Häufig gestellte Fragen
What does BPM (Business Process Management) mean?
BPM stands for Business Process Management, known in German as Geschäftsprozessmanagement. It refers to a holistic, methodical, software-supported approach with which organizations systematically capture, model, execute, monitor, and continuously improve their workflows. The term covers both the management discipline and the supporting software, which is often referred to as a BPM suite or process engine. The goal is to make processes transparent and controllable across departmental and system boundaries instead of leaving them as unspoken routine.
What is the difference between BPM and BPMN?
BPM is the comprehensive management discipline, whereas BPMN (Business Process Model and Notation) is merely the graphical notation language for modeling processes. BPMN is maintained by the Object Management Group; version 2.0 was released in January 2011 and was adopted in 2013 as the internationally identical standard ISO/IEC 19510. BPMN models are not just for documentation — in executable form they can be handed over to a workflow engine that controls the process flow. BPMN is thus a central tool within BPM, but not the same thing as BPM.
BPM or RPA — what is the difference?
BPM and RPA (Robotic Process Automation) address different levels of automation and complement each other. BPM models, controls, and optimizes entire end-to-end processes across multiple systems and participants, while RPA automates individual repetitive tasks at the user-interface level by mimicking human clicks and inputs. In practice, many companies combine both approaches: BPM provides the orchestrated framework, and RPA takes over individual steps within it, such as transferring data between applications without an API. BPM is thus more strategic and process-wide, RPA more tactical and task-focused.
How does BPM differ from process mining?
BPM and process mining look at processes from opposite directions and are increasingly used together. BPM usually describes and designs processes based on a planned target state and controls their execution, while process mining reconstructs from the log data of existing IT systems how workflows actually run. Process mining thereby objectively uncovers deviations, bottlenecks, loops, and media discontinuities and provides the factual basis for the analysis phase of the BPM lifecycle. In modern initiatives, process mining delivers the diagnosis and BPM implements the improvements derived from it.
Which BPM software is widely used?
The market ranges from dedicated BPM suites to process capabilities integrated into larger platforms; depending on how it is delimited, the global BPM market volume for 2025 is estimated at a low to mid double-digit billion figure (US dollars) and is growing at double-digit rates per year. Frequently cited vendors include, among others, Camunda, Bizagi, SAP Signavio, IBM, Pega, Appian, and ServiceNow; many ERP vendors and low-code platforms also come with their own workflow and process tools. Which tool fits depends on factors such as BPMN standard conformance, integration capability, number of processes, and existing know-how — not on the prominence of a name. This list is illustrative and vendor-neutral, to be understood without any ranking or claim to completeness.
How does BPM relate to an ERP system?
BPM and an ERP system complement each other but have different focal points. The ERP provides the transactional data foundation with hard-wired standard workflows such as Procure-to-Pay or Order-to-Cash, while BPM puts overarching control and flexible adaptation of processes in the foreground. In practice there are two patterns: companies either use the process control built into the ERP for approvals and status changes, or they place a standalone BPM layer across multiple systems that orchestrates the ERP, CRM, and other applications. BPM plays to its strengths especially in cross-departmental and cross-system operations that do not fit neatly into a single module.
What are the phases of the BPM lifecycle?
BPM is classically understood as a closed loop comprising several phases that build on one another. It starts with identifying and modeling the relevant processes as as-is and to-be views, followed by the analysis, in which weaknesses, waiting times, and duplicated work are uncovered — increasingly data-driven through process mining. Then come the implementation of the optimized workflow, where appropriate via workflow automation, and productive execution with ongoing monitoring of metrics such as cycle time or error rate. Based on these measurements, the optimization cycle begins anew, which is why BPM differs fundamentally from a one-off reorganization.