Intelligent Enterprise Magazine: Three No-Cost Ways To Get Started With BPM

Intelligent Enterprise Magazine: Three No-Cost Ways To Get Started With BPM: "You've heard all the promises about business process management (BPM)--how it can streamline outmoded practices, enhance efficiency, promote compliance and standardization, make your organization more agile and put you on the path of continuous performance improvement. But it all seems so abstract. How do you convince yourself, and the CFO, that you're going to get a solid return on what's probably a six-figure investment?
BPM isn't an enterprise application like ERP or CRM, but it's not really core infrastructure, either, so making the ROI clear and convincing to buyers is a challenge. Fortunately, BPM vendors are starting to realize this, too. Several now offer free, downloadable tools that let you model processes, analyze expected performance improvement and create most, if not all, of an actual executable design. The giveaways vary, but they're all based on the same basic premise: If users can try BPM software without charge, they'll see the value and ultimately step up to a production-scale investment. "

Includes link to Oracle's BPEL tool, which I didn't know was free.