Analysts from leading IT industry research and advisory company Gartner, Inc. have claimed that firms could cut costs by up to 20 percent within a year by implementing business process management (BPM) software.

Michele Cantara, Gartner’s research vice president, said that economic woes are driving increased usage of BPM as a cost-cutting mechanism for survival. Cantara added that in today’s troubled economic landscape, it is even more imperative for companies to cut costs and react rapidly to market changes.

In order to confront business challenges and complex business relationships, Gartner has advocated the use of BPM to improve inter-departmental and inter-company processes.

According to Cantara, the tendency of companies to resort to head count slashing and cutting funding for programs when in survival mode is a very risky and ill-advised move, especially during the current economic crunch.

Cantara claimed that this approach can derail critical business processes and could end up costing the company more in the long run. By making processes visible, BPM can help companies pinpoint possible cost-cutting areas with surgical precision.

Gartner research director Elise Olding, however, has cautioned companies that while BPM can be used to significantly cut operational costs, process mismanagement can still result in failed initiatives.

According to Olding, too many user organizations are adopting BPM technologies without applying BPM disciplines, leading to disappointing results and subsequent disbandment of their BPM initiatives.