Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

IBM FileNet vs SharePoint comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 4, 2024

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
6.5
IBM FileNet boosts productivity and efficiency, reduces costs, and enhances document management, yielding significant financial gains and competitive advantage.
Sentiment score
7.0
SharePoint reduces costs and boosts efficiency by centralizing management, enhancing collaboration, and eliminating multiple subscriptions for high returns.
There is a significant ROI from IBM FileNet because before its introduction, the company needed to do all the work manually.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.1
IBM FileNet's support is praised for responsiveness and partnerships, despite occasional delays and challenges like database implementation issues.
Sentiment score
6.0
Microsoft SharePoint support quality varies, influenced by contracts and vendors, with mixed reviews on responsiveness and effectiveness.
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 product-level support is better now than before.
There is a lack of detailed and timely responses, and support is not always transparent with the solutions.
The quality of Microsoft's technical support is very high.
Microsoft support could be better, especially for enterprise troubleshooting.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
8.3
IBM FileNet excels in scalability and adaptability, supporting extensive users and data, suitable for multinational enterprises with diverse needs.
Sentiment score
7.3
SharePoint is perceived as scalable, though optimal performance may require investment and strategic planning to address potential limitations.
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.
Making it easy to scale from a load-balancing and infrastructure perspective.
SharePoint is massively scalable and I would rate it as 8.5 out of ten.
SharePoint allows multiple teams to work at the same time, making it adaptable for large data volumes.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.7
IBM FileNet is valued for its reliable performance and stability, with improvements noted in recent upgrades and infrastructure configurations.
Sentiment score
8.1
SharePoint is generally stable, with issues often due to infrastructure, updates, or improper deployment, improving with proper setup.
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 stability of SharePoint is high; it is quite stable and resilient.
Everything runs smoothly, and I have no problems with its stability.
SharePoint is a stable product.
 

Room For Improvement

IBM FileNet needs enhanced hybrid cloud support, integration, automation, analytics, mobile experience, simplifying APIs, and reducing costs.
SharePoint requires improvements in co-authoring, permissions, UI, mobile compatibility, search, workflow, customization, integration, and onboarding simplicity.
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.
FileNet needs improvement in pricing as it has become very expensive.
Microsoft forces users to upgrade their license to access proper auditing information, which is essential and should be included in any license.
The rights management aspect can be particularly challenging, which may affect the overall user-friendliness of the product.
Expansion of scalability is needed, specifically the threshold limits for site items should be increased beyond the current 5,000 items.
 

Setup Cost

IBM FileNet's high pricing affects licensing, with costs manageable for large enterprises but challenging for smaller businesses.
SharePoint offers various pricing options, influenced by company size and licensing, with enterprise plans and customization affecting costs.
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.
Unlike Drupal, all necessary applications are included in the Microsoft license, making it cost-effective.
Microsoft offers bundled pricing for Office, SharePoint, and Exchange, making it cost-effective.
Enterprise licensing is generally cost-effective compared to individual purchases.
 

Valuable Features

IBM FileNet provides scalability, robust document management, and seamless integration with extensive automation, governance, and workflow tools for efficient operations.
SharePoint enhances productivity with collaboration tools, Microsoft integration, customizable workflows, advanced search, and strong security features.
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.
Additionally, SharePoint acts as a version control system, allowing easy recovery of past document versions.
Its rights management capabilities and ability to restrict access to certain people are also very useful.
The most valuable feature of SharePoint is the ability to collaborate on documents without having multiple versions.
 

Categories and Ranking

IBM FileNet
Ranking in Enterprise Content Management
4th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
102
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
SharePoint
Ranking in Enterprise Content Management
1st
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
160
Ranking in other categories
Web Content Management (1st), Corporate Portals (Enterprise Information Portals) (1st), Enterprise Intranet (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Enterprise Content Management category, the mindshare of IBM FileNet is 10.0%, up from 10.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SharePoint is 16.4%, down from 20.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Enterprise Content Management
 

Featured Reviews

Emad Rizki - PeerSpot reviewer
Facilitates seamless integration for large enterprises with strong deployment capabilities
FileNet was scalable and could be implemented into big multinational organizations. However, it has become very expensive recently. Compared to low-code solutions such as Appian and outsystems, FileNet has gaps, mainly because it requires coding, which is not preferred by clients due to pricing concerns in Pakistan. We transitioned clients to cloud solutions, although FileNet has been strongly integrated with on-prem deployments.
Sanil Paul - PeerSpot reviewer
Streamlined collaboration through seamless integration and customization
I have been an administrator for SharePoint and have used it as an end-user for document storage. Predominantly, I've been involved in administration SharePoint helps a lot since we've moved from using it directly to using it as a backend for Teams, which makes collaboration easier. It supports…
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Enterprise Content Management solutions are best for your needs.
856,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

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
23%
Computer Software Company
11%
Government
10%
Insurance Company
9%
Government
13%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

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 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?
The web parts in SharePoint could be more intuitive for end users. Many do not fully understand these features, and improving user awareness could foster better data relations. The learning curve o...
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

No data available
SharePoint 2007, SharePoint 2010
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Suncorp Group Limited, St. Vincent Health, Citigroup, SRCSD, and UK Dept for Work and Pensions.
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 IBM FileNet vs. SharePoint and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
856,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.