How is iServer different to other Business Process Analysis tools?

iServer extends the Microsoft Office ® & Visio ® interfaces

For for the first time, customers have the option of remaining in Microsoft Office and Visio whilst gaining the full functionality of an Business Process Analysis tool.

Most other Business Process Analysis tools have proprietary interfaces, and any information stored in Visio and Office must be (at best) imported or even reworked, just to get started.

iServer is Low Cost

iServer offers a unique solution - a scalable, practical and cost effective toolset for organizations working through the early phases of Business Process Analysis; it is typically only about 50% of the cost of other leading Business Process Analysis tools.This means that the return on investment is faster, and it is also viable to engage in a cost-effective proof of concept deployment prior to investment in a wider-scale BPA initiative. iServer users can be trained in a few hours, and familiarity with Microsoft Visio means that much of the system is already known.

iServer allows you use custom Process Notations

Most iServer customers started off creating processes in Visio, some using the default stencils supplied with Visio, others using the BPMN stencil provided by Orbus, but in most cases, using a custom notation developed to meet their exact needs.

Most BPA tools have a Visio import capability, but this requires conversion into a notation supported by the tool. iServer allows you to continue using your chosen notations and to import your existing diagrams without needing to convert them. This makes iServer very quick to adopt, with no need for re-working of diagrams or the re-training associated with the adoption of a new standard.

iServer provides a very quick start to Business Process Modeling

For a number of reasons, iServer can be deployed & used productively quicker than any other Process Modeling tool:

iServer allows you to get started with the information you have now

Many other tools require a lengthy data-migration exercise, with processes needing to be converted into the BPA tool (often this requires a change of notation).

Your diagrams and documents may not be perfect, complete, or consistent (for example in use of notations), but this information can be imported immediately into iServer. Of course standardization and consistency are important, but this does not have to be achieved on day one. Use of templates/standards/metadata can be enforced within iServer as usage evolves, but at the start it can be very useful to have an initial view of "where we are today". This can be published to the intranet (with all its problems) and discussed online, leading to immediate improvement.

iServer provides pre-packaged "quick start" solutions

Orbus provide quick start solutions for ITIL and ISO standards.

Training is quick and painless

Users can be productively using iServer within a few hours.

iServer turns dumb Visio Shapes into Intelligent Objects

Visio shapes (process activities, swimlanes, events) and Office document components (such as process narratives, risk profiles, work instructions) become the repository objects stored within iServer.

iServer is different from a document management system because functionality such as versioning and audit trail, permissions, relationships and metadata (attributes) is provided for the objects (Visio shapes), and not just for documents. And.. iServer is different from other BPA tools because it uses Visio, rather than a proprietary interface.

iServer is Easy to Use

Because iServer extends the familiar Office tools, a large proportion of the interfaces are already familiar to new users - models and other supporting artifacts can be created without the usual training "down-time", resistance is minimized and is not seen as a "one way trip". iServer is not just a tool for analysts (see below), so appropriate levels of functionality and complexity can be turned on for different groups of users.

The best way to see this for yourself is to arrange a demonstration or to sign up for a proof of concept where you can see the benefits of iServer first-hand.

iServer offers a solution for the different types of BPA user

Orbus Software offers a solution to all three tool buyer types within the Business Process Analysis Market, but primarily targeting Architects and Business Process Modelers at the earlier phases of BPM maturity.

Enterprise Architects
Orbus targets the estimated 70% of organizations in the early stages of architecture maturity. Offers pre-packaged solutions for Zachman and TOGAF. Models can be built using industry standard notations such as ArchiMate and UML.

Business Process Modelers
Orbus, with partner products, provides full product coverage for BP Modellers (including repository, modeling functionality, simulation, BPMN & UML specific support). Also offers pre-packaged content-based solutions for ITIL & ISO standards.

BPMS Modelers
Orbus targets the estimated 88% of organizations in phases 0-2 of the Gartner BPM maturity model, and now with partner K2 provides full product coverage of the BPM Lifecycle (including process execution, business activity monitoring and round-trip improvement), managing human and enabled workflows uniquely in a single common repository.