What is Business Process Management Software?
Business process management (BPM) solutions help to automate, define, report, or organize business processes to optimize operations or achieve specific goals within an operation. BPM systems may also be referred to as BPM suite, business process management systems, or process management software. These tools are created to improve business processes using several methodologies, which can vary depending on the service provider.
Essentially three primary types of BPM platforms exist, including basic BPM platforms, BPM suite (BPMS), and intelligent BPM suite (iBPMS). For the most part, all types of BPM help to improve operational efficiency in the functions of the business, whether those functions are related to workflow, compliance protocols, service orders, or otherwise. According to Fortune Business Insights, the Business Process Management market is expected to reach over $21 billion by 2026, which represents a 12 percent compound annual growth rate between 2018 and 2026.
Source: Fortune Business Insights
Use Cases for Business Process Management Software
AstraZeneca Saves Time and Money with Nintex
To automate processes associated with conflict of interest agreements and save time with e-risk assessments, pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca utilized the Nintex Process Platform. The integration was such an efficient change that scientists working for the company garnered more time to focus on creating new drugs. The company reportedly saved 300,000 work hours and $3.5 million in costs thanks to the transition.
The Hertz Corporation Improves Capital Productivity with Comindware
Hertz needed a collaboration solution to improve workflow processes across their international locations in 150 countries. According to the Hertz Case Study published by Comindware, a Hertz representative stated:
“We had a number of separate Excel files that all served different business units within our finance and car locations management,“ said Hertz’s representative. “In order to improve capital productivity, we needed a way to access all projects in a single place and ensure flexible solutions for all field employees”.
With the cloud-based use of CapEx Management offered by Comindware, Hertz was able to enhance key processes for their growing collection of rental car locations, including streamlining the CapEx approval processes.
Samsonite Brazil Simplifies Purchasing Processes with Pipefy
Samsonite needed a workflow solution that could process purchase requests accurately, integrate with an older ERP system, offer complete visibility into purchase processes, and help with reporting. According to Samsonite’s customer service and procurement manager, Mauricio Rizzi:
“Every time I received a new purchase request, I would have to search through old emails and files to find out which suppliers to ask for a quote … It took forever.”
Pipefy’s setup offered everything Samsonite needed, right down to the ability to integrate with the dated J.D. Edwards ERP system. The result was a 177 percent ROI and 2,370 employee hours saved in just a five-month time frame.
Cuny School of Law Transforms Workflows and Saves Money with ProcessMaker
The Cuny School of Law had major issues with efficiency in a number of its processes, including admissions, financial aid applications, and human resources. Using mostly manual methodologies, the data analyst from Cuny stated that a lot of their workflows involved passing paper around the office and wasting a ton of money and time. With the implementation of ProcessMaker, the school has enhanced productivity, accountability among staff, and transparency in all operations. The Cuny School of Law gained the ability to modernize communications, generate faster response times for students, and achieve greater overall efficiency.
Typical Features and Functionality of Business Process Management Software
Data Capture, Analysis, and Management
Utilize the software or platform to capture pertinent business data associated with workflow or processes for analysis and management.
Project Management Integration
Integrate existing business projects with the BPM to take advantage of tools to analyze, optimize, and improve outcomes.
Real-Time Analytical Reports
Real-time analytical reports make it possible to obtain business metrics on a real-time basis for better control over processes or task management.
Dynamic Case Management (DCM)
DCM offers the user capabilities of managing processes that remain unstructured by changing, adding, or removing steps to create the best outcome with a given process.
Enterprise Collaboration
Enterprise collaboration features give users the benefit of allowing workgroups and employees to interact and collaborate via shared content to achieve more uniform task management.
Process Monitoring
Process monitoring enables users to monitor the full list of processes and workflows involved with everyday business operations.
Process Design and Execution
Process design and execution allows the user to create outlined business processes to achieve certain results or goals.
Process Library
The process library of a BPM solution allows the user to store an easy-to-access collection of all created processes and workflows within the platform.
BPMN Support
Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) offers a visual language model with flow charts and other features to utilize for workflow analysis.
Graphical Modeling of Forms and Processes
Allows users to both create and deploy forms and processes and graphical models to depict necessary information to team members.