BPM: What Is It, and Why Is It Important?

Let’s talk about BPM and why we believe it is essential for business professionals to consider when developing their yearly plans. The BPM we will be discussing today is Business Process Management, not the medical field term for “Beats per Minute” (even though that is also very important!) BPM is essential for business professionals to understand and then implement into their strategies.

What is BPM?

To put it simply, the goal of BPM is to improve efficiency and reduce errors in the business with the help of workflow automation. BPM is the management of the processes rather than the tasks. For example, it is a way to improve and standardize processes throughout an organization. By doing so, a business can reduce human error and process gaps to improve efficiency.

What BPM is not.

BPM is not project management or task management, both of which may be part of a BPM strategy, but we will discuss that later. And while BPM is not software, many software tools can be used to support a BPM implementation. Software used for BPM has the tools to design, test, automate, and implement processes on either department or enterprise-wide scale.

Why should you automate?

People use various methods to discover, model, analyze, measure, improve, optimize, and automate business processes. Your company may still be doing things the old-fashioned way, passing around a clipboard to get approvals, or sending an Excel sheet back and forth. This is just how it’s always been done, and no one has considered the benefits of an automated, digital approach. But these old-school, manual approaches are ineffective for getting anything done, and critical performance metrics may be impossible to measure.

Many organizations have begun initiatives towards a new, digital transformation in operations, especially as COVID-19 changes how we work. Organizations need to improve customer experiences and regulate compliance no matter where people work. BPM methodologies paired with a low-code workflow automation solution can improve business processes and assure best practices are in place during day-to-day work practices. When properly executed, a BPM strategy will enhance efficiency and productivity, reduce costs, and minimize errors and risk – thereby optimizing business results.

Where do you start?

Business process management activities can be grouped into six categories. These categories are the lifecycle stages of your BPM effort.

1. Design

• In the design stage, you will be identifying existing processes and your to-be processes. It’ll start with mapping factors within the process such as alerts, notifications, SOPs, escalations, etc. These could be human-to-human, human-to-system, or system-to-system processes. 

2. Modeling

• During the modeling stage, you will introduce combinations of variables such as changes in cost. That’ll determine how the process might operate under different circumstances.

3. Execution 

• Once you have a mapped-out vision of what processes will be automated, where and who they will be routed to, and outcomes for all, you are ready to start building this workflow in your new automation system. For Nutrient Workflow, this is done through a no-code, drag, and drop interface where anyone can pick it up and build their desired flows. 

4. Monitoring

• With the visual interface, you will be able to monitor and track your individual processes. See where requests are located in real-time, detect discrepancies, and analyze bottlenecks. 

5. Optimization

• Retrieve process performance with reports and identify potential opportunities for cost or time-saving features or steps to include in your processes.

6. Re-engineering

• If need be, a process can always be taken back to the drawing board if you realize there could be a more efficient way of doing things during the optimization and monitoring phase. 

How can your organization benefit from BPM?

Your business will reap these 4 benefits when adopting BPM and workflow management:  

1. Increase the speed and consistency of your tasks.  

2. Improve customer experience.

3. Handle exceptions faster and experience fewer errors.

4. Ensure greater transparency and seamless compliance.

Why does business process management matter?

For example, ERC used Nutrient Workflow to aid in digital transformation by replacing paper, streamlining processes, and providing a better user experience. The team has already rolled out processes to HR, IT, Security, and contract sites and will next be looking for other areas to implement automation. ERC has realized that Nutrient Workflow can handle a variety of business needs, from simple to complex processes. Also, because these processes are used across the organization, it has helped shine a light on the IT team’s ability to solve problems and provide real, scalable business solutions. Read more on ERC’s use case and see if your organization could benefit from the same processes they have implemented and automated.

What Does Nutrient Workflow’s BPM Software Include?

• A business process automation builder that is used to automate tasks in a process.

• An advanced, dynamic form designer with field logic and calculations.

• A scalable process engine that triggers and manages tasks efficiently.

• Reporting tools for monitoring and auditing all tasks and activities.

Interested in Our BPM Software Solution?

We have various resources to help you on your journey to an automated workflow. 

• Workflow Tools and eBooks

• Workflow Ideas Weekly eMail Newsletter

• Recorded Demonstration of our Workflow Automation Software

• Request a Live Demonstration

Contact us to discuss your needs and get a customized demonstration of our software. We’re also happy to provide a trial of Nutrient Workflow. You’ll discover why Nutrient Workflow is considered the best BPM software available for mid-sized and enterprise businesses.