Top 15 Business Process Management Software to Consider for 2023

Business runs on its people, systems, and processes. A perfect synergy of these 3 components is necessary for smooth business operations. Using business software for operations management helps you map out everyday processes to identify and eliminate bottlenecks, control the company’s costs, and make your day-to-day processes as efficient as possible.

Business process software also ensures the effectiveness of the people involved in your process. This blog explores the need for business process management, what business process management software is, and the best business process management software. 

What is Business Process Management?

Organizations without clear procedures and streamlined processes are likely to end up with operational delays, security threats, and chaotic processes, which will ultimately affect the business’s bottom line. Guided by the right business process management (BPM software) principles, businesses can optimize their processes and teams can carry out their responsibilities on time for faster and more reliable results. Business process management is the creation, optimization, implementation, and evaluation of specific processes in an organization. 

BPM software principles can be applied to operational activities that are repetitive, ongoing, and predictable. Most often, such tasks are tedious and time-consuming, and employees end up spending most of their work hours laboring over them. BPM forms the basis for workflow automation, which automates such tasks.

Organizations can streamline and automate repetitive tasks so that the teams are able to achieve important business milestones rather than labor over these tasks. Implementing BPM also helps reduce the incidence and cost of error and delivers excellent customer experience. 

Unfortunately, most businesses debate implementing the best BPM software mainly due to the costs that come with it. They might be tempted to ignore the need for BPM software until processes are stable. It is not enough if processes just work, they need to work optimally. Optimal process performance is possible only when resources are utilized optimally and tasks are executed per preset business rules.

Even more established businesses experience challenges in certain aspects of their business, like onboarding, sales and marketing, hiring, etc, when processes span multiple departments. The key to improving process performance is to build a solid foundation for systemized business processes with BPM. 

BPM software can help organizations achieve business objectives in many departments and functions.

Some of the departments that can achieve optimal performance via BPM include –

1. Accounts payable and receivable 

accelerating invoice reviews and approvals, avoiding late payments, and deeper visibility into process performance can be achieved by BPM. 

2. Human resources 

processes like employee onboarding, and automating document routing for approvals are some of the HR processes that can be automated using BPM software.

3. Compliance and risk management 

BPMS software can help identify legal and financial risks and help internal audit teams track and resolve issues via alerts and notifications. 

Based on the purpose of using BPM software, it is categorized into document-centric, human-centric, and integration-centric. Human-centric BPM is used for processes that are carried out by humans and usually require staff approvals. Document-centric BPM is when a document is at the core of the process. Integration-centric BPM is used between existing systems. 

Three Types of Business Process Management

Human-centric BPM

A human-centric BPM system, as the name suggests, is specifically meant for processes that involve human interaction like staff approvals and other manual labor. This business process software offers general tracking of the processes automated notifications and personal dashboards for the employees. While operating this particular BPM system, it is a collaborative model that involves considerable human involvement and requires critical thinking and decision-making skills. Hence, the system is user-friendly and easy to navigate by all the employees. 

In a human-centric BPM, the employees can create workflows for the processes and manage the tasks accordingly. Human involvement is specific to certain tasks like preparing documents like proposals and contracts, or intellectual tasks like decision-making, translations, analysis of results, or even simple actions like uploading or submitting reports/documents. Therefore, along with these human-oriented activities automated tasks are put together in a human-oriented BPM system.

The most essential process where a human-centric BPM can be employed is the hiring process. The hiring manager can gather control over the process by automating certain tasks like resume scanning, conducting online assessments, etc., and eventually set up limited candidates for interviews with the managers or chiefs. 

Document-centric BPM

A document-oriented BPM system is where the document is placed at the core of the process and manages the entire process from document creation to approval. This particular BPM system revolves around process steps like document review, approval, editing, signing using e-signatures, sharing, and handling all document-based contracts and agreements. 

It effectively eradicates the need to carry several paper-based documents across departments to get them approved manually. The document-oriented BMP software offers a platform where with the help of limited resources, documents can be uploaded, reviewed, and approved effortlessly. Not only paper-based documents but automated business process management cloud software can eliminate the traditional and delayed process of getting approvals through emails. Unlike the human-centric, the documents are automated to work efficiently. Hence, essential processes like document management, project management, formatting of documents, and verification can all be streamlined effectively. 

Integration-centric BPM

An integration-oriented BPM approach offers an overall integration and streamlining of all the organizational processes. Additionally, this BPM model also entails the integration of all the various applications, networks, systems, and tools like HRMS, CRM, ERP, payroll systems, etc. that are used by businesses. Unlike human-oriented BPM systems, these require minimal human involvement as the applications/software encourage API software connection. The business operations when integrated become more efficient and flexible. 

Integration-centric BPM is best suited for complex business processes that involve multiple stages, including the involvement of different departments, and require more resources. Leveraging an integration tool is also the best solution that can effectively reduce the need for employees to constantly move between different files or systems to access certain data. Hence, this ensures a consistent flow of the processes. 

This type of business process management offers notable advantages to the processes. Productivity increases with proper streamlining and improved efficiency. Errors, casual mistakes, and inaccuracies that are caused due to factors like miscommunication, and manual delays are all successfully reduced to zero. Most importantly, the monitoring process becomes simpler and users can employ measured control over the processes. 

Steps in the BPM Software lifecycle

A deep understanding of the BPM lifecycle is essential to deploy growth-oriented strategies that suit your business. The BPM lifecycle is broken down into 5 stages that need to be executed in a sequence to achieve desired business outcomes. 

1. Design phase 

The designing stage of the BPM software cycle thoroughly examines how a process is carried out. For instance, management could start interviewing employees and teams to understand how work is carried out. Talking to team members sheds light on how requests are approved, claims are managed, or payments are made. The relevant documents are also observed, and the people and resources involved in the process are identified. The design phase is when you take time to note all the challenges that are slowing the process. 

2.  Modeling phase 

End-to-end observation of the process is carried out in the previous phase. In the modeling phase, a visual illustration of the process is created. Creating a process map is an important part of the modeling phase. The process map depicts the entire process, along with ways to optimize it and deliver the best outcomes. Teams can work along with management to create a process model that maps existing processes accurately and highlights potential bottlenecks and scenarios that might arise in the future. 

3. Execution phase 

Once you have the process map ready, it becomes super easy to identify areas of improvement and changes that need to be done to the process. This part of the BPM cycle is utilized to test how a process would perform with smaller teams within a controlled setting. BPM stakeholders must document exactly which workflows are going to be changed and notify all the concerned parties about the changes. This is a very important step that ensures that business operations are not affected by the changes. 

4. Monitoring phase

The monitoring phase of the BPM cycle mainly concerns regular tracking and monitoring of the progress of the newly implemented system. The management, team, and other stakeholders must come together periodically to follow up on the performance of the project. When done right, process monitoring helps teams identify new or unexpected workflow bottlenecks.

When such scenarios are encountered, the team has to gather complete information on what went wrong, at what stage it occurred, and whether team members must re-evaluate how the activity is performed. 

5. Optimization phase 

Optimizing the outlined business process is the final and most important phase of BPM. While optimizing a process plan, you need to consider all the information on the process in the form of reports and metrics. A consolidated view of the process data helps make thorough improvements to efficiency.

It is important to consider BPM as an ongoing process improvement exercise, and not as a set-and-forget initiative. Success from BPM comes only when evaluation is ongoing and processes are improved and adapted to the organization’s evolving demands. 

What is Business Process Management Software?

Now that we have explored BPM concepts in detail, let us move to what business process management software is. Business process management software analyzes, monitors, and transforms business processes based on BPM methodology. Business process management cloud software provides anytime, anywhere access to users, and real-time reports and analytics for making data-driven business decisions. 

A business process management platform can be used for a variety of reasons

1. To review and analyze existing processes 

This is the primary use of BPMS. Analysis and review of existing processes help in monitoring the performance of the process and identifying bottlenecks and areas of improvement. Continuous improvement of business processes ensures that business performance is optimized and expected outcomes are achieved. 

2. Design new processes 

BPM helps in analyzing business requirements thoroughly and designing processes according to the requirements. Improving existing processes is also based on the review and analysis of the process based on BPM methodologies. 

3. Aligning business functions according to customer needs 

Best BPM techniques can be followed to analyze customer needs and expectations. Once you have that data, it becomes easy to modify business functions according to the customer requirements. When business functions and operations are aligned to customer expectations and requirements, process outcomes are better. 

4. Monitoring and measuring business resources 

effective resource utilization is possible only when the right resource is assigned to the right job/role. Also when a resource is not being utilized by a task or process, it must be released to the resource pool so that other tasks can use it. BPMS Software enables effective monitoring and measurement of business resources so that process resources are used optimally. 

5. Optimizing business processes 

when a business process is designed, little attention is paid to the redundant or repetitive tasks that make up the process. Only once the process is operational, do the redundancies crop up. Applying BPM methodologies to business processes eliminates redundant steps in the process and identifies repetitive, low-value steps that can be automated. 

6. Checking costs to make daily operations more streamlined 

the outcome of streamlining business processes to eliminate redundancies results in cost cutting. When repetitive steps are automated, the time and costs associated with these steps are also reduced significantly. As a result, the process becomes cost-effective and the execution time is also reduced significantly. Applying the Best BPMS software techniques to essential business processes is highly beneficial for the organization in terms of cost and time savings. 

7. Speed up process approvals 

Best BPMS software alerts process owners on repetitive tasks that are causing excessive manual work for employees. Managers and team leads may be spending too much time reviewing and validating employee requests. Automating such processes speeds up approvals and frees managers from spending too much time reviewing requests. 

Must-Have Features of BPM Software

Once you have chosen to implement a business process management software, you need to mull over the features of business process management workflow software. The market is flooded with BPMS software, but not all of them offer the same features. When it comes to choosing business process management software, the one-size-fits-all approach does not work at all.

The BPMS tool must be chosen based on the unique requirements of your business. There are some must-have features that you must look out for in the business process management platform, as listed below-

1. Customization 

The Bpm software must be customizable as per the requirements of your business. The software must be flexible to adapt to the expansions and changes that might crop up in the future. Customizability and scalability are a must for BPMS solutions. 

2. Integrations 

Prior to BPM software implementation, businesses will have existing systems and software that are already running. Implementing a BPM solution must not disrupt the working of existing systems. Seamless integration with existing systems is a must-have feature of BPMS software. When the BPM tool integrates with existing software, data exchange between tasks becomes easy and quick. You must choose software that supports a range of integrations. 

3. Easy implementation 

Choosing a business process management software simplifies the implementation and usage greatly. Cloud-based BPM systems can be installed within minutes, as opposed to on-premise systems that take days or even months. Working on cloud-BPM solutions is comparatively easy with intuitive dashboards and user interfaces. Dependence on the IT team is significantly reduced by using software that is easy to use and install. Look for software that provides templates and drag-and-drop features that do not require coding knowledge. 

4. Reporting and analytics 

The BPMS software must provide real-time reporting and analytics on process performance and task statuses. Having a bird’s eye view of the entire process enables better control over process performance. The software must enable the real-time gathering of process data and presenting it in the form of an easily readable and understandable format. These reports can be used to measure the efficiency of process management. Process analytics also throws light on how the current process is performing and whether optimal results are delivered by each task in the process. 

5. Omni-channel operability 

Staying connected on the go has become the norm for business operations. The business process management system must support seamless interconnectivity between multiple channels and devices used for business operations. Interconnectivity between desktop, iOS, and Android devices is a must for easy collaboration. 

6. Support 

BPM software is not the “fit-and-forget” type, where you install the software and forget about it. You require constant support even after you install the software. Any issues that might arise during the installation or working of the software must be addressed immediately. Choose a software that provides comprehensive support that helps businesses deal with issues quickly and efficiently. 

7. Tool control and role-based access 

business data must be handled very carefully. In order to secure business data, the BPMS tool must provide strict tool control features via profiles and role-based access. Role-based access to business data ensures that it is not misused or duplicated by unauthorized personnel. A single sign-on feature in the software and a security-based interface for logging into the software is a must-have feature that ensures data security and safety. 

Cflow is a cloud-BPM tool that provides a rich feature set that covers all of the above features and much more. This workflow automation tool supports digital strategies for organizations that demand agility, visibility, and cost efficiency. The visual form designer in Cflow makes it super easy to create workflow forms without any coding knowledge. Users can create customized workflows according to the requirements of their businesses. 

Implementing robust BPM tools requires an objective approach to analyzing the current processes and identifying areas of improvement. Process owners also need to be flexible while creating process rules, which gives people the power to make sensible decisions and modify changes wherever needed. While implementing BPMS software it is important to empower teams rather than control them. Process owners must go the extra mile to ensure that everyone is on board with the new system from the start. 

Things to Consider When Implementing BPM Software

Implementation of BPM software can be a daunting task. As it is a solution that would completely alter the work dynamics of the organization, a shift from a manual to an automated setup can be a huge initiative to take up. Here are some tips to follow during the implementation process of BPM software.

Follow an Objective Approach

An objective implementation of the process removes the influence of any bias. For this, step away from the owner’s perspective and think from the shoes of the customers/clients. This will allow the organization to recognize their customers/clients’ needs and what satisfies them. The conclusion drawn from the objective approach can be used to choose the right tool and implement it that would benefit both the organization as well as the customers/clients. 

Involve the Employees in BPM Implementation

The team members or employees of the organization are the section that is going to be majorly involved in the processes even after the implementation of BPM software. The employees have to be confident and involved in the new system. To achieve this, the employers have to properly communicate with the employees regarding the new approach that is being adopted. Reason out to them why this particular tool is chosen and what the organization is aiming to achieve through this. Questions like, how does this solution solve the issues in the business? And how it is the best-suited tool for the working environment. It is ideal to provide proper training for the employees to easily adapt to the change and start working comfortably. 

Be Flexible

It is important to understand that when an organization is adapting to a completely new environment, it would naturally take all the factors involved to adjust to it at different paces. Therefore, a good amount of flexibility can be practiced with the business rules and processes. With increased rigidity in the process, it would be burdensome for the employees to make sensible decisions. 

Pay Attention to Details

As the features have already been discussed, paying attention to the details is crucial. Not all the software tools in the market would be the right fit for the work culture. Hence, understanding the basic functionalities of the software and what it caters to is ideal. List out the features the processes and the team needs and accordingly shortlist the tools to choose one. Deduce the problems in the working of the business and decide what type of BPM software available will resolve those problems. 

Ready the Must-Have Features

Discuss with the team members what exactly needs to be addressed with a business process management system. Decide on the processes that are going to be automated with the software and what the requirements are. Once that is sorted, the team will be able to decipher what features and elements the tool must have to address those needs. It is ideal to go for features that will have the right potential for the organization. This will reduce the complexity of the training process for the employees as well. 

Prepare a List of Pros and Cons

Preparing a list of the pros and cons of the shortlisted tools can bring the team to a good decision. This allows the team to have clarity on what they are aiming to achieve. The right type of BPM solutions and the right tool can be chosen after this has been done. 

Get Expert Advice to Find the Best Business Process Management Software

Implementing a new system into the work dynamics is a grave decision to make and has a great impact on the performance of the organizational functioning. Therefore, it is always essential to consult an expert who would navigate the purpose of the processes and the tool implemented in proper coordination. 

Empower the Workforce

The implementation of the business process software must be to empower the workforce of your organization. In such a system, they have to be on the same page as any other entity involved in the change. Remember, the implemented software is merely a tool for the employees to work with. They have to be comfortable and confident with the tool that will simply aid them in their work.

Benefits of Using Business Process Management Software (BPMS)

As your business grows, it is challenging to personally track and monitor each process. Manual processes cannot scale up to evolving business requirements. Moreover, managers and team leads are forever in the fire fighting mode when handling business processes in manual mode.

Working with manual processes takes the focus away from process improvement by diverting it toward issue resolution. This is where business process management workflow software comes into the picture. The main benefits of using BPMS software are listed below:

1. Reduction of risks 

A BPM tool provides deeper visibility into business processes, which makes it quick and easy to spot errors. Deeper visibility and transparency give organizations a way to work more efficiently and save time and money. 

2. Improved collaboration 

Running several tasks simultaneously requires good collaboration between tasks. BPMS tools foster better communication and collaboration between tasks so that everyone is on the same page. 

3. Better operational control 

Business process management software provides a comprehensive view of who is running what and where in a business process. The API dashboard in the software provides real-time information along with charts to help monitor progress and performance. 

4. Better agility 

Business process management software (BPMS) provides the ability to create smooth design processes so that changes can be made easily and quickly to align with the evolving needs of the organization.

5. Improved productivity 

Implementing the Best BPM software techniques in a process makes it easy to measure performance via key performance indicators. Tracking of KPIs helps process owners identify endpoints that require improvement and maximize revenues. 

6. Reduced costs 

Redundant tasks are streamlined when the BPM system is implemented. Repetitive tasks that do not require human intelligence can be automated based on BPM methods. The costs associated with such tasks are greatly reduced by using business process management software.

7. Improved employee satisfaction 

When employees start working on high-value tasks that add value to the organization and their careers, their work satisfaction automatically goes up. They feel more valued and are willing to contribute more to organizational growth. When routine tasks are taken care of by the software, employees get time to focus on meaningful tasks. 

8. Increased efficiency

The traditionally followed manual setup has several drawbacks like repetitive tasks, manual errors, and poor judgments that can cost the organization so much. It compromises on the performance, productivity, compliance, time, and other essential resources. On the contrary, with the implementation of a business process management platform, all of these drawbacks are halted to a great extent, with very little to zero influence on the processes. With only a limited amount of resources being put to use, the processes yield the best results with automated business process management workflow software. Hence, the efficiency of the processes increases. 

9. Enhanced Operational Transparency

All the tasks in the business operations are streamlined seamlessly and optimized effectively. This is achieved as the BPMS software allows the users to have visibility into the processes. The burden of manually tracking the operations is eradicated. The status and progress of the process can be gauged easily on the platform anytime. The employees can track all the reviews and approvals, any business-related actions, deadlines, the history of all the edits made on documents and data, etc. 

10. No Space for Compliance Risks

Maintaining compliance is often a serious and difficult task to achieve. The recovery actions have to be quick enough in case of any non-compliance. A business process management platform empowers an organization to set up and follow rigid rules and policies. This ensures that the complete functioning of the business is never out of compliance. 

11. Regulated User Controls and Permissions

The security and privacy of the data and other important information are crucial to any organization. A BPMS software allows regulated access to the platform. It clearly defines the user–role access on the platform. The employers or the team managers can decide on the degree of accessibility every employee can have. This way the software maintains a restriction to the flow of information and data. Another good side of this benefit is that the employees are not bombarded with unnecessary information which creates confusion. 

When is the Right Time to Automate Your Processes With BPMS?

First thing, a business process management platform is implemented to remove the limitations and reach maximum efficiency in the processes. Therefore, it is clear that when an organization implements a BPM system, the ultimate aim is to remove the inefficiencies from the business operations and provide the maximum seamless processing experience to the end receivers. Hence, there is no specific or right time to automate the business operations. As the business grows, the demand for an efficient and advanced system that would allow organizations to adapt faster becomes necessary. Incorporating business process management software into the organization improves overall performance, helps to stay on par with the current trends and standards of the industry, and finally boosts the morale of the business. 

Top 15 Business Process Management Software (BPMS)

According to Grandview Research, the global business process management market size which was valued at 14.46 billion USD in 2022, is expected to grow at a CAGR of 19.9% during the forecast period of 2023-2030. The integration of AI into BPM has been a significant boost to market growth.

Integrating AI with BPMS software provided several benefits like automation of repetitive tasks, predictive analysis, and improved customer experience. Another major contributor to the growth of the BPMS market is its adoption in the healthcare sector. Other industries that have adopted BPMS software include manufacturing, Banking and Financial Services, Insurance, and telecommunications. 

We have put together a list of the best business process management software for 2023. You can choose from this exhaustive list based on the requirements of your business. 

1. Cflow 

fully customizable, BPM-based no-code business process management platform that can automate key business workflows within minutes using the visual form builder. 

2. CMW platform 

an easy-to-use reporting and workflow automation. You can track the project progress of multiple teams in an organization with this low-code workflow automation platform. 

3. Appian BPM suite 

a futuristic BPM automation platform that enables businesses with interaction management, monitoring, business alignment, rule-based decision management, and process discovery and optimization.

4. Nintex 

a great bpm sytem to automate business processes without any coding knowledge. The easy-to-use interface simplifies workflow creation. The visual process mapping tool encourages enterprise-wide collaboration. 

5. IBM Business automation workflow 

a complete suite of software products and solutions that help organizations automate and optimize their business processes, workflows, and decision-making processes. 

6. BeSlick 

workflow automation software that is easy to use with a simple interface. The process workflow builder, forms builder, and process reports are powerful and visually appealing.

7. Zoho Creator 

a low-code automation solution that allows businesses to create customized applications. Easy-to-build basic forms and a good set of basic apps are some of the notable features. 

8. Process street 

good BPM software tool for small businesses. Recurring tasks checklists and automated workflows can be created intuitively via a drag-and-drop interface. 

9. Pipefy 

a flexible low-code platform that leading enterprise-level companies trust. This software combines organization, automation, and communication tools into a single platform. 

10. Kintone 

a no-code application building platform that can also accommodate processes. Supports API integration as well as basic database functionalities. 

11. iGrafx 

best suited for enterprise organizations looking to bring visions to operational reality. Enables businesses to systemize risk and compliance, and improve the quality of information processing. 

12. Studio Creatio 

designed to help in the development of no-code applications. It is great for converting existing processes into applications with automation wherever possible. 

13. Monday.com 

a powerful project management tool that helps businesses plan, execute, and implement business processes in a visual collaborative space.

14. Proworkflow 

you can spend less time mentally managing projects and more time making processes a reality. 

15. ClickUp

all-in-one project management tool that gives teams and any business the advanced tools and flexibility to create efficient workflows. 

Conclusion

Business process management software is here to stay. Progressive businesses can experience multiple benefits by choosing a comprehensive business process automation platform like Cflow. Sign up for a free trial to know more.