2015 BUSINESS PROCESS MANAGEMENT SUITES BUYER’S GUIDE

0

Business Process

Management Suites (BPMS)

2015 Buyer’s Guide

2015 BUSINESS PROCESS MANAGEMENT SUITES BUYER’S GUIDE

2

to compare Business Process Management Suites (BPMS) vendors CLICK

Introduction to Business Process Management

When humans discovered the “process” of doing things in order to accomplish their goals,

development, progress, and civilization were born. From making fire to finding solutions to

current problems and issues, everything revolves around a process. And a process can still

have subprocesses or parts within—a “process within a process.” For example, online

shopping requires payment. Payment Information is a part, or a subprocess, of the Payment

Process. And the Payment Information process has another subprocess called Credit Card

Verification. Some organizations have simple processes, while others have more complex

approaches for managing their business operations in order to be effective, efficient, and

successful in their respective industries. As the name itself implies, Business Process Management (BPM) focuses on the

improvement of a company or organization's performance by managing its business

processes. BPM is also a systematic approach for making an organization's workflow more

effective, efficient, and adaptable to a constantly changing environment and industry. Many

discussions about BPM see it from two viewpoints—people and/or technology. This Buyer's Guide will provide its audience and readers with enlightening and informative

topics relating to Business Process Management technologies. The goal is to guide every

organization or person in choosing the right tool and/or technique for managing their business

process(es). The following are the outline topics in this Buyer's Guide:

What is Business Process Management?

History of Business Process Management

Types of Business Process Management Suites

What Common Problems Does Business Process Management Solve?

Key Business Process Management Suite Features

Selecting the Right Business Process Management Suite

Benefits of Business Process Management Suites

Pricing

BPMS Market Trends

2015 BUSINESS PROCESS MANAGEMENT SUITES BUYER’S GUIDE

3

to compare Business Process Management Suites (BPMS) vendors CLICK

What is Business Process Management? A Business Process (BP) is a collection of related tasks, procedures, and structured activities that produce a specific product or service for a particular type of customer, intended audience, or user. Although a BP can be executed in all types of industries that provide services, products, and solutions, usually it is designed by industries that use information technology. Normally, a business process begins with a mission objective and ends with the accomplishment of the said mission objective. Business Process Management (BPM) focuses on a company's performance by constantly improving and managing its business processes. From a managerial perspective, BPM sees processes as “organizational assets” that must be understood, managed, and improved to deliver value-added products and services to the company's clients and software users. Many believe that these processes can be enhanced through current technologies. Thus, BPM can be discussed further by seeing it from two different perspectives—people and/or technology. Business Process Management is also a systematic approach for making an organization's

workflow more effective, efficient, and adaptable in a constantly changing world, with

constantly changing industries and technology. It is a set of activities (i.e., processes within a

process) that accomplish a specific organizational or business goal. Sometimes the goal is

simply to reduce human error or miscommunication. A full service BPM suite has five basic components:

Process Discovery and Project Scoping

Process Modeling and Design

Business Rules Engine

Workflow Engine

Simulation and Testing

Other BPM suites include:

Content Management

Collaboration Tools

Business Process Management has greatly evolved over the years. It is one of the

breakthroughs for IT and business. With the growth of Internet accessibility, mobile devices,

cloud services, computers, etc., industries work in parallel with current technology to improve

2015 BUSINESS PROCESS MANAGEMENT SUITES BUYER’S GUIDE

4

to compare Business Process Management Suites (BPMS) vendors CLICK

their services and products. Some people even consider BPM as “the bridge between

Information Technology (IT) and Business.”

History of Business Process Management

Although Business Process Management has been in existence for a long time—ever since

the discovery of fire and trading—it was in the eighteenth century that Adam Smith gave a

clear picture of processes by citing a pin factory as an example. Previously, production was

dominated by handcrafted goods and performed by one person only. Adam Smith—through

the pin factory—introduced the benefits of the division of labor, in which the business of

making pins is divided into eighteen distinct operations, each performed by distinct hands. The

result was an exaggerated increase in productivity by 24,000 percent compared with the

practice of non-division of labor. In the early 1990s, corporations all over the world started adopting re-engineering to restore

competitiveness. According to Thomas Davenport (1993), a business process must include

clearly defined boundaries, input/output, smaller parts and activities that are ordered in time

and space, a receiver (customer), and the restriction that the transformation taking place within

a process must add value for the customer. A business shift took place away from focusing on

a product-oriented point of view (what is done) to focusing on the business logic of the process

(how work is done). Rummler and Brache (1995) introduced a new step in business evolution by focusing more on

the organization's external customers. According to them, there are two types of processes—

primary and support. Primary processes include all the activities that result in a product or

service that is received by a customer, while support processes include all the activities that

are not visible to the customer but are essential to the effective management of the business. Finally, Henry Johansson et al. define “process“ as a set of linked activities that take an input

and transform it to create an output: “The transformation that occurs in the process should add

value to the input and create an output that is more useful and effective to the recipient either

upstream or downstream.” Nowadays, a business process is synonymous with the management of middleware or the

integration of application software tasks. Initially, BPM was intended to automate business

processes with the use of information technology, but it has been extended and has evolved

into integrating human interactions with the use of technology.

2015 BUSINESS PROCESS MANAGEMENT SUITES BUYER’S GUIDE

5

to compare Business Process Management Suites (BPMS) vendors CLICK

Types of Business Process Management Suites

In a highly dynamic and ever-changing world, business conditions change every day. There is

a need for a system that meets the requirements of businesses and quickly adapts to their

needs. Everybody needs a system that improves the quality of end-to-end processes, and

improves and supports continuous growth in processes. Here are some types of Business

Process Management Suites (BPMS):

For Human Intensive Processes (or Human-centric Processes)

A human intensive process is one of the major types of processes that play a pivotal role in

choosing the right suite. In this process, a lot of human interaction is needed for every step of

the business application. It requires human judgment and intuition for decision-making during

the individual steps of the business process. Some examples are:

Claims Processing

Loan Approvals

Travel Requests

Purchase Requests

Notice that this process deals with a lot of routing of work from one person to another. This

process covers the following aspects with regard to the tasks carried out by humans:

How the Process Works

What Goes in and out of the Workflow

Monitoring Volume and Capacity

Deciding on Performers and Stakeholders

For System Intensive Processes (System-centric Processes)

A system intensive process is the second major type of process that plays a pivotal role when

choosing the right suite. This process handles millions of transactions every day, which interact

with packaged applications, custom applications, external applications, and very occasionally

with humans. Some examples are:

Trade Reconciliations

Supply Chain Management

2015 BUSINESS PROCESS MANAGEMENT SUITES BUYER’S GUIDE

6

to compare Business Process Management Suites (BPMS) vendors CLICK

Line Provisioning in the Telecommunications Market

For Document Intensive Processes

A document intensive process requires human interaction in order to review documents for

approval, enter data from documents into a back-office system, and make decisions. It is

almost the same as a human intensive process. The difference is that actions are driven by

information found in electronic documents and forms, scanned images, etc. This process

complements document management. Some examples are:

New Account Opening

Invoice Processing

Industry-Specific Processes (e.g., Medical Records)

For Decision Intensive Processes

A decision intensive process is a repeatable process whose conduct and execution are heavily

dependent upon knowledge workers who play a specific role while performing decision-making

tasks that interconnect to drive critical organizational outcomes. One example is the arduous

process of government security clearances.

For Cloud Technology

While “on-premises” processes are still desired, there is an increase in “on-demand” and

software as a service (SaaS) offerings that utilize cloud technology.

What Common Problems Does Business Process

Management Solve?

BPM is not something that can be bought on the market. Applications and solutions can only

be instrumental in accomplishing an organizational goal.

The common problems that BPM solves depend on where a person or organization is at the

moment:

Information Technology – BPM can help IT understand how a business really works.

2015 BUSINESS PROCESS MANAGEMENT SUITES BUYER’S GUIDE

7

to compare Business Process Management Suites (BPMS) vendors CLICK

Business – BPM opens the door to “buying a solution for our problem”, e.g., buying a

better software tool.

Users – BPM removes the fear of asking for change.

Third Parties – BPM improves the interactions with other stakeholders.

Management – BPM contributes a new model that empowers people.

To put it in a different way, when a person is sick, the goal is not to buy medicine, but to get

well. Therefore, the person may choose to buy medicine or other remedies to get better. BPM

acts in the same way. It paves the way so that organizations accomplish their goals, but it does

not prescribe anything (e.g., software to buy) as the only viable solution.

Other problems that BPM solves are:

Removal of Routine Operations

Easier Cooperation between Business and IT

Reduced Level of Undesired Complexity

Improved Digital Operations

Key Business Process Management Suite Features

A Business Process Management Suite can be used as an instrument of a business process in

accomplishing a goal. However, any organization or user should bear in mind that since it is

only an instrument or tool, it doesn't do “BPM” in the long run or make everything error-free.

Readers should bear in mind that BPM is still all about a set of activities that accomplish an

organizational or business goal regardless of the software being used. The following are some

of the features found in BPM suites:

Process Management – allows an organization to streamline its operations by automating,

executing, and monitoring business processes from start to end.

Process Designer

Engine

Rules Engine

2015 BUSINESS PROCESS MANAGEMENT SUITES BUYER’S GUIDE

8

to compare Business Process Management Suites (BPMS) vendors CLICK

Knowledge Management - leverages information by managing an organization's documents

and content, and facilitating employee interaction in a collaborative community.

Knowledge Management

Document Management

Collaborative Tools

Portal

Integrated Analytics – increases visibility by delivering extensive reports to managers on key

business operations and process execution.

Process Analytics

Business Analytics

Selecting the Right Business Process Management

Suite

As previously mentioned, buying and using a Business Process Management Suite is not

exactly doing “BPM.” Rather, it is a tool or instrument that helps the process. BPM is a set of

activities that accomplish a business goal regardless of software, application, or suite being

used. Here are some things to look for when buying a BPMS, as well as a few questions to ask

within the organization and to vendors before making a purchase:

1) Determine the scope of the process management needs:

What are the organization's critical processes?

Human-centric vs. System-centric?

How complex is the IT infrastructure?

2) Understand what the BPM essentials are, and determine additional advanced features

that are still needed:

Does it provide accessibility to all known portals, e.g., smartphones?

Can it be easily accessed, managed, and controlled?

2015 BUSINESS PROCESS MANAGEMENT SUITES BUYER’S GUIDE

9

to compare Business Process Management Suites (BPMS) vendors CLICK

3) From Steps 1 and 2, document the requirements and weigh priorities:

What is most needed now?

4) Short-list vendors:

Which vendor products meet the needs of your documented requirements?

How long have the vendors been selling or providing a BPM solution on the market?

Is it rated well by top firms and/or comparable firms?

5) Conduct vendor evaluations and engage in proofs of concepts:

What are the customer satisfaction rates?

What did customers say about the suite?

6) Others:

User-Friendly

Personalized

Scalable

Web-Based

Benefits of Business Process Management Suites

Here are some benefits of using a Business Process Management Suite:

Engages with your customers – e.g., customer engagement becomes part of a larger

process that can be tracked

Simplifies operations – e.g., automates what needs to be automated

Makes change a competitive advantage

Cost efficiency – BPM is a driving strategy for maximizing cost efficiency

Business agility – demands for ultra-flexible tools that can be adapted to the business

process

2015 BUSINESS PROCESS MANAGEMENT SUITES BUYER’S GUIDE

10

to compare Business Process Management Suites (BPMS) vendors CLICK

Compliance ease and visibility – e.g., building compliance into business practices

Staff satisfaction – e.g., motivates team members

Increases accountability – e.g., minimizes potential fraud

Improves reliability – e.g., can easily locate information

Avoids waste – e.g., identifies possible instances of waste and inefficiency

Protects company resources and information – e.g., staff safety and protection of

company assets

Pricing

BPMS vendors are very reluctant to release pricing information publicly. Typically, these

vendors sell a package complete with software, services, maintenance, and possibly a promise

of upgrades, and then they apply discounts depending on how close the time of purchase is to

the quarter end or year-end. Cloud-based BPMS vendors might disclose prices because the

charges are per user and per month for their service. Unfortunately, many of these vendors still

cling to the old ways of not disclosing their prices. Sometimes vendors provide a package to

customers based on their knowledge of the customer's budget, even though it might not be the

right “solution” at all to help them accomplish their business goal, since the price is the

determining force behind the purchase. There are BPM consultants who cite approximate

prices. The following are ballpark figures:

Small deal (foot in the door) – less than $100,000

Medium deal – $100,000 to $250,000

Enterprise deal – more than $250,000

Government-sized deal – more than $500,000

BPMS Market Trends

There is growth in the cloud computing realm, and many worldwide companies are poised to

benefit from it. As more people and organizations move to cloud computing and use

smartphones and other mobile devices to access information, so do business practices that

were once done in the office. One of the capabilities of a cloud-based BPMS is its ability to

reach everyone and extract the information needed in order to do a job. BPM has just created

a new market of opportunities as enterprises realize that automation of processes is key to

2015 BUSINESS PROCESS MANAGEMENT SUITES BUYER’S GUIDE

11

to compare Business Process Management Suites (BPMS) vendors CLICK

market growth. Apart from cost efficiency and IT improvements, investing in high-quality BPM

solutions now could lead companies to optimize their approach to cloud and mobile trends and

ensure progress with this technology as a primary component of operations.

Whether institutions opt for cloud-based BPM, “in-demand” BPM, or other preferences,

Business Process Management is still all about business processes and activities that are

intended to accomplish business goals. There may be applications and suites that work

wonders, but at the end of the day, the entire process is still what everyone will focus on.

Automation cuts costs in many surprising ways. But human intervention, involvement,

judgment, and intuition should always be on top of the process. Perhaps one of the

disadvantages of too much automation and transforming of work through technology is the

reduction of human interaction.

Moxize simplifies the discovery, research, and collaboration needs of Technology

Buyers of all sizes. Accessed via www.moxize.com, we serve as an online educational

platform that allows users to learn about solution providers and products in just a few

clicks.

The information included herein reflects the latest research conducted by our analysts. Said

information may have changed at the time of publication and does not constitute

representations on behalf of present or any vendors for, without limitations, functionality,

upgrades, delivery, or development. The reader should not rely solely on the information

herein for product/solution selection related decisions. Moxize makes no guarantees with

respect to the accuracy of said information.

© Moxize, LLC. All rights reserved.

2015 BUSINESS PROCESS MANAGEMENT SUITES BUYER’S GUIDE

12

to compare Business Process Management Suites (BPMS) vendors CLICK