Haciendo más fácil BPM: cómo elegir las herramientas

However, the range of tools is vast (perhaps excessive) and therefore one must be careful when selecting them according to the requirements. One may run the risk of obtaining tools that are too sophisticated, when all that was needed was to graph a model; or on the contrary, choosing tools whose functionality is not sufficient to achieve the objectives set. Source [1] identifies certain aspects to take into account: one of the main ones is to know how expressive the tool is for modeling business rules. It is also important to know who the end user of the tool will be, whether people belonging to the business world or the IT world. Some tools offer advanced features, such as simulation of processes and deliverables. In these cases, one must analyze whether it is really justified to have them, or whether they only represent unnecessary luxuries. In short, it is crucial to dedicate a reasonable amount of time and choose each tool thinking about the problem to be solved, as if it were another activity within BPM.

Available tools

Among the most complete commercial tools, we can mention The Ultimus Adaptive BPM Software Suite (www.ultimus.com/BPMSoftware). This tool emphasizes human participation, where the user guides most of the process. It highlights the modeling, the quality of the reports, and the possibility of collaborative work.

Another well-known tool is Progress Savvion BPM (available at www.progress.com/en/savvion/savvion-businessmanager.html). It is a complex framework composed of several modules, among which the most notable are Savvion Process Modeler, Savvion Process Asset Manager and Savvion Business Rules Management System , which are oriented towards the modeling and analysis of business rules. For more information on these and other tools, you can continue researching in the source [2].

Among the open source tools, Intalio (www.intalio.com/bpms) stands out. This tool is based on technologies such as Eclipse BPM Modeler and the Apache ODE BPEL engine, and its main attraction is a rich and wide range of constructors related to business rule modeling. Meanwhile, BizAgi (www.bizagi.com) is particularly useful because it has a series of predefined patterns with the most common automations in business rule modeling. It is undoubtedly a good tool to get started in BPM techniques and gain confidence in them. Tibco Business Studio (http://developer.tibco.com/business_studio) is also an interesting option that also has the possibility of performing simulations. Finally, frameworks such as Visual Paradigm (www.visual-paradigm.com/product/vpuml/editions/) also have the possibility of creating diagrams describing business processes. For more information on open source tools, the link [3] is recommended.

It is also useful to mention tools that are dedicated to managing BPM in a comprehensive manner: that is, going beyond the design and covering the entire lifecycle management of a process. IBM offers its Business Process Manager tool (www-01.ibm.com/software/integration/business-process-manager) to the market, a complete platform with many predefined features, which offers a high degree of flexibility to adapt to different needs.

Oracle has developed the Oracle Business Process Management Suite (www.oracle.com/us/technologies/bpm/overview). This is an easy-to-use framework with advanced visual features, especially designed for risk management and detection. Finally, SAP offers a wide set of BPM solutions (available at www.sap.com/solutions/technology/business-process-management). All the features and functions are easy to combine, which enhances their use.

References :

• 1- http://searchcio.techtarget.com/podcast/BPM-tool-selection-Strategies-for-success
• 2- http://www.learndatamodeling.com/b_tools.php
• 3- http://bpmfundamentals.wordpress.com/2009/07/10/free-bpm-modeling-tools/