Reduce paper

BPM software proves to be highly effective in the quest to eliminate paper because it not only allows you to create online forms and documents, it also allows organizations to incorporate those online documents into automated processes that remove the need to manually route and track paper. As a result, BPM eliminates the cost and environmental burden of paper, while at the same time allowing for more effective governance and control.

The average U.S. office worker is estimated to use a sheet of paper every 12 minutes and dispose of 100 to 200 pounds of paper every year. BPM software can serve as the common platform for eliminating paper and automating processes throughout organizations.

Take the City of New Orleans. In 2008, it used BPM software to take its contracts management process online, automating the processing of $1 billion worth of contracts. In the absence of process automation, each contract would have moved by manila folder through approximately eight offices. It had typically gone from one stakeholder desk to another's through both inter and intra-office mailings, often with inefficient tracking and delivery methods.

Beyond the direct paper savings of online forms and documents, organizations that have further aligned BPM with enterprise architecture (EA) efforts have facilitated the electronic documentation of the processes themselves, which otherwise would result in volumes of paper being consumed and stored. That allows organizations to create graphical models of all processes, complete with annotations and documented interdependencies. The paper is largely eliminated and it becomes easier to maintain processes and keep them current, reducing the overhead of ongoing compliance and resulting in more accurate "virtual documentation."