Greatest enterprise course of administration software program

Disclosure: This content is endorsed by the reader. So if you click on some of our links we may receive a commission.

There is an ongoing war between growing a business and maintaining a lean, mean, and agile operation.

How does a company stay efficient even when it is trying new things and hiring people?

It's actually very simple: BPM (Business Process Management) software. Answers are seldom so simple.

BPM software helps businesses of all sizes streamline operations and minimize waste.

Visualize every process from end to end. Find opportunities for efficiency and automation. Do more with fewer mistakes.

If optimizing your business processes is a good idea, this post will provide everything you need to know to find the perfect BPM software for you.

The top 5 options for business process management software

Orchestly – Best for simple workflow automation
Pipefy – Best BPM software for Kanban
Creatio Studio – Best Low-Code Solution
Tallyfy – Best for automating recurring processes
Zoho Creator – Best for customizable workflows

How to choose the best business process management software for you

These tools are supposed to make life easier, right?

Yes. 100 percent.

And not just you, but your employees, customers and potential customers too.

Any company can benefit from implementing BPM software. Because of their wide utility, these products come in many shapes and sizes.

Fortunately, you can break your search down into three main objectives.

Are you looking for BPM software to help you:

Clear visualize Work processes
Automate more business processes
monitor and improve business processes

Design. Run. Automate. Improve. To repeat.

Once you are set up it will be that simple.

Find out which features you need by looking at each product in terms of how it helps you visualize, automate and monitor the daily work of your company.

Process visualization

The first task of BPM software is to support companies in defining and documenting their business processes.

These platforms have a visual workflow builder that allows you to map every step of every process from start to finish.

Missing steps and dismissals are a matter of course. For example, if the billing process is interrupted, this is easy to understand and fix using the BPM software. It gives a clear picture of how the paperwork moves (or doesn't) from start to finish.

This is much better than finding out if a confused or angry customer has a problem. With complete end-to-end visualization of the process, BPM software is very helpful in diagnosing and treating common symptoms of business inefficiency.

What's really nice is that you can quickly change workflows without writing any code.

Check out the drag and drop workflow builder in Orchestly, where you can see how each stage and transition can be easily defined:

Every product does it a little differently. It's a good idea to check out their videos to see what the interface looks like. This gives you an overview of how each BPM software looks at process management.

If you're a fan of the flowchart style, Orchestly will work just fine. Tallyfy wants to move away from flowcharts and is working on a so-called blueprint. Pipefy works best in board and kanban settings.

Which one looks like it's floating in your current?

Process automation

As elegant and useful as the visualization aspects of BPM software are, in process automation you will see the most important effects on your business.

With workflows clearly outlined, you can identify different points and transitions where you can add automation.

In the Pipefy Workflow Builder, for example, you can specify that one action should trigger another. No code needs to be written. Just select the option that drives the workflow.

This can relieve people of a lot of work every day. A sales rep completes their quote and it is automatically routed to the correct manager for review and approval.

Not only does this employee move on to the next task, the pending approval is queued exactly where the manager needs it.

Nothing is overlooked or stopped.

BPM software is ideal for automating routine and recurring processes such as:

Approval requests
Inventory updates
Exemption requests
Promotions
Customer loyalty
Training of new employees

There are really no limits to the applications. You can implement consistent guidelines, keep everyone updated, and make sure all the last lowercase j are dotted.

In terms of automation, you want to choose BPM software that will strike a fair balance in your workspace. Something sophisticated enough to do the job that's still in your IT wheelhouse.

The big advantage of the code-intensive platforms is that they can be 100% adapted to your situation.

The result of the no-code platforms is that non-technical users will be up and running in no time. You do not need any help in setting up and adapting workflows. This kind of independence is really important and should not be lightly sacrificed for a more comprehensive instrument.

Process monitoring

What if you never got a "Hey, how are you?" E-mail?

With the BPM software you can monitor your processes in real time without ever having to annoy anyone again. Nobody does.

Users see exactly where they are in all their tasks. Dates and deadlines are clear and everything you need to do is laid out in front of you.

Managers have full visibility of all projects and jobs. Workflows that feed information into dashboards give managers a clear view of KPIs, and bottlenecks can be identified and avoided early on.

Leadership can leverage your BPM platform to track tons of useful data to measure productivity, forecast costs, and further refine processes.

Another nice feature of good BPM software is the collaboration tools that teams use to stay on track.

These tools are not monitoring tools in and of themselves, but the ability to comment on, mention, or flag tasks can act as a critical early warning system.

The different types of business process management software

BPM software can do a lot on its own or as a guide. The type of BPM software you need depends on your goals – visualization, monitoring, and automation – and how complex your desired workflows are.

In a way, you can think of these four different types of BPM software as a stack that is becoming more and more robust:

Software for modeling business processes: Visualization
Workflow monitoring software: Visualization + monitoring
Workflow automation software: Visualization + monitoring + automation
Low-code application development: Visualization + monitoring + advanced automation

Let's take a closer look at each type to get a clear sense of how these features help organizations respond to different challenges.

Software for modeling business processes

When you see software for modeling business processes, think of it as a BPM solution that helps with process management visualization.

These tools create clear documentation, SOPs and visual representations of workflows that can be easily shared across the company.

This is critical to maintaining business consistency and a boon to new hires who can understand exactly where they fit in.

Workflow management software

The next step in functionality is the workflow management software. This type of BPM software allows individuals and teams to interact with the workflows.

You can mark tasks as completed, ask questions about specific tasks and get all the information you need in one place.

Workflow management solutions offer a mix of visualization and monitoring functions that allow everyone to keep up to date.

Workflow automation software

You can automate repetitive tasks in workflows with the BPM software that fits into this category. Set rules that automatically route tasks, files, and data to the right person or team.

For example, suppose a customer fills out a form. This could trigger a series of welcome e-mails and automatically forward their contact information to the appropriate employee.

This is a simple example, and you can set rules that automate as many steps as you want throughout the customer lifecycle.

These tools typically connect to a wide variety of data sources and work well across the enterprise. Ready-made workflows and templates for HR, accounting, sales, etc. are often included.

Check out the solutions on the vendor's website to see examples of who is successful with each product. Are these markets and use cases relevant to your company?

In terms of automation capabilities, the simpler and lighter workflow automation tools can go a long way. The more expensive premium tools can do a lot more.

I know this is an over-simplification, but ultimately the "power" of BPM software is how well a team can use it. The heavyweight automation features found in premium products are undoubtedly amazing, but they take time to master.

Low-code application development

Low-code application development platforms were not designed for BPM, but they are becoming increasingly popular as a solution.

Low-code application development platforms allow inexperienced developers to create custom applications that meet specific business needs. Really, anyone who takes the time can figure out how to use these intuitive platforms with little to no coding.

Why is this important for BPM?

At a certain point, super-complex workflows can become unmanageable. There is no such thing as a straw breaking the camel's back, but if the average user has to turn to IT to solve problems in their day-to-day work, there is likely to be a problem.

The development of low-code applications comes from a different angle on the problem. Instead of deploying a system and trying to customize it to meet your needs, you can create a system that is specific to your business.

These tools connect to third-party SaaS apps so you can create really rich workflows that leverage information from the tools you already use.

It is a different approach to the same problem than traditional BPM software. If your teams are comfortable with a low-code solution, I would go for it. They are really affordable and have few hard limits as to what you can do.

# 1 – Orchestly – Best for simple workflow automation

Orchestly was developed to optimize your daily business processes.

For example, suppose you want to hire a new employee, file an expense report, or request new content. Maybe the marketing department wants a killer post about the best business process management software.

In any case, there are several validation and verification steps that must be incorporated into each process. With Orchestly's visual workflow editor, literally anyone can create the exact steps required.

Here is an example of an onboarding workflow in Orchestly.

Each step in the series of tasks is clearly defined in a series of stages (white boxes) connected by transitions (turquoise boxes) and parallel transitions (orange boxes). At each stage, drill down into the conditions that must be met before, during, and after each transition.

This is a super easy to use interface.

There are tons of ready-made templates. Once users want to tweak their own scenarios, all visualization and basic automation is managed with an intuitive drag-and-drop editor.

Another really nice thing about Orchestly is the monitoring features. There are a variety of ready-made report types that give you an in-depth look at your processes.

You can drill down into transitions to see how many requests are at a given stage, what the approvals-to-denials ratio is, and what other metrics are being used. You can also filter search results to get a real-time picture of specific employees, projects or customers.

Orchestly offers additional functions with which you can extend the BPM functionality in your company:

Role-based access control
Requirements manager
Form designer
Audit log
Email templates
APIs, extensions and webhooks

Orchestly offers a free version that is limited to five users and three orchestrations (their word for workflow). The paid version, Orchestly Business, is $ 7 / month per user with an annual subscription.

You can try Orchestly Business free of charge for 15 days. If you've never tried BPM software, this is a great low-risk option to get started.

# 2 – Pipefy – Best BPM software for Kanban

Pipefy convinces a lot of people because of its approachable style. For companies that already manage processes within a Kanban framework, Pipefy will fit like a missing piece of the puzzle.

This platform offers the feeling and flexibility of an agile project management tool. However, they have the power of BPM software.

Switch between calendar, list and Kanban views. Yes it looks like Trello, but in Pipefy you can use the drag and drop editor to add rules and custom fields and make sure everyone assigned to the process knows exactly what it takes to get things moving hold.

Create completely custom workflows with Pipefy's simple editor. Hundreds of plug-and-play process templates are available in the free gallery.

What is really helpful for marketing and sales is that you can design these workflows to start as soon as someone fills out a form or contacts them by phone, email, or text message.

You really made it as easy as possible for people to configure their workflows without writing a line of code.

Intuitive doesn't even describe how helpful Pipefy is for first-time users. The next step is always suggested.

In addition, your clients and customers can create and track inquiries without being a Pipefy user. This is ideal for working with customers and other stakeholders.

Other helpful functions are:

Report dashboards
Native integration with Slack and GitHub
API access
Self-service portals and forms
SLA and deadline tracking

Pipefy offers a free trial of their paid plans and a free version for up to five people. To really take advantage of this great tool, I recommend one of the paid plans:

business: $ 18 / month per user
Companies: $ 30 / month per user
Unlimited: Contact sales

If you like the idea of moving cards through a pipeline this is a great product. With Pipefy you can start small and automate each of your processes step by step.

Easy to build and easy to customize, Pipefy is perfect for the continuously improving agile workflow. If your teams are happy with Kanban, Pipefy is the place for you.

# 3 – Creatio Studio – Best Low-Code Solution

Creatio Studio gives you the best of both worlds in terms of performance and learning curve. Non-technical users will find the platform just as easy to use as any popular BPM software, but there is no limit to what they can do when they are ready to learn.

The free version of Creatio Studio is suitable for modeling business processes so that teams can display workflows in a collaborative environment. View, annotate and edit the designs in real time and save all elements in a process library for easy access.

You need Creatio Studio Enterprise to manage, monitor and automate processes. You can use it to design workflows and business applications of any complexity.

Remember to build with blocks instead of writing code. Creatio compares it to building with LEGO – not only do you have to make the pieces, but choose what you want and put them together.

There are hundreds of ready-to-use templates on the Creatio marketplace to get you started. While you design and refine processes in the Visual Design Builder, Creatio automatically generates the corresponding business logic.

It's a great product that bridges the gap between technical and non-technical users. Creatio is constantly suggesting actions and helping users review their work.

Not only does Creatio Studio help people design exactly what they need, it also offers:

Role-based access control
Interactive dashboards
API access
Migrate data without code
PDF documentation with one click
Tools for AI and machine learning

Creatio Studio is free for an unlimited number of users and Creatio Studio Enterprise starts at $ 25 / month per user.

Shortlist the free version of Creatio if you are just starting to think about business process management. It will help you get off on the right foot for free.

On the other hand, if you are reaching the limits of your current BPM software, Creatio Studio Enterprise is one of the most powerful and affordable options available.

Although many low-code platforms were developed for general use, Creatio was originally founded in 2011 as bpm’online. Every aspect of the design takes BPM into account, which significantly shortens the learning curve for non-IT users.

# 4 – Tallyfy – Best for automating repetitive processes

Tallyfy is moving away from the idea of flowcharts. Instead of the shapes and arrows guiding your design process, Tallyfy keeps everything in what they call a blueprint.

There are pre-made plans that you can use for marketing, finance, sales, human resources, and more. Once you've designed a blueprint, you can use it over and over again.

The following example shows a blueprint that captures the entire onboarding journey.

Blueprints can be easily customized without code. Point and click to add new assignments to blueprints. Within tasks, you can set required fields and add drop-down menus to pull the names of employees, customers and projects from connected databases.

When you start these blueprints, end users will love how easy it is to get any task done.

Managers can see progress at a glance or drill down on specific tasks. Customers who have to approve a request or unsubscribe in a certain step will only see this.

With blueprints, it's incredibly easy to set up and automate repetitive processes. Quickly create a library of blueprints to suit your needs and continuously improve each step. Turn all of your repetitive processes into error-free workflows that save time and eliminate stress.

Once your automated processes have started, you can use Tallyfy's process monitoring functions to track all your operations in real time. Some of the highlights are:

Powerful search and filtering
Custom process views
Role-based access control
Booking logs
Leave a Comment
Problem identification

Commenting on and marking problems as separate functions is so important to make problems pop up quickly.

How many times does a red alert get buried in the constant flow of @mentions and comments for a few hours? With easy ways to flag problems, companies never let an employee, customer, or goal fall through the cracks again.

You get two months of Tallyfy free of charge when you sign an annual contract for one of the three price levels:

Tallyfy Docs: From $ 42 / month, including 10 members
Tallyfy Basic: from $ 100 / month, including 8 members
Tallyfy Pro: From $ 100 / month, including 4 members

The way their layers collapse is really simple, although it looks a little unusual at first. Docs lets you create read-only blueprints, Basic lets you start blueprints as a process, and Pro lets you add automation.

If you need additional users, the additional cost increases from $ 4 per user with Docs to $ 12.50 with Basic and $ 25 with Pro at each tier.

They offer a 14 day free trial if you want to see what Tallyfy is all about. I really recommend blueprint style BPM software to any company that has repetitive tasks that need to be done right every time.

# 5 – Zoho Creator – Best for customizable workflows

Zoho Creator is a low-code application development platform that can be used to create a wide variety of customizable business process workflows.

Unlike Creatio Studio, Zoho Creator was not born as a BPM tool. Think of this as a blank board with an intuitive toolkit that businesses can use to create anything from serverless apps to complete, fully specialized ERP software.

The reason companies have been successful with Zoho Creator in the BPM space is because it comes with tools to create customized workflows.

Between the templates and the drag-and-drop platform, anyone with a few weeks of Zoho Creator under control will feel like they are a developer.

The user interface isn't dazzling, but it's easy to navigate and you can create really polished apps to automate your business processes.

Zoho is really great at walking users through every step, whether they're trying to set up a simple payment process or designing a mobile app for their office.

To really cope with the complex tasks, users need to familiarize themselves with Zoho's proprietary language Deluge, which stands for Data Enriched Language for the Universal Grid environment.

It's mouth full to say, but when it comes to creating custom scripts quickly, Deluge is a big step in the right direction. An HR manager with no coding experience can automate a recruiting application. A sales rep can use Deluge to create an automated lead tracking system.

With other platforms, end users are exposed to their automated workflows and can hardly make changes to the system. With Zoho, you can stay in control and ensure your workflows are designed according to best practices and current challenges.

Tech-savvy users will love Zoho Creator because they can add logic and function to their applications without having to mess with traditional tools.

Other features to get you started quickly include:

50 ready-to-use apps
Schema Builder
Developer sandbox
Integration of the payment gateway
Booking control
Automated application backup

The pricing is remarkable considering how powerful the platform is.

basic: $ 10 / month per user
bonus: $ 20 / month per user
Ultimate: $ 35 / month per user

The base tier is pretty robust, although you can only build 3 apps. You get more apps and more functions at the Premium and Ultimate levels.

Zoho Creator certainly allows you to manage simple workflows, but I wouldn't make this your first choice for this reason. It's just too powerful to warrant using when Orchestly and Pipefy are available.

Choose Zoho Creator if lighter tools don't meet your BPM needs.

Summary

There is no reason to fly blind. Get immediate insight and overview of all your business processes with a suitable BPM solution.

If you're just starting out, I recommend Orchestly for and Tallyfy.

If you have simple automation and workflow goals, head over to Orchestly and see how far it takes you. For many companies, it will be enough to better manage all of their operations.

Tallyfy will do repetitive tasks very quickly with the workflow automation tools. Design your processes and then manage them with little control.

For agile teams, especially those working in a Kanban or Scrum process framework, I would definitely try Pipefy. It is designed for agility. Make adjustments on the fly and monitor performance to continuously develop better processes.

Between Creatio Studio and Zoho Creator, the two low-code options on this list of the best BPM software, the choice ultimately depends on what your users like.

Judging by reviews, many new users fall in love with Zoho's Deluge scripting language. If so, you should implement Creator and other Zoho products such as: B. their CRM, which are also based on Deluge.

If anyone is looking for a more traditional version of highly customizable BPM software, I refer you to Creatio Studio.