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IBM ECM vs OpenText Content Management vs SharePoint comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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 September 2025, in the Enterprise Content Management category, the mindshare of IBM ECM is 2.4%, up from 2.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of OpenText Content Management is 10.1%, down from 10.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SharePoint is 15.1%, down from 19.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Enterprise Content Management Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
SharePoint15.1%
OpenText Content Management10.1%
IBM ECM2.4%
Other72.4%
Enterprise Content Management
 

Featured Reviews

Omar_Ismail - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
Jaideep MS - PeerSpot reviewer
Enables effective document control yet requires better affordability and clarity
I use extended ECM for procurement, sales, engineering documents, and sometimes invoices and accounts payable or receivable The version controls and the business workspace part integrate well with SAP and OpenText, providing granular level control over who accesses the workspace. The seamless…
Madhur D'silva - PeerSpot reviewer
Collaborative work benefits while user-friendliness challenges persist
The most valuable feature of SharePoint is its user interface, which is very easy to use. I do not have to be very technical to use it. Its rights management capabilities and ability to restrict access to certain people are also very useful. Furthermore, I can access SharePoint from any device, whether it is a phone or laptop, which is very convenient.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The content management is all about you as you can make the same content for minimal purpose solutions applications."
"The vertical scalability, as we can use it across some of our applications."
"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 scalability is a valuable feature, that we're able to display our documents to so many people."
"Simplicity to roll out, features available, customization options."
"We use Core Share to share documents with external auditors or with vendors, and that prevents them from being able to get into the whole system. It is useful."
"We can configure the solution with any industry's products per customer requirements."
"Most of our customers are very fond of the upgraded smart user interface."
"It's a very good solution."
"The solution's automatic document numbering, state management, and process flow are very useful features to go through the full cycle of the document."
"The seamless integration between SAP and OpenText offers a 360-degree view of documents, facilitating a full-text search capability."
"OpenText Extended ECM's most valuable features include permissions and security models. I also like the tool's ability to add metadata and use it to categorize information."
"SharePoint is a ten out of ten solution."
"The ability to take Excel files and make them dynamic SharePoint lists with instant reporting capabilities has been a major benefit."
"It offers an easy way to store unstructured content (.pdf, .doc, .xls, images) and to tag them with metadata."
"For SharePoint, I believe the most valuable feature is the customization and allowing you to share and edit files and documents. Being able to share externally and the precise administration of the files in terms of giving permissions and controlling who has access to what is a very good feature."
"SharePoint has an option where you can open files on the browser, whereby more than five people can make amendments to one Excel online file."
"​Combined reports and data with timeline tracking."
"SharePoint has made things easier with the increased functionality for building the portals, microsites, and total integration with Microsoft categories."
"It offers ease of use, which is crucial."
 

Cons

"I would like to see seamless application integration."
"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."
"The development platform is not local. For example, you need 100 days in IBM, whereas other platforms, like ServiceNow, need only 20 days."
"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."
"When it comes to addressing complex use cases, three or four years ago, we ended up purchasing an additional OpenText product called AppWorks because we started to run into some limitations with the workflow that can be done in Extended ECM. It was a little limiting, so we ended up getting another product."
"The response time is not effective, and the staff lacks adequate knowledge."
"We are looking for new, advanced UI features. Currently, the UI does not look great."
"A dashboard with information would be nice to see."
"The solution needs to improve the user interface."
"The tool's documentation is not proper and has missing information like steps."
"The architecture needs improvement, as it's complex."
"I have not used it enough to start running into issues. Some of my technical guys could name a couple of things, but in terms of support, we did have challenges getting good responses from them."
"The product must provide more automation."
"The workflow engine cannot support the business needs."
"The areas of this solution that need improvement are the relationships between lists, cross-site web parts, and page-building tools."
"I have been facing some challenges when using SharePoint, as the workflows freeze at times, so there is a maintenance activity which needs to be done periodically."
"The web parts in SharePoint could be more intuitive for end users."
"It has worked very well for me. It seems like they've improved everything. I don't have any cons about it as such, but I don't think they have a talk-to-text, speech-to-text, or speech-to-type. That would be cool for accessibility."
"There are some limitations on storage."
"The search functionality could be improved, especially when dealing with 'lift' lists, where there are performance issues."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Reach out to local IBM partners.​"
"The total cost of the product will vary on the capabilities required"
"The pricing is costly. It's costly to integrate with Office 365 and to go back and forth with the sales team."
"It is a little more expensive than our previous solution, but because of the fact that it has become a rallying point for different groups to come under, it might end up paying off better in the long run by not having seven siloed solutions. Even though this one solution is a little pricey, it might eliminate other ones."
"The product is pricey."
"The licensing is not that complex for the core products, but it becomes more complicated for some additional modules."
"Both Open Text ECM and IBM File share are expensive."
"The solution is expensive."
"OpenText Extended ECM's pricing and licensing are aggressive and confusing for the end customer."
"We have purchased add-ons to handle multiple site collections, form creation, and design."
"The licensing model for SharePoint Online is based on per user, and it is monthly. The price of the solution overall is good."
"It is very expensive.​"
"As usual, Microsoft’s licensing structures don’t really seem to fit the needs of their products. This leads to always paying for a project you will never use fully or always be adding to."
"The pricing is competitive."
"The pricing is competitive."
"It comes bundled with the Microsoft 365 pricing plans."
"Licensing can be by server or by seat."
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Comparison Review

it_user8925 - PeerSpot reviewer
Aug 23, 2013
Jive vs Sharepoint vs Drupal Commons
At Mediacurrent we often get requests to compare Drupal to other platforms used for intranet sites and social business platforms (like https://dev.twitter.com/ for example). This is often referred to as “Social Business Software”, which has grown in popularity in recent years. I decided to do a…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
33%
Government
10%
Computer Software Company
6%
Outsourcing Company
5%
Government
14%
Computer Software Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Government
13%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Computer Software Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business1
Large Enterprise15
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business13
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise11
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business79
Midsize Enterprise37
Large Enterprise80
 

Questions from the Community

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...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM ECM?
The product is expensive and has a perpetual license.
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...
What do you like most about OpenText Content Suite Platform?
We also have a module on top of the Content Server called WebReports that has been one of the things that helped us f...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for OpenText Content Suite Platform?
The cost is a significant factor that may deter medium-sized businesses from using OpenText extended ECM.
What needs improvement with OpenText Content Suite Platform?
The cost of the product could be improved. Currently, there are certain snags in document viewing, and communication ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SharePoint?
As SharePoint is part of the Microsoft 365 suite, the pricing is acceptable.
What needs improvement with SharePoint?
Not with SharePoint specifically, but overall with the software or tools from Microsoft, I think there are areas that...
 

Also Known As

No data available
OpenText Content Suite Platform, OpenText Core Share
SharePoint 2007, SharePoint 2010
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

KeyBank, Standard Chartered Bank, Union Bank, Sistema Tecnol‹gico de Monterrey, Illinois Department of Human Services, UnitedHealth Group
ATCO Australia, MSIG Asia, Orica, Salt River Project
Toyota, Aeroports de Paris, ASBBank Ltd., Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals, CambridgeshireConstabulary, D&M Group, NPL Construction Company, and The Regional Municipality of Niagara.
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, OpenText, IBM and others in Enterprise Content Management. Updated: August 2025.
867,349 professionals have used our research since 2012.