Skip to main content

Getting BPM through the cloud can pay dividends

Cindy Cheng, ​Sr. Director of Marketing Communications, EMEA, Appian
April 5, 2013

Business process management software can help companies maximize the value of their cloud solutions. Organizations can also access BPM through the cloud, positioning themselves to access solutions that they may not be able to afford if delivered through traditional means.

Considering cloud BPM

Using the cloud for BPM offers companies an opportunity to leverage BPM capabilities that may otherwise be too expensive or require too much management. One of the cloud's greatest assets is its ability to level the playing field in business settings. This is especially clear in the cloud BPM sector. For many businesses, solutions like process management are extremely attractive, but only really accessible to major corporations that have the money and IT resources to install, configure and customize a core BPM software platform to meet their specific needs. For a while, this type of functionality was only accessible for large businesses. However, the rise of the cloud has not only created demand for BPM, it has also made BPM software a much more accessible option for organizations of all sizes.

Understanding the value of process management in small businesses

It is relatively easy to think about the scale of large organizationsand imagine that they have plenty of operational efficiency issues that would be alleviated through BPM investments. However, a small business, in theory, should be much easier to manage. There are fewer workers, silos are not as much of a problem and overhead and wasteshould not be such an issue. However, many small companies lack resources to such an extent that they have to deal with inefficient processes because they do not have the ability to support better ways of getting the job done. For example, a small company may have two branches, and workers in each branch whoperform complementary functions. Collaboration between these individuals can be extremely difficult to manage, because secure data and file transit capabilities are limited and social functionality within the corporate firewall is non-existent.

Small businesses, like major companies, have many processes that can be improved through strategic BPM software deployment. The rise of cloud BPM solutions provides a framework upon which organizations can get the help they need to cost-effectively establish a BPM strategy and get the technology in place to support those tactics without incurring excess costs.

Cindy Cheng

Director of Product Marketing