Business process management (BPM) uses different methods and tools to design, model, execute, monitor, and optimize processes within a business. To support a business strategy, a business process uses systems, the behavior of people, information, and things to get the outcomes a business needs.

BPM puts a consistent, automated process in place for human interactions and transactions that occur on a regular basis. It helps reduce a business’s operational costs by increasing employee efficiency and decreasing waste and rework.

System-centric BPM (or integration-centric BPM): This kind of BPM system deals with processes that depend on the existing business systems that don’t need that much human interference like CRM or ERP. System-centric business process management software has a lot of integrations and API access that help businesses create quick and efficient processes. A good example of a system-centric BPM is online banking because many software systems come together to create a fast and efficient experience.

Human-centric BPM: This kind of BPM considers people first while being supported by different functions of automation. These processes are usually completed by humans, and it can be hard for automated processes to replace them. Oftentimes these processes are performed by individual people and have a lot of approvals. Some examples of human-centric processes are dealing with complaints from customers, filing expense reports, or providing customer service.

Design: The analysts of a business will go over current business rules, interview different stakeholders, and talk about what outcomes the management team expects. The process design stage is supposed to help understand a business’s rules and ensure that the desired results align with an organization’s goals.

Model: This refers to identifying, defining, and forming a representation of the new processes so that they will support current business rules for a business’s stakeholders

Execute: Test a business process with a small group of users before allowing all users to use it. For automated workflows, add more artificial bots to minimize any errors.

Monitor: Establishing Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) helps you track your business’s metrics so you can use them for reports or dashboards. Focus on micro and macro indicators, or in other words, segments of a process compared to a complete process.

Optimize: Once you have an effective reporting system, your business will be able to focus operations on process improvement and optimization. Business Process Optimization (BPO) redesigns the business processes so that they can improve and streamline process efficiency. These improvements help to align and strengthen individual business processes through a comprehensive strategy.