Business process management (BPM) software is supposed to make our lives easier, but the wrong software just complicates things. To reach your business goals, you will need software that thoroughly supports your overall business workflow. After all, the workflow design software you choose affects your business as a whole, not just individual employees or departments. Considering the following key features of workflow design software will help you choose the right fit for your business.
Access Your Software on Any Device
As our world becomes more dependent on mobile, we have to adapt. We cannot allow the devices we use to limit us.
To keep up with this trend, many businesses are opting for flexible policies that allow employees to bring their own devices (BYOD) to work. ZDNet reported that 74 percent of businesses surveyed have already implemented or plan to implement BYOD policies. Even companies that do not have a BYOD policy usually grant employees the use of several types of company-owned mobile devices.
Your workflow design software should be able to accommodate both scenarios with ease of use and security. But it’s not just about software that is compatible with laptops, tablets, and phones. Consider all operating systems, and choose software applications compatible with Windows, Apple, and Android devices. This will allow streamlined access to any device your employees and stakeholders may use.
Customize Your Dashboard to Suit Your Business
What is important to one business isn’t important to others. For example, all industries have their own regulatory compliance standards, but businesses in the education sector need systems that support student forms, applications, and financial aid requirements. Government sectors may focus on the multiple layers of approvals that must be met before funds are allocated for procurement, meeting citizen demands, and securing sensitive information. Businesses in the manufacturing industry may be more focused on supply chain management, inventory control, system access requests, and ISO 9000 compliance.
That’s why a customizable dashboard is valuable. This feature allows you to develop your dashboard around your own business workflow considerations, such as:
- Locale-specific criteria
- Industry regulations and certifications
- Budget constraints
- Vendor or outsourcing requirements
- State, Federal, or International legal considerations
- Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) or International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)
Eliminate Code Headaches
IT personnel understand code, but for the rest of us, learning to code is like learning a foreign language. Whether you’re educating the necessary team members on coding basics or instructing IT to set up a workflow engine, this is a time-consuming endeavor. The last thing you want in business process management is a lengthy deployment and development phase taking up valuable time and resources. Intuitive drag-and-drop and form-driven process feature in your workflow design software eliminate the need to learn or know how to code. That means a faster deployment so you can start using the software and reap its benefits sooner.
Eliminating the need to know or learn code also allows managers and supervisors to create the forms and workflows they need, without having to consult the IT department every time something changes. This approach gives more control to those who are using the software daily.
Implement Employee Efficiency Reporting
Entrepreneur lists measuring employee productivity as one of the top four methods of increasing employee efficiency. Workflow design software that features employee efficiency reporting can help you track your key performance indicators (KPIs) to find bottlenecks in your processes. The ability to customize your processes and reports for employee efficiency makes efficient use of resources and time.
For the most efficient use of resources, look for software solutions that help you establish and improve optimal performance by learning process behavior via multiple factors, such as:
- Standard deviation
- Resource costs
- Comparative rankings
Manage Users with Ease
Your employees do not need to know everything about your business; that is certainly a given in today’s security-based information landscape. However, it is important to make sure each employee has access to what they need while keeping information secure. User management is a feature that lets you grant key individuals the permissions that help them fulfill their roles. Look for user management features that allow:
- Customization to roles, groups, and departments
- Quick changes or edits without breaking the workflow
- Ability to edit without affecting historical requests
Keep It in the Cloud
No amount of information is useful if it isn’t accessible, but storing all of that information can be costly. Keeping resources in a cloud environment increases access to data while also:
- Reducing your reliance on space-devouring server systems
- Cutting down on energy costs by 60-85 percent
- Allowing IT departments to focus on duties outside of maintenance
In addition to software that provides access on different operating systems, cloud-based software increases mobility and ease of workflow. The cloud gives business access to anyone who needs it, no matter where they happen to be when the need arises. This flexibility streamlines your business and sets you up for success.
When choosing new software, you want it to be easy to learn and flexible enough to fit your individual business needs. ProcessMaker offers all of these features and more. See how easy workflow management can be. Get a free trial of ProcessMaker today.
