The Forrester Wave™: Digital Process Automation Software, Q4 2023
The DPA market has moved toward the deep end of the pool, with AI-led potential shifting responsibility toward professional developers and more challenging but transformative use cases. Vendors have responded with more complete governance offerings, stronger endpoint orchestration, process intelligence, and infusion of AI components. The evaluation identified 15 significant providers across Leaders, Strong Performers, Contenders, and Challengers categories based on 26 evaluation criteria. Key customer needs include end-to-end orchestration, comprehensive DPA governance, and support for automation fabric goals that centrally manage hybrid workforces of autonomous workplace assistants and humans.
No common features specified.
Vendors must, among other requirements:
A: This research covers a comprehensive 26-criterion evaluation of digital process automation (DPA) software providers. It evaluates vendors across three main categories: current offering (including tooling for development, AI-led process transformation, process optimization, adjacent automation support, governance, and automation fabric support), strategy (product vision, innovation, roadmap, partner ecosystem, adoption, and pricing), and market presence (revenue and customer base). The report assesses 15 major DPA providers and categorizes them as Leaders, Strong Performers, Contenders, or Challengers based on their capabilities in supporting deep DPA use cases, end-to-end orchestration, and AI-driven transformation.
A: This research should be used by technology professionals who are evaluating and selecting DPA software providers for their organizations. It is particularly valuable for those looking to implement sophisticated, deep DPA deployments that require strong orchestration capabilities, governance, and AI integration. The report helps buyers understand how each vendor measures up against critical DPA criteria and provides guidance on which providers are best suited for different use cases - from wide, citizen-led deployments to deep, mission-critical professional developer projects. Users can download the accompanying Excel-based vendor comparison tool to customize criteria weightings based on their specific organizational needs.
A: All vendors included in this evaluation must have: (1) A formal modeling environment to build, visualize, and manage processes; (2) Global presence in at least two major geographies with minimum 15% revenue per region; (3) Annual DPA product revenue exceeding $20 million; (4) Native support for adjacent automation capabilities including RPA, rules and decision modeling, collaboration, intelligent document processing, and process/task mining with complex case management; (5) Proven ability to support complex long-running processes at scale with automation fabric principles including data-driven processes, governance, end-to-end orchestration, and visibility; (6) Demonstrated market presence through Forrester client inquiries and consulting engagements.
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A: Current Offering evaluates the strength of each vendor's existing product capabilities across development tooling, AI transformation tools, process optimization, automation support, governance, automation fabric support, and deployment features. Strategy evaluates the vendor's future direction and market approach through their vision, innovation approach, execution roadmap, partner relationships, pricing models, and adoption strategies. Current Offering focuses on 'what the product can do today' while Strategy focuses on 'where the vendor is heading and how they plan to get there.'