BPMS in the SAP Landscape: What CIOs Should Consider Before Implementation

As organizations pursue digital excellence, Business Process Management suites (BPMS) enable the delivery of business value—particularly throughout and in the SAP landscape. CIOs are pressured to align today’s IT architecture to deliver future business agility, articulate efficiencies, and future-proof the enterprise. This is where the SAP BPMS capabilities with BPMS tools can be relevant.  

SAP, traditionally a transactional processing vehicle pivoting towards process-centric models, enables BPMS to bridge the gap between rigid ERP transactional systems with dynamic workflow orchestration actions. Whether by SAP Process Orchestration, SAP Build Process Automation, or another process-centric capability, organizations now have the ability to model, execute and monitor a cross-functional process any way you want with more efficiency than ever before.  

As organizations adopt hybrid environments and processes become more complex, CIOs will need to assess how SAP workflow and BPMS can integrate with and support core applications. Additionally, understanding the organizational impact, cost, and scalability before an intended deployment is critical.  

This article contributes to a strategic roadmap for CIOs, in hopes of understanding SAP BPM vs BPMS, leading BPMS consulting firms to support the implementation, identifying relevant BPMS tools from SAP, and sharing recommended best practices prior to adoption.  

Understanding SAP BPM vs BPMS

CIOs must answer the simple but important question of how they will distinguish between SAP BPM and BPMS.  They are different approaches to process and they mean different things, but they often are used interchangeably in conversations about process management systems.

SAP BPM is the universe of methodologies and tools that are available to design and manage business processes in the SAP environment.  SAP BPM has strong ties to its SAP counterparts like SAP Process Orchestration, and it provides native modeling and execution capabilities to accompany the SAP.

BPMS is defined as a broader term encompassing a suite of tools to manage an end-to-end business process, regardless of platform.  BPMS includes an array of tools that can enable process modeling, rule engines, analytics, collaboration tools in a single suite for a single business process that may include both SAP and non-SAP systems.

As well, when considering SAP BPM vs BPMS, a CIO must consider other strategic choice factors such as vendor lock in, scalability, interoperability, and enterprise architecture.  SAP BPM is best-in-class for an SAP centric organization.  However there are other organizations operating in heterogeneous IT environments that need a full-fledged BPM Suite (BPMS).

A strategic CIO will often adopt a hybrid approach; using SAP workflow capabilities with a BPMS; toward the goal of integrating the operational and strategic process layers in an organization.

Key SAP BPMS Tools and Capabilities CIOs Should Explore

SAP has an impressive number of native and integrable tools that allow for very sophisticated business process automation/automation orchestration. The key tools are:

– SAP Process Orchestration (PO) – which includes SAP Business Process Management, SAP Process Integration (PI) and SAP Business Rules Management (BRM), gives companies the ability to model, implement, integrate and monitor business processes within and outside of SAP.

– SAP Build Process Automation – is a set of low-code tools that allow for automation of workflows, approvals and bot integration using a drag-and-drop interface, and builds on SAP capabilities which work for IT and business users alike.

– Integration with third-party BPMS tools – for example Camunda, Pega or Appian, for enterprises who want to build agile process layers on top of transactional data systems, often with advanced functionality such as machine learning integration and predictive analytics.

When choosing SAP BPMS tools, CIOs need to consider licensing models, support of cloud/hybrid environments and how the tools align with organizational KPIs.

Best Practices of Integrating SAP Workflow and BPMS

When it comes to SAP workflow and BPMS integration, CIOs can’t just focus on integration issues. CIOs need to focus on the seamless orchestration of workflows across operational systems and the decision layer. CIOs should help eliminate siloed workflows by being orchestrated across the entire landscape of functional teams like finance, HR, supply chain, and customer service.

Key considerations in leveraging SAP workflows within BPMS include:

• Uniformity of Processes: eliminating duplication of efforts and inefficiencies was about standardizing the workflows across SAP modules and third parties
• Re-enterable Components: creating workflow templates, shared business rules, and libraries that can be used or reused across processes
• Intelligent and Embedded Process Models: Enhancing SAP workflows and additional libraries with artificial intelligence utilizing analytics, decision engines, and event-based triggers
• By building out strong integration between SAP and external BPMS platforms, organizations plan for responsiveness, risk, and provide a consistent user experience.

Additionally, developing workflows that consider customer journeys to regulatory compliance adds measurable business value, especially in regulated sectors.

Working with BPMS Consulting Firms and Why It Matters

Attempting to implement SAP BPMS with no guidance from experienced BPMS consultants can have the consequence of misaligned objectives, wasted budgets, and missed opportunities. BPMS consulting firms offer expertise in architecture, risk, platform selection and change management.

Qualified consultants can help organizations:

• Create a roadmap for BPMS deployment so it aligns to strategic objectives
• Analyze and deploy the selected SAP BPMS tools effectively as well as use configuration management
• Allow for cross-functional involvement of both IT and other business units
• Establish a governance framework to capture long-term value from your BPMS deployment

A CIO should consider previous experience in SAP BPMS implementation, technical certifications, and knowledge of local industry regulations when selecting a consulting partner for BPMS.

In addition, many of the consultancy firms support on-going post-deployment support, to provide assurance that your process management solution continues to evolve with your organization.

How Enterprises Benefit from SAP BPMS

By understanding real-world examples, CIOs can see how SAP BPMS tools can create value in different industries. Let’s consider some examples:

Retail: A retail chain had SAP workflow and BPMS to address order fulfillment, returns, and customer service processes. The BPMS solution provided a 360° view of their operations and helped reduce process gaps in their stores and warehouses.

Finance: A well-known bank was using SAP BPMS to orchestrate loan origination workflows between SAP Core Banking and CRM. Their loan origination process, and many others were automated, so manual errors were eliminated, and regulatory compliance could be met.

Healthcare: Hospitals have used SAP BPMS to integrate with clinical and administrative processes to automate patient onboarding, billing and claims. With SAP BPMS, they provided faster service to assist patients and provided better patient satisfaction.

The preceding examples highlight that it is possible to modify SAP BPMS according to individual enterprise needs, provided suitable BPMS consulting firms and tools are used. SAP BPMS can also..

– provide visibility

– provide flexibility and

– allow control of their mission critical processes.

Strategic Considerations Before Implementing SAP BPMS

Prior to any implementation the Chief Information (CIO) has to consider numerous strategic factors to improve the probability of success. Factors to consider include:

• Data Governance: Are the processes being built with data lineage, audit controls and privacy compliance in mind? 
• Change Management: Is there a total organization change management plan that engages all the stakeholders of the organization in preparation for the process changes BPMS will deliver? 
• Cost-benefit analysis: In addition to software costs, what is the forecasted Return on Investment (ROI) in terms of process efficiencies; employee productivity; risk exposure/mitigation? 

CIOs should consider these same questions together with the business stakeholders, technology architects, and a BPMS consultancy partnership prior to proceeding with implementation. 

After completing this strategic planning, which will be time consuming, the organization will avoid any risks or distractions while addressing the transition to SAP BPMS.

Conclusion

Establishing a SAP BPMS framework aligned to your organization has become a strategy, not an option. CIOs can ensure BPMS becomes your sustainable digital backbone and not just a technical transformation by focusing on scalability, compliance, and long-term value.