Top Business Process Management Tools for 2022

Business process management (BPM) software helps businesses by maximizing the value of electronic forms, dynamic approval processes, and automatic notifications built into workflow automation processes. In addition, BPM tools promote efficiency in business operations and continually analyze business operations to identify areas of improvement that will generate greater productivity.

There are many business process management software providers on the market today. To find the best fit, consider your organization’s unique needs when evaluating our list of top BPM solutions.

What is BPM software?

Business process management (BPM) software is a set of automated tools that optimize routine business processes and tasks.

It is designed to span across multiple departments within an organization using workflow engines, process mining, business rules engines (BREs), and artificial intelligence (AI) tools to continually improve and optimize daily business operations.

Business process management software comparison

While a BPM solution can be justified based on all the tangible benefits for a company, finding the right BPM package that addresses your specific business needs can be challenging. Therefore, we’ll look at key differentiators from each vendor’s BPM solution to help you make the right decision.

Alerts and notificationsThird party integrationsCollaboration toolsAPIPerformance monitoringProcess change tracking
Interfacing
Jira
Lucidchart
Monday.com
Process Street
Wrike
Zapier

Interfacing

Interfacing’s BPM solution, called the Enterprise Process Center (EPC), is among industry leaders. The EPC product focuses strongly on continuous process improvement to stay competitive. Additionally, the vendor offers a free trial period and a free version.

Pros

The Enterprise Process Center received positive reviews for helping to mature processes and manage the overall lifecycle of business processes. Other features that received praise include the search function, straightforward functionality, and responsive customer support team.

Cons

On the other hand, two reviews stated this application is not easy to use and requires extensive training. Other reviews claimed the user interface (UI) needs to be updated, and the reporting capability is not comprehensive enough to generate meaningful reports.

Jira

Atlassian’s Jira Software is a popular solution among software developers, which is why we also included it in our list of Best Agile Project Management Tools. Jira’s native roadmaps, workflow automation feature, and dashboard will help your business become more efficient and productive. The software is also available for free for up to 10 users.

Pros

Jira’s flexibility is mentioned as a strength in the software integration’s bug tracking capabilities. It also works well with other software products like Confluence and GitHub. Jira is easily customizable in creating workflows for approvals, sign-offs, and other business steps that need to be tracked. In addition, the product can work across functional teams and collaborate on assigned tasks with auto-notifications.

Cons

However, Jira is not easy to learn, and a considerable amount of time needs to be invested in using the application to its fullest capability. Moreover, allowing only one user to be assigned to a task causes unnecessary delays that can impact project timelines. Some users have noted the search feature is slow and not customizable enough to provide meaningful data. One customer also mentioned that Jira needs to have instant messaging capability versus using a separate tool.

Lucidchart

Lucidchart is an online business process modeling notation (BPMN) software solution that allows a business to collaborate and easily track revision history to keep everyone updated. The online application offers a group of dynamic shapes and smart containers to assist a company in documenting its business activities.

Pros

Lucidchart received praise for its flexible, user-friendly collaboration capabilities, its drag-and-drop functionality, and its lockdown feature. In addition, most users favored Lucidchart’s capabilities over comparable solutions such as Visio.

Cons

On the other hand, Lucidchart offers a range of features and options that can be overwhelming to users. Some of Lucidchart’s tools are not flexible, and resizing shapes can be difficult. Other pain points include issues with mapping formatting, documentation and availability of tips,  and the lack of customization compared to more robust software tools like Visio.

Monday.com

Monday.com offers a suite of solutions that allows businesses to gain clear visibility over their budgets, put repetitive tasks on autopilot, and integrate with their favorite tools. The vendor offers a free trial period and a free version.

Pros

Monday.com’s easy-to-use interface allows a diverse team with different IT skillsets to collaborate effectively and productively toward project completion. The project management, content calendar, and application programming interface (API) features received praise from several customers. In addition, the customization and prebuilt options, how-to videos, and online documentations help new users start using the application right away.

Cons

However, some reviews stated the application is difficult to use, requiring more than two weeks of self-driven training with spotty customer support. This is further complicated by the glitchy and inconsistent video conferencing feature. Moreover, several customers stated Monday.com is expensive, and no-notice automatic upgrades occur when a business goes over its user limits.

Process Street

Process Street’s BPM software is a great no-code solution that allows businesses to work quicker and more intelligently. This BPM software improves consistent and efficient business operations. Companies can try Process Street for free.

Pros

Process Street is a highly rated BPM solution that works well in a distributed work environment to help businesses significantly improve productivity. Several customers rated the workflow feature as excellent, and the checklist feature is great for repeating daily activities for employees and managers. Process Street also offers high customizability, allowing users to customize any task.

Cons

On the other hand, the UI is a noted pain point that is not customizable, and some users mentioned wanting a mobile app and the ability to receive alerts. Moreover, the number of checklists and tasks that require checking can be overwhelming or cumbersome.

Wrike

Wrike is a BPM application that streamlines processes and integrates with other applications to increase automation, update workflows, save businesses time, and expedite approvals.

Pros

Customers praise Wrike’s project management feature and the ability to collaborate with several individuals during a project’s lifecycle. During a project, a project lead can keep track of phases and milestones using a project dashboard. In addition, the customization feature allows a user to alter assignments or tasks and keep a running log of all the changes they make.

Cons

However, reviewers note that the search feature can be challenging to use, linking tasks together can be cumbersome and confusing, and the UI could use improvement. In addition, setup time is often lengthy and not optimal, and using all of Wrike’s features will require in-depth training.

Zapier

Zapier offers businesses the power of automation by minimizing tedious tasks and exploring new possibilities for automation within an organization. It has two solutions: Zapier for teams to promote easy collaboration, or Zapier for business, which offers streamlined administrative controls.

Pros

Zapier integrates easily with other applications, and users praise the ability to connect to other applications using APIs as well as the automation of workflow processes. Pre-made workflows for reporting, marketing, human resources, and technical support are available for initial workflow processes and can be easily customized to meet specific business requirements.

Cons

On the other hand, Zapier has a steep learning curve. Some reviews claimed that integration with other applications would lose its connections for unknown reasons, requiring a lot of trial and error before a consistent connection is established.

Why are BPM tools important?

Besides optimizing business operations, BPM tools can align to specific customer needs that promote process efficiencies and improved customer satisfaction. As a result, BPM tools improve the overall business stature through substantial benefits such as:

  • Revenue growth
  • Cost reduction
  • Compliance
  • Risk management
  • Cost avoidance
  • Productivity improvements
  • Improved customer experience (CX)

Key BPM software features

BPM solutions offer a wide range of solutions, which can be overwhelming when trying to decide on which solution is best. Therefore, CIOs or CTOs will need to weigh which features are must-haves in their BPM solution.

  • Third-party integration allows a core application to use an external application without building additional programming modules.
  • Collaboration tools include video conferencing, instant messaging, and file-sharing tools that promote better communication within businesses. These tools are crucial in a distributed work environment and help companies meet any defined timelines.
  • An API connects two applications and allows them to communicate with each other. Companies use APIs to give third-party applications access to each companies’ data and the application’s functionality. APIs can exchange data, hide programming complexity, extend application functionality, and provide security among other functions.
  • Performance monitoring involves monitoring business processes to determine whether they are successful or unsuccessful. Performance monitoring aims to optimize all processes to their maximum efficiency.
  • Process change tracking identifies any changes in logic, properties, or values of any business process. It also schedules any downtime for a process change and provides a date and time the new changes will be implemented. Previous versions of an updated process are retained as historical information.

How to choose the right BPM platform

First and foremost, you need stakeholder involvement to understand your business’s needs and define the scope of a BPM solution across your entire organization. This will help you determine which features are must-haves and which are nice-to-haves when evaluating the vast market of BPM solutions available.

There are countless ways to evaluate BPM software solutions. However, the decision should be based on organizational involvement rather than a unilateral decision made at the upper management levels.

Read next: Best API Management Software & Tools

Don Hall
Don Hall
Don Hall has been employed as an IT Manager/Supervisor in the U.S. Government for over twenty years. He has managed programmers, cyber security, and infrastructure/networking personnel during his management career. Hall currently works as an IT Operations Officer that requires him to have general knowledge of various IT topics to assist his Command in making informed decisions or recommendations on behalf of the customers we support.

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