For CIOs

CIOs: Take Control Of Your BPM Destiny

by Alexander Peters, Ph.D., September 21, 2009

Competitive pressures, both locally and globally, have put business process management (BPM) at the top of corporate agendas. Business executives are tasked with finding new ways to drive strategic efficiency and increased levels of business innovation. . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

The Importance Of Matching BPM Tools To The Process

Single Vendor Solutions Are Not Ready Yet To Meet Customers' Full Needs

by Ken Vollmer, Clay Richardson, Craig Le Clair, September 4, 2009

The world is a complex place, and business process management (BPM) is no exception. Forrester defines BPM as a discipline for continually improving cross-functional business processes. In contrast, BPM suites (BPMS) have a narrower focus as software . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Forrester TechRadar™ For BP&A Pros: Business Process Management Suites, Q3 2009

The Need For Increased Business Agility Drives BPM Adoption

by Clay Richardson, Ken Vollmer, Craig Le Clair, August 13, 2009

Business process management (BPM) refers to a broad category of software, typically sold as a suite, that automates, improves, and optimizes business processes across the full range of process activity — including human-, document-, and integration-centric . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Vendor Snapshot: HandySoft OfficeEngine Whips Unstructured Processes Into Shape

by Clay Richardson, July 15, 2009

The cat's out of the bag: Business processes are not always as structured and straightforward as you've been led to believe. Although the majority of business processes are structured and capable of being managed in a typical business process management . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Use Lean Discovery To Accelerate The Return On Your BPM Investment

by Clay Richardson, July 14, 2009

In these lean economic times, business process professionals watch their budgets get slashed, while at the same time, the hunger for business process management (BPM) and process improvement continues to accelerate across the enterprise. To meet these . . .

For Information & Knowledge Management Professionals

How SaaS-Able Are Content, Collaboration, And Data Software Categories?

Only Some Categories Possess The Innate Characteristics Suited To SaaS Delivery

by Craig Le Clair, Ted Schadler, July 8, 2009

Many enterprises are considering information and knowledge management (I&KM) software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions as alternatives to on-premise software installations and perpetual-license models. In response, I&KM vendors — old and new — have . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

Topic Overview: How BPM Can Help The Bottom Line In Difficult Financial Times

BPM-Enabled Improvements In Business Agility Flow To The Bottom Line

by Ken Vollmer, March 17, 2009

The current global economic crisis is putting increasing pressure on enterprise architects to find new — and more cost-effective — ways of meeting business needs. One software category in particular offers proven solutions to help increase operational . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Vendor Snapshot: Lombardi Blueprint Bridges Gap Between Process Discovery And Execution

by Clay Richardson, February 6, 2009

Austin-based Lombardi Software's latest offering, Blueprint, positions the vendor to extend its leadership in human-centric business process management (BPM) and takes direct aim at Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Visio as the tools of choice for process . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

The Strategic Turnaround: Cordys Repositions To Verticals With An Indirect Sales Model

SWOT Analysis: Cordys, Q4 2008

by Stefan Ried, Ph.D., January 30, 2009

Cordys is one of the few promising new entrants into the integration and process improvement middleware market; it was recently named a leader in the Forrester Wave™ of integration-centric business process management suites. While its technology . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

The Forrester Wave™: Integration-Centric Business Process Management Suites, Q4 2008

Software AG, IBM, And TIBCO Software Lead

by Ken Vollmer, October 6, 2008

Forrester evaluated leading integration-centric business process management suite (IC-BPMS) vendors across 109 criteria and found that Software AG, IBM, TIBCO Software, Vitria Technology, Oracle , SAP, and Cordys Software achieved leadership status based . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Market Momentum: Middleware Software Market, H1 2008

by Stefan Ried, Ph.D., September 16, 2008

The middleware software market continues to mature — from the bottom of the technology stack to the higher layers. A set of 15 representative vendors announced a healthy mix of new product innovations and the maintenance of existing products with successive . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

BPM Tool Usage Varies By Sector

Manufacturing And Financial Services Sectors Highlight Key Differences

by Ken Vollmer, April 4, 2008

Forrester's October 2007 US And UK Enterprise Architecture And Business Process Management Online Survey indicates that the most widely used business process management (BPM) tools fall into the integration-centric business process management suite (IC-BPMS) . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Global 360 Leads With Process Intelligence For Human-Centric BPMS

The Forrester Wave™ Vendor Summary, Q4 2007

by Colin Teubner, December 19, 2007

Global 360 is a clear all-around Leader in human-centric BPM technology. Beyond its BPM suite, which covers all the bases and has special coverage for document-centric processes, imaging, and other content management technology, the vendor specializes . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Ultimus Leads Human-Centric BPMS With Top-Notch Usability

The Forrester Wave™ Vendor Summary, Q4 2007

by Colin Teubner, December 19, 2007

Ultimus is a well-known name to many in the BPM space, being one of the longer-lived and most global pure plays around. The Cary, NC-based company uses feedback from its large customer base to decide which features to add, meaning that while the company . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Metastorm Adds Process Analysis To Its Leading BPM Suite

The Forrester Wave™ Vendor Summary, Q4 2007

by Colin Teubner, December 19, 2007

Metastorm has been adding to its BPM clout and organic growth in recent years by growing through acquisition, most notably of B2B integration specialist CommerceQuest and, more recently, enterprise architecture (EA) modeling vendor Proforma. While the . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

W4 Partners To Bring Integration Capabilities To Its Strong-Performing Human-Centric BPMS

The Forrester Wave™ Vendor Summary, Q4 2007

by Colin Teubner, December 19, 2007

W4 Software is the least Microsoft-centric vendor in this evaluation, which is a good thing to some and a bad thing to others. It hurt the vendor in our rankings, where it missed points on Microsoft-specific integration criteria such as SharePoint features; . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Singularity Discovers Processes Rapidly With A Strong-Performing Human-Centric BPMS

The Forrester Wave™ Vendor Summary, Q4 2007

by Colin Teubner, December 19, 2007

Northern Ireland-based Singularity specializes in methodology and process expertise, especially in specific verticals. While the product has innovative features, such as pen-based modeling and case management features, the vendor's true differentiation . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Strong Performer K2 Brings Advanced Development To Human-Centric BPM Suites

The Forrester Wave™ Vendor Summary, Q4 2007

by Colin Teubner, December 19, 2007

K2 has a strong track record of providing workflow software in Microsoft environments, and the vendor is getting closer to true BPM technology with its latest release. It provides several different easy-to-use design surfaces to satisfy different BPM . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

The Forrester Wave™: Human-Centric BPM for Microsoft Platforms, Q4 2007

Global 360, Metastorm, And Ultimus Lead, But Upstarts Compete

by Colin Teubner, December 19, 2007

Forrester conducted lab-based evaluations of eight leading human-centric business process management (BPM) suite vendors across 150 criteria. We found a market in which Global 360, Metastorm, and Ultimus lead with well-rounded products that cover the . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Ascentn Emerges And Is A Strong Performer In The Human-Centric BPMS Market

The Forrester Wave™ Vendor Summary, Q4 2007

by Colin Teubner, December 19, 2007

Don't let the small size fool you: Ascentn has put quite an effort into making use of Microsoft-provided technology so that its R&D could go to better use. While the company is somewhat new to BPM, the founders have experience creating process-based . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Bluespring Lets Power Users, Not Developers, Build Strong Workflows

The Forrester Wave™ Vendor Summary, Q4 2007

by Colin Teubner, December 19, 2007

The small, Cincinnati, Ohio-based Bluespring Software relies on partners to go to market, so its revenue size (not reported, but likely less than $5 million) misrepresents its R&D clout. The product takes a strong business power-user tack; users can . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

The Forrester Wave™: Human-Centric BPMS For Banking And Investments, Q3 2007

Pegasystems, Appian, And IBM Lead With Strong Industry Frameworks

by Mary Pilecki, August 30, 2007

Leveraging the lab-based "The Forrester Wave™: Human-Centric BPM For Java Platforms, Q3 2007" report, Forrester evaluated leading vendors with business process management suites (BPMS) for banking and investments across 17 criteria. Pegasystems . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

Topic Overview: Business Process Management

by Ken Vollmer, August 10, 2007

Business process management (BPM) tools have become a popular alternative used by many enterprises to support improvements to their core business processes. These tools come in several types that focus on human-centric, integration-centric, and document-centric . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

HandySoft Strengthens Its Human-Centric BPMS Offering With A Focus On Collaboration

The Forrester Wave™ Vendor Summary, Q3 2007

by Colin Teubner, August 2, 2007

HandySoft is a pure-play business process management suite (BPMS) vendor that, despite its small size, has a long track record of success with its customers. This company's Korean parent gives it a solid base of technology to draw on. By using its own . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

TIBCO Leads Human-Centric BPMS With High-Functioning Suite

The Forrester Wave™ Vendor Summary, Q3 2007

by Colin Teubner, August 2, 2007

TIBCO Software's business process management suite (BPMS) — iProcess Suite — outshines many of its competitors in integration, with significant support for system-intensive processes and straight-through processing. TIBCO itself has a strong product and . . .