What is the difference between Business Process Management (BPM) and Process Automation?
Many software vendors and their implementation partners equate BPM with process automation. However, they are far from the same thing. Process automation is certainly an aspect of BPM, and an important one at that. However, BPM goes way beyond process automation. BPM is a management tool that executives have at their disposal to help achieve business objectives. It encompasses business architecture, process design and implementation, business activity monitoring and business rules definition, implementation and enforcement, all of which may or may not include the use of technology and / or process automation. In contrast, process automation implies the use of technology. A business’s IT department might adopt a process automation strategy to achieve a specific set of business objectives derived from the BPM process.
