BPM Tests: Vendor Evaluation
With more than fifty vendors competing today, analysts
predict that the BPM market is poised for consolidation.
Many struggling pure-play vendors will not survive the
shake-up. At the same time, many market entrants will lack
the business focus to deliver a functionally complete product
offering and may even abandon the market if business
conditions change.
Even among the BPM suite vendors, not all are created equal.
Beware of BPM suites that have been cobbled together through
acquisition or partnership. They can easily become integration
and customization nightmares. Look out for vendors that claim they offer a modern suite but are tied to an old BPM engine and client-server architecture developed ten or fifteen years ago. Additionally, platform vendors and EAI vendors who are recent market entrants should be viewed with skepticism. Their products typically reflect a failure to understand the unique challenges of orchestrating complex human-to-human and human-to-system business processes.
When it comes to selecting BPM vendors, look for companies with:
Set the bar high — unless your requirements are short term and tactical, an excellent way to narrow the field of potential vendors is to focus on those that are capable of offering a complete BPM suite.
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