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IBM WebSphere Application Server vs Oracle WebCenter 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:
 

Categories and Ranking

IBM WebSphere Application S...
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
5.4
Number of Reviews
32
Ranking in other categories
Application Server (5th), Application Infrastructure (3rd)
Oracle WebCenter
Average Rating
7.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
12
Ranking in other categories
Customer Experience Management (16th), Enterprise Content Management (21st), Web Content Management (16th), Corporate Portals (Enterprise Information Portals) (6th)
 

Mindshare comparison

IBM WebSphere Application Server and Oracle WebCenter aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. IBM WebSphere Application Server is designed for Application Server and holds a mindshare of 8.7%, down 12.4% compared to last year.
Oracle WebCenter, on the other hand, focuses on Customer Experience Management, holds 1.8% mindshare, up 0.7% since last year.
Application Server Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
IBM WebSphere Application Server8.7%
Tomcat12.9%
Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform (EAP)12.8%
Other65.6%
Application Server
Customer Experience Management Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Oracle WebCenter1.8%
Genesys Cloud CX3.6%
Qualtrics XM Platform3.3%
Other91.3%
Customer Experience Management
 

Featured Reviews

CF
Senior Manager, MW & DB Automation at a computer software company with 11-50 employees
Has worked seamlessly in complex clustered environments and supports long-term development efforts
IBM WebSphere Application Server is currently at version 9.0.5.23. In recent months, they released fix 23, as they periodically release fixes. Previously, they frequently increased versions, but now they maintain 9.0.5 with different releases. It's based on Java J2EE 7 and Java SDK 1.8. Oracle announced that 2030 will be the last year when Java SDK 1.8 will be supported. Oracle currently deploys Java 2.x in parallel, with the latest being version 25. The future of IBM WebSphere Application Server remains uncertain since it's based on Java 1.8 and Java 7. I haven't found any white papers or official documentation from IBM outlining their trajectory post-2030.
reviewer2105979 - PeerSpot reviewer
Executive Vice President - Head Digital Partnership and Alliances at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Has a user-friendly interface but performance is not up to scratch
I mainly use WebCenter for content management and publishing WebCenter's interface is very user-friendly. WebCenter requires a lot of design effort to upload content to our regular system. Its performance is also not up to the market standard, and its agility and adaptability could be improved.…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Ease of administration: It has an Integrated Solutions Console, what we call the administrative console, with very detailed configurations and Help pages for each configurable item."
"Security: It is compatible with the latest Java 8 security features, supports FIPS 140-2 and NIST SP 800-53 with strong ciphers and cryptography keys, and supports TLS 1.2 completely. Also, configuring client and server certificates is relatively easy."
"One of the most valuable features might be the stability of the IBM WebSphere Application Server."
"IBM WAS is the backbone for our enterprise content management suite which delivers the primary processes for our customers. Without a good application server, it would be hard to provide a secure layer of midddleware upon which the other applications run. IBM WAS improves the stability of the entire solution and provides a high quality platform for running web-based solutions."
"IBM WebSphere Application Server is easy to use."
"The scalability of the product is quite good."
"It has helped tremendously."
"IBM WebSphere Application Server is one of the best servers due to its stability and paid license."
"The most valuable features to me are the ability to create contents with the interface, such as creating database tables, and the product's JSP APIs and REST APIs are also very useful."
"This product is very good for scaling; it is easy to expand this solution and I think it is the best solution for all of the problems you might have with document storage."
"In terms of scalability, it is easy to scale."
"It's a very scalable solution and the performance is pretty good."
"The WebCenter Content is its most valuable feature. After we update a document in WebCenter Content, it can be update automatically in our intranet."
"The business user has the capability to update content, look, and feel."
"With WebCenter, we can scan and capture all the information correctly, which is then imported into the system automatically."
"WebCenter's interface is very user-friendly."
 

Cons

"In the next release of this solution, I would like to see support for the Arabic language."
"WebSphere is very cumbersome and not user-friendly. It used to have its own JVM, which presented challenges such as different architecture and memory leaks."
"The support could be a bit more responsive."
"IBM needs to pay attention to market changes more quickly. We now have Java 9 and very soon Java EE8. We do not want to wait for two or three years after their release until they are supported by the new version."
"As the license cost is quite expensive, I'm rating it two out of five."
"The installation has room for improvement."
"I think in some moments, the security was a little bit more complex to configure when it was delegated to other systems, making it an area where improvements are required."
"The main problem is the licensing cost of the product. The product can scale but the budget cannot."
"There are many document management systems that offer pretty much the same functionalities but at a lower price. The product as such is pretty good. However, the pricing is not comparable. They need to adjust their pricing to be more competitive on the market."
"The speed of the backup should be enhanced."
"This solution needs to support translation into the Arabic language."
"This lapse is very bad for my company because I can't change the version of Word and downgrade."
"Initial setup was simple for standard things, but for customisation and third-party integration, it can get cumbersome."
"We have a lot of pain with instabilities and are not getting enough support from Oracle."
"This solution needs to support translation into the Arabic language."
"In terms of what needs to be improved, I would say the speed of the backup should be enhanced."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"My company is on a perpetual or permanent license agreement with IBM WebSphere Application Server. There's also a pay-per-use option, but customers rarely choose that option. Most of the customers are on the perpetual license deal that's all-inclusive. As the license cost is quite expensive, I'm rating it two out of five."
"It's expensive."
"I don't remember the price, but there are no additional costs."
"The licensing policy is based on the PVU base."
"WebSphere Application Server is expensive, so it may not be a good option for small companies."
"It is very expensive."
"If your application is just a web app that does not need to scale big, you can obtain a single core license of WAS Express edition, which has almost the same features with limited processing cores. If you manage a very big application farm (i.e. need to run 10 or more WAS servers) it is better to get IBM WAS Hypervisor Edition."
"We pay around $200,000 annually."
"WebCenter's pricing is on the higher side."
"The price of this solution is considered to be high; however, when speaking with Oracle, it is possible to get discounts of up to sixty percent."
"The price needs to be lowered."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
32%
Computer Software Company
8%
Insurance Company
7%
Government
6%
Construction Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Comms Service Provider
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise23
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise10
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about IBM WebSphere Application Server?
Network Deployment is the most useful feature for scalability. It has many features within the standard WebSphere Application Server edition.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM WebSphere Application Server?
At Royal Bank, which is a major IBM customer with mainframes and numerous IBM products, they have a specific agreement regarding pricing. The pricing structure for large enterprise customers differ...
What needs improvement with IBM WebSphere Application Server?
IBM WebSphere Application Server is currently at version 9.0.5.23. In recent months, they released fix 23, as they periodically release fixes. Previously, they frequently increased versions, but no...
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Also Known As

WebSphere Application Server
WebCenter, FatWire
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

TalkTalk, Property management group, E.SUN Bank, Ohio National Financial Services, Aviarc, Cincom Systems, FJA-US, D+H, Staples, Michigan Municipal League
Chhattisgarh Infotech and Biotech Promotion Society, Jagran Prakashan Ltd., Standard Forwarding LLC, United Automotive Electronic Systems Co. Ltd., INSO sistemi per le infrastrutture sociali S.p.A., Helsana Versicherungen AG, ArRiyadh Development Authority, John Lewis Partnership, Arqiva, SURUGADAI EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTE, Portuguese Official Agriculture and Fisheries
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM WebSphere Application Server vs. Oracle WebCenter and other solutions. Updated: March 2020.
885,789 professionals have used our research since 2012.