The Forrester Wave™: Digital Process Automation Software, Q4 2023

Digital Process Automation Software Vendor Product Comparisons 2023

Key features and pros and cons of top Digital Process Automation Software products:

Appian - Leaders

Pros:

Excels in areas important to sophisticated DPA and dynamic case management (DCM) requirements
Complete process automation platform with strategic acquisitions in RPA and process mining
Data fabric architecture boosts use cases with less complex data modeling within the platform
Quick prototyping on core development platform
Customer success staff as valuable nonbillable resources

Cons:

Pricing clarity, transparency, and flexibility were consistent problems across reference customers
Needs to right the ship financially with losses in 2023, though profitability is forecast in mid-2024
Focus more on AI-led and deep end-to-end automation versus low-code

IBM - Leaders

Pros:

Opportunity to infuse Cloud Pak for Business Automation with mature set of AI assets
Checks all the automation fabric boxes including integration and data modeling platform
Strong orchestration with real-time management of digital and human work with process intelligence
One of the stronger DPA governance solutions in the field
Very stable and reliable product with robust case management and ability to meet customization requirements

Cons:

Development experience best suits professional developers, less focus on citizen developers and wide deployments
Process modeling depends on a variety of tools (Workflow Process Service for citizens, Blueworks Live for BPMN)
At the top end of the expense range
Integration remains a separate product

Microsoft - Leaders

Pros:

Growth of Power Apps and Power Automate continues with Office 365 footprint expansion
Excellent sourcing and license power to compete in DPA field
Solid vision to leverage AI components and go deep
Investments in AI are notable and potentially boosted by broad platform adoption
Dataverse provides strong data-driven automation and extensive connectors

Cons:

Scale is wider than deeper, focus on low-code and citizen deployment versus case management and orchestration
Lack of top-tier professional services relationships inhibits deep process targets
Pricing is not simple or transparent
Tools are spread across portfolio and often don't work well together with overlapping features
Component integration improved but often requires higher licensing
Governance tools are developing but few know they exist or want to pay for premium licenses
End-to-end orchestration outside of native components is not evident from references

ServiceNow - Leaders

Pros:

Deep roots in service management with trained development teams ready to automate
DevOps style for managing automation apps appeals to tech-driven companies
1,500 system integrator partners and thousands of certified developers
Scores high on strategy with planned enhancements leveraging platform strengths
Governance approach leverages standard service management pipeline for approvals
App Engine Management Center well architected for monitoring activities, performance, and trigger events
Strong integration, security, and AI capabilities

Cons:

Pricing transparency and clarity need improvement
UX tools are average for IT, but not business, users
Gaps in areas like process intelligence and document automation
More like a big database requiring governance tool to prevent mistakes
Reference customers did not have the August 2023 Vancouver release for assessment

Axon Ivy - Strong Performers

Pros:

Strong in highly regulated industries like airlines, military, and banking in DACH region
Recent acquisition by Ricoh will expand global markets and boost R&D investment
Strengths in UX design tools, rules management, and process modeler
Low-code design with ability for professional developers to see and switch to JSON code
Embedded open-source rules engine with Excel-like interface
Embedded genAI enables code generation to JSON and error detection
Lower cost than higher-end providers
High satisfaction levels with product and vendor, flexibility and responsive support

Cons:

Support for cutting-edge capabilities like process discovery, IDP, or RPA leverages weak partnerships
Deployments somewhere in the middle of wide and deep, depend on professional developers
Customer base skews toward DACH region

Bizagi - Strong Performers

Pros:

Strong foothold in Latin America, particularly in banking, with center of gravity moving to US
Emphasizes security and accompanying certifications
Cloud pricing is transparent, tiered, and less than higher-end market solutions
Strong workflow support anchored by robust modeler for process optimization
Handles complex workloads while scaling to hundreds of applications
Emerged from challenging cloud migration with recurring revenue and modern platform
Strong API integration with external tools and data sources

Cons:

Weaker internal and native support for RPA, IDEP, or AI modeling
More comprehensive view of work progress would improve operations support
Governance can be configured but would benefit from better packaging
References reported difficult migrations from on-premises to cloud solution
Broader community of partners with Bizagi expertise is needed

Camunda - Strong Performers

Pros:

Consultancy roots led to emphasis on standards and open architecture such as BPMN
Focuses on professional developer efficiency
Market focus on endpoint orchestration and automation fabric goals gets top scores for vision and innovation
Flexible and transparent pricing based on process instances
Free trials and competitive price points have pushed viral expansion
Strong support and quick access to knowledgeable staff members for ideation
Process modeler and UI tools are functional with good collaboration features

Cons:

Provides process automation tools like RPA, AI development, and document automation as tech partner endpoints
Pricing based on process instances can add up for wide deployments
Needs to recruit more high-end partners
Needs to improve some scale features and upgrade modeling and UI features
UIs are easily customized but require skilled developers

Hyland - Strong Performers

Pros:

Thrives when content is critical, deep industry expertise is required, and applications are mission critical
Excels in content management and intelligence as content-driven process automation platform
Complete automation platform through R&D investments and acquisition
Embedded RPA through acquisition of Another Monday
Strong customer support, transparent pricing, and vendor trust
Process modeling designed for nontechnical users with unique content modeling features

Cons:

Could benefit from more extensive partnerships relevant to DPA market
Planned enhancements will require careful and rapid integration of acquired components
Process modeling is basic
Task mining via RPA, document extraction as part of portfolio, process mining on roadmap
Not an AI-led platform today

Newgen Software - Strong Performers

Pros:

Roots at intersection of sophisticated content management, case management, and process
Balanced global business with banking and financial services as top vertical
Strong community and partner relationships that enable sophisticated environments
Strives to provide complete platform and deliver enhancements quickly with compelling value
Strong presales support for prototyping
Excels in document automation with ability to derive structured data from unstructured content
Well-priced direct resources to help with customizations, costs less than higher-end platforms

Cons:

Marketing efforts have room for improvement to enhance adoption
Partnerships have advanced but remain average for the field
References want investments that better suit citizen development and wide deployments
Used for mission-critical applications across smaller distributed teams

Nintex - Strong Performers

Pros:

Dedication to citizen development with appealing commercial model
Strong partnership channel leads to top scores for partner ecosystem and adoption
Market approach based on simple trial onboarding and viral growth has been effective
Acquisition of K2 provides more capable process engine and advanced governance
Excellent production-level service and support
Overall system reliability and transparent pricing models
Easy upgrades

Cons:

Platform lacks capabilities to address more sophisticated use cases
Functionality for data management, complex rules, decisioning, and DCM needed to move upstream
Governance needs improvement (e.g., access permissions for individual process applications)
Lack of ability to store transaction history directly in system
No FedRAMP certification or BPMN support inhibit complex scenarios
K2 upgrades and migrations will be a distraction

Pegasystems - Strong Performers

Pros:

DPA market share leader with blue-chip customer base focused on most challenging use cases
Top scores in most important DPA deep needs: AI, case management, governance, end-to-end orchestration, business rules
AI tooling allows native or third-party AI to be injected into processes in declarative manner
Process Fabric improves decision management and process modeling
Constellation UX architecture separates experience layers from underlying process and data model
Offers unparalleled business agility through layered architecture
Vendor committed to customer success

Cons:

$2 billion judgment (under appeal) against Pega awarded to Appian is concern for roadmap execution
For some references, partners and community lag in training and support for newly released functions
Portfolio has many unbundled price options
One of the more complex products to implement
At the high end of the price range
Uncertainty affects buying patterns among Forrester clients

Salesforce - Strong Performers

Pros:

Strong foothold in LOB domains across sales, marketing, and service
Extensive installed base in business operations bodes well for extending DPA market presence
Low-code, quick deployment, and medium complexity for wide use cases
MuleSoft-based Anypoint integration offers best-in-class data integration environment
Tight linkage of RPA and integration platform as a service
AI development tools include native IDEs like Einstein Bots and Einstein Predictions
Great flexibility for users

Cons:

Stronger integration of Flow and MuleSoft needed from go-to-market and technology perspective
UI experience not always the best according to reference customers
Required form factor may constrain what can be done
Gaps include IDP, process mining, and governance
Need more seamless integration of acquired components like Slack and Tableau
Flexibility can hamper governance goals
Reference customers cited difficult upgrades from legacy Flow installs and some platform restrictions

Bonitasoft - Contenders

Pros:

Free open-source offering that can upgrade to paid, supported model
Focuses on professional, not citizen, developers
Supports both on-premises and cloud deployments
Flexible and transparent pricing approach has successfully seeded the market
Low cost of sales
Best-in-class swim-lane process modeler with BPMN definitions
Self-contained app architecture suits AWA development
Modular approach allows using only needed components
Exceptional direct vendor support

Cons:

Does not push a platform strategy
More traditional BPM vision focused on basic digital transformation
Content, process intelligence, and RPA offered through partnerships, not natively
More technical development environment than other vendors
All references used professional developers to build applications
Needs to expand partnerships to extend market presence

Kofax - Contenders

Pros:

Roots in complex document processing with decades of dominance in capture market
Aims to address sophisticated process automation where document intelligence is paramount
Embedded IDP, RPA, case management frameworks
Differentiate in managing unstructured data through a process
Overall process capabilities are good
Case management where documents play a key role
Responsive vendor with transparent and flexible pricing
Platform allows quick end-to-end application development

Cons:

Provides less distinction for broader DPA applications
Reference customers cited need for improvement in low-code tools to reduce dependence on contractors
Lags in UX development, governance, and integration capabilities
References report difficulties in accessing applications outside the platform

OpenText - Contenders

Pros:

Pioneer in content management, one of strongest players in the space
Solid account management maintains strong DPA market presence
AppWorks available on-premises and in cloud
Integrations in OpenText ECM platforms and other tools
Integration with Magellan AI development tools
Recent Micro Focus acquisition will improve support for adjacent automation capabilities
Packaged solutions strength in areas like contracts and invoice management
Excels in content management and intelligence support

Cons:

Business model based on vendor acquisition and customer aggregation could hinder innovation and market adoption
Lags other vendors in cutting-edge features like process discovery and RPA support
Declined to participate in the Forrester Wave evaluation process

FAQs

Q: Which vendors are Leaders in 2023?

A: Appian, IBM, Microsoft, ServiceNow

Q: What does "Leader" mean in Forrester Wave terms?

A: Leaders in the Forrester Wave represent vendors that have the strongest current offerings and strategies in the Digital Process Automation market. These vendors demonstrate excellence in the most important DPA deep needs including end-to-end orchestration, DPA governance, and support for automation fabric goals. Leaders typically excel at addressing sophisticated use cases with strong AI integration, process intelligence, endpoint orchestration capabilities, and the ability to manage both autonomous workplace assistants (AWAs) and human tasks. They have proven track records with enterprise customers, strong market presence, clear strategic vision, and the capability to handle complex, mission-critical automation requirements at scale.

Q: How do I interpret a Forrester Wave?

A: https://www.forrester.com/policies/forrester-wave-methodology/

Report:

Top Vendor Products for Digital Process Automation Software in 2023

Digital Process Automation Software Vendor Product Comparisons 2023

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FAQs

Q: Which vendors are Leaders in 2023?

Q: What does "Leader" mean in Forrester Wave terms?

Q: How do I interpret a Forrester Wave?

Reference