Following is a brief survey of some of the popular Business Process Management Suites available in the market.
| BPM Suite | Platform | Open Source / Free trial | Cloud / On Premises | Recognition |
| PegaSystems | No | – Tops the chart in Forrester in BPM Suites 2013 Q1 publication – Tops the chart in Gartner 2010 BPM publication |
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| IBM | No | Both | – Tops the chart in Forrester in BPM Suites 2013 Q1 publication – Tops the chart in Gartner 2010 BPM publication (just behind Pega) |
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| Appian | No | Both | – Positioned as Leader in Forrester in BPM Suites 2013 Q1 publication -Recognized as Leader in Gartner Intelligent BPM 2012 Magic Quadrant – Positioned in Leaders quadrant in Gartner 2010 BPM publication |
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| Software AG | No (Freeware Process Modeling tool) | Both | – Positioned as String Performer in Forrester in BPM Suites 2013 Q1 publication – Positioned in Leaders quadrant in Gartner 2010 BPM publication |
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| Cordys | No (Free trail of cloud based ‘Process Factory’, a separate offering from BPMS) | Both | – Positioned as Strong Performer in Forrester in BPM Suites 2013 Q1 publication – Positioned in Visionaries quadrant in Gartner 2010 BPM publication |
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| Oracle BPM Suite | Java | Pre-built VM is available for download for non production use | On Premises | – Positioned as strong performer by Forrester in BPM Suites 2013 Q1 publication – Positioned in Leaders quadrant in Gartner 2010 BPM publication |
| bizagi | Available on both .Net & Java | -Process Modeler is freeware – BPM Suite is available for download for evaluation |
On Premises | – Positioned as strong performer by Forrester in BPM Suites 2013 Q1 publication – Positioned in Visionaries quadrant in Gartner 2010 BPM publication – Acknowledged as Cool Vendor by Gartner in 2010 – Evaluated by Forrester in BPM Suites 2010 Q3 publication |
| Tibco | No (Free trail for cloud based ‘formvine’, a basic tool for creating simple forms) | Both | – Positioned as Strong Performer in Forrester in BPM Suites 2013 Q1 publication – Positioned in Visionaries quadrant in Gartner 2010 BPM publication |
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| AgilePoint | .Net | Free version called AgilePoint Genesis available for limited users | – Positioned in Visionaries quadrant in Gartner 2010 BPM publication – Evaluated by Forrester in BPM Suites 2010 Q3 publication |
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| K2 | .Net | Online trial version available | – Positioned in Visionaries quadrant in Gartner 2010 BPM publication – Evaluated by Forrester in BPM Suites 2010 Q3 publication |
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| intalio | Java | Open Source (Enterprise also available) | – Evaluated by Forrester in BPM Suites 2010 Q3 publication – Positioned in Visionaries quadrant in Gartner 2010 BPM publication |
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| ProcessMaker | Curl, Javascript, PHP | Open Source(Community and Enterprise editions are available) | Both (Cloud version available on 30-day trial) | 15,035 downloads in May-13 on sourceforge |
| BizFlow | Java | No | Both | – Positioned as strong performer by Forrester in BPM Suites 2013 Q1 publication but below rest of the vendors – Gartner evaluated BizFlow in Nov-2012 in ‘BPM Vendor Insights: HandySoft BizFlow’ publication – Positioned in Niche Players quadrant in Gartner 2010 BPM publication |
| Bonitasoft | Groovy, Java, Javascript | Open Source(Community and Enterprise editions are available) | – 1,384 downloads in May-13 on sourceforge – Evaluated by Forrester in BPM Suites 2010 Q3 publication – Acknowledged as Cool Vendor by Gartner in 2011 |
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| joget | Java, MySQL, Apache Tomcat, GlassFish, Spring Framework, Hibernate, Apache Felix, Enhydra Shark, JPEd, JQuery | Open Source (Community Edition is open source. Enterprise edition is also available for download). |
Both (Cloud version available on 30-day trial) |
4,671 downloads in May-13 on sourceforge |
| Activiti | Java | Open Source (Enterprise support also available) | ||
| uEngine BPM | Java | Open Source | -896 downloads in May-13 on sourceforge |
Links:
InfoWorld includes ProcessMaker in their top picks in open source applications..
http://www.infoworld.com/slideshow/119652/bossie-awards-2013-the-best-open-source-applications-226975#slide22
“For smaller businesses and departmental projects, Colosa’s ProcessMaker may be the smartest choice for approval-based workflow. This year’s Version 2.5 release brought easier WYSIWYG customization of forms and reports. New syntax validation for forms prevents your underlying XML from going haywire — a royal pain to troubleshoot in the past.
ProcessMaker lacks extensive process monitoring and optimization capabilities, nor does it offer tools for BPMN 2.0 (business process model and notation) modeling, process validation, or debugging. But this LAMP/PHP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP) stack is easy to get started. In addition to the community edition, ProcessMaker is available in cloud-hosted and enterprise editions, including one edition that installs as a SugarCRM module.
— James R. Borck”
InfoWorld includes Activiti in their top picks in open source applications.. http://www.infoworld.com/slideshow/119652/bossie-awards-2013-the-best-open-source-applications-226975#slide23
“Activiti is an independent project funded by Alfresco and the SpringSource division of Pivotal. Sporting native BPMN 2.0 (business process model and notation) execution and a liberal Apache license, Activiti launched as a clean-sheet BPM engine in 2010. Led by the ex-Red Hat developers responsible for jBPM, this rebooted process engine incorporates many features found in commercial BPM implementations and includes plug-ins for open source powerhouses such as Liferay Portal, Mule ESB, and Spring. The system includes a form modeler for human workflow, LDAP integration, and a REST API to nearly everything within.
— Steven Nuñez”
InfoWorld includes Bonita BPM in their top picks in open source applications.
http://www.infoworld.com/slideshow/119652/bossie-awards-2013-the-best-open-source-applications-226975#slide24
“Years in the making, Bonita BPM 6 was worth the wait. The new release sports a speedier services-based runtime engine and a REST API. It also abstracts configuration parameters from applications for deploying updates without rebooting. A sleek redesign of the user portal improves accessibility and mixes in mobile.
The Bonita BPM Studio still makes easy work of forms editing and process modeling. With the new release, parallel flows function as expected under the BPMN 2.0 spec. More advanced features such as subtasks and error management require a commercial subscription. Activity monitoring and business rules management could be stronger, but the latest updates and a solid portfolio of connectors make Bonita the best in open source BPM.
— James R. Borck”
The rule of the experience with BPMS projects is very simple: if you are starting a new project with low level of responsibility in the organization, you may choose an Open Source BPMS; if the project is complex, forecasting integration with legacy systems and medium to high level of business responsibility, run way out of the Open Source BPMS. The price for breaking this simple BPMS projetct rule can be very high for the brave Open Source adventurers …