Business process management software is not a technological dinosaur. Technological innovation across a wide range of industries has led to major changes in enterprise demands. This has left plenty of people thinking that BPM has fallen behind, especially as the software's primary focus is on process automation. This assertion may be somewhat accurate, but only for organizations that are working with legacy BPM models. Modern process management software has evolved alongside enterprise requirements to offer much more than automation.
"Modern BPM software has evolved to offer much more than just automation."
A recent report from ETCIO, a branch of The Economic Times, explained that BPM solutions are evolving in a few key ways and becoming much more than basic automation solutions.
Innovation apparent across the BPM sector
The news source asserted that automation is still a component of BPM software, and capabilities are even deepening in this area. However, a few key BPM segments where innovation is especially notable, according to the report, include:
- Leveraging data: Using BPM to integrate data analytics capabilities into everyday processes will be critical as business leaders work to add a layer of intelligence to operations.
- Fueling collaboration: Getting employees to work together seamlessly is key to driving productivity in the modern enterprise. In particular, the focus for BPM solutions will be to drive better collaboration across departmental boundaries within an organization.
- Emphasizing long-term value: In the past, many BPM projects hit a wall as organizations worked to drive as much efficiency and automation as possible right away, and then ran out of places to innovate. Companies still care about efficiency and automation, but they are also working to use BPM technology to drive quality and create consistent, ongoing value.
- Intelligent capabilities: This goes beyond using data to drive processes, and intelligent business operations actually allow for context-aware decision-making by software, ensuring that users are always placed in the best position for success.
What does this innovation mean for companies considering BPM?
At its simplest, all of the changes occurring in the BPM sector make choosing the right vendor critical. Modern BPM solutions that feature application development platforms and similar tools go a long way toward empowering innovation. If you want to move beyond using BPM as an automation tool and create data-driven, consistent value in your business, you need to become flexible. The underlying process management functions at the core of process management software give you the stability you need to leverage emerging BPM tools to create new growth opportunities in your business.
