Enterprise BPM pricing - the hidden ugly truth
Enterprise BPM software pricing is notoriously opaque and expensive, often reaching six or seven figures when including implementation, training, and integration costs. This guide reveals the hidden factors determining BPM pricing and explores modern cloud-based alternatives that offer transparent, scalable pricing models.
Summary
- Enterprise BPM pricing reaches six or seven figures - Traditional BPM software costs are notoriously opaque and extremely expensive, with the total price including not just software but implementation, training, integration, and ongoing costs that make it a deal-breaker for most organizations
- Hidden factors determine pricing - BPM vendors charge based on enterprise size (500 vs 2000 users consume vastly different resources), industry of operation (though vendors don’t disclose agreement details publicly), and workflow complexity (older solutions requiring coding make complex processes more expensive)
- Obtaining pricing information requires multiple steps - Unlike cloud-based BPMS where you can see pricing in 2-3 clicks, enterprise BPM requires filling forms and requesting quotes, with lack of transparency revealing that vendors charge different amounts to bigger and more famous companies
- Modern cloud-based alternatives offer transparent, scalable pricing - Organizations should analyze whether they actually need the full functionality traditional BPM vendors provide, as many companies realize they don’t need most features and can avoid paying six-plus figures for unnecessary capabilities. Explore transparent BPM pricing
Business Process Management Software, also known as BPMS, is a tool used for analyzing, tracking, managing, and improving business processes.
By creating digital models of your processes, every single step becomes trackable. In turn, this means you can track your employees’ progress, enforce changes effectively, and track efficiency through analytics.
It pretty much turns those not debuggable, black-box processes into transparent boxes, open to any sort of improvement, revision, or optimization. For any business, that is good news.
There are various BPM solutions out there. But every single one of those goes under one of the two main categories - traditional BPM Software and Cloud-based BPMS (SaaS).
But since you landed on this post, chances are, you are more interested in the former.
Traditional BPM software is what is also known as enterprise BPM. That is because business process management initially was used by large enterprises that had hundreds of business processes and thousands of iterations of those processes.
But nowadays, companies of any size have started using BPM Software. And one of the main issues they face when dealing with enterprise BPM is pricing.
What’s the problem with enterprise BPM pricing?
To begin with, obtaining the pricing information is not something you can do in 2-3 clicks. As opposed to cloud-based BPMS, you need to fill a form and request a quote.
But the biggest problem with traditional BPMS isn’t the lack of transparency in the pricing models - it’s pretty much obvious they are going to charge more for bigger and more famous companies. It’s that they are extremely expensive.
When I say expensive, we are talking about a 6 or 7 figures number. For most organizations, that is a total deal-breaker.
What makes them expensive though, is not just the software itself. It is the entirety of extra costs that come with the software.
In this guide, we are going to deep-dive into the exact factors that determine the price and help you get the best from your buck. The numbers can be shocking. Based on hundreds of implementations we have supported, most companies do not realize the true cost until they are already in discussions. Feedback we have received confirms this pattern consistently.
One compliance-focused operations team we worked with achieved $1 million in Year 1 cost savings through process standardization - but only after they stopped pursuing enterprise BPM and picked something their team could actually implement. They went from 65 employees doing redundant work to 15 people handling 4x the revenue.
If you want to skip the pricing games entirely, here is what a modern BPM approach actually looks like in practice:
Business Process Management Made Easy
Enterprise BPM pricing factors
Generally, there are several factors that are considered when estimating the above-mentioned price for a BPM solution…
Enterprise size
Certainly, an enterprise made up of 500-1000 users cannot be charged as much as a company that has 1000-2000 users. For the simple fact that 2000 users will consume a lot more resources than 500.
Aside from the increased amount of computational resources, the BPM vendor will also charge more for training your employees. Proportionally, of course.
Industry of operation
Most traditional BPM vendors require you to share information such as the industry in which your company operates. That is because the industry in which the company operates is also factored in the price.
As a given, traditional BPM vendors do not disclose agreement details to the public because not every company gets the same pricing option. Unfortunately, there is no publicly available data to draw meaningful conclusions from, regarding this.
Complexity of workflows
The price of an enterprise BPM solution is also affected by the complexity of the workflows. Simply put, the more complex the workflows, the more expensive the BPM solution will be.
It should be noted that for older BPM solutions, these processes need to be coded. Hence if the process is more complex, it requires more coding, which in turns makes it more expensive.
For example, a steel supplying company receives steel from 3 different mines or warehouses and then supplies it to 5 different buyers. This company will most likely have less complex workflows than a company that has 20 different suppliers and several retailers to interact with.
Common workflows that drive BPM complexity
Standard operating procedure for requesting purchases. Covers when approval is needed, spending limits by role, preferred vendors, and how to submit requests. Following this process ensures purchases are tracked and budgets are not exceeded.
View templateSelecting the right BPM tool
So, traditional BPM tools don’t have a transparent pricing model. It takes a lot of time and monetary resources to implement and use.
There are way too many options out there in the market. And if you pick a tool that’s just super hard to use, your employees might not end up actually using it and you will just waste a lot of cash.
You are probably wondering, “is there any way around this?” Is there no other option than paying 6-figures for such software?
Isn’t there some software out there that can scale alongside my company and that isn’t extremely hard to use?
Well, firstly, you need to figure out whether your business needs an enterprise BPM solution. At some point, you might end up realizing you don’t actually need most of the functionality that some traditional BPM vendors provide.
Nobody would want to pay 6+ figures for functionality that is not necessary.
So, to ensure you are making the right decision, you should analyze your company and the required functionality for improving and optimizing its business processes.
There are several things to consider.
Business process complexity
Depending on how complex your business processes are, you can evaluate the type of BPM software your company needs.
If your processes are complex as in they include a lot of actors, there are several dependency steps, etc, then there is probably no cheap option for you.
Team size
If your company is made up of a small or mid-range sized team, then you are probably better off with a cloud-based BPM software that scales its costs proportionately to the team size on the go.
In case your company needs a solution that covers a large number of actors, then a BPM that can extend its functionality on an enterprise-wide level might be needed.
BPM budget
Most businesses that are looking into BMPS are searching for options to improve their business processes and scale their company.
These businesses, for the most part, cannot afford to spend 6+ figures on a software solution. The high initial investment is hard to justify, the risks of failure to implement are high, and there is always a barrier to change resting between management and employees.
We have seen this play out with large enterprises too. One global company wanted to track purchase requisitions and purchase orders from creation to payment, integrating with SAP and other internal systems. Their pain was simple: “Where is my PR/PO?” - no single view of order status. They estimated losing $7,500 per quarter (50 hours at $150/hour) just on one coordinator process, buried in piles of emails and duplication. The cost of the “free” internal process far exceeded what any reasonable BPM software would have charged.
All of these factors make the budget one of the most important things to consider when selecting a BPM vendor.
Number of required integrations
Several companies require the BPM software to integrate with a number of different applications aside from the stand-alone BPM solution. Why? Because to get the most out of automation, you need to have all your systems working together.
Meaning, when you are choosing a BPM provider, you want to look at the types of integrations your existing software needs to connect with the BPMS. So here are the integrations in order of how common each one is:
Limited Integrations - integrations with specific tools that are not.
Open API - just about every company has it nowadays. It is necessary if you want to extend functionalities and other integrations
Zapier - mostly for newer SaaS companies
But there are cases in which a company has an existing ERP that requires integration with the new BPM system. This is something that usually only top enterprise BPM software offer.
Difficulty of use
Old traditional BPM software is complicated. That is why it requires intense training for all employees.
Creating workflows and processes requires IT professionals to write the code for each one of them. Meaning that management cannot create them on their own. This in turn means:
- Less flexibility
- More time wasted
- More expenses
If you are looking for BPM software that allows anyone in the company to create processes, and not only specialized programmers, then traditional BPM is not the most optimal way to go.
Cutting your costs with cloud-based BPMS
At this point, you might have realized that what really matters when picking a BPM software is thoroughly analyzing your business needs. At Tallyfy, we’ve seen countless organizations overpay for enterprise BPM features they never actually use. That way you do not end up overpaying for things you do not really need.
Aside from being expensive, most traditional enterprise BPM software is old, outdated, and complicated. If you want to have greater control over your business process management solution, you need software that is fast and easy to deploy.
Like any other innovative software, BPM software should also be accessible and usable by anyone in a matter of hours. Instead of requiring 3 months of training, the software should be intuitive for anyone that first uses it.
Cloud-based BPM software
These are low code, workflow management solutions with transparent pricing models.
Cloud-based BPMS is innovative in the following ways:
Transparent pricing
Being cloud-based, these innovative workflow management solutions provide a clear and transparent pricing model. You can go directly on their website and find out how much you need to pay.
Generally, the pricing models are based on a fixed dollar price per user per month.
Some of the pricing models even offer a rate on a per project per user basis.
Accessible to startups and mid-large sized teams
Being cloud-based, newer BPM software is able to scale on-the-go. If you hire three new employees and you want to allow them to use the software, it only requires a few clicks.
You create new user accounts for the new employees and you give them the credentials to the account. The platform then allocates the necessary computational power to host the new users and the billing details are updated to reflect the latest changes.
Ease of usability
The main advantage of cloud-based BPM software like Tallyfy is the intuitive way in which the software is structured.
Forget about those 3-6 months of intense training needed to learn how to use traditional BMPS.
Instead, the software offers an intuitive user interface. It is structured in such a way that employees do not require any training prior to using the platform.
Instead of hiring developers to design and create processes, managers can use a web-based Drag and Drop interface. Ultimately optimizing and simplifying the most cumbersome process of traditional BPMS.
Conclusions
Business Process Management Software has become an integral part of almost any business nowadays. There are many benefits to using BPMS which we will not cover here because they go beyond the scope of this post.
But one thing is for sure. Companies of any size have now started implementing BPM solutions in their day to day activities, thus increasing the need for newer, more advanced, and scalable BPM software.
Enterprise BPM is expensive and difficult to use. They require expert training in order to create business processes, therefore making them undesirable in an age where everything tends to be automated.
But traditional BPMS can’t be completely discarded given their large capacity to implement thousands of business processes and integrations.
As a result, when selecting a BPM Solution for your company, it is best advised to initially analyze your business needs and the functionality required by your business processes. You might realize that enterprise BPMS is not the most efficient option.
Most companies that are trying to grow at a fast pace while maintaining low fixed costs are looking for alternative options to traditional BPM systems. Such alternatives are cloud-based BPM and workflow management systems such as Tallyfy. You can give Tallyfy a try by signing up for a free trial. No credit card required.
If you are ready to explore a modern, transparent approach to BPM that scales with your business, start your free trial with Tallyfy and see the difference for yourself.
Related questions
How much does business process management cost?
Business process management (BPM) prices will vary heavily on the size and complexity of your business. According to my rough figures, I would estimate small companies are spending a couple thousand a year on BPM software, and the large organizations are spending a couple of millions.
But, keep in mind, BPM is not just software, it’s a methodology and a mindset, typically including consulting, training, and continuous optimization.
There is a lot to invest in, not just money, but also in time and attention, and the return on investment is potentially increased efficiency, reduced error and better customer experience.
What is BPM sales?
BPM sales is the practice of applying BPM techniques and methodologies to sales. It’s about making the process by which a company sells its products or services more efficient and effective.
This might entail plotting the entire sales process from lead generation to winning business and identifying opportunities for improving the process. BPM sales could involve automation of routine work, standardizing best practice and real-time analytics for sales teams. The aim is to make selling more efficient, predictable and data-driven, driving both revenue and customer satisfaction.
What does BPM stand for in supply chain?
BPM in supply chain management refers to Business Process Management. It’s a way of analyzing, improving and automating the complex web of processes used to get products from suppliers to customers.
Supply chain BPM aims to address the improvement of visibility, bottlenecks reduction and coordination of different phases of the supply chain. It might mean tightening inventory or advancing your order fulfillment or nurturing your supplier relations. Using BPM, firms can probably develop more nimble and efficient supply chains.
Which is the best BPM tool?
It’s hard to select only one BPM tool to be the “best” one because it depends on what your requirements are, how much you want to pay, and how technical you are. Popular options include Tallyfy, Kissflow, Appian, and Pega - each with different pricing models and complexity levels.
Tallyfy focuses on intuitive design and operational simplicity, making it accessible for companies that need to deploy quickly without extensive training. When evaluating any BPM tool, consider ease of use, integration capabilities, scalability, and customer support quality.
And, after all, the best tool is the one that meets your organization’s goals and allows your team to make processes better constantly.
About the Author
Amit is the CEO of Tallyfy. He is a workflow expert and specializes in process automation and the next generation of business process management in the post-flowchart age. He has decades of consulting experience in task and workflow automation, continuous improvement (all the flavors) and AI-driven workflows for small and large companies. Amit did a Computer Science degree at the University of Bath and moved from the UK to St. Louis, MO in 2014. He loves watching American robins and their nesting behaviors!
Follow Amit on his website, LinkedIn, Facebook, Reddit, X (Twitter) or YouTube.
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