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IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) vs Polarion ALM comparison

IBM and Siemens are both solutions in the Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Suites category. IBM is ranked #13 with an average rating of 7.8, while Siemens is ranked #6 with an average rating of 8.3. IBM holds a 3.3% mindshare in ALM, compared to Siemens’s 8.2% mindshare. Additionally, 76% of IBM users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 86% of Siemens users who would recommend it.
IBM Engineering Lifecycle M...
Read 19 IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) reviews
  • 1,404 Views
  • 991 Comparison Views
76% willing to recommend
Polarion ALM
Read 21 Polarion ALM reviews
  • 4,114 Views
  • 2,819 Comparison Views
86% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 30, 2025

IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management and Polarion ALM compete in the software lifecycle management market. IBM ELM has the upper hand with its stronger feature set and scalability, while Polarion ALM stands out for its cost-effectiveness and ease of integration.

Features: IBM ELM offers comprehensive lifecycle management with strong requirements and change management, excellent scalability, and integration with IBM products. It supports detailed customization, making it suitable for larger enterprises. Polarion ALM provides robust traceability, real-time management features, and strong support for Agile and DevOps practices, making it user-friendly and appealing for medium-sized companies.

Room for Improvement: IBM ELM can be complex to deploy, requiring expertise and more user-friendly interfaces. Linear learning curves could hinder quick onboarding. Enhanced documentation for better user guidance. Polarion ALM needs improved out-of-the-box functionalities for better initial setup, enhanced customization options for detailed requirements, and stronger documentation handling for complex environments.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: IBM ELM involves a complex enterprise-oriented deployment model, with robust support and consultation services for large-scale operations. Polarion ALM, in contrast, offers straightforward deployment, quick setup, and a responsive support team, suiting those seeking rapid implementation.

Pricing and ROI: IBM ELM generally comes with a higher initial cost due to its comprehensive features and scalability, promising significant long-term ROI for large enterprises. Polarion ALM’s lower entry cost and efficient deployment provide competitive ROI, appealing more to organizations with budget constraints and the need for immediate returns.

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To learn more, read our detailed IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) vs. Polarion ALM Report (Updated: April 2025).
Buyer's Guide
IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) vs. Polarion ALM
April 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 Engineering Lifecycle M...
Ranking in Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Suites
13th
Average Rating
7.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
19
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Polarion ALM
Ranking in Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Suites
6th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
21
Ranking in other categories
Enterprise Agile Planning Tools (6th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Suites category, the mindshare of IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) is 3.3%, up from 1.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Polarion ALM is 8.2%, up from 5.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Suites
 

Featured Reviews

Juergen Albrecht - PeerSpot reviewer
Combining tools for effective data analysis while customization and integration need improvement
The most valuable feature is how IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) ( /products/ibm-engineering-lifecycle-management-elm-reviews ) allows me to present to the customer what the actual software, even hardware, will do. It helps them gain an impression of the complexity of the functionality and find an easier way to decide whether to implement it. A picture says more than one thousand words, which is why I work with the combination of ELM and the specification of DOORS. The automation capabilities I built use column-based scripts for analysis to search, fetch, and transfer information. When I open modules, it automatically analyzes the changes since the last opening by me.
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Dina Bindi - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides traceability and compliance with high flexibility
It's extremely flexible. Configuring items is straightforward and doesn't require involving the supplier each time. We find the requirement management, test management, documentation, and dashboards very effective. However, we don't use DevOps-related features, such as integration with tools like SVN or Git, because we use Azure DevOps. The aspects related to requirements, testing, changes, tasks, and agile methodology are excellent, which is why we've been using it for a long time.
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 integration with Git works well."
"The most valuable feature is the reporting of the CPU usage on the dashboard."
"The cataloging is a very valuable feature. For a lot of enterprises, they end up not knowing which applications do specific features. The cataloging helps with this. It's not that verbose, but it still gives you allowances to put in more detail."
"At the same time, if you're working from the architect or the designing team you, it's quite easy to manage the resources online."
"I would rate the stability of this product a nine out of ten."
"The word emulation and importing is good."
"The transition to a SaaS-based solution is a distinct advantage."
"The tools for requirement capture we have found very useful."
More IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) pros
"The solution offers good integration."
"We had a nice experience with technical support."
"I am impressed with the solution’s stability."
"The features I find the most valuable are requirement tracking and schematics."
"The technical support is quite good."
"Polarion ALM helps us better structure our customer requirements, and we can also validate the specs of our products against those. If anything changes on our side, we see the impact, and we can see the effect If a customer changes requirements."
"It is a very stable solution."
"It's extremely flexible. Configuring items is straightforward and doesn't require involving the supplier each time. We find the requirement management, test management, documentation, and dashboards very effective."
More Polarion ALM pros
 

Cons

"In the next release, we expect a traceability metrics configuration where we can configure the user stories. We also expect them to improve or simplify the query process."
"I would like to see better reporting features. The out-of-box reporting is - I don't want to say limited - but the focus is on the Scrum and Sprint reports. We need more reporting features regarding the history of the work, tracking it more deeply."
"The reporting functionality needs to be improved."
"Of course it would be related to customer experience. The solution is not user friendly at all. It needs an expert to use it, although the reporting feature was okay."
"There is not enough beginner support material in the form of FAQs or simple training to help you get started."
"The interconnectivity between packages is a major support problem and can be improved."
"The stability of IBM Rational ALM could be improved."
"The features should be more intuitive. If I'm looking for something, its location should be easy to locate."
More IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) cons
"Technical support needs some improvement."
"The planning and task management aspects of the solution were not that easy."
"One of Polarion's shortcomings would be planning. It can handle plans, but the planning feature is very basic."
"Test management lacks an automated process."
"The solution's editing capabilities need improvement."
"The user interface is not yet optimized."
"As Polarion ALM is a development-oriented tool, easy support or easy access is provided by default, but if I want to use detailed features, I need to write the script, particularly the VM script, and this is its area for improvement. I want Polarion ALM to have a graphical user interface that doesn't need scripting. In the next release of the tool, I'd like for it to not require scripting and programming because needing to run script language is time-consuming."
"Based on my understanding, the tool's integration capabilities with multiple tools is an area of concern that Polarion needs to focus on more."
More Polarion ALM cons
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of the solution could be reduced. Many of our customers are not using all the features and this could be why our clients feel the price is too high."
"We have a contract, but I am not aware of the details."
"The solution is not cheap."
"This product is a little expensive and we had to pay extra to have them set it up for us."
"IBM Rational ALM has both monthly and yearly licensing options."
"You have to pay around 50-60 euros per user."
"The solution is expensive."
"If the pricing would come down and it was more affordable then we wouldn't have to switch."
"The license model is okay for large companies but would be quite expensive for smaller enterprises."
"Software for medical devices is always expensive."
"It is an expensive product."
"Our license for Polarion ALM is yearly. And it's not the cheapest tool that we've looked at. So if we had made our decision purely based on the licensing cost, we wouldn't have selected Polarion."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
26%
Computer Software Company
11%
Government
9%
Healthcare Company
7%
Manufacturing Company
26%
Computer Software Company
14%
Healthcare Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
4%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about IBM Rational ALM?
The solution is customizable.
See all answers
What needs improvement with IBM Rational ALM?
The user interface requires significant improvement as it is overly complex. For business users with no experience in IT, it can be particularly challenging to understand the UI and create test cas...
See all answers
What is your primary use case for IBM Rational ALM?
We use IBM Rational ALM as part of our overall application suite for our manufacturing company. It is used by our engineering team to capture requirements, perform testing, and manage defects. Spec...
See all answers
What do you like most about Polarion ALM?
It is a very stable solution.
See all answers
What needs improvement with Polarion ALM?
Polarion ALM ( /categories/application-lifecycle-management-alm-suites ) could see improvements in performance and scalability. The system’s technology is not the most current, leading to missing f...
See all answers
What is your primary use case for Polarion ALM?
Polarion ALM ( /products/polarion-alm-reviews ) is a tool that delivers both document views and table views simultaneously. It organizes configurations according to norms and standards, making it s...
See all answers
 

Comparisons

Jira vs IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) Logo
Jira vs IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM)
Compared 28% of the time
Codebeamer vs IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) Logo
Codebeamer vs IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM)
Compared 20% of the time
Microsoft Azure DevOps vs IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) Logo
Microsoft Azure DevOps vs IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM)
Compared 19% of the time
PTC Integrity vs IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) Logo
PTC Integrity vs IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM)
Compared 10% of the time
Atlassian ALM vs IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) Logo
Atlassian ALM vs IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM)
Compared 6% of the time
More IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) Competitors
Codebeamer vs Polarion ALM Logo
Codebeamer vs Polarion ALM
Compared 29% of the time
Jira vs Polarion ALM Logo
Jira vs Polarion ALM
Compared 25% of the time
Microsoft Azure DevOps vs Polarion ALM Logo
Microsoft Azure DevOps vs Polarion ALM
Compared 15% of the time
Jama Connect vs Polarion ALM Logo
Jama Connect vs Polarion ALM
Compared 8% of the time
GitLab vs Polarion ALM Logo
GitLab vs Polarion ALM
Compared 3% of the time
More Polarion ALM Competitors
 

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM)
April 2025
IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) reportDownload IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) product report
Buyer's Guide
Polarion ALM
April 2025
Polarion ALM reportDownload Polarion ALM product report
 

Also Known As

IBM Engineering Rhapsody, Rational ALM, MKS
No data available
 

Overview

IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management stands out for its robust Agile Scrum planning, lifecycle traceability, and tool management, offering cloud-based configurability and strong collaboration features.

IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management provides rich capabilities for Agile project management, facilitating requirements and test management, configuration management, and version control. Its integration with IBM Doors supports comprehensive requirements handling, and the cloud-based platform enhances collaborative efficiency across teams. Despite needing advances in user-friendliness and reporting, ELM's global configuration and compliance features make it invaluable in demanding environments.

What are the key features of IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management?
  • Scrum-based planning: Supports Agile methodologies with rich planning tools.
  • Lifecycle traceability: Offers complete traceability across development stages.
  • Customizable workflows: Adaptable workflows with Kanban for flexibility.
  • Git integration: Supports efficient version control and collaboration.
  • Global Configuration: Manages complex configurations globally.
  • Compliance and reporting: Ensures robust auditing and comprehensive reporting capabilities.
What benefits should be evaluated in reviews?
  • Collaboration: Enhanced sharing across platforms for seamless teamwork.
  • Cost-effectiveness: Delivers efficient tools that optimize project spend.
  • Comprehensive requirement handling: Facilitates detailed requirement management through IBM Doors integration.

IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management is vital in sectors like automotive and manufacturing, where it implements Agile frameworks to manage requirements, conduct testing, and handle defects. It integrates into development pipelines ensuring live traceability and visibility, supporting critical engineering processes efficiently.

IBM

The world’s first 100% browser-based ALM enterprise solution, which enables seamless collaboration across disparate teams, multi-directionally linked work items, full traceability, accelerated productivity and automated proof of compliance.

Siemens
 

Sample Customers

Tennis Australia, WeCloud AB, Port Otago Limited, Logicalis US, Valmer, The Chevrolet Volt, Ashurst
Engineering Ingegneria Informatica, IBS AG, Zumtobel Group
Buyer's Guide
IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) vs. Polarion ALM
April 2025
Free Report: IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) vs. Polarion ALM
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