If you use traditional BPM Software (Business Process Management software), you probably already know where this is going…
Let’s start with how we got here. Business processes management started to come into the picture in the 1990s or early 2000s. However, it was closely related to the ideas of TQM, Six Sigma, and supply chain management that emerged in the 1970s and 1980s.
Business process management tools appeared the same time that software was becoming ubiquitous with any business improvement. When it was clear that technology could significantly improve business processes, software engineers created programs that worked on top of existing platforms to enable effective process management.
However, this was all still at a time when software could only be touched by a programmer, or the rare (and expensive) breed of emerging BPM consultant who both understood business process management solutions and also specialized in using a specific BPM tool. An average business user would never think about building applications on her own to manage processes.
In the last 5 years, software has become extremely user-friendly, mobile, and democratized. It is no longer available just for the programmers. There are now platforms where any average business user can create in minutes what used to take days.
This puts BPM software at a crossroads. The traditional models are very advanced, feature-dense, and complex because they were built at a time when only professionals had access to them. Now that everyone is welcome to the party, most business users don’t have the time or budget to wait around for processes to be created using these traditional business process management tools. In fact, 99% of the business processes that need to be automated and managed don’t need the in-depth features that legacy solutions provide.
While there will always be use cases for the 1% of extremely specialized and complex processes that need it, traditional business process management software needs to take a hard look at the writing on the wall that might spell its doom.
Because of its advanced functionality and the architecture required to sit on top of existing systems, these BPM tools come with a huge price tag. Teams of developers would have spent months if not years building out all of the functionality. The initial cost is high, but it also requires someone very experienced in that particular software to install and set everything up. Your internal IT team needs to be trained and dedicate time to manage it. Significant changes to processes often involve pulling in those same expensive consultants.
Even after it is installed, everyone must be on guard to make sure it is running as it should. This includes some dedicated on-premise server space, regular updates/patches/fixes, and constant monitoring. Internal IT teams must spend a lot of time with these BPM solutions to make sure they are functioning properly.
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Most traditional BPM software was built in an age of function over form when additional features were a much higher priority than design and user-experience. Therefore, nearly all of the interfaces of traditional BPMS remind users of Microsoft Outlook circa 2000, even today. Although the functionality is high, users feel like they are travelling back in time.
Because they were built only to be handled by programmers, these BPM tools were never meant to have your average HR director messing with changing a process. Traditional BPMS doesn’t encourage process changes and customizations but is hardwired with trademark source codes. However, that’s exactly what the HR director expects now.
In the past, many businesses took whatever they could get with a BPM tool instead of trying to optimize their processes further by trying out new things. But now, the same companies don’t have the patience to create these dependencies on consultants and programmers. They want things to change immediately and they want to be able to do it themselves.
In contrast to a one-to-one interface that deploys quickly and has agile responses to events, traditional BPM tools are slow. A BPMS handles a sizeable volume of data and relies on runtime engines that demand continuous and significant feeding of resources. This slows down the BPMS speed and saps the organization’s network resources. If there are additional logical parameters or integrations, BPMS lags behind to process them.
kissflow is the leader among a new breed of BPM software. It is built with the idea that the people who are closest to the problems know how to solve them best. It puts the power of business process management software in the hands of leaders who can create and modify their own processes with beautiful, fast, easy-to-use tools. Because it is cloud-based, we take care of managing the software and performance for you. It packs the functionality of an end-to-end BPMS tool in a light interface that is easy to manage.
Software options like Kissflow give business leaders everywhere the option to say farewell to complex BPM implementation cycles and cut maintenance costs to zero.
There are still the 1% of use cases that require software with the functionality of traditional business process management tools. However, they are so few and far between, that the bells have already starting ringing for these legacy options.
If you are researching using a traditional business process management solution, give Kissflow Process a test-drive first and see if it fits your process. Don’t jump on an expensive train that is headed for a cliff!