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Workflow Automation Systems versus Canned Applications
What Factors Determine the Best Choice?
As a provider of a Business Process Management (BPM) or Workflow Automation (WFA) system, it is common for a prospect to come to us with single process automation project in mind. In these instances competition includes not only BPM/WFA providers, but also application specific providers; what we call “canned” solutions.
As an example, let’s take an organization looking to automate their New Employee Onboarding process.
Utilizing a BPM is certainly a valid consideration. You can design and automate that company's workflow to match their unique process requirements. Sounds great….Right? Maybe it is, but maybe there is a better canned solution? There are hundreds of New Employee Onboarding and Human Resource applications to choose from.
From any organization’s viewpoint, how do you determine which type of solution is best?
There are a number of factors that come into play when making a decision between a BPM and a canned solution. Most are common to any software purchase while one is very specific to the BPM versus Canned decision.
With any software purchase, you want to make sure your requirements match well with the applications standard features. The preferred solution should be neither too basic nor too complex for the project requirements. In our example, you may find a HR System with a great Onboarding piece, but the overall system is overkill for your organization.
The most common decision factor is cost. Here you may find the perfect BPM, but it's price tag makes it an unlikely candidate. Now sales professionals will tell you cost is never a real factor; that the applications value (feature/benefit) can overcome any price objection. For those believers we have one word…..Budgets! No matter how perfect a solution may be for a customer, it has to be at a cost that fits within a budget; whether the budget is formal or a self-imposed perception.
Let's get to the main factor of BPM versus Canned. The prospect needs to ask one simple question. Do we have additional workflow automation needs or future projects? If yes, the BPM has an advantage. If no, then a canned solution with a singular focus becomes a strong contender.
Of course, I tend to lean towards the BPM. How likely is it that an organization has no additional workflow automation needs? Whether identified yet or not, there are always other business processes to automate. That makes the BPM a superior decision. The same investment used to automate one process can be used to automate many others. You might start with automating the New Employee Onboarding process; leaving Invoice Approval, Work Orders, Prospect Tracking, Help Desk, Termination, User Access, Requisition Requests, Returns, and a fast array of Document Routing/Approval business automation projects still to be completed.
So next time you are looking for a "canned" solution, give BPM and WFA systems a little consideration. You just might find the perfect solution for all your process automation needs at a fraction of the cost of multiple canned applications.
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