{{editor_breadcrumbs}}

Methodology

The objective of the tool survey is to increase awareness of Process Mining and to make the market of Process Mining software more transparent. This helps companies and institutions get a holistic overview of Process Mining tools and their capabilities. Here we give a brief overview of our approach for the selection of tools and evaluation criteria.

We have published the results and the research design of the survey at the International Conference on Process Mining (ICPM) 2020 as part of the academic tool demonstration track. You can download the paper here and see a recording of the demo here.

Tool Selection

The selection of tools for our comprehensive 2020 Process Mining tool survey is based on recent Process Mining-related reports of three analytical firms. Thus, vendors included in the following reports were considered:

  • Gartner Market Guide for Process Mining, 2019
  • Everest Group: Process Mining – The New Juggernaut Driving Digital Transformation, 2019
  • Everest Group PEAK Matrix for Process Mining Products Assessment 2020
  • Forrester Now Tech report on Process Mining and Documentation, 2020

In total, 34 potential Process Mining tools were identified. Out of these, 17 tools were tested thoroughly with proper access to a testing environment. The remaining tools either do not represent a proper Process Mining solution (e.g. only Task Mining capability) or, in a few cases, the respective vendors did not grant a testing account.

Process Mining Tool Survey

Analyzed Tools (17*)

  • ABBYY Timeline (formerly TimelinePI)
  • Apromore
  • ARIS Process Mining
  • BusinessOptix Process Mining
  • Celonis Process Mining
  • Disco
  • EverFlow
  • LANA Process Mining
  • Logpickr Process Explorer 360
  • MEHRWERK ProcessMining (MPM)
  • Minit
  • myInvenio
  • PAFnow
  • ProDiscovery
  • QPR ProcessAnalyzer
  • Signavio Process Intelligence
  • UiPath Process Mining (formerly ProcessGold)

Tools out of scope or not further analyzed (17*)

  • PM4Py by Fraunhofer FIT – Open source
  • ProM, ProM Lite and RapidProM by Process Mining Group and TU/e – Open source
  • Blue Prism Limited – OOS
  • EdgeVerve Systems Limited – OOS
  • IBM – OOS
  • iGrafx, LLC. – OOS
  • Interstage Process Analytics by Fujitsu – OOS (tool discontinued)
  • Kofax Inc. – OOS
  • Kryon Systems – OOS
  • NICE Ltd. – OOS
  • Nintex UK Ltd – OOS
  • Skan, Inc. – OOS
  • Splunk Business Flow – OOS
  • StereoLOGIC Process Mining – OOS
  • Business Process Mining by Hyland Software, Inc. – No access
  • Explora Process by Integris SpA – No access
  • Process Mining for SAP by Worksoft, Inc. – No access

OOC: Out of scope as the respective vendor does not offer a Process Mining solution (e.g. Task Mining tools)

No access: Vendor did not respond to request or did not grant a test account

* Apromore was tested retrospectively and added to the “analyzed tools” in 08/2020 due to the availability of a commercial license

Evaluation Criteria

The quality evaluation of a software product may require a systematic approach depending on the standards and requirements for the selection process in an organization. ISO/IEC 25010 provides a guideline to evaluate the properties of a software product based on eight characteristics. The standard also considers human interaction with a software product through its “Quality in Use” model. While this standard defines a comprehensive quality model, a pragmatic approach was chosen with a primary focus on the functionality of the software. Other characteristics such as usability, maintainability and compatibility were not analyzed due to reproducibility challenges and lack of relevance for a tool overview. Yet, they represent important factors that should be considered in the software selection process.

In order to create a list of relevant function-oriented criteria, a two-sided approach was followed. On the one hand, a literature review was undertaken in order to gain an understanding of the state-of-the-art of technical developments in Process Mining. On the other hand, the aforementioned commercial tools were used and tested upfront in a non-systematic way to better understand what features and capabilities today’s PM tools offer. The practical approach also included a thorough screening of knowledge bases, product documentations and webinar videos made accessible by the vendors.

The derived criteria is grouped into the following blocks:

  • Data Management
  • Process Discovery
  • Conformance Checking
  • Operational Support
  • Advanced Enhancement Capabilities
  • Views, Monitoring and Reporting
  • Security & Compliance

Disclaimer: The timeliness of provided information is based on the tested version and date as stated under “Tested Version”. No guarantee can be given about the correctness and accuracy of the information contained.