IBM Blueworks Live vs Visio comparison

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3,145 views|1,978 comparisons
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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between IBM Blueworks Live and Visio based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Business Process Design solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.
To learn more, read our detailed IBM Blueworks Live vs. Visio Report (Updated: March 2024).
768,857 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Featured Review
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"We are you using the product as a process mapping tool and as part of a larger process improvement project. We use it with IBM BPM and IBM ODM. We get an automated workflow solution for our customers, an improved workflow automation.""The solution is stable. All the refreshes run very well.""The stability is pretty good. It is highly available, which is key. You don't lose your work and can autosave.""The reporting that we can generate from IBM Blueworks Live has been interesting. We found the KPIs, risks, process modeling, format, and colors, to be very good. We use the EY template and it is interesting to generate reporting in this format.""You can use if from your mobile device or you can be on the desktop. It doesn't matter. You are always connected. It is cloud-based, so you don't have to install anything.""The solution is easy to operate. Also, there is an automatic mode to make the business flow. You don't have to put any lines or arrows in a decision point in IBM Blueworks Live; it's very automatic.""It enables decisions based upon processes that we do model, and ultimately move forward with.""The business process discovery is excellent. The diagram or blueprinting functionality of the solution are very good. It's quite easy. You can link the sub-processes and get a big overview of the whole process then."

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"The most valuable feature is that it is integrated with other tools in the Microsoft Office suite, as well as at the backend with products like SharePoint and Microsoft Teams.""It works really well for flowcharting, it can label.""Visio has improved my workflow by making it easy to create charts, diagrams, and basic illustrations that I can use in my client reports and proposals. It has saved me a lot of time I would otherwise spend creating visuals for clients by hand.""We are all familiar with it, and it is easy to use. There is a lot of flexibility, and you can add shapes if you want.""I find the control flow and settings features valuable.""The diagrams Visio creates are quite impressive in the sense that we can cooperate with more colleagues in one task and see the flow of the process.""Simple to use and very intuitive.""The solution is user-friendly."

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Cons
"Spaces are not well organized; space controls are lacking.""The APIs are great, except the normal business user doesn't know how to create APIs. So it's hard because IBM comes to us as the business users and tell us to create reporting with APIs, except we don't know that, so we have to turn around and flip it to our IT people.""In the Blue Works Live software boxes and lines are automatically placed by the programme and can't be easily manipulated.""In the solution Signavio, they have a customer journey mapping feature that should be added to IBM Blueworks Live. It's valuable to map or document the customer journey to identify the pains and opportunities in this process.""I can't insert any images. For example, within the process map, if I want to put it in the box or rectangle, or circle. If I have to use one image or icon, that's not possible.""I wish Blueworks Live had simulations built in, but it doesn't. It also lacks a feature of reporting; ad hoc, drag and drop reporting. A lot of senior people are always asking for reports, and there's no reporting feature within IBM Blueworks.""Sometimes, the tool is automatic, which can complicate it, but once you're accustomed to manipulating it, you can use it very effectively.""The ability to create a very structured rule. With the capability that we have right now, Blueworks Live is more process focused. We should be able to enhance it to include a lot more of decisions as well."

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"It does not integrate well with other solutions.""Occasionally, the automation feature that helps you easily add the "next step" goes crazy and it will move a bunch of stuff.""The price could be better.""I would like to see better integration with external data sources.""There are some issues in Visio with the connectors, and it gets tricky when you want to connect objects with each other.""I would like to see traceability. It doesn't have it. You cannot find one object amongst several sheets of Visio diagrams.""If you look at ARIS, for example, or Signavio, the flowchart combines all the details and with the click of a button I can create a process manager. That would be something that Visio could add. It would cut my workload in half.""It's not the easiest software to use. It's not user-friendly out-of-the-box."

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Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "Based on the licenses purchased, from a footprint perspective, you can have as many people as you want. You have multiple different categories of licenses to keep the cost low."
  • "We are seeing ROI from this solution. The solution has saved us time."
  • "They have a free subscription model that gives a lot of power to the users."
  • "Making it less expensive would be good."
  • "The solution is not very expensive."
  • "There are editor licenses that are around 50 euros per month, and contributor licenses that are around 30 euros per month."
  • "Price wise, IBM Blueworks Live is in the middle range, and I would give it a five out of ten."
  • "The solution is very, very cost-effective."
  • More IBM Blueworks Live Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "It has a lower price point than the competition."
  • "The cost of the software is reasonably priced."
  • "The price is reasonable for individual use but for an organization, the costs is high."
  • "Our license for Visio is including with the Office 365 subscription."
  • "Visio is about a $180 dollars to purchase. It is a one-time licensing fee."
  • "The yearly cost is approximately $400 CAD ($300 USD)."
  • "There are some cheaper as well as free solutions."
  • "I don't have any issue with the pricing. It has a subscription-based model, and the subscription is done on a yearly basis. Of course, we need internal approvals in place."
  • More Visio Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:The solution is easy to operate. Also, there is an automatic mode to make the business flow. You don't have to put any lines or arrows in a decision point in IBM Blueworks Live; it's very automatic.
    Top Answer:The solution costs around 600-700 dollars/year, which is quite affordable.
    Top Answer:Sometimes, the tool is automatic, which can complicate it, but once you're accustomed to manipulating it, you can use it very effectively.
    Top Answer:I have been using Bizagi with a major project for a state government agency for about four years now. It is pretty straightforward to load in files that are BPMN 2.0 compliant. The option to load… more »
    Top Answer:The diagrams Visio creates are quite impressive in the sense that we can cooperate with more colleagues in one task and see the flow of the process.
    Ranking
    12th
    Views
    3,145
    Comparisons
    1,978
    Reviews
    8
    Average Words per Review
    495
    Rating
    7.8
    1st
    Views
    11,442
    Comparisons
    8,630
    Reviews
    26
    Average Words per Review
    435
    Rating
    8.0
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    IBM Lombardi Blueprint
    Microsoft Visio
    Learn More
    Overview
    IBM Blueworks Live is a cloud-based business process modeling tool that helps discover, map and document processes and accessible anywhere through a browser and that generates industry-standard BPMN 2.0 layouts, documentation and output. Tutorial videos guide you through creating and editing a simple process model, allowing you to learn and perform business process modeling in minutes.

    Visio is an innovative collaborative solution that enables users to quickly visualize data-connected business process flows with a host of integrated intuitive features that bring the power of Microsoft 365 to Visio. Visio allows users to easily create professional diagrams, graphs, and other visual data, easily anywhere, anytime, and with anyone. Users are able to confidently and easily transform data into creative powerful visuals. Visio provides dozens of easy-to-use templates along with thousands of customizable colorful shapes that bring a user's best ideas to life. Visio is available for all Microsoft 365 commercial users and is available on desktop and Web applications.

    Visio Features

    Visio can easily create visual data for today’s business needs. Some of its most useful visual data include:

    • Flowcharts: Users can easily bring business concepts to fruition with Visio’s robust flowchart features. Visio provides a huge library of shapes, stencils, and templates to transform numbers and data into impactful, easy-to-understand business stories.
    • Organizational charts: Visio makes it easy to design articulate org charts to better visualize team, reporting, and hierarchy structures. Users are then able to seamlessly share the charts with stakeholders, teams, and employees.
    • Network diagrams: Users are able to creatively display how a system design processes function and visually illustrate how devices and networks interact with each other using a variety of network shapes, templates, and connector tools.
    • Brainstorming: Visio makes brainstorming simple and actionable with a wide range of templates designed specifically for interpreting problems and mapping out solutions, including fishbone and Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) diagrams.
    • Floor plans: Users can design ergonomic workspaces, retail store layouts, new homes, and more with accurate, scalable templates and tools to help them better visualize function, flow, and overall aesthetic appeal.
    • Accessible: Visio is able to integrate with a wide variety of accessibility tools, such as Narrator, Accessibility Checker, and high-contrast support, to ensure Visio diagrams are available to your entire team.

    Reviews from Real Users

    Visio has improved my workflow by making it easy to create charts, diagrams, and essential illustrations to use in my client reports and proposals. It has saved me a lot of time I would otherwise spend creating visuals for clients manually.” - Michael B., Principal Consultant at Lexington Consulting

    “I use it for diagramming networks, racks, data centers, data flow applications, etc. It is a useful tool to map data flows, network objects, and computer science technology and to show to clients. It does what I need it to do. It's a tool I've used the longest, so I know it the best, and that's probably the claim to fame.” - Greg S., Director of Solution Architecture at Winslow Technology Group

    “We use Visio for architecture modeling. We also use it to facilitate communication with other people. The feature I like most about Visio is that it acts as a facilitator of communication, as it displays information in a way that's easier to understand.” - Guy M., IT/Business Architect at a financial services firm

    Sample Customers
    Cloudsoft Corp. Ltd., Bayer, S¾SS, Essex County Council
    Thomas College, Hamburg Port Authority, Portigon AG, Conseil G_n_ral du d_partement des Hautes-Alpes, AAA Auto a. s., Commonwealth Financial Network, ICA, Abu Dhabi National Energy Company
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Manufacturing Company33%
    Financial Services Firm17%
    Retailer11%
    Comms Service Provider11%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Financial Services Firm21%
    Government9%
    Insurance Company9%
    Computer Software Company9%
    REVIEWERS
    Financial Services Firm20%
    Computer Software Company14%
    Manufacturing Company11%
    Insurance Company9%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Financial Services Firm13%
    Government12%
    Computer Software Company9%
    Manufacturing Company8%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business23%
    Midsize Enterprise5%
    Large Enterprise73%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business12%
    Midsize Enterprise10%
    Large Enterprise77%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business31%
    Midsize Enterprise18%
    Large Enterprise52%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business17%
    Midsize Enterprise12%
    Large Enterprise71%
    Buyer's Guide
    IBM Blueworks Live vs. Visio
    March 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Blueworks Live vs. Visio and other solutions. Updated: March 2024.
    768,857 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    IBM Blueworks Live is ranked 12th in Business Process Design with 20 reviews while Visio is ranked 1st in Business Process Design with 101 reviews. IBM Blueworks Live is rated 8.2, while Visio is rated 7.8. The top reviewer of IBM Blueworks Live writes "An easily scalable and affordable solution that enables users to document and digitize processes with ease". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Visio writes "A software for drawing a variety of diagrams which include flowcharts, org charts, building plans, floor plans, data flow diagrams". IBM Blueworks Live is most compared with SAP Signavio Process Manager, Lucidchart, ARIS Cloud, Camunda and Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect, whereas Visio is most compared with Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect, Bizagi, Visual Paradigm, SAP Signavio Process Manager and Lucidchart. See our IBM Blueworks Live vs. Visio report.

    See our list of best Business Process Design vendors.

    We monitor all Business Process Design reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.