BizFlow BPM Suite (also called BizFlow Plus BPM Suite) is a BPM platform offered by BizFlow (formerly HandySoft). Capabilities include process design and execution, case management, business rules, web application and form development, tasking and action tracking, ad-hoc reporting, and mobile access. The product can be deployed on-premises or in the cloud.
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OpenText MBPM
Score 7.2 out of 10
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OpenText acquired BPM solution Metastorm in 2011, and has rebranded the product as OpenText MBPM. It is an alternative BPM solution to OpenText's primary BPM offering called OpenText Cordys Business Process Management.
Although the tool was developed locally in South Korea, it is still a good tool and is already validated in a number of industries. The problem is, no one seems to know the future of the product. It is okay to use it as a pilot tool for any non-commercial purpose, but to be used in a professional or enterprise setting, maintenance, licensing, and other things need to be guaranteed by HandySoft.
Metastorm is well-suited for scenarios in which internal stress testing an application is needed in a hurry before showcasing it to potential customers. It supports different views of the process from Swimlane perspective, so different methodologies can be handled. It is an Enterprise level tool and handles both small and large projects quite well, although smaller companies may be stressed out by the amount of time it takes to properly maintain the application.
BizFlow has a long history of development and implementation in a variety of industries. Its modeling tool is well-designed and user-friendly.
BizFlow supports seamless integration with backend services like MySQL databases and web services. Since it is an enterprise-wide BPM tool, system performance was stable and robust.
It supports modern m-health requirements, with social BPM functions and mobile support. Mobile integration especially was good, with the provider's secure messaging functions.
It's not even clear that BizFlow is still managed by the company. It was a good tool before, but it looks like it's been fading out.
Although this was an R&D project in an academic institute, business support was extremely poor. We had no idea how to resolve issues; there were no online communities, documentation, or anyone who knew this product.
Few references in healthcare and clinical settings. We tried this for a proof-of-concept though, so it didn't matter.
The Metastorm process engine is based on an older version of .NET. Updating to a newer version would resolve several known issues with .NET email functionality.
Metastorm builds web pages at run time. While the UI presented to the end user is fine, the Document Object Model is convoluted and subject to change with new releases. Providing a more simplified DOM or at very least a custom function to replace document.getElementById() would make client-side scripting a much more powerful tool.
One function that I've seen Metastorm competitors do well, is email wizards. Having a WYSIWYG email editor would be really nice.
At the beginning of the project, we considered popular tools for the modeling and execution of business processes: jBPM, Activity, Tibco, etc. jBPM is the tool we liked because of its strong support of BPMN 2.0 and strong online community and support. We had different expectations for BizFlow, like professional and business supports. In the end, although haven't decided yet, most likely we will move forward with jBPM instead of BizFlow. Unless things change, the tool will fade out from the market silently.
We found that OpenText MBPM held its own quite well against IBM BPM. We ended up choosing OpenText MBPM due to the analytics, complex routing, and the ease of SOA service integration. Furthermore, the ability to quickly develop simple User interfaces make this tool a daily component of our most-used toolbox components.
We ended up deciding to not use BizFlow for future projects. The main reason wasn't due to ROI or cost, but was due to our uncertainty of the management and future direction of the tool by the company.
Besides the business issue, as far as reasonably priced software goes, it is a good tool.
Adopting BizFlow into a healthcare industry may come with additional expense due to its lack of references in the industry, which should be additionally considered.