I guess (as a business person) I might have come to this positioning over time, but it took several technologists to convince me that BPM systems "could" (and I am not advocating should) be viewed as toolkits for building custom applications.
If I think about it, the reason for custom applications is that each business has their unique quirks to any process. Rather than change process, many companies change tools either by customizing off the shelf software (not my recommended strategy) or developing a home grown solution from their internal IT group. The custom application meets the users needs to a tee. (or at least the needs they identified two years ago when the project was funded)
With the BPM tools, a business user is defining their custom process and modeling it. That model becomes the core of the application with some additional integrations needing to be build. But, the work is 70-80% owned and done by the business. So, the business now has a short-term strategy for achieving a custom application that can be modified on an ongoing basis without simply getting on a long list of IT open projects.
This is a great reality in my mind, but selling a toolkit is not very exciting (to a business user). I think keeping focused on process automation and reporting is much more exciting. It talks about what I care about - bottom line results. Although I am frustrated by IT's inability to understand and respond in real-time to my needs, I don't care how they fix it. I just want it better. (at least that's what many business execs would say)
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