the mid-range, it is not cheap, but it's not expensive."

"The price falls in the middle range—not overly expensive but not extremely affordable either."

"This is not an expensive solution and we are using the standard license."

"IBM Case Foundation is a little expensive."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

33%

Computer Software Company

Government

Manufacturing Company

No data available

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

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...

See all answers

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.

See all answers

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.

See all answers

What do you like most about IBM Case Foundation?

A valuable feature includes seamless integration with the document management system, along with robust capabilities in analytics and reporting.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Case Foundation?

The tool is expensive for my customers; it is very expensive, more than other solutions. Some customers say it is more expensive. The license cost for Cloud Pak is per user and increases with the n...

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What needs improvement with IBM Case Foundation?

We face some challenges with IBM Case Foundation from our customers, particularly with administration and configuration. We face many issues and open tickets with IBM regarding that, especially som...

See all answers

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

IBM Business Automation Workflow

August 2025

Download IBM Business Automation Workflow product report

Buyer's Guide

IBM Case Foundation

August 2025

Download IBM Case Foundation product report

Also Known As

Business Automation Workflow

Case Foundation, FileNet Business Process Manager

Overview

IBM Business Automation Workflow combines business process management and case management capabilities in one workflow solution. It integrates the capabilities of business process and case management into a single workflow offering. It unites information, process, and users to provide a 360-degree view of work to drive more successful optimized business outcomes. IBM Business Automation Workflow on Cloud provides the same capabilities that are offered in the IBM Business Automation Workflow offering, all within a ready-to-use, cloud-based environment that is hosted in IBM Cloud data centers and managed by IBM.

IBM

IBM Case Foundation is for organizations that need to harness unstructured information and integrate it with business processes to drive critical business decisions. It enables organizations to create, manage and optimize case-based processes and is designed to decrease development costs while significantly improving process performance. Case Foundation links specific pieces of content with a structured workflow. It's an on ramp for organizations that choose to move from document-centric workflow solutions to the advanced capabilities of IBM Case Manager.

IBM

Sample Customers

Key Bank, Barclays, Control€xpert, MIR Insurance Brokers, Conqord Oil

Suncorp Group Limited

Buyer's Guide

IBM Business Automation Workflow vs. IBM Case Foundation

July 2025

Free Report: IBM Business Automation Workflow vs. IBM Case Foundation

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