An Approach to Quantify the Costs of Business Process Intelligence

Today, enterprises are forced to continuously optimize their business as well as service processes. In this context the process-centered alignment of information systems is crucial. The use of business process intelligence (BPI) tools offers promising perspectives in this respect. However, when using BPI tools one has not only to look at potential benefits but at costs as well. Therefore, most enterprises thinking about the purchase of a BPI solution demand for a business case systematically outlining an investment’s benefits and costs. This paper summarizes such a business case based on an evaluation of contemporary BPI tools and practical experiences. We present basic BPI concepts, describe BPI benefits and cost drivers and introduce two cost models to gain insights into BPI economics.