Business process management between systems is an orchestration of information flow that is defined by a workflow model and is similar to an orchestra music score in its' clarity of direction.  BPM applied to human workflows is more like choreography.  The roles and the movement through the workflow is choreographed, but the human factor requires greater flexibility. 
Recently I sat down with the production manager of a large New York ad agency to promote the use of our BPM suite to manage the flow of creative projects  from concept to fulfillment.  Shortly into the discussion, the prospective client stated, "Our people are too creative to accept any form of process control.  You could never impose a defined process on their work."

Naturally, I could feel my argumentative side rearing up.  After all, I launched and ran a very successful digital art studio in NYC in the early 1990s and still think I know a thing or two about creatives.  Many projects came into the studio where we had to re-invent the process to solve the problem.  I wish that we would have had a BPM system to help manage those projects. The NY studio was a production facility and not a true creative studio. Our customers were creative directors from the top ad agencies and brands.
 
Is it true that creatives can't be managed by a process?  Is it impossible to define a creative workflow?  I for one believe that BPM technology can be successfully applied to any process. What do you think?  Is it an exercise in futility to sponsor a BPM project to manage the creative process?  Let's hear from those who have tackled this challenge.

BPM, business process management, is about as broad a term as one can get to describe a methodology.  The Wikipedia defines BPM as a broad methodology or discipline for managing the value-added processes of a business.  The concepts of measurement and continuous improvement are central tenants of BPM.  Workflow is an equally broad term that is often associated with BPM, but the difference between the two is dramatic.

Many software applications manage workflows but are wizards and not BPM solutions.   A BPM workflow engine abstracts the logic for transitioning from one workflow task to another into a configurable, rule-driven software component. The configurability of the workflow engine most distinguishes workflow software from wizard software. Workflow engines can be programmed to execute almost any business process; workflow wizards execute a single, pre-programmed, possibly configurable business process. New workflows or new versions of workflows can be loaded into a workflow engine in minutes; wizards require reprogramming to implement significant changes to workflows. A workflow engine can execute multiple different workflows simultaneously; a wizard executes only a single workflow.

Most workflow software applications are wizard based.  They have been developed to manage a well defined business process and they often incorporate functions that are very specific to the business vertical they were designed for.  When starting from scratch, the programmer can create a workflow wizard in a fraction of the time required to develop a BPM system.  Few developers understand BPM systems and workflow engines and so that learning curve often prevents them from considering the use of BPM to solve their immediate need to manage a workflow. Fortunately, the learning curve is being shortened by the arrival of configurable BPM driven services.  BizFlo from CHALEX corp offers a workflow engine in the cloud and full set of REST APIs that allow software developers to call the engine from their application and create BPM orchestrated workflow applications in a relatively little time.  Other companies a re bringing workflow engines to the cloud and providing developer tool kits to facilitate rapid application development.  This is important because of the velocity of change in the market place and the need for agility in an organization is critical.  The ability to adjust to changing conditions and change a workflow in a few minutes rather than months is a significant competitive advantage.