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IBM FileNet vs OpenText Content Management comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 21, 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
3.8
IBM FileNet boosts productivity and efficiency, reduces costs, and enhances document management, yielding significant financial gains and competitive advantage.
Sentiment score
7.4
Users find OpenText ECM valuable for efficient multitasking and ROI, despite challenges in precise IT measurement.
There is a significant ROI from IBM FileNet because before its introduction, the company needed to do all the work manually.
ROI may be very short if you use OpenText Content Management system effectively.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.8
IBM FileNet's support is praised for responsiveness and partnerships, despite occasional delays and challenges like database implementation issues.
Sentiment score
4.7
OpenText's customer service is responsive but faces delays, with inconsistent efficiency and a need for expertise improvement.
People come from all over the world, and they have specialists at the other end of the world to help if needed.
IBM has a different division that provides consultation to end users, and most customers utilize consultation from IBM, which costs approximately $100k USD to $200k USD.
The consulting experts that IBM provides sometimes do not understand the tool very well.
The staff lacks adequate knowledge.
Currently, they are improving support and transitioning to a new solution, which is better than what they implemented in the past three to four years.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
8.2
IBM FileNet excels in scalability and adaptability, supporting extensive users and data, suitable for multinational enterprises with diverse needs.
Sentiment score
7.2
OpenText Content Management excels in scalability and adaptability, supporting large organizations despite documentation challenges, with seamless system integration.
The bigger products like IBM FileNet can handle billions of documents and thousands of users.
With Kubernetes, we can simply add instances of the worker, CPU, or memory without needing deployment.
We have about 80 transactional systems connected to IBM FileNet.
There is not enough documentation about scaling, which makes it difficult to enhance or modify environments without significant effort.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.8
IBM FileNet is valued for its reliable performance and stability, with improvements noted in recent upgrades and infrastructure configurations.
Sentiment score
7.0
OpenText Content Management is stable but needs enhancements in alerting and performance, with improvements noted in newer versions.
FileNet was restricted to DB2's enterprise edition instead of the standard edition, causing complications.
In terms of stability, we haven't experienced any big technical issues or downtime with IBM FileNet.
The product is quite stable if it is well-managed.
 

Room For Improvement

IBM FileNet needs enhanced hybrid cloud support, integration, automation, analytics, mobile experience, simplifying APIs, and reducing costs.
OpenText Content Management needs feature enhancements, better integration, improved performance, and more robust support and AI capabilities.
Ease of use with IBM FileNet is a disadvantage of this tool. It is complex and hard to use.
The response time and resolution of issues by technical support need improvement.
From the beginning, we cannot use a REST API; we have to use the IBM FileNet native API, which is quite outdated.
The expectation from the customer versus the product explanation needs alignment.
Another important aspect is the improvement of the artificial intelligence already embedded in OpenText Content Management solution.
 

Setup Cost

IBM FileNet is costly, but often valued by medium to large enterprises, with complex licensing and significant setup expenses.
OpenText Content Management is costly and complex, but offers comprehensive solutions, potentially deterring medium-sized businesses despite its strengths.
The product has become more expensive and requires significant investment for enterprise solutions.
The price is high, with yearly subscriptions increasing day by day.
FileNet and similar enterprise-level tools require substantial costs, starting in the millions.
If you compare it to an archiving solution and you are using content management only for archiving, the cost of the license may seem too high, as you are paying for a license that not only includes archiving but also controls the full life cycle of information, connects with SAP and Salesforce, features a native connection with Office 365, and supports parallel editing.
The cost is a significant factor that may deter medium-sized businesses from using OpenText extended ECM.
 

Valuable Features

IBM FileNet provides scalability, robust document management, and seamless integration with extensive automation, governance, and workflow tools for efficient operations.
OpenText Content Management integrates with major apps, enhancing productivity with security, automation, and robust search features for efficient document handling.
There is a significant ROI from IBM FileNet because before its introduction, the company needed to do all the work manually.
The main features we find impactful are the workflow and document management along with FileNet file stores.
At this level, companies don't buy a ready-made solution.
The seamless integration between SAP and OpenText offers a 360-degree view of documents, facilitating a full-text search capability.
OpenText Content Management has a feature that is unique in the market, which is the deep integration with leading applications, allowing reflection of the connections between different processes and objects in applications such as SAP, SuccessFactors, or Salesforce, visible inside the document management application.
 

Categories and Ranking

IBM FileNet
Ranking in Enterprise Content Management
4th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
103
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
OpenText Content Management
Ranking in Enterprise Content Management
3rd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
22
Ranking in other categories
Content Collaboration Platforms (12th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Enterprise Content Management category, the mindshare of IBM FileNet is 8.2%, down from 10.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of OpenText Content Management is 10.0%, down from 11.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Enterprise Content Management Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
OpenText Content Management10.0%
IBM FileNet8.2%
Other81.8%
Enterprise Content Management
 

Featured Reviews

RTHUR BRUNO - PeerSpot reviewer
Has provided robust content management but requires simplification in configuration and usability
We almost do not utilize the automation capabilities of IBM FileNet to streamline our business processes. The process automation and business automation features are barely used. Currently, we primarily use it to store content. We are now trying to use all of the functionalities of IBM FileNet, but we have not yet utilized the full capacity of the system. We are trying to reduce redundancy with IBM FileNet by enhancing our business rules. However, we still have significant redundancy. IBM FileNet can help us reduce redundancy, but we need to understand the tool and use all the functionalities to accomplish this. Ease of use with IBM FileNet is a disadvantage of this tool. It is complex and hard to use. When we try to set up IBM FileNet, we have many questions. We do not understand what we need to do in IBM FileNet. There are many configurations we must make but do not know how to implement. While IBM FileNet is very reliable, it is very difficult to set up. When reading the documentation about IBM FileNet, it appears to be very reliable and secure, but setting up configurations, access rules, authorization, and authentication seems to be very challenging.
Alejandro Stromer - PeerSpot reviewer
Has provided deep integration with business applications and supported full content lifecycle management
OpenText Content Management has a feature that is unique in the market, which is the deep integration with leading applications, allowing reflection of the connections between different processes and objects in applications such as SAP, SuccessFactors, or Salesforce, visible inside the document management application. Without connecting to the leading application, for example SAP, you can navigate between all documentation, having a full 360-degree view of all information related to the process. This means that when you create some action regarding an object that has a connected document in the content management system, you can automatically see additional information connected, managed and controlled by the leading application, with automatic reflection in the document management system. This is a unique advantage that OpenText Content Management has, which is not found in the market. Another unique feature is the integration with Office 365, where you can work with different folders or binders in the document management system and connect to Teams in a simple way, making all this information available in the Teams you are working with. Digital Asset Management is a big part of the content management solution within OpenText Content Management, allowing full integration of all documentation, pictures, plans, and technical documentation if you have asset management inside SAP. It connects similarly to other modules of SAP but includes a special feature for asset management from a technical point of view and connects with the engineering department, providing the full life cycle from development through deployment to maintenance. This means you have the full life cycle from the beginning when you define the solution, construct it, and finally transfer it to maintenance to keep all information updated easily, avoiding risks and ensuring access to accurate information at the right moment.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
21%
Computer Software Company
10%
Government
9%
Insurance Company
9%
Government
15%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business31
Midsize Enterprise12
Large Enterprise74
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business13
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise11
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about IBM FileNet?
The product is robust and can process a lot of documents for enterprise content management.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM FileNet?
From the company's perspective, the licensing cost for IBM FileNet is still affordable. Though the license cost is somewhat expensive, it remains manageable. The company rates it between 3 and 5 be...
What needs improvement with IBM FileNet?
The API provided by IBM FileNet is a very out-of-date implementation. From the beginning, we cannot use a REST API; we have to use the IBM FileNet native API, which is quite outdated.
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 facilitate the workflow and give managers good reporting and visibility into wher...
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 from the pre-sales team is not clear. The expectation from the customer versus t...
 

Also Known As

No data available
OpenText Content Suite Platform, OpenText Core Share
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Suncorp Group Limited, St. Vincent Health, Citigroup, SRCSD, and UK Dept for Work and Pensions.
ATCO Australia, MSIG Asia, Orica, Salt River Project
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM FileNet vs. OpenText Content Management and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
868,654 professionals have used our research since 2012.