Product-led growth

Workflow management and automation: market and trends

Published August 10th, 2023

13 min read

Everyone hates doing monotonous, repetitive tasks. Yet those tasks occupy a large proportion of our work lives. Processes like Total Quality Management (TQM) and Six Sigma (6σ) eliminated many of the production inefficiencies, but it wasn’t until the advent of workplace automations that the workflow automation market really boomed. That growth continues, with six key trends driving the workflow management system market towards tools that handle volumes of data, in new ways, and with new functionalities.

Di Mace

Marketing Communications Manager at Tiny

Workflow management and automation are both core components of efficient workplace management, especially given today's hybrid workforce. And as an organization grows, there’s the greater challenge of managing, maintaining, and scaling those workflows. So there’s constant work ahead, to optimize them.

Gartner predicts that by 2024, 69% of all routine work currently done by managers, will be fully automated. With such a high rate of automation, you want to ensure you're maximizing those efficiencies and gaining all the possible benefits out of your software, like:

Strong competitive advantage
Reduces repetitive tasks
Accelerates approval processes
Improves business processes
Saves time spent on routine tasks
Helps scale operations
Increases data accuracy.

With so much happening in the workflow automation market, there are six major trends shaping its future (see ‘Trends shaping the growth of workflow automation’). As the technology continues to evolve – offering new cost-cutting and time-efficient solutions – it’s worth keeping an eye on the market size and its market leaders.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Workflow management software market size

Workflow automation market

Trends shaping the growth of workflow and automation

Workflow management software trends you need to track

Workflow automation keeps leaping forward

Workflow management software market size

Workflow management software (WMS) has gained widespread support as businesses attempt to optimize their workflows, as part of digital transformation. WMS is designed to help enterprises automate certain operations and tasks, to better control the monitoring of workflow performance, and free up teams to solve more important issues.

Consequently, the global workflow management system market is growing rapidly – currently accounting for around 40% of the total business process management (BPM) market. In 2020, the global market was valued at $6.9 B, and by 2028 it’s estimated that the global workflow management system market size will reach US$55.35 B, with a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 30.6% from 2021 to 2028.

Curious about workflow management systems?

Find out what they are, their history and the market size of this fast growing segment.

Read What is workflow management?

Workflow management system market segmentation

Workflow management systems efficiently automate business processes to streamline workflows, improve key performance metrics and increase productivity. The market is broken down:

1. On the basis of type. The workflow management system market is segmented into software and services.

Software is further segmented into production workflow systems, messaging-based workflow systems, web-based workflow systems, suite-based workflow systems, and other workflow systems.
Services are further segmented into IT consulting, integration and implementation, and training and development.

2. On the basis of deployment type. The workflow management system market is segmented into cloud and on-premises.

3. On the basis of industry vertical. The rise in the demand from various industry verticals is rapidly escalating with the growth of the market. The workflow management system market is segmented into Banking Financial Services and Insurance, Public sector, Healthcare, Energy and Utilities, Retail, IT and Telecom, Travel and Hospitality, Transportation and Logistics, Education, and others.

Workflow management market leaders

The key leaders in the workflow management market are:

Xerox Corporation
Oracle Corporation
IBM Corporation
Nintex Global Limited
Software AG
Pegasystems
Bizagi
Appian
Newgen Software Technology

Workflow automation market

As more companies leverage the benefits from incorporating automation into their business processes, the market for workflow automation continues to grow. Further fueling this growth is the rapid emergence of new AI and robotic process automation technologies that offer the opportunity to gain a competitive advantage.

Workflow automation market size

The rising demand for workflow automation is leading to rapid investment in the development of more sophisticated and efficient software. Key companies are focusing on Gartner’s predicted 2022 Tech Trend of Hyperautomation, by providing unified workflows across all the functions of business, including finance workflows, accounting workflows, procurement workflows, and others.

According to Emergen Research, the WorkFlow Automation market size was US$12.02B in 2021 and is expected to witness a revenue CAGR of 23.5% during the forecast period to 2030.

Camunda’s 2020 State of Process Automation Report reports that 97% of IT decision-makers believe process automation is crucial for digital transformation, while 36% of organizations are already implementing business process management software to automate workflows.

Likewise, research undertaken by SalesForce, showed that ninety-five percent of IT and engineering leaders say their organizations are prioritizing workflow automation. Based on the insights garnered, it seems that most users are eager to accelerate digital innovation, with over two-thirds of line-of-business users interested in using low-code tools.

Workflow automation market segmentation

The workflow automation market is broken down similarly to workflow management, with slightly fewer industry verticals.

1. On the basis of type. The workflow automation market is segmented into software and services.

2. On the basis of deployment type. The workflow automation market is segmented into cloud and on-premises.

3. On the basis of end-user industry. The workflow automation market is segmented into Banking, Telecom, Retail, Manufacturing and Logistics, Healthcare and Pharmaceuticals, Energy and Utilities, and Other End-user Industries)

Workflow automation market leaders

Businesses are turning to automation to find more opportunities to connect with customers and reduce escalating employee workloads. With this growth in interest comes intense competition, whereby the Workflow Automation Market consists of only a few major players:

IBM Corporation
Software AG
Oracle Corporation
Pegasystems Inc.
Xerox Corporation
Appian Corporation

These companies leverage strategic collaborations to increase their market share and profitability.

Trends shaping the growth of workflow and automation

It’s anticipated that the software and cloud segments of workflow management are on target to be the fastest-growing markets from 2021 to 2028.

Software growth is primarily due to organizational upsizing and digital transformation – where they’re having to handle larger volumes of data and additional functionalities. The growing preference for cloud deployment is due to its flexibility, real-time software updates, and work-from-anywhere capabilities.

In order to support their drive for increased efficiency, organizations are integrating application software like customer relationship management (CRM), enterprise resource planning (ERP) and enterprise content management (ECM). This is expected to drive the growth in both the workflow management and automation markets.

It’s always helpful to know what's ahead and the technologies involved. Currently, there’s six trends affecting workflow management and workflow automation:

Hyperautomation
No-code and low-code apps
AI, robotics and machine learning
Personalization
Ease of cross-stack integrations
Automation-as-a-Service (AaaS)

Workflow and automation rich text editor advantage

The positive effects of workflow management and automation are clear. Henry Ford recognised the benefits and implemented wholesale changes across his factory floors to maximize the flow-on effect for his business and workers. But what else affects the implementation of a workflow system, automations or upgrades within an organization? The rich text editor that’s embedded in the workflow software.

Integrating the best Workflow editor components in your tech stack can help you achieve your efficiency, productivity and output goals.

Improve productivity

A WYSIWYG editor experience reduces content creation time by 90%. Over a year, your users could save thousands of hours in their workflow.

Maximize developer output

Comprehensive documentation and customizability allows developers to mold rich text editor components into a CRM solution that perfectly fits their needs – saving up to six months' of developer time for each new feature.

Increase engagement

A WYSIWYG editor creates an experience that’s loved by users – with many reporting 85% increases in engagement and readability.

Workflow management software trends you need to track

Prior to digital transformation, companies relied on traditional management methods that involved human interventions which slowed processes, increased errors and reduced efficiency.

With the need for rapid digitalization and streamlining, organizations are focusing on workflow management tools to help them identify redundancies, track uncompleted tasks, and strategic priorities.

WORKFLOW AND AUTOMATION TREND 1: Hyperautomation

The automation of manual work is creating significant services, software, network and hardware opportunities.

Hyperautomation is a trending strategy that enables organizations to amplify the automation of their business processes, across organizational boundaries. It’s linked to the use of artificial intelligence, machine learning (see Trend #3) and no-code tools (see Trend #2) to:

Expedite and scale manual tasks
Increase operational efficiency and accuracy
Reduce errors

Coined by Gartner and included in their Top Strategic Technology Trends for 2002, “Hyperautomation is a business-driven, disciplined approach that organizations use to rapidly identify, vet and automate as many business and IT processes as possible. It requires the orchestrated use of multiple technologies, tools and platforms, including Robotic Process Automation (RPA), low-code platforms and process mining tools.”

WORKFLOW AND AUTOMATION TREND 2: No-code or low-code apps

People want the ability to quickly integrate apps into their existing tech stack, and no-code apps are perfect for rapid scaling, business continuity, and ease of deployment.

Workflow software that incorporates the use of minimal or no coding, makes process automation more accessible across an entire organization. It democratizes technology by expanding and empowering non-IT professionals to discover and apply specialized skills beyond their expertise.

Zapier, the archetype automation app, surveyed no-code tool users and found:

82% of no-code users started using no-code tools during the pandemic
90% of no-code users think their company has been able to grow faster due to its no-code usage
76% of no-code users use no-code tools for their own personal projects
85% of no-code users plan to use no-code tools more in the next year

While Gartner’s Top Trends for Tech Providers for 2022: The Democratization of Technology report, predicts that by 2024 80% of technology products and services will be built by ‘citizen developers’ who are not full-time technical professionals.

WORKFLOW AND AUTOMATION TREND 3: AI, robotics and machine learning

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has firmly taken its place in both operational and strategic business processes. So much so, that it’s hard to imagine a future without its use.

Robotic process automation (RPA) is already being used to automate routine, manual tasks to help reduce errors and increase speed. It supports you, so you can perform more useful, productive, and valuable work. It’s likely that RPA’s ability will be enhanced, to observe and learn from human patterns, and then optimize both front- and back-office experiences.

Likewise, machine learning is poised to revolutionize workflow, helping to enable companies to trigger new processes, reroute running processes and make action recommendations based on predictions.

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WORKFLOW AND AUTOMATION TREND 4: Personalization

McKinsey’s ‘Next in Personalization 2021 Report’ revealed that “Seventy-one percent of consumers expect companies to deliver personalized interactions. And seventy-six percent get frustrated when this doesn’t happen”.

Integrating the best Workflow and Automation HTML editor components in your tech stack can help you achieve your goal of personalized touches that build deeper customer relationships. In many cases, using the best technology can also increase the engagement with and quality of the outputs from your automated workflows.

WYSIWYG HTML text editor essentials for personalized communication

A WYSIWYG editor includes easy to use, feature-rich options that enhance users ability to personalize communication and create deeper engagement:

Clean, modern interface: a sleek intuitive UI that speeds up work and blends into your app
Clean, accurate copy-paste: content from Word, Excel, or GDocs that replicates its source, without breaking the underlying code or needing developer bug-fixes
Ability to limit toolbar options: able to hide or disable options like HTML editing, font formatting, and font sizes to prevent straying from the default style formats defined, so your users aren’t distracted and content is clean inside your database
Compliance checking: if accessibility is imperative for compliance, ensure your editor automatically spots and suggests fixes for issues before the content is published
Multi-language spell checking compatibility: the ability to add your product and brand terms to ensure all content creators spell and capitalize them correctly – and in the same dialect (for example, British English) - across regions
Templates: reusable, predesigned templates with your brand styles so that users can easily insert predefined content into your app (time saver)
Easily pull styling and formatting: take formatting from another paragraph, document, or page and apply it to your selected text
Mentions and Comments: deepen engagement and collaboration, particularly among remote teams or teams with time zone differences
Merge tags: open up opportunities to personalize communications at scale, generating a piece of content once and personalizing it for 10 or 10,000 people
Optimized outputs for desktop and mobile

WORKFLOW AND AUTOMATION TREND 5: Ease of cross-stack integrations

The accelerated rate of change in technology brings challenges. With rapid change comes rapid obsolescence, so it’s important to use solutions that play well with other tech stack components, and the proliferation of automation apps have shown the way.

Modern workflow management software and components are usually capable of some form of integration via either a direct connection or import/export across tools.

However the most reliable means is the use of well documented APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) – making system integrations possible (legacy or new), and facilitating easy integration between workflow and automation app components, like your rich text editor.

WYSIWYG HTML text editor essentials for cross-stack integration

Well documented APIs
Full source code access for endless customizations
Availability of (core) open source software that's extensible with advanced features
Ability to work with emerging digital technologies such as web-native apps and systems.

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WORKFLOW AND AUTOMATION TREND 6: Automation-as-a-Service (AaaS)

In its 2021 State of Business Automation report, Zapier found that 88 percent of small and medium-sized businesses say that automation helps them compete with larger corporations. Plus, 65 percent of knowledge workers say their stress levels are lower as a result of automating mundane tasks.

Automation-as-a-service (AaaS) is gaining popularity – but not yet full acceptance – as a critical way to deliver intelligent automation. Deloitte's research showed that 64% of respondents already use some form of AaaS, most often for end-to-end development, followed by management and maintenance of automations, the development of automations.

Workflow automation keeps leaping forward

In recent decades, workflow and automation technology has entered most workplaces. Whether that’s through stealth (read citizen engineers leveraging low- and no-code automations) or part of a digital transformation strategy, it’s led to huge improvements in efficiency, productivity and accuracy.

The coming years will likely see a continuing need to modernize processes, along with the demand for workflow management systems. Likewise, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), robotic process automation (RPA), and other new technologies aren’t going away – they’ll continue to eliminate time-consuming manual processes.

FAQ – Workflow automation

What is the projected market size of the workflow automation market?

The global workflow management system market is growing rapidly – currently accounting for around 40% of the total business process management (BPM) market. In 2020, the global market was valued at $6.9 B, and by 2028 it’s estimated that the global workflow management system market size will reach US$55.35 B, with a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 30.6% from 2021 to 2028.

What factors will be driving the global workflow automation market in 2023?

Currently, there’s six trends driving the global workflow automation market in 2023:

Hyperautomation
No-code and low-code apps
AI, robotics and machine learning
Personalization
Ease of cross-stack integrations
Automation-as-a-Service (AaaS)

How many companies are now using automation tools?

31% of businesses have fully automated at least one function (McKinsey).

76% of businesses use automation for standardizing or automating daily workflows (Formstack)

58% use automation for data/reporting for planning, and 36% use it for regulation or compliance (Formstack)

author

Di Mace

Marketing Communications Manager

Messaging strategist and copywriter whose passion lies in working with brands like Tiny, that have deep-seated values and embrace the power of their story. She gets a kick out of solving problems, loves learning new things and making stuff, every day. When she’s not thinking through clever copy lines or clarifying value propositions, she’s knitting amazing socks for everyone she knows.