Has your organization enjoyed the benefits of business process management (BPM) software solutions or have you instead steered away from this implementation due to the inherent complexity of setting up the BPM application? If the latter applies to you, the good news is that BPM in the cloud enables you to enjoy the promised benefits without having to commit substantial IT infrastructure resources to give it a try.
As captured in this recent IT Business Edge piece, there is still a trick to driving optimal BPM success, even if you do launch in the cloud. The ideal scenario is selecting a cloud-based BPM offering that gives you the option of running the application in the cloud or moving it to one of your own servers or another cloud computing platform at a later time. You just might want to have this level of control over your BPM software solution, both now and in the future.
One solution that may be worth your attention is from Pegasystems (News - Alert). The company recently launched the Pega Cloud, which is Pegasystems’ entry into the cloud space with a BPM offering. Companies that opt to implement Pega Cloud, available on a cloud computing platform, will enjoy full use of the application while Pegasystems provides the management.
Ben Frenkel, principal for Pega Cloud Solutions, noted that cloud computing will be particularly advantageous to Pegasystems customers simply because it offers a tight coupling of the modeling and production processes within the unique Pegasystems environment. With Pega Cloud, customers can model an application and then seamlessly execute it in a production environment to achieve the full benefit of the BPM solution.
Frenkel noted that the real value to the cloud-based approach is that it will reduce the friction that is often associated with experimenting with the BPM software application build. There are a number of inherent risks associated with building a BPM application, especially in an environment where you may be making a change. You are bound to be met with resistance to this change and if the BPM application fails, there will be plenty of blame to share.
A cloud platform helps you to eliminate the risk and the potential finger-pointing that can occur. If yours is a company that has not had a lot of exposure to BPM, it makes sense that the ideal place to start is in the cloud. Your IT department can gain hands-on experience and your users can see the benefits without making a substantial commitment; the ideal launch for BPM.
Susan J. Campbell is a contributing editor for TMCnet and has also written for eastbiz.com. To read more of Susan’s articles, please visit her columnist page.