What is business process management (BPM)?

Modern BPM initiatives often incorporate emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotic process automation, and advanced analytics to further improve process capabilities. Additionally, successful BPM implementation requires a strong organizational culture that values continuous improvement and cross-functional collaboration.

BPM has several distinct approaches that companies can adopt based on their specific needs and objectives. These include integration-centric, human-centric, document-centric, case management, and business transformation BPM. They vary in scope, focus, and implementation methods.

• Integration-centric BPM: Focuses on connecting diverse systems and applications to facilitate seamless information flow across the organization.
• Human-centric BPM: Emphasizes processes that require significant human involvement and collaboration, often incorporating task management and workflow elements.
• Document-centric BPM: Centers on the creation, routing, and management of documents as they move through business processes.
• Case management BPM: Designed for knowledge workers dealing with unpredictable scenarios that require adaptive processes and decision-making.
• Business transformation BPM: Takes a comprehensive approach to fundamentally redesign and optimize core business processes across the organization.

Companies can implement these BPM types individually or in hybrid approaches that address the unique process management needs of different business functions and industries.

Business process management works through a lifecycle approach that includes 5 stages: identification, discovery, implementation, monitoring, and refinement. Each step moves companies toward more efficient processes and better results.

1. Process identification: Recognition and prioritization of processes that need attention, establishing goals, and defining the scope of the BPM initiative.
   
2. Process discovery and modeling: Documentation of current processes through process mapping, interviews, and observation to understand existing workflows.
   
3. Process implementation: Execution of redesigned processes, which may involve organizational changes, technology implementation, and training.
   
4. Process monitoring and control: Tracking process performance against defined metrics and KPIs to ensure processes operate as designed.
   
5. Process refinement: Continuous improvement of processes based on monitoring results and changing business requirements.
   

In addition to these 5 stages, companies may also include two more steps: process analysis and process redesign. In analysis, teams examine documented processes to identify inefficiencies, bottlenecks, redundancies, and opportunities for improvement. In redesign, they create improved process models that address the issues identified during analysis and align with business objectives. Regardless of the number of stages involved, businesses can benefit from BPM software platforms that provide tools for the entire process.

Business process management is a critical element of the competitive business environment, in which companies aim to optimize their operations and deliver better value faster and more cost-efficiently. In digital transformation, BPM provides the framework that companies can use to improve, automate, and manage processes across the enterprise. Doing this, companies can reap the numerous benefits of BPM, such as increased efficiency, improvements to quality and agility, lower costs, and many more.

• Increased efficiency and productivity: Streamlined workflows and reduced manual efforts.
• Enhanced quality and consistency: Standardized processes and reduced errors.
• Improved agility: Companies can adapt to market changes and opportunities.
• Better visibility into operations: Real-time monitoring and analytics capabilities.
• Reduced operational costs: Elimination of redundancies and optimized resource allocation.
• Enhanced compliance with regulatory requirements: Documented and standardized processes.
• Improved customer satisfaction: As a result of faster, more consistent service delivery.
• Better collaboration across departments: Clearer process ownership and responsibilities.
• Continuous improvement culture: Fostered by ongoing process evaluation and optimization.

Together, these advantages deliver companies operational excellence and sustainable growth and provide a foundation for digital transformation initiatives. BPM transforms how businesses execute their core functions to create resilient, adaptable operations.

Business process management is a set of activities across the entire process lifecycle that begins with the discovery and documentation of existing workflows. Teams engage in process modeling and simulation to visualize current states, followed by thorough analysis to identify bottlenecks and opportunities for optimization. As companies move into implementation, they focus on the automation of repetitive tasks to ensure seamless information flow. An essential part of this is continuous monitoring and measurement to track performance against key indicators and the implementation of proper governance to establish clear roles, responsibilities, and decision-making protocols.

The second phase of BPM activities focuses on organizational aspects, including training and change management, to ensure the successful adoption of new processes by employees. Regular auditing and compliance checks verify that processes meet both internal standards and external regulatory requirements. Throughout the BPM lifecycle, organizations maintain a commitment to continuous improvement, with regular reviews of processes based on performance data and evolving business needs. These interconnected activities form the foundation of a sustainable BPM program that delivers ongoing strategic and operational value to the organization.

BPM is applicable across various industries, such as finance, healthcare, retail, and insurance, because it focuses on improving processes and developing a culture of continuous improvement.

Financial services: Banks can apply BPM to streamline the loan approval process through automatic document collection, credit checks, and approval workflows. This reduces approval time and guarantees compliance with lending regulations.

Healthcare: Hospitals use BPM to improve patient admission and discharge. This includes scheduling, resource allocation, documentation, insurance verification, and follow-up care coordination.

Retail: BPM optimizes returns management through automatic verification, refund processing, inventory updates, and supplier communication steps.

Insurance: Insurance companies can deploy BPM in claims processing to manage them from initial notification through investigation, evaluation, payment processing, and closing.