General info

Name: ARIS Express

Described version:

Publisher: IDS Scheer

Slogan/tool description by authors: “… the world’s first free Business Process Management (BPM) software to model and optimize business processes” / “the free BPM entry-level software”

Subjective remark: It should be noted that for the time being ARIS Express does not offer much support for the process optimizing. Therefore the second slogan seems to be more right since ARIS Express is rather modeller (albeit a nice one) than full BPA/BPM tool. Therefore it is rather more similar to Bizagi than ADONIS:CE that also has analytical functionalities, simulation and powerful publishing.

Additionally – I don’t think ARIS Express can be really called “world’s first free BPM software”. ADONIS:Community Edition has much more functionalities (e.g. simulation and KPI monitoring) and was released last year. And even earlier Tibco released free Business Studio with simulation.

Short description: ARIS Express is a free process modeller with some functionalities of the commercial version of ARIS – one of the most popular BPA/BPM tools worldwide.
It allows creating few types of models that describe various elements of organisation (e.g. processes, org. structure, IT) and publishing documentation. ARIS Express uses IDS Scheer’s EPC modelling method.

Website: www.ariscommunity.com (download, forum, blogs and other “community” features)

License: Freeware

Info about company: IDS Scheer is a Germany-based consulting company and globally recognised BPM software vendor.

Technical details

Overview: ARIS Express is a standalone multiplatform Java-based application. It stores models in files (*.adf).

Requirements: Java 1.6.10

Download package: few KB .jnlp setup file that downloads the rest of the package.

Functionalities and features

Modelling

ARIS Express offers few of the model types available in ARIS. Currently there’s no BPMN, but it is promised in the upcoming releases.

Graphical editor uses drag and drop approach. There’s also mechanism called by IDS “hotspots” – pretty similar to Bizagi’s “pie menu” – it allows easy modelling process flow (almost) without using object palette.

There’s also pretty cool functionality called “SmartDesign”- it allows adding objects to the model in a tabular form (it’s pretty similar to Savvion Process Modeler XL) and the objects are automatically arranged.

Additional interesting feature are so called fragments – kind of personal cache where parts of the model can be stored to be reused. It is also possible to select group of objects, add it as a new fragment and reuse it in different models.

ARIS Express comes with some nice sample models helping novice users understand the modelling method.

Compared to ARIS, ARIS Express has pretty limited objects – there are only few attributes for the object (nothing about e.g. times and costs). It is however possible to use standard ARIS functionality of visualising selected attribute(s).

You can have many models opened at the same time – they are shown in tabs.

Models are saved as ADF files. It is possible to link models by inserting links to the files, but you cannot link one object to an object in a different model (as you can do in ADONIS:CE).

It is possible to export model graphic (as EMF or PDF) as well as model attributes (PDF or RTF). There’s also option to import from Visio (VDX files).

Final remark: it may be just problem with Java on my computer, but ARIS Express worked significantly slower than Bizagi or ADONIS:CE and there were occasional problems with stability (especially with SmartDesign).

See also:
ADONIS:Community Edition overview
BizAgi Process Modeler overview

There’s also worth reading review of ARIS Express on “The Process Ninja” blog.

General info

Name: BizAgi Process Modeler

Described version:

Publisher: BizAgi

Slogan/tool description by authors: “BizAgi Free BPMN Process Modeler is the most Friendly Tool to Diagram and Document business processes using BPMN notation.”

Short description: BizAgi Process Modeler is a free modelling component of the BizAgi BPM Suite.
It allows creating BPMN 1.1 diagrams, sharing them (XPDL and Visio import & export), and publishing documentation.

Website: www.bizagi.com/eng/products/ba-modeler (download, resource center, quick tour)

License: Freeware

Info about company: BizAgi is a UK-based BPM vendor focused on providing solutions supporting business agility. Their BPM suite supports design, integration, automation, and monitoring of (human) business processes.

Technical details

Overview: BizAgi Process Modeler is a standalone Windows software. It stores models in files (*.bpm).

Requirements: Microsoft .NET framework 2.0

Download package: 17,3 MB (program setup; .NET can also be downloaded from their site)

Functionalities and features

Modelling

BizAgi Process Modeler allows creating Business Process Diagrams as defined in BPMN 1.1 specification. No additional model types are available.

BizAgi uses Ribbon style interface. Modeling functionalities are available in the main tab, while import/export (also documentation) can be found in “Export & Import” tab. Graphical editor uses drag and drop approach. Thanks to the “pie menu” it is possible to model the process flow almost without using object palette – after selecting an object radial menu with objects (task, gateway, events) appears, allowing user to insert new object that will be connected with a previous one.

Objects contain some basic attributes (e.g. for activity this are: Name, Description, and info about performers) available in pop up windows (element properties). It is possible to add extended attributes of the objects.

Additional functionalities:
* Expanding/colapsing subprocesses
* Attaching files to objects
* Diagram validation

Import and Export options include XPDL and VSD (Visio).
Models can be published as Word documents or PDF files. It is also possible to save model graphics as JPG, PNG or BMP files.

See also:
ADONIS:Community Edition overview

Updated version of this list can now be found on page “free tools for business analysts”. You can also find there links to detailed descriptions of the tools.

Here’s a list of business process modelling tools available for free. Most of them focuses on BPMN modeling, while some also allow e.g. simulation. If I find additional tools this list will be expanded. If time allows I will also add more in-depth reviews of those tools.

BPA/BPM tools – for download

ADONIS:Community Edition (www.adonis-community.com) – business process modeling (BPMN + other model types), analysis, simulation, documentation (HTML+Word) and BPEL export.

Savvion Process Modeler (www.savvion.com) – BPMN modeling, simulation, and documentation.

Intalio|Designer (www.intalio.com) – BPMN modeling and BPEL Export. There’s also Intalio Server for executing processes defined in BPEL 2.0 and Intalio Workflow.

TIBCO Business Studio (www.tibco.com) – BPMN modeling and simulation.

Update (thanks Sandy…):
Metastorm Process Designer – Business Analyst Edition (www.metastorm.com) – BPMN modelling.

BizAgi Process Modeler (www.bizagi.com) – BPMN (ver. 1.1) modelling and process documentation.

AgilPro (available at Sourceforge) – Eclipse-based open source modelling and simulation.

Embarcadero EA/Studio Community Edition (www.embarcadero.com) – Eclipse-based BPMN modelling. Visio import.

Soyatec eBPMN (www.soyatec.com) – Eclipse-based BPMN modelling.

BPA/BPM tools – web based

Lombardi Blueprint (blueprint.lombardi.com). Process documentation (with possibility to see diagram as BPMN) tool available via browser.