The SAP NetWeaver Business Process Management (SAP NetWeaver BPM) component helps you model, execute, and monitor your business processes based on a common process model. It can help you improve the efficiency of business processes, reduce errors in complex repetitive tasks, and lower exception-handling costs.

With SAP NetWeaver BPM, you can compose process steps, define business rules and exceptions, model process flows using industry-standard business process modeling notation, execute process models efficiently, and support interaction with running processes via personalized user interfaces or interactive forms. You can also monitor business processes to improve process quality and efficiency.

SAP NetWeaver BPM provides the following tools:

• Process composer – Enables process architects and developers to create and debug executable business process models. Each business process model clearly defines the rules and exceptions governing the process steps that are performed by people or systems in response to specific business events.
• Process server – Executes process models without requiring brittle translation steps between the model and code, fully integrated with the runtime technology provided by SAP NetWeaver Composition Environment.
• Process desk – Allows process users to perform their assigned tasks while business processes are running. Workers can access context-sensitive task screens through the standard SAP user interface or through universal work lists displayed via SAP NetWeaver Portal.

SAP NetWeaver BPM works with other advanced functionality of SAP NetWeaver, creating a rich and unified development and deployment environment. In particular, SAP NetWeaver BPM interoperates with:

• SAP NetWeaver Composition Environment, which provides an Eclipse-based environment for business process composition, a Java EE-based application server for process deployment, an enterprise services repository for discovery and registry of services, and functionality for software life-cycle management
• SAP NetWeaver Business Rules Management, which provides a design and execution environment for creating and maintaining business rules, which are represented as decision tables
• SAP NetWeaver Process Integration, which enables interoperation with in-house applications and those of business partners when standard Web services connectivity is not sufficient
• SAP NetWeaver Portal, which provides unified identity management and access to business tasks through universal work lists