Hyland OnBase vs IBM FileNet comparison

Hyland and IBM are both solutions in the Enterprise Content Management category. Hyland is ranked #5 with an average rating of 7.7, while IBM is ranked #4 with an average rating of 8.0. Hyland holds a 6.6% mindshare in ECM, compared to IBM’s 10.0% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Hyland users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 91% of IBM users who would recommend it.

Hyland OnBase

Read 13 Hyland OnBase reviews

2,019 Views
1,285 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

IBM FileNet

Read 102 IBM FileNet reviews

3,352 Views
1,921 Comparison Views

91% willing to recommend

Hyland OnBase

IBM FileNet

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 4, 2024

IBM FileNet and Hyland OnBase both compete in the enterprise content management market, with FileNet taking the upper hand for organizations focused on compliance due to its stability and governance features.

Features: IBM FileNet offers robust scalability, integration with various business units, and comprehensive document management. Its automation capabilities improve business process efficiencies and enterprise search functionality. Hyland OnBase is known for its flexible modular approach, integration abilities, and excellent customization across different business functions.

Room for Improvement: IBM FileNet could improve its integration with other systems and enhance the user-friendly aspects of its Content Navigator. Hyland OnBase may benefit from a more intuitive user interface and improved integration with external applications to enhance overall usability and flexibility.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: IBM FileNet is mostly on-premises, suitable for organizations with stringent security needs, with mixed reviews on technical support responsiveness. Hyland OnBase offers both cloud and on-premises deployment, providing versatility and generally favorable support, though some users find it complex without training.

Pricing and ROI: IBM FileNet is seen as costly but justified by its powerful capabilities for large enterprises, with ROI realized over an extended period. Hyland OnBase also has a high initial setup cost but offers modular pricing for cost control and significant productivity gains contributing to a good ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed Hyland OnBase vs. IBM FileNet Report (Updated: June 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Hyland OnBase vs. IBM FileNet

June 2025

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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

Hyland OnBase

Ranking in Enterprise Content Management

5th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Business Process Management (BPM) (17th), Low-Code Development Platforms (15th)

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

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Enterprise Content Management category, the mindshare of Hyland OnBase is 6.6%, up from 5.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM FileNet is 10.0%, up from 10.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Enterprise Content Management

Featured Reviews

Srinivas Rao Kagitha

Senior Onbase Developer & Administrator at HTC Global Services (INDIA) Private

Offers good dashboards and reports but fails to offer better migration features

The migration is a bit difficult in the tool. Whenever we make certain changes to workflow or other stuff, migrating the code from one environment to another is a bit tedious. The tool has an option for export and import, which is not robust. Most of the time, we need to do things stuff manually. For example, if we make any changes in the existing life cycle or any queues, we have to move those changes manually. There is no robust way to migrate code from one environment to a lower environment, like prod. When it comes to the product's technical support, the turnaround time is a bit longer than expected. The issue may be because there are a number of issues or a large number of customers who are reaching out to the support team for help. I believe that the solution's technical team can provide a solution more quickly.

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Emad Rizki

System integrator at Indépendant

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.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"OnBase is a remarkable tool. It is a well-done product. Hyland has a lot of experience in building it and looking for new things for clients in terms of functionalities. It has amazing stability, and it can grow horizontally and vertically. It is built for growth. Their technical support is also quite good and available throughout the year."

"We found the setup process to be okay since they do offer a troubleshooting guide."

"The retention module is one of the most valuable features. Whatever we scan onto the system can be identified and we are notified when the records are due to be disposed."

"The most valuable features are that it's very secure and provides audit trails for our documents."

"Its most valuable aspect is its flexibility"

"Hyland OnBase is valued for its security, especially for those in the finance domain who require data confidentiality."

"It provided data security features, allowing restrictions on sensitive documents, such as who could view or modify them."

"The solution is very developed and we are not taking full advantage of its functionalities."

More Hyland OnBase pros

"We probably would not have seen adoption so strongly without it."

"IBM provides good support since it's a big company."

"There aren't very many ECM solutions that scale properly, both up and out. We have customers who hold billions of documents. There aren't very many that can scale that far, and that can also scale out so that they can handle lots of users, lots of documents, and that understand how to handle external users. FileNet is one that can."

"It has given us a whole new environment to do document management and document storage."

"It has a robust API. We are able to have systems communicate with each other, and do business process automation."

"Instead storing our documents offsite, we are storing all of our documents electronically."

"It also helps with compliance and governance issues because it's a datastore that is not modifiable, and you can guarantee that. You cannot guarantee that with a folder-based file structure, where multiple people have access."

"FileNet provides a compact solution for midsized companies."

More IBM FileNet pros

Cons

"We found the size of images to be a restriction, though this may have been due to the API used rather than the Hyland application."

"We need to troubleshoot why our reports didn't get downloaded in a day. There is a workflow feature which powerful but also complicated."

"The dashboards do have some room for improvement as compared to the other vendors which are there in the market."

"The migration is a bit difficult in the tool."

"We are struggling with duplicates and would like to have OCR functionality when using this solution."

"Software malfunctioning usually occurs when we receive documents from external sources."

"For user experience, they would have to do more with the interface. It is not easy to work with and is a little messy. It is getting better, but it is not yet good enough. Other products are comparatively doing better in terms of the user interface. I have been hearing about Box, which is very easy to use and learn for the users. OnBase has to work on this aspect. It should have BPM capabilities. We compete with tools that provide the BPM feature and support those standards. They can do better in terms of the pricing model. It is a really expensive tool in Latin America. They should have different prices for different regions."

"The application could potentially be more open-source, allowing integration with more solutions."

More Hyland OnBase cons

"It could be simpler to use, considering multiple use cases."

"IBM does not do very good marketing for FileNet."

"However, the configuration does take a long time. Every company needs its own configuration design. It depends on how many applications are connecting to FileNet. It can take a long time, depending on the application count."

"The setup process is very complex."

"In terms of functionality, what customers might be looking for is a little more in terms of native-records retention. Records Management is an add-on product. If there were just a little more of that built into the core functionality, that would be helpful."

"There are only a few products large enterprises can choose from, and it doesn't really matter which one as it often depends on the consultants and the team implementing the solution."

"Our client feels FileNet does not provide them with content searchability. They feel it's cumbersome. They're only using Metadata. If the Metadata is not well-populated, it becomes a problem to retrieve a document."

"We would like to see, in FileNet, the ability to manage video and audio."

More IBM FileNet cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"There are a number of different types of licenses. There are concurrent licenses, individual licenses and imaging licenses."

"The tool's price is high."

"OnBase is reasonably priced."

"They can do better in terms of the pricing model. It is a really expensive tool in Latin America. They should have different prices for different regions."

"The solution costs around $6,000 per month."

"Licensing costs depend on the size of the storage."

"There are lots of components to the product. Make sure before you invest that you know which components you need."

"The physical space that we have gained back pays for the service. Therefore, it has reduced our operating costs overall. We have definitely seen ROI. I would estimate $30,000 a year."

"For small scale industries, they allow different options. They can do open source. It is the complexity of the data security that they should think about before they choose."

"The solution saves time and money. It helps us to be able to accomplish the goals of our business, as opposed to being tangled in the weeds of what we could do."

"My customers have seen ROI. There have been productivity gains, time savings gains, and things that they have been doing much more efficiently in a more modern way than they were before."

"It is still a leading ECM solution provider, however the cost to implement and maintain are higher than other solutions."

"It has reduced operating costs by reducing the amount of manual work needed."

More IBM FileNet pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Government

14%

Financial Services Firm

14%

Computer Software Company

10%

Insurance Company

Financial Services Firm

23%

Computer Software Company

11%

Government

10%

Insurance Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Hyland OnBase?

The solution is very developed and we are not taking full advantage of its functionalities.

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Hyland OnBase?

I find pricing to be on the higher side due to its monolithic architecture. I would rate it six out of ten. Transitioning to microservices, allowing users to pay for only what they use, could reduc...

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What needs improvement with Hyland OnBase?

I believe the reporting features need improvement, as other competitors in the market provide better analytics. Hyland is working on a new platform (HXP) to integrate features from all products, ad...

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What do you like most about IBM FileNet?

The product is robust and can process a lot of documents for enterprise content management.

See all answers

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...

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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.

See all answers

Comparisons

Alfresco vs Hyland OnBase

Compared 18% of the time

OpenText Documentum vs Hyland OnBase

Compared 14% of the time

SharePoint vs Hyland OnBase

Compared 12% of the time

OpenText Extended ECM vs Hyland OnBase

Compared 9% of the time

Microsoft Power Apps vs Hyland OnBase

Compared 6% of the time

More Hyland OnBase Competitors

SharePoint vs IBM FileNet

Compared 17% of the time

OpenText Extended ECM vs IBM FileNet

Compared 16% of the time

OpenText Documentum vs IBM FileNet

Compared 15% of the time

Alfresco vs IBM FileNet

Compared 6% of the time

IBM ECM vs IBM FileNet

Compared 6% of the time

More IBM FileNet Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Hyland OnBase

June 2025

Download Hyland OnBase product report

Buyer's Guide

IBM FileNet

June 2025

Download IBM FileNet product report

Also Known As

OnBase

No data available

Overview

Hyland OnBase is acclaimed for its robust document management, automating workflows, and improving organizational efficiency across various industries. Praised for its ability to manage records compliantly, especially in regulated sectors like healthcare and finance, the tool also integrates smoothly with other enterprise systems. Users benefit significantly from streamlined processes, reduced manual tasks, and enhanced data accuracy, boosting productivity and customer satisfaction.

Hyland

IBM FileNet is a leading IBM enterprise content management product family. IBM FileNet is one of the ECM solutions that can change the way a company does business by enabling users to capture, activate, socialize, analyze, and govern content throughout its lifecycle.

There are many IBM FileNet products available, all of which are integrated and based on the FileNet P8 Platform.

IBM

Sample Customers

Honda France Industries, Hill County Texas, Hylant Group, ING Lease France, State of South Carolina, Syracuse University, Swindon College, Rhode Island Department of Human Services, Rochester Institute of Technology, Moen, Odense University Hospital

Suncorp Group Limited, St. Vincent Health, Citigroup, SRCSD, and UK Dept for Work and Pensions.

Buyer's Guide

Hyland OnBase vs. IBM FileNet

June 2025

Free Report: Hyland OnBase vs. IBM FileNet

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