Process Modeling / BPR tools Comparison Chart

The University of Maribor, located in Slovenia, recently performed an in-depth assessment of 3 modern software tools which support designing/modeling of business processes and Business Process Re-Engineering (BPR) initiatives (1,2,3). Under the direction of Matjaz Roblek, M.Sc. (Faculty of Organizational Sciences), six(6) individual experts for BPR projects were asked to investigate various functions of:


Comparison of BPR tools

The three BPR software tools were compared against each other using a unified methodology modified from(4). The results are presented in a tabular form and have as values:


 

1.General characteristic of BPR tool

 

Type of characteristic:

Aris Toolset 4.0-6.1

Income  3.4-4.2

EZ-Process (with BPR)

Modeling capability

Y

Y

Y

Static Simulation capability

Y

Y

Y

Dynamics Simulation capability

N

Y

N

Analysis capability

Y

Y

Y

Connection to preferred ERP

V.Good

V.Good

V.Good

Connection to open ERP

Poor

N

Not tested

 

 

 

 

 

2.Hardware and software characteristics

 

Type of characteristic:

Aris Toolset 4.0-6.1

Income  3.4-4.2

EZ-Process (with BPR)

Platform

PC

PC

PC

Operating system

Win XP Professional

Win XP Professional

Win XP Professional

System performance

V.Good

Good

V.Good

Installation process

Easy

Difficult

Easy

 

 

 

 

 

3.General user features

 

Type of characteristic:

Aris Toolset 4.0-6.1

Income  3.4-4.2

EZ-Process (with BPR)

Easy to use

Y

Y

Y

Level of expertise required

High

Moderate

Low

Quality of Graphical interface

V.Good

Poor

Good

Robust

Y

Y

Y

 

 

 

 

 

4.Tool documentation

 

Type of characteristic:

Aris Toolset 4.0-6.1

Income  3.4-4.2

EZ-Process (with BPR)

Installation guide

Y

Y

Y

User manual

Y

Y

Y

Worked example

Y

Y

N

Demo example

Y

Y

N

Other documentation

Y

Y

Y(web)

On-line help

Good

Good

V.Good

Are documents easy to follow

N

Y

Y

 

 

 

 

 

5.Quality of reports

 

Type of characteristic:

Aris Toolset 4.0-6.1

Income  3.4-4.2

EZ-Process (with BPR)

Printing of models

V.Good

Good

Good

Printing of ISO reports

Y

Y

Y (with EZ-Book)

Printing of custom reports

V.Good

Good

Poor

Look of screen reports

V.Good

Good

Good

Look of printing reports

V.Good

Good

Good

External links for reports

doc, xls, html

doc/xls

html.,xml

Active web examination

Y(with WEB Design)

N(just pict.)

Y(with EZ-Publisher)

 

 

 

 

 

6.General characteristics of modeling

 

Type of characteristic:

Aris Toolset 4.0-6.1

Income  3.4-4.2

EZ-Process (with BPR)

Demand before-defining work rules

Y

N

Y

Modeling of organizational structure

V.Good

V.Good

Good

Modeling of function structure

V.Good

N

V.Good

Modeling of information structure

Poor

V.Good

N

Process structure modeling

V.Good

Good

V.Good

Control of model logic

Poor

Good

Good

Model Back-Up

Y

Y

Y

 

 

 

 

 

 

7. Modeling organizational structure

 

Type of characteristic:

Aris Toolset 4.0-6.1

Income  3.4-4.2

EZ-Process (with BPR)

Organization unit

Y

Y

Y

Position (role)

Y

Y

Y

Person

Y

Y

Y

Quality of hierarchical structure

Good

V.Good

Good

Connection on process model

V.Good

V.Good

Good

 

 

 

 

 

8. Modeling functional structure

 

Type of characteristic:

Aris Toolset 4.0-6.1

Income  3.4-4.2

EZ-Process (with BPR)

Function

Y

N

Y

Quality of functional hierarchy

Good

N

Good

Connection on process model

V.Good

N

V.Good

 

 

 

 

 

9. Modeling informational structure

 

Type of characteristic:

Aris Toolset 4.0-6.1

Income  3.4-4.2

EZ-Process (with BPR)

Information carrier

Y

Y

Y(Process model)

Database

Y

Y

Y *

Entity

Y

Y(form of document)

Y *

Attributes

Y

Y

Y *

Relationship types

Y

Y

Y *

CASE export

Y(Toolbus)

Y

Y *

Quality of info. model

Poor

V.Good

V.Good *

Connection on process model

Poor

Good

V.Good *

 

 

 

* from version 2005

 

10. Mandatory model attributes

 

Type of characteristic:

Aris Toolset 4.0-6.1

Income  3.4-4.2

EZ-Process (with BPR)

Model author

Y

Y

Y

Status/Version

Y

Y

Y

Date of creation

Y

Y

Y

 

 

 

 

 

11. Mandatory object attributes

 

Type of characteristic:

Aris Toolset 4.0-6.1

Income  3.4-4.2

EZ-Process (with BPR)

Descriptions

V.Good

V.Good

V.Good

Description of times

Good

V.Good

Good

Description of costs

V.Good

Good

Good

 

 

 

 

 

References

(1)    Roblek, Matjaž: “Predvidevanje v oskrbovalni verigi”, Management in razvoj organizacije; 22. konferenca o razvoju organizacijskih ved, 25-28.3.2003, Zbornik referatov; Portorož 2003

(2)    Ljubič, Tone, Roblek, Matjaž. BPR (Business Process Reengineering) - What tool to use. V: XXII. Medzinárodné kolokvium organizácia práce Reengineering dynamická forma zvyšovania profesionálneho života firiem, Vysoké Tatry-Tatranská Lomnica, [2.-4.] november 1998. 1. vydanie. Bratislava: Slovenský komitét pre vedecké riadenie ZSVTS, 1998, str. 218-226.

(3)    Roblek, Matjaž, Kern, Tomaž, Ljubič, Tone. Orodja za pomoč pri prenovi poslovnih procesov, 18. posvetovanje organizatorjev dela, Portorož, 31. marec, 1.- 2. april 1999. Evropska skupnost in management : zbornik posvetovanja z mednarodno udeležbo. Kranj: Moderna organizacija, 1999, str. 416-420.

(4)    Bradley P., Browne J., Jackson S. Jagdev H.: Business process re-engineering (BPR) – a study of the software tools currently available. Computers in industry, vol. 25, Elsevier Science B.V., 1995 

About research team 

University of Maribor
Faculty of Organizational Sciences, www.fov.uni-mb.si
LAPROIS Laboratory
Kidriceva 55a
4000 Kranj
Slovenia 

Members:
- prof. Tone LJUBIC Ph.D.
- prof. Tomaz KERN Ph.D.
- prof. Miro JERAJ Ph.D.
- Jure MEGLIC M.Sc., assistant
- Benjamin URH M.Sc., assistant
- Matjaz ROBLEK M.Sc., assistant