Business Process Management

Can We Replace ERP with BPM or Are They Complementary?

 

People are often confused between ERP and BPM. What exactly are they? What are their similarities and differences? Can we replace ERP with BPM or are they complementary? Let us find out.

What is ERP?

ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) is integrated and automated management of business processes. It is a system that uses a number of integrated applications to collect, store, manage, and analyze data for several different business activities. It is a central database that functions as a single source of authentic truth.

What is BPM?

BPM (Business Process Management) is an approach to capture and improve end-to-end business processes. The aim is to improve an organization’s efficiency. It uses various methods to discover, model, analyze, measure, improve, optimize and automate business processes. It automates repeatable processes to drive faster and better results.

What are the similarities and differences between ERP and BPM?

Both BPM and ERP are not just software but a ‘holistic management approach’ or a ‘business strategy’. However, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) revolves around organizational resources and business functions.

While Business Process Management (BPM) revolves around business processes. One of the key differences between the two is that BPM is much more process-focused whereas ERP is limited to organizational functions.

Can a BPM software solution replace an ERP system?

Yes, we believe in many cases BPM software can replace an ERP system. Every business has a unique nature even if many of its internal functions are common and standard. Like every human body has a similar structure but is still different from each other.

Similarly, businesses might look similar on the surface but each business has different operation needs. BPM helps businesses create, organize and automate their repeatable processes. Once a business has implemented all its functions on a BPM-based platform, it will have a more transparent system. That way it will gain better visualization of its operational blueprint and as a result, can work on becoming more agile.

To give you another example, Enterprise Resource Planning is like ordering takeout while Business Process Management is like cooking your own meal according to your own specific needs.

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