Forrester

Why Read This Report

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems are the transactional backbone of most enterprise processes, spanning finance and administration, customer relationship management (CRM), supply chain, analytics, and other applications. ERP is a great fit for well-defined, highly structured processes in industries like manufacturing, utilities, and oil and gas, but it still struggles to address "invisible" and untamed processes within fast-moving service companies. Many companies now use business process management suite (BPMS) or dynamic case management (DCM) solutions as the primary point of entry for strategic, cross-functional processes and view individual ERP functions as supporting administrative processes. Determining if, when, and how to use a BPMS alongside ERP depends on the degree of cross-process coordination, rate of process change, breadth of user experience, and degree of customization. Over the next three years, business process pros will increasingly use BPMS for end-to-end process solutions — which has the potential to disrupt the competitive landscape within their industries.