Business Process Management (BPM) is a management practice for automating tasks that are repeatable and have a common pattern. However, many applications in the real world cannot be described completely from start to finish (including all possible paths, deviations, and exceptions). Moreover, using a process-centric approach in certain cases may lead to complex solutions that are hard to maintain. Sometimes business users need more flexible and adaptive business processes, without the overly complex solutions. In such cases, human actors play an important role in solving complex problems. Case Management is for such tasks collaborative and dynamic tasks that require human actions. Case Management focuses on problem resolution for unpredictable process instances as opposed to the efficiency oriented approach of Business Process Management for routine predictable tasks.

Instead of trying to model a process from start to finish, the Case Management approach supports giving the end user the flexibility to decide what must happen at runtime. In its most extreme form for example, Case Management does not even require any process definition at all. Whenever a new case comes in, the end user can decide what to do next based on all the case data. .

This does not necessarily mean that there is no role of BPM in Case Management. Even at its most extreme form where no process is modelled up front, you may still need a lot of the other features that the BPM system provides. For example, BPM features like audit logs, monitoring, coordinating various services, human interaction (such as using task forms), and analysis play a crucial role in Case Management as well. There can also be cases where a more structured business process evolves from Case Management. Thus, a flexible BPM system enables you to decide how and where you can apply it.