Workflow and Business ProcessSeveral explanations of the term Workflow exist, where Workflow Management Coalition (WfMC) defines the term Workflow asAn automation of a business process, in whole or part, during which documents, information or tasks are passed from one participant to another for action, according to a set of procedural rules.It also states that the terms Workflow and Workflow Management are synonyms.In contrast, WfMC defines the term Business Process as:a set of one or more linked procedures or activities which collectively realize a business objective or policy goal, normally within the context of an organizational structure defining functional roles and relationships.A Business Process has even a more generic term a process, which can apply to any kind of a process (e.g. physical or biological process).According to above definitions, the meanings of the terms Business Process and Workflow are different but interrelated: A Business Process in related to any kind of activity (manual, automated) which realizes a business objective. A Workflow is an (partial) automation of a Business Process.Workflow Management and Business Process ManagementThe terms Workflow Management and Business Process Management are related to the management of the primary terms, with following commonalities and differences.As already stated, the terms Workflow and Workflow Management can be treated as synonyms. This is reasonable, since a Workflow already represents a system, which automatically manages the corresponding tasks.On the other hand, the term Business Process is a more generic one, where its management has a specific meaning. According to Gartner, the term Business Process Management (BPM) is defined following:BPM is a management discipline that treats business processes as assets that directly contribute to enterprise performance by driving operational excellence and business agility. The most critical disciplines for BPM success are related to nontechnical issues, such as changing peoples attitudes and assumptions based on building a new frame of reference or perspective (that is, the process perspective) for evaluating business performance of government agencies.BPM is commonly represented by the following set of activities, organized into a lifecycle: define, design or model, simulate, deploy or implement, execute, monitor, analyze and optimize business processes (Figure 1).

In contrast to Workflow Management has Business Process Management a separate meaning. It is a management discipline that treats business processes as organizational assets.Workflow Management System and Business Process Management SystemWorkflow Management System and Business Process Management System terms are related to IT solutions which support individual concepts. WfMC defines a Workflow Management System (WfMS) as: A system that defines, creates and manages the execution of workflows through the use of software, running on one or more workflow engines, which is able to interpret the process definition, interact with workflow participants and, where required, invoke the use of IT tools and applications.In practice, a WfMS is usually a relative simpleIT solution,which directs documents and tasks to the responsible users in a specific business process. The process flow is mostly fixed and the ability to integrate between workflow-specificsystems andother external systems is often limited.Business Process Management System (BPMS) is the technology that implementsBPM.Compared to WfMS, it is more complex since a BPMS tries to automate Business Processes from end to end. This means that a BPMS includes the tools and technologies for supporting human tasks along with machine processing applications in a way, which allows a company to flexibly manage its work.BPMS also includes reporting and charting capabilities to permit end users and managers to understand the throughput and response times of the business processes. In contrast to a WfMS a BPMS connectsdisparate systems enablingseamless datasharing anduniversal control from a single interface.Workflow Management Systems are centralized and dedicated IT solutions, which automate specific business activities. On the other hand, Business Process Management Systems are decentralized and generic IT solutions which offer support for the entire business process management lifecycle.ConclusionTo summarize, a Workflow represents an approach and technology for automating a simple flow of tasks in a specific business context.On the other hand, a business process is a more generic term, which usually involves a complex flow of automated and non-automated tasks. Since business processes are organizational assets that create business value, they have to be managed and systematically improved, which usually requires a suitable IT support a Business process management system.Resources used WFMC Terminology and Glossary English, available atwww.wfmc.org. Mapping Business Processes to Workflows, available atwww.wi-inf.uni-duisburg-essen.de/FGFrank/ecomod/index.php?workflow=default&&lang=en. Comparison of technologies for BPM BPMS vs Workflow, available atwww.improving-bpm-systems.blogspot.com/2010/04/comparison-of-technologies-for-bpm-bpms.html. BPM vs Workflow, available atwww.bpmvsworkflow.com/bpm-vs-workflow.html. Do You Understand the Difference Between Workflow and BPM?, available atwww.blogs.gartner.com/janelle-hill/2010/04/22/do-you-understand-the-difference-between-workflow-and-bpm.