Business Process Management (BPM) Tools

Business Process Management (BPM) is a methodology for managing all the processes of an organization. In the Traditional Business Environment, business organizations were facing problems like human errors, management, time consumption, etc.

What is Business Process Management?

Business Process Management is the best solution to make all the processes effective so that organizations can achieve an enhanced outcome in a cost-efficient way. In short, business process management is focused on recognizing, altering, and monitoring multiple business processes for their smooth execution and enhancement over time.

BPM is the best term for practicing, encompassing solutions, and framed methods. If you think of it as a technology, well, it is not.

BPM is designed on the basis of business practice. It includes technology and well-designed methods to run the processes efficiently. It involves a process that is generated to meet the market demands and the changes can be made in an existing process at a low cost as per the need. It is the standardized and well-monitored way to run the workflow without any interruption.

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Successful employment of BPM includes the following points:

• It involves the management of outcomes rather than tasks to make sure that the focus on the project is maintained.
• Analyze and improve by correcting the drawbacks in the process before automation.
• BPM is a journey towards process optimization and a method to make that happen.

Standards are designed for enterprises to run their processes smoothly without any hassle. Standardized processes are easy to understand and to maintain. The risk of errors is reduced and can be solved quickly.

As mentioned above, continuous changes are made to improve the results and quality. Instead of developing a new process, previous processes are updated to meet the requirements to save time and make the processing fast.

BPM is a continuous process, but not a one-time process. Analysis and evaluation of processes and all the required steps are taken to improve the flow of the process. It leads to the continuous evaluation of processes at a particular interval.

Steps included in BPM are:

 

• Analyze the process
• Re-design and develop the model
• Implementation
• Monitoring
• Manage
• Automation

Analyze the process:

In the first step, all the project requirements are identified. The complete data and information is gathered which is required to fulfill project needs.

[ Related Article: Advanced IBM BPM Interview Question and Answers ]

Re-design and develop the model:

The gathered information and data are shared with the stakeholders and get documented in a proper manner. Then, a design is prepared which includes flow charts, roles, service agreements, task management, etc. Most of the BPM tools provide the facility to prepare the design.

After designing, a model is prepared which shows different scenarios. It explains real-world business scenarios like:

• What if the server goes down?
• What if the transition got delayed?

Most of the what-if conditions are tried to be explained while modeling with the possible solutions.

Implementation:

In this phase, the prepared model is implemented by the developers. They follow the design for the execution process. It includes steps like data mapping, development of user interface, data integration with the system, set users and their roles, etc. Deployment of the process is done and the training is provided to the staff.

Monitoring:

The whole processing of the project is monitored so that there will be no error in the development of the project.

Manage:

After the development of the project, the next and main step is management. It includes the proper working of the process in real business scenarios.

Automated:

The whole process is automated which saves time and manpower, Employees can perform several tasks at a time.

[ Related Article: Automation Robotic Process ]

BPM is like a solution which is the collection of all the information like where to go when to go. In this solution, all the required insights are requested and after getting these insights proper communication and actions are done. It is the process of reporting and querying software.

Your success depends on the data, means, how you manage and maintain your data sets in the repository. Maintain the data properly so that the identification becomes easy. The Common Warehouse Metamodel (CWM) provides a syntax for the data warehouse and Business Intelligence (BI) for sharing the metadata successfully. It is a step towards achieving the target of the organization.

CWM is released by the Object Management Group (OMG) and it permits to exchange of data of warehouse and BI with tools, warehouse platforms, and repositories. It is based on three standards:

• Unified Modelling Language (UML) – UML is an OMG modeling standard.
• Meta-Object Facility (MOF) – It is an OMG metadata repository and metamodelling standard.
• XML Metadata Interchange (XMI) – It is an OMG standard for metadata interchange.

CWM model helps the users to analyze and track the data. They can estimate where the data or information is coming from and how to use this data to achieve the desired output. Metamodel instances are exchanged with documents of XML.

Why Business Process Management is Important?

Unmanaged and unorganized business does not achieve success at any cost. To achieve the goal, it is required to follow some standard or management plan. It is quite difficult and time-consuming to manage the whole project at an individual level.

The chances of risks and mistakes increase which badly affects productivity. This leads a business to wastage of its resources, time, and money. Employees get demotivated and it is not a sign of the company’s success and growth.

Benefits of BPM

1. Agility

As per the market demands, changes in the rules, processes have become necessities for the organization. And, BPM is specially designed to overcome this problem. In BPM, the processes are designed in such a way that they can be updated and modified easily as per the customer requirement. It is flexible in nature. Also, this modification does not cost you much. It is affordable, which is one of the main features of BPM.

2. Productivity

It increases productivity as it reduces repetitive tasks. Everything is automated and designed properly. It helps the employees to perform tasks easily and with complete interest. It offers parallel processing, reducing errors, and bottlenecks. It is a solution that provides effective results. With BPM, employees are able to perform multiple tasks at a time which automatically increases productivity.

3. Efficiency & Reduced Risks

With BPM, the functioning of all the processes is carried out smoothly and efficiently as there is complete transparency in the work. Companies can save their resources and can use them in some other task. It includes properly maintained and well-managed processes that reduce errors and fraud cases.

4. Compliance & Transparency

Enterprises are required to comply with industry rules and regulations. BPM assures that the enterprises can implement regulatory needs as soon as possible to reduce delays in compliance or any kind of associated fines.

By implementing BPM in your organization, you integrate compliance in the life cycle of the process. It will bring transparency between the employees and the processes.

5. Employee Satisfaction

For every business, whether it is a small or large scale business, customer satisfaction is the key factor. And, to make a customer happy, first, make your employee happy. So, it is necessary to increase employee satisfaction.

The main aim of BPM is to reduce the repetitive work of employees and gaining employee satisfaction. The automation process helps the employees to give their 100% to their work. It will improve quality and productivity.

6. Customer Focus

With these designed processes, productivity increases. It enables the company to focus on the users and their requirements. It also helps in the delivery of product fast and easy. It improves the customer satisfaction graph and develops a strong bond between the user and the company. And also, employees develop plans to generate better results.

7. Consistency, Repeatability & Transferability

Before implementation of any task, a proper plan and design are prepared. Then, the tasks are implemented as per the design. It is a repeatable and continuous process and the problems are solved at the same time. Proper documentation is done for defining all the situations and responses. It helps in the management of the processes.

8. Sustainability

The process you are using in your company must be updated at regular intervals to make it up to date with the latest technology. It is implemented to make the results better and this can be achieved only with proper maintenance and management.

9. Measurability

It helps in measuring and analyzing outcomes and performance of the staff by managing the processes and manpower. BPM provides tools for reports and analytics when it gets combined with technology. It helps executives in taking decisions. You can estimate how these processes and standards are helpful in your organization’s growth.

10. Technology Integration

BPM is a solution that makes a communication bridge between Information Technology and business users. It focuses on processes with respective applications rather than only applications to achieve better results.

BPM tools Types:

1. Process mapping/modeling tools:

This type of BPM tool helps in creating Flow charts, Gantt charts, PERT diagrams, functional flow block diagrams, UML diagrams, etc.

2. Modellers for software development:

These tools help the developers in the implementation of the design and the process.

3. Modelling tools embedded in BPM systems:

These tools are used for optimization and automation of the modeled process. They help in the complete execution and updation of the process as per requirement.

Top 10 BPM tools available in the market

The below-discussed ones are the top 10 BPM tools. These tools are capable of serving all the three solutions mentioned above.

Bpm’online:

Bpm' online is an agile-based platform designed for business process automation and CRM. It is a multichannel marketing platform to orchestrate the consumer's journey and accelerate lead to revenue.

[ Related Article: CRM Tutorial ]

It provides a facility for marketers to plan and execute their strategies easily with more speed and efficiency. It enables the users to closely prioritize their processes with other aspects of their business tasks.

BP Logix:

BP Logix Process Director tool is developed with.Net language. It is a BPM platform compatible with web, mobile, and browser as well. This tool also provides an AI-enabled solution that combines low code and machine learning to take your data journey to the next level.

For workflow automation, and redefining business rules without writing a single line of code, this tool is the best choice.  Its easy-to-use interface helps you to create the most complex workflows in minutes.

Software AG:

It is a digital business platform designed for providing enhanced consumer response in this competitive market transforming organizations into agile enterprises. Its agile process platform assists companies to develop enterprise applications using managed business workflows. It comes with the BPM contents and strategies for providing better and faster outcomes.

The best part about Software AG - it allows a user to monitor his/her system in real-time creating transparency among the different development processes. This real-time monitoring includes analytics based on collected information and enterprise metrics.

AgilePoint:

The AgilePoint NX is a powerful platform that combines servers, forms, portals, designs, and reports for creating applications. It is a Microsoft-based framework developed for enterprises so that they can combine IT with BPM to operate critical business procedures. This framework is best for on-premise setup as well as cloud setup.

Oracle:

Oracle- a giant in the IT field offers BPM suite 12c based unified engine and single design-time platform. It helps you to deal with processes, human tasks, analytics, integrations, cases, and rules. The platform is empowered with the integration of Oracle WebCenter Portal and Oracle

WebCenter Content:

The framework supports collaboration for enhanced process efficiency. Thus, enterprises can utilize the resources and enhance throughput. Real-time analytics also boosts processes' visibilities.

Pegasystems:

Pegasystems offers Pega 7 platform for managing BPM, application development, and various enterprise cases.  It also offers mobile functions, a decision hub, and cloud-enabled services. Pega 7 allows a user to create enterprise applications fulfilling all their process demands.

Appian:

Appian offers a native process repository to manage BPM-powered processes. It allows a user to store and capture various process models. These models can be again used by defining new business policies, procedures, and rules.

Its form interface helps enterprises to create task forms, dashboards, and various sensitive events that can be easily monitored, analyzed, and provide a response to enterprise events.

Tibco Software:

Tibco is famous for application management and integration. They are experts in managing BPM with a variety of offerings. Now, it is managed by Vista Equity Partners in 4Q14 which is empowering its continuous growth and expansion.

This business process framework is empowered by the TIBCO ActiveMatrix BPM and TIBCO Nimbus. It also allows business process analysis and analytics through these solutions.

IBM:

IBM is a world-famous organization that offers thousands of services and tools. Its BPM portfolio can't be expressed in just a few words. IBM offers Business Process Manager, Operational Decision Manager, IBM Analytical Decision Management, and many other tools.

It also offers InfoSphere Streams, FileNet Content Manager, Bluemix, Blueworks Live, MobileFirst Platform, Integration Bus, and Business Monitor for operating business processes smoothly. The company is continuously expanding its cloud infrastructure for deployment, achieving agility, and handling lightweight projects.

AuraPortal:

The AuraPortal Helium is a powerful BPM platform expanded among Latin America, Europe, and the Middle East. It is developed on Microsoft.Net technology. The Costa Rican National Insurance's Institute implementation leads 2 million active users for adoption.

Thus, we can see how important Business Process Management is for streamlining all our business operations. Today, the industry is full of intelligent BPM tools and incredible cloud services assisting organizations by fulfilling their need. Here, BPM has emerged as a most effective strategy to make them stand among most of the competitors chasing each other.