IBM webMethods vs. Workato

With its world-class proven technology, the IBM webMethods products are best suited for solving integration needs, including application connectivity, data aggregation, and data synchronization. The business use cases expand across Healthcare, Aviation, Banking, Insurance, etc., and many other mission-critical systems. Though I feel there is room for improvement where webMethods products are utilized in a containerized platform, especially with the API Management suite of products.

Incentivized

Well Suited

• Business Process Work Flows, File Management, Small/Medium # of Records Queried (<~1000)
• Closing a sales deal in system one kicks off work flows in system two for implementation
• Notification of key events in system one via text, outlook event, etc
• While I note management of two-way integrations needs improvement, it is a strength of Workato and easier to set up here than in any other tool.
• Support for connectors business processes require (Docusign, Dropbox, Outlook, Quick Base, Salesforce, etc)

Needs Improvement -

• Management of two-way integrations. It's often a bit of a struggle to create the appropriate fields in both systems to ensure redundant jobs are not run nor infinite loops created. That said, Workato does provide some documentation to counter this.
• Working with Large Data Sets (1000+)

Incentivized

• Translate the data into required format based on system
• Handles good amount of load and tranefer data into chunks and very much accurate
• Administration is very easy and easily understable and it has goos secuity features
• Schedulers works well for pub/sub message pulling and pushing

Incentivized

• Workato is very easy to pick up and use. You'll be creating complex recipes within days. The UI, workflow, formulas, and other features are very intuitive.
• Workato is very powerful. The native connectors it has to hundreds of software already, allows users to make substantial automation and integrations, but the HTTP connector makes it seem like it has no boundaries. If you are using software that isn't a native Workato connector but it has an API, you can use their HTTP connector to make calls to and from.
• Workato is always making improvements to its platform. This includes adding more connectors, more features, updating current connectors to be more powerful, or expanding on other tools it offers.

• Clarifying the ongoing and near future roadmap developments in terms of capabilities and architecture
• Merging features, patterns and platform tooling with the rest of the Cloud Pak for integration toolkit
• Adding additional support for AI-driven development, low-/no-code features, and code assistant features

Incentivized

• Customization has a bit of a learning curve associated with it. Be prepared to expand your programming knowledge for any deep customization, however having the option to customize is critical
• Online training material is out there, but can be a bit cumbersome to read through and retain. More straight-forward online training material would help 10 fold

The webMethods platform is a fantastic tool for modernizing information systems. It's easy to use and delivers rapid results.The platform is focused on innovation and is accelerating its improvement with the acquisition by IBM.

Incentivized

We need to develop Enterprise Application Integrations and Workato was not designed for this

The webMethods product has a very user-friendly and easy-to-use interface.A weak point is the My webMethods Server portal (administration and monitoring portal for the on-premise platform). This weakness has been addressed thanks to the control plane on the hybrid version of the product. This version should be highlighted and used to ensure a very fluid and functional interface.

Incentivized

Due to prebuilt recipes, Workato is easy to learn and use for non-technical users if their use case fits the existing recipes. It is not easy for non-technical users to create, modify, debug or maintain complex integrations that are outside the prebuilt recipes.

The webMethods platform is very stable and does not cause incidents: if it is well configured and tailored at the base. Infrastructure incidents represent 20% of incidents (full disk, memory peaks, etc.) 80% of incidents come from the implementation of the code in the platform. If a code is not optimized and a high volume is observed in production, this can cause incidents. Similarly, if all error cases or conditions are not handled in the code, this can cause errors. Finally, there can be common errors if the applications connected to the platform do not return quality data or are unavailable.

Incentivized

The webMethods platform is designed to handle a high volume of small messages. It's a tool for continuous processing.The incidents I've seen involving application performance declines are caused by: - ​​Code optimization issues - File size issues or fragmentation of the transmitted file - Misuse of the platform (batch processing) - Monitoring data was not purged, and the user was working with millions of data points

Incentivized

In the majority of the tickets I've created, support has been very responsive and provided the right solutions or solutions.Resolving a ticket also depends on the information provided by the creator. It's important to provide the technical context and information about the environment, as well as information to help the support team reproduce the incident.

Incentivized

They employ an extremely knowledgeable team of problem solvers. I've never had a disappointing interaction or one that has left me still searching for answers. I know that when I ask for help, they'll partner with me until we find a solution together

Incentivized

We received in-person training from the webMethods team. We received standard training from the vendor and custom training on specific security topics.The training sessions went well but remained very standard and did not adapt to the client's specific business. In-person training is more suitable for rapid skill development. It is necessary to practice for a few weeks to ensure familiarity with the tool.

Incentivized

I found clear and easy-to-follow training with realistic use cases for quick understanding and a 360° view of the features. The lesson format allows you to progress and learn by breaking down the allocated time.The technical courses are described step by step, allowing you to quickly get to grips with the products

Incentivized

When implementing webMethods, it's essential to have the right support and guidance.It's important to map out the interactions, document them, prepare test cases, and implement them while making maximum use of the product's native features.Additional tools must also be planned to automate deployments, visualize logs, and monitor the platform.

Incentivized

We discovered that we could not use Workato for our more complex, large enterprise integrations. It was useful for simple workflows that matched the prebuilt recipes.

The two branches of the IBM integration portfolio are coming together nicely, and it's more a question of fully mapping the specific implementation requirements to the respective platform of choice when selecting between IBM Cloud Pak for Integration and IBM webMethods. Pricing and licensing model, cloud strategy, and level of distributed responsibilities and ownership of integration in the organisation can be deciding factors.

Incentivized

We found Workato to be easier to use, more powerful and more robust than other solutions we tested at the time. It simply does the trick and allowed us to implement all that we needed in all the precise details we needed. It gave us all the power, flexibility and autonomy we needed without bogging us down with unjustified complexity. Workato came through for us and that's why we keep using it after three intense years.

I don't know this product

Incentivized

• webMethods.io Integration is a cost effective approach to integration in isolation
• webMethods.io Integration as a supplement to on-premises integration is pointless and redundant and just adds complexity to the environment and additional costs
• webMethods.io Integration is a tough sell for organizations using Microsoft Azure integration products such as Logic Apps
• webMethods.io Integration has a faster time to market where the use case means standard provided adapters can be used

Incentivized

• Workato is an unusual type of software in that it’s very much middle-wear, which means it’s extra important for stake holders in your company (especially those who won’t be interacting with Workato on a daily basis) to see the ROI that Workato can provide. Typically ROI is in developer time, as well as replacements for other SaaS tools. For our team, we move 2X as fast and need 1/2 the developers, so the ROI is just incredible.