Top 10 Process Management Software to Drive Business Growth

Alister Esam
Jun 2023
“If you can’t describe what you are doing as a process,
you don’t know what you’re doing.”

Business Process Management (BPM) can be instrumental in business transformation. By coordinating all business processes including systems, information and staff, you can create much better outcomes.

Unfortunately for many growing businesses, BPM can often feel like a burden. They might find themselves tempted to ignore it or put it off. However, having optimized processes and procedures in place is the foundation for scalable success. The key to creating that solid foundation comes in the form of digital documentation; by documenting your critical processes, you can manage them more effectively – and take steps to improve them.

Using business process automation offers a cost-effective way to win back productive time and increase efficiency.

What is business process management (BPM)?

To put it simply, business process management (BPM) utilises methods that aim to improve business processes. This includes analysing, measuring and optimizing business strategy.

Not to be confused with task management (which focuses on individual tasks), BPM observes the whole end-to-end process of business operations. Using BPM allows companies to streamline their overall business process and workflow, which leads to increased efficiency, productivity and cost reduction.

 

Business process management (BPM) is defined as:

“The practice of executing, analyzing, and optimizing end-to-end business processes to help streamline your business strategy and meet your goals.”

What is business process management software?

Process management software helps your business run more efficiently by giving you a defined process for doing things. Advancements in BPM technology has meant that organizations of all sizes can use automated business processes via a series of different workflow apps.

It’s also worth noting that it can be necessary in heavily regulated industries, such as finance or healthcare, in order to remain compliant.

The best business process management software includes workflow and task management options, meaning that you can keep an eye on the activity as it compares to the intended process.

All types of business processes can be grouped, analyzed, and improved, including:

Types of business process management software

A business process system helps to eliminate manual errors and gaps in processes. There are several kinds of BPM suites that can be categorized by their purpose in an organization.

These are:

  • Document-centric BPM is automated documents that are generated from the input of multiple people. After approval, a document is created. A common use case for document-centric BPM is creating a legal document or a contract.
  • Human-centric business process management suites support processes that are carried out by people. This software involves processes that need access control for approvals and tasks carried out by employees. An example of this type of software could include customer service, complaint management, onboarding new employees, etc.
  • Integration-centric BPM integrates business software with other department-specific tools. This enables data to flow between multiple software systems that are used. This reduces the number of errors as well as increases workflow efficiency and speed. For example, integration-centric BPM is used within marketing teams to transfer lead generation and engagement data from marketing tools to sales-based CRM platforms.

What are the benefits of a business process management system?

As a business grows it becomes impossible to personally oversee everything. You can’t be constantly putting out fires, so you need to be sure your team can handle the business processes in the same way you would. This means you need to implement standardized processes across business workflows. 

1. Risk reduction 

A BPM tool provides visibility into business processes, making it easier to spot errors. This gives organizations a way to work more efficiently and save money. It also enables processes to work at a consistently high level so they’re executed right the first time, every time. 

2. Better control of operations

No matter how good your business processes, you need to have a 360 degree view of who’s running what and where. With process management software you can access all this information in real time via an API dashboard – along with charts to help monitor progress and performance. 

3. Improved collaboration

When you’re running a lot of tasks at the same time, good collaboration is essential. Collaboration tools including messages, file sharing systems, and notifications can make communication easier and ensure everyone is on the same page in real time. This helps to reduce data redundancy and fix business issues quickly. 

4. Agility via automation

A key feature of business process management software is the ability to create smooth design processes so that changes can be made rapidly and easily to suit the needs of an organization. 

5. Increased productivity

A process management solution can measure process performance when integrated with your business processes data storage systems. Then you can quickly see and identify endpoints that need improvement and maximize revenues. By getting rid of bottlenecks you can eliminate redundant processes and make improvements that will increase performance. Studies have shown that BPM can increase productivity by 30-50%

Must-have features of process management software

When you’re searching for process management software, make sure it has the following capabilities:

  • Provide forms support. At the heart of good process management is standardizing process inputs to help ensure 
  • Be user-friendly with an intuitive user interface that allows you to utilize its functionalities code free. Then you can create processes and forms, as well as capture insightful information on how each process flows, so team members are on the same page.
  • Seamless integration with a variety of different tools to ensure good project management and that employees can share data and resources easily and efficiently.
  • Real-time analytics, to understand which processes are being used, and how successful they are. A BPM platform should be able to track both the success and failure of processes via metrics, and allow you to create visualizations, such as gantt charts, along with the ability to take steps to facilitate improvements and ensure compliance.
  • Be capable of process mapping with visual workflows and allow you to create an audit trail of any changes to process and workflows to support compliance.
  • Embrace mobile optimization so that team members can create their own working environment and access the software remotely from a smartphone. 
  • Offer relevant process templates, but also give you the ability for customization so that processes are built around your company and its requirements.

Top 10 process management software solutions

1. beSlick for speed & usability

Checklists in beSlick that help you keep on top of your compliance obligations

beSlick has a simple interface that is easy to use from the start, benefitting user adoption and speeding up implementation.

Process owners can get started quickly, with the powerful and visually appealing process workflow builder.

Process flowcharts are built using a drag & drop flowchart builder, which is exceptional at this price point, including forms, decisions, loops, variables and dependencies.

It also has unique capabilities around process improvement, feedback, and analytics, in order to help identify where changes need to be made.

The design is very user-centric, ensuring that users know where to find what they need, making this process management platform a very strong task management tool for anything a team is working on.

Cost for 30 users on beSlick Pro = $4,200 or £3,360 annually
Correct as of June 2023, current pricing here

Pros

  • Simple to use, and quick to get started
  • An affordable solution with powerful features
  • Includes integrated task management & forms builder
  • Highly flexible process workflow builder with many configuration options

Cons

  • Doesn’t have a public API (although it is on the roadmap)

2. Zoho Creator for low-code process apps

Zoho Creator is a low-code application platform, and great if you’re already using other Zoho products. It offers you a way to implement process in your business by creating customized applications.
Once you have defined your business processes, you can use applications like Zoho creator to build your own internal applications to manage these processes. With many complex features, if you have the internal technical resource it can be possible to create many great solutions for your business.

Cost for 30 users on Zoho Creator Professional = $7,200 or £5,760 annually
Correct as of June 2023, current pricing here

Pros

  • Large feature list
  • Lots of customization
  • Integrates well with other Zoho applications

Cons

  • Steep learning curve
  • Can become expensive
  • A lot of configuration needed before ‘going live’
  • More for basic app building than business process management

3. Process Street for no flowcharts

Process Street is a no-code list based process management solution. You can create recurring tasks and checklists, as well as automated workflows intuitively via a drag and drop interface.
Process Street has a public API and strong Zapier integration, which makes it well suited for integrations with other software.
While there is a learning curve, it is designed for non-technical users to be able to create more advanced workflows. The platform is list based rather than using flowchart visuals, which can make understanding process flow.
From a user perspective, there is no Todoist style task list to see exactly what tasks you have outstanding, and it can be confusing to navigate.

Cost for Process Street Pro = starts from $5,000
Correct as of June 2023, current pricing here

Pros

  • Strong form building capabilities, that can have dependencies on process flow
  • Large number of templates
  • Strong integration capabilities

Cons

  • No process flowchart view
  • Pre-built templates are of varying quality
  • Hard to manage user tasks
  • Many useful features are more expensive

4. Pipefy best for light process apps

Pipefy is a very flexible low-code platform that’s trusted by a host of enterprise level companies from Warner Brothers to Volvo. Pipefy combines organization, automation, and communication tools into one. It focuses on approval flows and request management, as well as having a strong form builder. While it does provide a free tier with limited features, it can be expensive to unlock the more advanced elements.

Cost for 30 users on Pipefy Business = $6,840
Correct as of June 2023, current pricing here

Pros

  • Good for approval flows
  • Has a Kanban view
  • Easy to create custom processes from scratch
  • Has pre-built plugin templates

Cons

  • Has a steep learning curve
  • Can quickly become expensive

5. Kissflow for custom process applications

Kissflow is a low-code application development platform for business owners. It has a large number of features and can develop quite custom applications, but does need a high level of technical onboarding to be able to fully leverage.

It comes with customizable forms, a drag and drop workflow builder, and advanced user controls, as well as full reports and analytics.

 

Cost for 30 users on Kissflow Small Business = $9,000
Correct as of June 2023, current pricing here

Pros

  • Very comprehensive feature set
  • Supports form capture
  • Support is generally strong

Cons

  • Needs technical dev resource to implement
  • Expensive compared to similar tools
  • Complex user interface

6. Tallyfy for multiple languages


Tallyfy is designed to take repeatable process and track them as workflow. Tallyfy prefers not to use flowcharts, which can make it a harder transition for people with experience of process to use. It supports conditional statements on steps, and has a very functional interface.

Cost for 30 users on Tallyfy Pro = $9,000
Correct as of June 2023, current pricing here

Pros

  • Includes integration options
  • Option for BI integration (additional)
  • Supports multiple languages

Cons

  • No folder organisation for process
  • Date depencies are not dynamic
  • Doesn’t support process flowcharts

 

7. Monday.com for projects


Monday.com is a popular project management tool that helps businesses plan, execute, and implement business processes in a visual collaborative space. It has many configuration options, which can make implementation hard to get right first time without help.

It is well suited to projects, but has limited workflow design options for anything but simple process tasks, however you can create custom visual boards to check progress of tasks which is useful for team managers.

It doesn’t support recurring tasks, such as monthly billing or finance reporting on the second working day of each month for example, which limits how it can be used in certain departments.

Cost for 30 users on Monday Pro = $5,760 or £5,040
Correct as of June 2023, current pricing here

Pros 

  • Part of a wider portfolio with CRM & Dev products
  • Multiple view options (Gantt, Kanban)
  • Many integration options

Cons 

  • Complex interface for light users
  • No process flowchart library
  • Limited recurring schedule options
  • Difficult to manage tasks in a single view

8. iGrafx

iGrafx might be up your street if you’re an enterprise organization looking to bring your visions to operational reality. With iGrafx, users can digitally transform essential processes and optimize the buyer experience.

Cost for 30 users on iGrax = Unknown
Correct as of June 2023, based on enquiry only

 

Pros 

  • The software enables businesses to systemize risk and compliance, and improve the quality of information processes
  • They have tools to help with journey mapping and performance management

Cons 

  • Initial configuration of journeys can be overwhelming
  • Depending on the size of your business, it can be quite expensive

9. Studio Creatio for workflow automation

Formerly BPM online, Creatio is designed to help you develop no-code applications. It’s great for converting existing processes into applications with automation where possible.

Cost for 30 users on Creatio Team = from $13,000
Correct as of June 2023, current pricing here

Pros

  • With drag and drop features, the software lets you build user dashboards, set up algorithms, and automate workflows.
  • The free plan comes with an impressive array of features for process creation.

Cons

  • It doesn’t handle workflows associated with process, unless you make use of integrations
  • The enterprise version can be pricey
  • The interface can be challenging

10. Proworkflow

Proworkflow allows you to spend less time mentally managing projects and more time making processes a reality. The software enables users to assign staff, reschedule tasks, and track time, as well as quote and invoice at scale.

Cost for 30 users on ProWorkflow Pro = $6,480
Correct as of June 2023, current pricing here

Pros

  • The initial plan is free and includes templates you can create in seconds
  • Custom reporting tools and tailored workflows are provided to match your business and brand

Cons

  • More focused on project management than repeatable processes
  • Advanced features can be expensive

Feature & cost comparison table of process software

To make your own journey smoother when comparing the different available platforms, and to find what is right for your business, we’ve summarized the top seven platforms mentioned above according to features & costs;

  • All comparisons based on the ‘Pro’ edition or equivalent
  • Comparing most commonly requested features of process management software
  • Information understood to be correct at time of publication
  • Costs based on an example of 30 users

How to choose the right business process management software

If you’ve decided you need a business process management solution, but don’t know where to start, here are some pointers on finding the best BPM for you.

1. Involve the team in BPM adoption

If your employees aren’t ‘sold’ on a piece of software, they won’t use it. So why bother implementing it in the first place? It’s essential to communicate to everyone in the company all information about the proposed BPM tool that’s been selected. 

Tell the team what makes it the best business process management tool out there. How does it solve problems for your business? And how will it be used effectively in your specific work environment? It could be an idea to create some internal documents to teach team members how to use the new system. 

2. Pay attention to details

When you’re searching for the best process management system, make sure you check it has the features and capabilities you require. Dig down to the specifics, and examine the design and layout. 

Check that the BPM system has an intuitive interface, so that it will be easy to train new users. Look out for features that make the system stand out. 

3. Decide on ‘must have’ features

Discuss with teams what you really want your business process management system to do. Do you want a system that manages employee onboarding? Or one that can integrate with your workflow management software? Create a wishlist and stick to it. Factor in pricing here too – for instance, document management might be a nice perk, but is it worth extra expense?

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4. Make a list of pros and cons

This can help to identify the best business process management system for those who need a visual aid or think out loud. List-making is an effective way to reach a good decision. If you have a top five or ten BPM solutions, make two columns, and list how the system fits your business needs and what is missing. 

5. Get advice on finding the best process management system

When you’re trying to find a new software system, you’ll no doubt have questions or concerns. So if you have an issue with a particular feature, get in touch with the BPM provider and make a suggestion. They’ll want their software to work well for you and may be able to accommodate your request.

How to sucessfully implement process management software in your business

It’s a good first step to be aware you need to streamline your business processes, but actually putting it into practice can be tricky. It’s not enough to simply have processes in place, they must be properly implemented.

Creating a process shouldn’t be static, or about presenting others with rigid documentation that doesn’t have their input. This won’t deliver the consistency and efficiency benefits that process management should be delivering.

To achieve optimum efficiency in processes, you need to integrate them with workflows and make process creation a team effort. Teams should be able to contribute and potentially own process. Here are a few ways to help you get things right – from the start.

1. Take an objective approach

If you want to implement robust processes, you need to step back and look at the big picture. It’s often difficult to see the things that made your business a success if you’re too involved. You need to hand over daily tasks to junior staff, and this won’t work if you store everything in your head. Ask yourself how you can remove yourself from every aspect of running your business. 

If you deal with clients, how can that service be replicated? While you may be used to managing clients in a specific way, what’s obvious to you may not be obvious to other team members. You need to work out how to break things down into repeatable optimized processes. 

2. Be flexible

Don’t set business rules in stone or try to get others to do everything the way you do yourself. If your processes are too rigid you could create an inflexibility in the company that means you can’t respond to changes. Allow some leeway, and remember that people should be given the responsibility to make sensible decisions and modify changes if necessary. 

As they carry out tasks, employees will begin to develop insights into the processes from close up, and they are therefore capable of identifying if and how processes could be improved.

3. Empower don’t control

Process should be seen as a way to empower rather than control your team. It’s important that everyone is onboard with the processes from the start, and understand how they will interact with them. Processes shouldn’t be looked at as a series of boxes to be ticked, but tools your employees need and appreciate, and that are in place so they can do their jobs better. 

You need to determine which tasks can be automated via which systems – and what your team needs information-wise to be able to implement them.

When to automate your processes

A BPM system can help you eliminate inefficiencies, with the ability to automate repetitive processes such as client information gathering. A good business process management software will ensure that all employees and stakeholders can stay up to date with the latest business changes, and make sure that all processes meet the relevant standards, both internally and externally.

With six integrated features across business process management, workflow management and task management at beSlick, we can help you systermise your processes. Book a free call with one of our experts and we will show you the simple way your challenges can be solved.

Once you’ve incorporated the best BPM system into your business, you’ll wonder how you ever managed without it.

Need to centralise and optimize business process?
Need to centralise and optimize business process?

, Author of The Dirty Word and CEO at beSlick

Alister Esam is a successful entrepreneur and investor, having bootstrapped his fintech software business eShare to international status operating in over 40 countries and servicing 20,000 board directors, before successfully exiting to a multibillion-dollar organisation in 2018. He now invests in a variety of startups and on a global mission to make work, work.