Camunda Platform vs. ConceptDraw PROJECT

Camunda Platform is a very sophisticated tool for any product which provides automation & process management of various aspects in your application. It is best suited for application where the customer journey is very crucial for the company. Shopping platforms or single page applications are not very well suited to use Camunda Platform.

Getting started - using the Gantt chart to enter tasks in any order and then using those tasks to initially define a MindMap to further explore alternative dependencies. The alternative works better when initiating a project with significant unknowns.

• Embedding a first-class process capability in your application.
• Providing a standards-based modeling capability, backed by a standards-native engine.
• Great support for developers and a developer community.
• Great set of comprehensive APIs across a number of different design points
• All of the code is available in GitHub as a great open source project with Apache licenses.
• Comprehensive documentation of code and APIs and usage.
• Innovative spin-offs like Zeebe.
• Support for micro-services orchestration.
• Support for both embedded and stand alone usage scenarios.
• The company is innovative and focused on this space.

• Integration with ConceptDraw Mindmap makes work breakdown very easy.
• We have cross-functional teams where team members often work on different projects in parallel. The multi project management feature has been a blessing over these years.
• Another import feature is the availability of many different predefined report generation templates that made it very easy to communicate different aspects of the project to different stakeholders.

• GUI lacks shortcuts
• GUI is not intuitive and hard to use. More involved technical capabilities are hidden in the menus which make navigation and setup difficult.
• Documentation is not fully fleshed out and examples are bare. The target audience is technically adept software developers, with expected experience and knowledge of javascript and java.
• Community exists but is relatively small and highly technical. Support is not easily accessible unless the costly paid version is opted for.
• Programming languages used are confusing as it merges java and javascript in certain scripts.
• Debugging is difficult as there is no error/typo checking or console in the designer when using scripts. It does not have the capabilities of more fully featured IDEs, but is a simple text entry for scripts.

• Non-intuitive keyboard shortcuts
• No advanced reporting or estimates

Camunda provides pretty standard product support offerings.

Online tutorials always available + chat, email and phone. Questions answered promptly and completely.

ConceptDraw has a much simpler licensing and pricing model. Perpetual license and ability to use in offline mode was an important criteria for us. Perfect bundle for small and medium business.

• Freeware makes testing and utilizing Camunda a cost-effective solution
• High level of difficulty in implementation may require a lot more time and effort than normally expected. (2-3x more effort than other paid and fully featured solutions)

• Inexpensive way to present a professional project plan when needed