IBM BPM vs Windows Process Activation Services comparison

IBM BPM is a business process management tool that provides a robust set of tools to author, test, and deploy business processes, as well as full visibility and insight to managing those business processes. The solution provides tooling and run time for process design, execution, monitoring, and optimization, along with basic system integration support. To support various levels of complexity and involvement with business process management, there are two different editions of the product: IBM BPM and IBM BPM Express.

IBM BPM Features

IBM BPM has many valuable key features. Some of the most useful ones include:

• Process designer authoring tool
• Collaborative editing and immediate playback of processes
• Interactive user interfaces
• Process rules based on IBM Operational Decision Manager
• IBM Integration Designer (BPEL and SOA)
• Designing and building case management systems
• Process portal
• Real-time monitoring and reporting
• Performance analytics and optimizer
• Performance data warehouse
• IBM Process Center with a shared asset repository
• IBM Process Federation Server
• Built-in enterprise service bus (ESB)
• Transaction support
• Integration adapters
• Network deployment support
• High availability: clustering and unlimited cores

IBM BPM Benefits

There are many benefits to implementing IBM BPM. Some of the biggest advantages the solution offers include:

• Increased efficiency and cost savings: IBM BPM can help you optimize existing processes and incorporate more structure into the development of new processes by removing process redundancies and bottlenecks.

• More scalable processes: The solution enables better process execution and workflow automation, which transfers well when scaling processes.

• Greater transparency: Because IBM BPM’s process automation clearly defines owners for tasks along the process, it provides more transparency and accountability throughout a given process. In turn, this fosters more communication among teams.

• Less dependency on development teams: IBM BPM offers low-code features which remove potential dependencies on development. Business users can be onboarded onto these tools quickly and easily, thereby increasing process automation across the company.

Reviews from Real Users

IBM BPM is a solution that stands out when compared to many of its competitors. Some of its major advantages are that it’s good for developing complex apps, is robust, and has helpful team management and process performance features.

Zoran C., Owner/CEO at IT SPHERE, says, “It is perfect if you have to develop complex apps without much coding (only java script). It is also good if you don't have much IT resources in your company and would like to involve business analysts in the process of developing apps. My opinion is that it can do about 50% of all developers' work.”

Suhas V., BPM Architect at GBM, mentions, “Overall the solution is robust and has the ability to integrate with any product for complex workflows."

A BPM Consultant at a financial services firm comments, "Some of the features that I like the most are team management and process performance. They are both very useful and very powerful with regard to the workflow."

A Digital Banking & Innovation Director at a financial services firm expresses, “The processing functionality makes it easy to change processes and workflows easily.”

Windows Process Activation Service generalizes the Internet Information Services (IIS) process model, removing the dependency on HTTP. All the features of IIS that were previously available only to HTTP applications are now available to applications hosting Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) services, by using non-HTTP protocols. IIS 7.0 also uses Windows Process Activation Service for message-based activation over HTTP.