Business process orchestration
What is business process orchestration?
As part of an overall workflow management strategy, process orchestration serves as the fundamental concept: It's the automated arrangement and coordination of tasks to achieve a specific goal.
However, when these orchestrated processes become deeply intertwined with the complexities of a business, involving multiple systems, departments, and stakeholders, a more specialized approach is required. This is where business process orchestration comes into play. Business process orchestration refers to the coordination and management of various workflows to ensure they integrate with systems and processes efficiently, while contributing to specific business outcomes.
Why is business process orchestration important?
As artificial intelligence (AI) rapidly evolves, businesses must streamline operations, boost efficiency, and quickly adapt to changing market demands. Traditional siloed business process management often leads to bottlenecks, errors, and limited flexibility. Organizations looking to scale agentic AI programs struggle with effective governance and integration with business workflows. That’s where business process orchestration comes in.
Benefits of business process orchestration
- Increased efficiency: Reduces manual tasks and eliminates bottlenecks, leading to faster processing times
- Flexibility: Allows users to dynamically adjust workflows to meet changing business needs
- Enhanced visibility: Provides a centralized view of all processes, allowing for real-time monitoring and tracking
How does business process orchestration work?
Business process orchestration works by methodically coordinating and managing disparate processes to ensure they operate in a unified and efficient manner, ultimately driving specific business outcomes. It involves mapping processes, automating tasks with AI or RPA, ensuring coordinated data flow, and tracking performance continuously. This approach ensures smooth operations, reduced manual work, and improved scalability.
The future is BOAT: New report from Gartner®
A new market is emerging: Business orchestration and automation technologies (BOAT).
Business process orchestration vs. business process management
Common use cases for business process orchestration
Customer service & support
Business process orchestration automates ticket routing, escalations, and follow-ups, ensuring consistent customer support and faster resolution times while improving efficiency and service quality.
Healthcare management
Orchestration streamlines patient care, insurance verification, and treatment authorization by syncing departments and systems. It ensures timely care and manages complex healthcare documentation efficiently.
Supply chain & procurement
Purchase orders, supplier onboarding, and inventory management involve many systems and stakeholders. Orchestration links these processes for efficient procurement, proper approvals, and synchronized inventory control.
Business process orchestration and the emergence of BOAT
Business orchestration and automation technologies (BOAT) represents a new class of platform designed to automate, streamline, and integrate complex business processes and operations. BOAT consolidates technologies across several automation areas into a unified experience for both business and IT users.
Business process orchestration functions as a component within the broader BOAT framework. Specifically, business process orchestration focuses on the orchestration and execution of complex workflows and supports case management for sophisticated, highly regulated business processes.
Future of business process orchestration
The future of business process orchestration is about creating intelligent, adaptable, and secure workflows that enable organizations to thrive in a rapidly changing digital landscape. AI will be a driving force, enabling greater automation and optimization, while cloud-native solutions will provide the flexibility and scalability needed to adapt to evolving business needs. As technology advances, seamless integration and continuous innovation will be key to maximizing the potential of process orchestration.
