Business activity monitoring (BAM) enables an enterprise to monitor the performance of the business processes it uses to deliver goods and services. Business optimization enables an enterprise to use the monitoring information to proactively manage and optimize those business processes.

Business process data is monitored via key performance indicators (KPIs). KPIs are quantifiable measurements that reflect the critical success factors of an enterprise. For example, in a car loan application process, you might define a KPI to monitor process cycle time. KPIs monitor data for exceptions and trends and alert you to problems.

Business activity monitoring also monitors process health, such as transition times, step times, and number of tasks at each step.