IBM ECM vs SharePoint comparison

IBM and Microsoft are both solutions in the Enterprise Content Management category. IBM is ranked #13 with an average rating of 7.5, while Microsoft is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.0. IBM holds a 2.4% mindshare in ECM, compared to Microsoft’s 15.0% mindshare. Additionally, 94% of IBM users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 79% of Microsoft users who would recommend it.

IBM ECM

Read 17 IBM ECM reviews

761 Views
731 Comparison Views

94% willing to recommend

SharePoint

Read 162 SharePoint reviews

9,505 Views
4,657 Comparison Views

79% willing to recommend

IBM ECM

SharePoint

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 4, 2024

SharePoint and IBM ECM are competing in the enterprise content management category. SharePoint seems to have the edge with more favorable pricing and customer support.

Features: SharePoint includes integrated collaboration tools, scalability, and easy integration with Microsoft products, useful for team collaboration. IBM ECM offers advanced document management, robust compliance, and enhanced security, essential for industries with strict regulations.

Room for Improvement: SharePoint could improve customization options and mobile interface robustness. Documentation can also be improved for custom coding. IBM ECM may require simplification in its deployment process and user interface; more intuitive navigation would benefit users considerably. A focus on reducing initial setup complexity would enhance its appeal.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: SharePoint utilizes a cloud-based deployment, simplifying installation, with excellent support services from Microsoft. IBM ECM, offering both on-premise and hybrid deployment options, requires more complex setup but provides dedicated support services, suitable for large-scale operations.

Pricing and ROI: SharePoint is a cost-effective solution with flexible pricing plans, providing high ROI through enhanced collaboration efficiency. IBM ECM, though demanding a higher initial investment, promises substantial long-term ROI due to its extensive feature set and scalability, particularly advantageous for handling large volumes of sensitive data.

To learn more, read our detailed IBM ECM vs. SharePoint Report (Updated: September 2025).

Buyer's Guide

IBM ECM vs. SharePoint

September 2025

Download the complete report

Helped 868,759 peers since 2012

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 ECM

Ranking in Enterprise Content Management

13th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

2.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

SharePoint

Ranking in Enterprise Content Management

1st

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.6

Number of Reviews

162

Ranking in other categories

Web Content Management (1st), Corporate Portals (Enterprise Information Portals) (1st), Enterprise Intranet (1st)

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Enterprise Content Management category, the mindshare of IBM ECM is 2.4%, up from 2.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SharePoint is 15.0%, down from 19.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Enterprise Content Management Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
SharePoint	15.0%
IBM ECM	2.4%
Other	82.6%

Enterprise Content Management

Featured Reviews

Thinh Tran

BPM Consultant at TECHCOMBANK

Has supported enterprise document storage but lacks cloud readiness and AI capabilities

The new version of IBM ECM is at the end of support, and we need to migrate to a new version to get open support. We need AI capabilities from IBM ECM for additional functionalities in the next release. Specifically, AI is needed for finding documents. The trend is moving toward AI, and for managing many documents effectively, we need AI capabilities. Currently, IBM ECM only handles physical files, not unstructured files. IBM needs to work alongside customers and share best practices for IBM ECM. Reading the IBM Redbook alone is not sufficient for the knowledge we need to build the best architecture for my company. IBM ECM needs to improve the cloud version, such as compatibility with Amazon Cloud, not only IBM Cloud, to make their product more competitive.

Read full review

Madhur D'silva

Lead Consultant at Eviden

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.

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

"I am going to continue using it because it is a good product for enterprise document management."

"The content management is all about you as you can make the same content for minimal purpose solutions 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 vertical scalability, as we can use it across some of our applications."

"The stability of SharePoint is high."

"OneDrive and SharePoint provide a secure, fully auditable way of storing information."

"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."

"Helps with document collaboration and workflow."

"The solution is easy to use."

"SharePoint is a ten out of ten solution."

"Information is much more readily available."

"SharePoint is smooth and easy to use for editing, updating, and uploading files."

More SharePoint pros

Cons

"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 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."

"Currently, IBM ECM only handles physical files, not unstructured files."

"I would like to see seamless application integration."

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

"The areas of this solution that need improvement are the relationships between lists, cross-site web parts, and page-building tools."

"The way to change the version of the files in SharePoint should be improved. The method of synchronizing files from local to the cloud can also use improvement."

"The product could be improved in a lot of way. It is so frustrating to get things to work as advertised."

"The limitations and boundaries must be extended."

"It should have a Google-caliber search ability and a model-based GUI."

"I would like it to be more compliant with global regulations. There are certain features which could be included that currently are not there, such as compliance and record management capabilities."

"We do sell Hyland OnBase, which is probably a competitor to SharePoint and does a lot more. In our own organization, we haven't had a need for it, but certainly, for our customers, we are finding that to be a better fit. In terms of the technical reasons for that, I'm not involved much on that side, so I can't give specifics, but there is certainly room for them to improve or add on certain features that clearly are not available in SharePoint, but they are available in Hyland OnBase."

"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."

More SharePoint cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Reach out to local IBM partners."

"The licensing model for SharePoint Online is based on per user, and it is monthly. The price of the solution overall is good."

"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."

"SharePoint is included with our Microsoft license."

"The replacement costs for it are cheaper if you use only SharePoint."

"The pricing works for us."

"It is very expensive."

"It comes bundled with the Microsoft 365 pricing plans."

"The solution's pricing is relatively expensive because it's bundled with other products."

More SharePoint pricing and cost advice

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Enterprise Content Management solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

868,759 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Comparison Review

it_user8925

Developer with 51-200 employees

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…

Read full review

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

34%

Government

10%

Computer Software Company

Outsourcing Company

Government

13%

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	1
Large Enterprise	16

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	79
Midsize Enterprise	37
Large Enterprise	80

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 on-site. You can integrate with other components and applications like SAP, Mic...

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 ServiceNow, need only 20 days.

See all answers

What do you like most about SharePoint?

The search feature is valuable.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SharePoint?

As SharePoint is part of the Microsoft 365 suite, the pricing is acceptable.

See all answers

What needs improvement with SharePoint?

Not with SharePoint specifically, but overall with the software or tools from Microsoft, I think there are areas that need improvement. It's very difficult to understand the objective. There are so...

See all answers

Comparisons

Alfresco vs IBM ECM

Compared 18% of the time

IBM FileNet vs IBM ECM

Compared 16% of the time

Nuxeo vs IBM ECM

Compared 15% of the time

OpenText Content Management vs IBM ECM

Compared 10% of the time

OpenText Documentum Content Management vs IBM ECM

Compared 6% of the time

More IBM ECM Competitors

OpenText Documentum Content Management vs SharePoint

Compared 8% of the time

DocuSign vs SharePoint

Compared 8% of the time

OpenText Content Management vs SharePoint

Compared 7% of the time

Box vs SharePoint

Compared 6% of the time

IBM FileNet vs SharePoint

Compared 5% of the time

More SharePoint Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

IBM ECM

September 2025

Download IBM ECM product report

Buyer's Guide

SharePoint

September 2025

Download SharePoint product report

Also Known As

No data available

SharePoint 2007, SharePoint 2010

Overview

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

SharePoint is a Microsoft-based platform for building web applications. It covers a widerange of capabilities and while it is appropriate for experienced webdevelopers, even non-technical minded users can easily navigate through thesystem and execute functions such as collaborating data, managing documents andfiles, creating websites, managing social networking solutions, and automatingworkflow.

Major areas that SharePoint deals with are websites,communities, content, search, insights, and composites. The purpose is to give usersthe ability to create or develop these key business components on their owneven without technical knowledge of, for example, how to build a website or howto integrate coding. Configuring SharePoint into a business's system is meantto cut out all of the complicated steps, and pave the way for easierimplementation all around.

Microsoft

Sample Customers

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

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.

Buyer's Guide

IBM ECM vs. SharePoint

September 2025

Free Report: IBM ECM vs. SharePoint

Find out what your peers are saying about IBM ECM vs. SharePoint and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.

DOWNLOAD NOW

868,759 professionals have used our research since 2012.

See our IBM ECM vs. SharePoint report.

See our list of best Enterprise Content Management vendors.

We monitor all Enterprise Content Management reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.