Enterprise Workflow Management, also called Enterprise Work Management (EWM) or Enterprise Process Management (EPM), is essentially the application of business process management, or BPM, in an individual enterprise.
However, “enterprise workflow management” is also often used to refer to the enterprise work management software that enables us to implement workflow management on an enterprise scale.
So, what is Business Process Management?
BPM often called workflow management, is a discipline focused on identifying, modeling/mapping, analyzing, measuring, and optimizing workflows and especially process workflows (note: we’ll learn about the differences between “workflow” and “process” later on in this article).
A workflow can be defined as a set of tasks that get executed sequentially to achieve a specific objective. Thus, an enterprise workflow will help the company achieve its business objective (or objectives).
All organizations and every professional working in an organization always involve at least one workflow. A hotel receptionist, for example, has a workflow for facilitating guest check-ins.
Some organizations can involve only one pretty straightforward workflow. However, an enterprise typically involves multiple workflows that are all interconnected in a complex manner, which is why enterprise workflow management (EWM) would require a unique, more thorough approach while considering the enterprise’s overall strategy and available resources.
Due to the typically complex bureaucracy of an enterprise, EWM will also need to provide a governance model for the management, implementation, and evaluation of the workflow management initiatives.