Best BPM Software

Business process management system (BPMS) software is an often-overlooked business tool. However, it can be powerful and beneficial when leveraged correctly. There are tens of BPM software solutions on the market. You, therefore, have plenty of options at your disposal. However, this also makes it quite hard to choose the best one. Lucky for you, we are here to help with that. This article will help you find the best BPMS tools for your business.

Ranking Methodology for BPMs software

To find the best BPM software, we examine various dimensions of the tool. First, we look up the 100 top-rated products from various reputable Software Ranking Websites. We then read multiple reviews by BPM users and specialists, after which our experts evaluate the UI/UX design for each software. From our findings, we collate the top features and most useful metadata for each product. We also watch any recorded demos for an even more comprehensive analysis of each option. Finally, based on all of this information, we assign a score and rank to each option. That way, we can recommend the best tool for your business.

Conclusion

BPM tools have become more popular. Both big and small companies are adopting this new technology to boost their performance. A properly implemented set of BPM tools can very probably grow your business in ways never thought possible before. Unfortunately, many people confuse business process management with, for example, Customer Resource Management (CRM) software. BPM tools and CRM tools are indeed similar but have many marked differences. That’s a topic for another day, though.

Understandably, it is quite hard and sometimes boring to perform repetitive tasks. What’s even harder is finding the best BPM software for your business. However, we are here to help you at every step. Our list of the top software provides a range of solutions suitable for different businesses regardless of their size. However, we haven’t based our choices on mere instinct. Every BPM solution on our list went through a rigorous testing process before approval.

Since we want nothing short of impeccable, our ranking criteria are straightforward. That’s why our recommended BPM tools are the best of the best selected from hundreds of others available globally. Depending on your business, there will be an option that offers you the best BPM system for your needs.

In addition to UI/UX design evaluation, our experts also try out demos where applicable. By so doing, we can establish that the software isn’t just a run-of-the-mill product. Even as a business user, it’s also good to test the software yourself. Most of them have a free trial period, within which you can gauge their efficiency. Better still, the best BPM software provides a free version. You can also take advantage of that.

Unfortunately, not all BPMS tools are reliable. And with this type of software gradually becoming a necessity rather than a luxury, your business’s performance will depend on the BPM tools you use. Fortunately, you have multiple high-end options to choose from on our list of the top Business Process Management software.

BPMS tools overview

BPM systems are technological resources that businesses use to remain competitive. They can be used to design, execute, evaluate, model, and maintain the full range of your business’s activities along with the employees involved in managing those processes. Here we will help you get informed about this exciting and relatively new (at least, in its current form) type of software solution for your business.

What is BPMS software?

In a nutshell, business process management software is an enterprise-level tool that works to automate repetitive processes, manage fundamental processing, and control process logistics. Notably, everything is done in an appropriate and overarching manner.

There are many variations of BPMS software, but one thing is common to all: they purport to accelerate the speed at which tasks are performed. In other words, they all help increase efficiency by bringing tasks together and having them managed on one platform.

What does BPMS software do?

Since BPMS tools vary, they all work a little bit differently. Even so, they all aim to digitally integrate diverse and often far-flung areas of a company. The best BPM software does the following:

• Task automation — Often, workers get stressed and overworked because they are constantly performing repetitive tasks manually. A business process management system could successfully automate such processes. Nevertheless, it’s worth noting that automation doesn’t always have to be a black and white binary type of issue. Often, the correct BPM solution can be semi-automation of some tasks, giving room for just the right amount of necessary human intervention.
• Automatic analytics — These days, the business world runs on good analytics. Your business is surely not an exception here. Companies that start using analytics will quickly realize how much they really needed them all along. They are incredibly powerful tools for allowing a company to iterate in the right direction, instead of just blindly guessing and hoping. That’s why BPMS tools offer automatic analytics features.
• Seamless integration with existing software — If you are already using software to organize your business (CRM tools, for example), most BPM tools will allow you to integrate your existing solutions into its larger paradigm. This truly gives companies a “best of both worlds” scenario, where people can still use their old tools in a new and more integrated way.
• Improved workflow — BPM provides multiple methods of rich communication between people in a company. But there’s another benefit to having people in your organization use BPM tools for communication. BPM allows for the sharing of relevant information in the fastest and most error-proof way possible. This is because it brings all of your digital assets together and organizes them centrally. So, when things need to be referred to, they can always be at everybody’s fingertips, at any time.
• Automatic data synchronization — Different versions of different documents are the bane of any company’s existence. The danger of this occurring will only increase as your company scales up. However, a business process management system can perfectly counter that. By putting every document in your company under the purview of BPMS tools, such as version control, you can be assured that everybody is working with the latest version of any document.
• Automatic enforcement of business rules — It may often be hard to effectively communicate a change of rules or policy in a business. After all, not everybody is listening. BPM solutions can go a long way towards making these types of communication breakdowns a thing of the past. And this will be a permanent change. There will be no more excuses on the part of employees that they “didn’t get the memo” because everyone will get the memo. Proof of receipt can even be programmed in.

BPM software meaning

Business process management (BPM) is a very broadly defined term. It is a system that allows various business processes to be streamlined. This is achieved by using various methods to model, measure, and analyze processes. This leads to improving, optimizing, and even automating those processes. Any combination of methods that are used to manage a company’s business processes can be referred to as a BPM system.

It would be a good idea at this point to write down what you perceive as the main roadblocks within your business. Once this list is complete, make another list. This time, the list will be of what types of things going on at your business you would like to automate. Once this is done, you now have a blueprint for your ideal business process management software.

Main features of BPMS software

Business process management software has multiple features to help manage your business’s processes. Since there are different types of BPMS solutions, their features may vary.

However, any reliable business process management system has the following components:

• Process modeling — Ideal BPMS tools should be able to simulate a process even before automation.
• Project Management Integration — When projects and processes are integrated, you can share data easily. This translates to quicker management of end-to-end situations like product development. A good business process management system should provide this feature.
• Social Collaboration Features — If you can share data and other resources, collaboration becomes easier. Your team can therefore accomplish more tasks quickly. With ideal BPMS tools, you can enhance your business’s productivity through collaboration.
• Activity monitoring and reporting — A good business process management system will allow you to track a process from start to finish.
• Data Analysis — Top BPM solutions will provide tools that automatically analyze anything that occurs in your company’s digital domain.

Benefits of using Business Process Management software

Some of the main benefits companies will encounter once they have integrated a good BPMS are listed below. The list is by no means exhaustive, but it should give a good indication of why this software is important for your company.

Use-case scenarios

Many industries use BPMS tools, as depicted in the following use cases.

Cross-enterprise integration

Businesses, especially in the finance sector, are incredibly segmented. For example, there are bricks-and-mortar and online versions of banks. The two should be deeply integrated so that the management can easily oversee all processes. For example, suppose that a bank account holder makes a withdrawal via an ATM. The following day, they make another withdrawal from the same account, but this time via the bank’s mobile app. A BPM system allows the bank to follow all the withdrawal processes initiated by the customer. The account balance can then be correctly updated regardless of the withdrawal method used.

Enhancing clinical processes

The typical workflow in a hospital is usually complex. When a patient arrives, an administrative assistant checks them in and arranges their paperwork in the queue for the clinical assistant (CA). The CA conducts a preliminary diagnosis and enters the results into the electronic medical record (EMR). An examination session may be scheduled. Once the results are out, the CA will make a full diagnosis. If there is a need for admission, the patient will be hospitalized. If there’s a need for medication, the CA will issue a prescription. The patient can collect that medication from the hospital’s pharmacy.

A good business process management system could streamline all these processes. The tool would focus on bringing different departments of the hospital closer together. This would allow automatic data sharing. That way, the CA can quickly prescribe medicines and the pharmacist clearly sees what medication each patient needs.

These are just a few use cases for business process management software.

Benefits of BPMS solutions

Once you acquire a BPM system, your business will enjoy benefits that include:

Increased business productivity

A business process management system provides analytics tools that can help you identify the strengths and weaknesses of your business. As such, you can quickly fix all bottlenecks and increase your business’s overall productivity.

Improved customer service

BPMS options provide process automation, which means that a customer’s request can be quickly directed to the relevant person in the company. This improves the response time and overall customer satisfaction. That’s one way to retain clients.

Collaboration

Collaboration with team members can reduce the overall time spent on a task. When running multiple processes, engaging more people could get things done more quickly. This is precisely what business process management systems allow you to do. These platforms have modern communication channels through which teams can link up in real-time. The best BPM software even has file-sharing options which allow you to process details quickly.

Quick employee onboarding

Engaging new hires and making a positive first impression is key. With the best BPM software, you can automate onboarding tasks such as collecting personal information, filling out W9 forms, and assigning office equipment. This facilitates employee transition, helping them become productive quickly. Quick employee onboarding will help you accomplish more tasks in less time.

Which companies should buy BPMS software?

Almost any existing company can benefit to some extent from using business process management software. Those that already use it can attest to this.

However, some industries are positively crying out for integration with these types of tools. Such companies will invariably find BPM tools more beneficial. They include:

The financial services industry

There is probably no other industry so dependent on data than the finance industry. Besides being so obviously data-driven, the finance industry also has a lot of extremely complex regulations to contend with. These regulations are often subject to sudden and unexpected changes. A BPM system can be a long-lasting solution for flexibility in implementing any change.

The healthcare industry

The healthcare industry shares many things with its finance counterpart. Once again, regulations are many and constantly changing. A company policy needs to be implemented uniformly in any healthcare company. Surprisingly enough, this can be an issue, even in the smallest neighborhood clinic. A good BPM system will allow the automatic implementation of a new rule to the organization. That way, all relevant people will “get the memo” immediately.

IT-related industries

Anybody who has ever worked in any IT-related field knows that the idea that IT companies are efficient by nature is often far from true, unfortunately.

Ironically, IT professionals usually do tasks manually. Such work could quite easily be automated with a good BPS system. Also, many IT people spend inordinate amounts of time “staying on top of” situations that a BPM could be perfectly set to monitor in the background.

This can be done with custom settings for various types of alerts so that an IT professional only dedicates time to situations as is appropriate to that situation.

In general, IT workflow can be greatly improved by implementing proper BPMS tools.

How much does BPMS software cost?

As a ballpark figure, you can expect to pay $20 to $100 per month per user for a good BPM system. However, you can also find some platforms offering solutions that cost as much as $950-$1350 per month, for example. These are enterprise solutions that allow for an unlimited amount of people in your organization to have access to the business process management system.

It’s also possible to find very budget-minded solutions of even as low as $5 per month per user. Of course, these types of BPM solutions are going to be a bit limited in their scope. The good news is there is almost always a good upgrade path.

Types of BPMS software

Businesses run plenty of processes that may be different from one company to another. As such, each company needs a BPM solution that perfectly suits their business needs. Currently, there are three types of BPMS solutions, all defined by what they primarily do. Most BPMS solutions lie in one of these categories:

Document-centric BPMS solutions

A document-centric BPMS creates a document after input and approval from others. A realistic use case is creating a contract document. For this example, the document goes through multiple decision-makers and is processed to the final stage. A document-centric BPM gathers input from every stakeholder and automatically generates a document that everyone approves.

Human-centric BPMS solutions

Obviously, this type of BPM focuses on human interactions. It presents a model that fosters the relationship between people and tasks for better collaboration. Notably, not all tasks can be automated. For instance, reviewing data and generating business proposals will need human involvement. But with a human-centric BPMS solution, a process flow can be put in place. You can pause a task, reassign it or even get back to it later.

Integration-Centric BPM

This type of BPM focuses on linking organization-wide systems with other section-specific solutions. Simply put, it provides a smooth network of tools where data exchanges can be done with minimal hassle.

Trends in BPMS software

Using a BPMS is likely to become exponentially more popular in the near future. As companies shift and become more agile to meet customer demands, BPM systems are continuously embracing new technology. This is evident in the following BPM trends:

• Process automation via bots. Tools for automation will likely expand even further than they have already as new ideas come to the fore. Currently, bots sometimes called the “second coming of BPM” are automating various processes in some BPM systems. In general, BPM is likely to benefit strongly from advances in AI, as the two concepts naturally go hand in hand. In addition, things like predictive analytics will become more and more integral to BPM solutions.
• Adaptive Case Management. BPM works to boost the efficiency of predictable tasks. However, sometimes, employees perform tasks with fixed end results. The only workaround is responding ad hoc to all unplanned events. Fortunately, we now have intelligent BPMS solutions that can easily deal with adaptive cases.
• Demand for low-code BPM systems. The demand for ready-made solutions is rapidly increasing in the business sector. Nobody wants a system that takes forever to personalize. In fact, most IT leaders feel that low-code solutions keep their business relationships healthy. For BPM, this means that vendors will start producing turnkey-type solutions for various industries.

Which is the best BPM software?

The answer to this question depends on your individual needs and wants for your business. However, our list of recommended BPM solutions is a good place to start.

The most important aspect is to formulate your own criteria and decide on the features you most want to make use of in order to make the right choice of software for your business. Once you do, we have the right suggestions for you.

How to choose the right business process management software

For smaller companies with small budgets, options are limited to start. Depending on how “techy” the company is, there are open-source BPM tools out there. Also, there are many free options for BPM systems or free versions of solutions that offer paid upgrade paths.

Regardless of your budget, you have to decide whether you want your business process management system to be cloud-based or on-premise-based. Then, you have to choose between full-service, horizontal or vertical solutions.

At the very least, the best BPM software should offer robust project management tools, good analytics, and mobile support. Finally, not all learning curves are equal among BPM tools. In fact, some learning curves are way steeper than others. Be honest with how much of a learning curve you and your company can handle. A solution may not be the best if it takes too long to learn, causing inordinate downtime.

Summary

If you run any kind of business, from a garage-level startup to a large multinational, you owe it to yourself to read this article in its entirety. Among other things, you will learn how a BPM system can help you and your business thrive, even in adverse conditions. Additionally, you’ll have a better understanding of what to look for and how to choose the best BPM software for your needs. In a crowded market such as the BPM industry, choosing the best business process management software can be unnerving. That’s where we can help the process to get easier. As a starting point, check our list of recommended business process management software solutions.