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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
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
31
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 (23rd), Enterprise Content Management (18th), Web Content Management (15th), 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 11.0%, down 12.0% compared to last year.
Oracle WebCenter, on the other hand, focuses on Customer Experience Management, holds 1.5% mindshare, up 1.0% since last year.
Application Server Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
IBM WebSphere Application Server11.0%
Oracle WebLogic Server18.0%
Tomcat16.7%
Other54.3%
Application Server
Customer Experience Management Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Oracle WebCenter1.5%
Salesforce4.9%
Genesys Cloud CX4.4%
Other89.2%
Customer Experience Management
 

Featured Reviews

BharathirajaSukumar - PeerSpot reviewer
Efficient load balancing and the clustering, achieved by using the deployment manager, is valuable
I believe that the system is already good. However, for improvement or enhancement, it is user-friendly, but it could offer better choices on the front end for different aspects or options. Sometimes, I have to search extensively for features, as there are no upfront tabs. There is a lack of visible, easy, user-friendly, and straightforward options for the number of features.
Mehdi Hasankhan - PeerSpot reviewer
Good integration capabilities and good security but needs to allow for easier template customization
The solution should be offered in Persian. Right now, our version is in English, and there's a bit of a language barrier between the users and the product. It would be helpful if Oracle could create some sort of facility to customize templates easily if users use JavaScript or other internal tools.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Without the Admin Console it would be very hard to configure JVM settings, JDBC datasources, mail session settings, and security providers."
"IBM WebSphere Application Server is the best in terms of scalability and performance, as well as the support for managing distributed transactions."
"IBM WebSphere Application Server is one of the best servers due to its stability and paid license."
"It does integrate well with the Tivoli Federated Identity Management system."
"High availability, alert management, and deployments are the most valuable features for us. We have the ND version so we can do deployments."
"The VPN service is quite useful."
"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."
"As compared to other applications, it has tremendous support. We have built internal capability so that we use it extensively internally. It is also easier to use with the outside data. You can write in ESQL, Java, or any other technology that you want to use for development. So, it is a lot more flexible in the language that it supports."
"The WebCenter Content is its most valuable feature. After we update a document in WebCenter Content, it can be update automatically in our intranet."
"Oracle integrates well with other products to cover Big Data."
"WebCenter's interface is very user-friendly."
"It's a very scalable solution and the performance is pretty good. The scalability, in my opinion, is the biggest advantage."
"You can move workloads in between sub-servers so that you don't overload a portion of the server."
"A great solution for storing and searching large volumes of documents with easy access."
"Integration within the solution is very good."
 

Cons

"While WebSphere mostly supports IBM HTTP Server (IHS) as the web server plugin, I think it would be beneficial if it also supported Apache and NGINX web servers. That would give customers more flexibility in their choices."
"The installation has room for improvement."
"Installing or configuring a WAS server instance as a Windows Service causes a lot of problems, especially when the server needs credentials to stop."
"The footprint could be reduced so that we can use a smaller virtual machine to run the application. We could also use more scripts. I would like this solution to be more script oriented, rather than GUI oriented."
"The licensing could be improved, and I would like it to give the longevity of the lifespan of the visions. In the next release, I would like to be able to download and extract the files so that I can just use my application server."
"I find the server okay, however, using the Maker instance, the Moving instance, and the Change instance is a little bit complicated without WebSphere knowledge."
"I think that this is a good product but I think that the cloud environment could be improved. I think that the future is in the utilization of the product in a product as a service way which is something that is lacking at this moment."
"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 speed of the backup should be enhanced."
"Does not seem to be totally compatible with Windows 10 as of our current version."
"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."
"This solution needs to support translation into the Arabic language."
"WebCenter requires a lot of design effort to upload content to our regular system."
"I would like them to add more Web 2.0 features."
"Its functions need more stability."
"The solution should be offered in Persian. Right now, our version is in English, and there's a bit of a language barrier between the users and the product."
 

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 is very expensive."
"It costs more than some of the others, but, you get what you pay for."
"We pay around $200,000 annually."
"I don't remember the price, but there are no additional costs."
"The price of IBM WebSphere Application Server could be less expensive and there is an annual license required for this solution."
"The licensing policy is based on the PVU base."
"The price of this product is higher than that of competitors."
"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."
"WebCenter's pricing is on the higher side."
"The price needs to be lowered."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
34%
Computer Software Company
10%
Government
7%
Insurance Company
6%
Government
11%
Computer Software Company
7%
Energy/Utilities Company
7%
Comms Service Provider
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business8
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?
In Korea, when you buy IBM iOS, the WebSphere base version is included with iOS. That means no additional cost.
What needs improvement with IBM WebSphere Application Server?
I find the server okay, however, using the Maker instance, the Moving instance, and the Change instance is a little bit complicated without WebSphere knowledge.
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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.
869,832 professionals have used our research since 2012.