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What is Business Process Management (BPM)? 

Person at desk building business process map in Bizagi Modeler on laptop

What is Business Process Management (BPM)?

Business process management (BPM) is the mapping and analysis of business processes to align them with overall business goals and identify areas for improvement. 

Using BPM software to optimize processes allows organizations to eliminate time-consuming and repetitive tasks, improve employee efficiency, reduce time to market and provide a better customer experience. 
 

 
What are the benefits of Business Process Management? 

Increased efficiency 
Gaining a better understanding of business processes allows organizations to locate and fix bottlenecks and inefficiencies. BPM can also help identify tasks that could benefit from automation. Bizagi customer adidas mapped out their business processes before automating them across several departments, resulting in a 60% increase in operational efficiency. 
 
Increased agility 
BPM software allows organizations to adapt business processes quickly so they can respond to external changes such as market fluctuations or amends to regulations, or internal factors, such as a change in strategy to provide a more competitive service.
 
Increased compliance 
By predetermining rules in business processes, compliance and best practices are baked straight into the organization’s business processes. This helps to prove compliance to external parties, and process maps can be used internally to identify non-compliance and prevent fines. Bizagi customer BNP Paribas Cardif Japan used BPM to ensure that insurance payments were accurate and made within the regulation deadlines. 
 
Increased collaboration 
Using process as a common language enables more effective collaboration between business and IT, resulting in faster development of business applications. This helps promote collaboration between employees on a day-to-day basis as business data can be stored in a centralized repository, so everyone has a view of the same information. 
 
Reduced risk 
BPM software allows standardization of processes and provides greater visibility and control over process execution reducing the likelihood of human error. Access management features also provide control over who can view and edit information, aiding organizations with data governance and preventing security issues. 
 
Continuous improvement 
Mapping and reviewing processes with BPM software provides greater visibility and a deeper understanding of how business processes are performing. Users can repeatedly review them and identify opportunities for improvement to enhance performance. 
 
What is BPM process.png 


 
What are the different types of Business Process Management? 

Human-centric BPM 
Human-centric process management focuses on the human activities required to execute a process and automates supporting functions. This ensures that tasks are carried out by the right person at the right time. 
Example: Employee onboarding 
 
Document-centric BPM 
Document-centric process management manages the approval workflow of documents, avoiding email chains and allowing better version control. 
Example: Contract approval
 
Integration-centric BPM 
Integration-centric process management connects the different software systems within an organization to enable data to flow between them, reducing the need for manual data transfer from one system to another. 
Example: Connecting SAP and a BPMS
 
 

The Business Process Management Lifecycle 

1. Design - Choose which process most requires improvement and define the steps needed to achieve the desired outcome. 
 
2. Model - Map out the current (‘as-is’) process and design the improved (‘to-be') version. 
 
3. Execute - Implement the redesigned process. 
 
4. Monitor - Track the performance of the new process to measure whether the improvements are achieving the expected results. 
 
5. Optimize - Look for ways to improve the process further – the aim of business process management is to continually find ways to improve business processes and enable the organization to work smarter. 
 


 
What features should you look for when choosing BPM software? 

 
Visual process modeling 
An intuitive drag and drop interface allows users to easily visualize processes and quickly identify better ways of working across the organization. 
 
Customizable UI 
The ability to customize the user interface dependent on end-user needs facilitates more efficient processes and better adoption of the application across departments. 
 
Integration capabilities 
Connecting BPMS to core business systems avoids the need to manually input data from one system to another, reducing time wasted on data transfer. 
 
Mobile functionality 
Enabling users to access business information from anywhere is key to preventing process delays and sustaining productivity.   
 
Reporting and analytics 
The ability to monitor process performance can help inform business decisions. 
 
Security 

Increasing regulations in data security and privacy require a system with stringent security features. 
 
Scalability 

As usage increases a BPMS needs to be able to handle the large volumes of data and documents needed to support multiple processes across the enterprise. 
 


Try Bizagi Modeler for free today and discover an intuitive and collaborative way to map and manage your business processes. 


 
 
 
 
 
 

 

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