Social expected to be top BPM influencing trend of 2014

Business process management, particularly in terms of content-centric processes, is an essential part of enterprise operations. For the enterprise content management market, BPM is a major contributor to both thedelivery and standardization of ECM efforts. However, several trends are expected to alter the way businesses optimize their ECM processes, and the BPM tools they use in these efforts.

According to the recent 2014 Trends to Watch report on Enterprise Content Management from Ovum, social BPM, cloud and mobility are all major influencers of BPM software and ECM-related product decisions, as well as file sharing, regulatory compliance. Keeping all of these issues in mind will help firms invest in the right BPM solutions for their needs while meeting the demands of their industry.

Social as a driving force behind BPM decision making

"Enlightened organizations now have highly developed and sophisticated social media strategies that involve sales, marketing, and customer service initiatives," said Sue Clarke, a Senior Analyst of Information Management and author of the report. "Most vendors providing ECM technologies, particularly those in the web content management space, include support for social content."

By embracing social BPM initiatives, companies will be providing the end users - their employees - with anytime, anywhere access to processes that extends beyond the need for compliance with ECM deployments. Businesses face unique operational demands today, and worker familiarity with social networking can boost productivity while improving collaboration and communication, keeping professionals closely integrated with their processes.

Beyond social

From mobile to cloud BPM, additional process management platforms ensure that businesses are optimizing employee access and the availability of these tools.

According to the report, professionals expect their employers to provide access to work content at anytime, regardless of where they are working from. In order to meet this expectation, all ECM efforts have to provide extensive support for mobile devices, as well as cloud capabilities.

"The capabilities should also ensure the same policies for managing access to content are applied regardless of the device being used," Clarke noted.

With social, cloud and mobile BPM all being driving trends for ECM and overall enterprise operational needs, companies need to ensure they are investing in the right tools to meet their needs, as well as those of their workers. This will optimize workflow and ensure the benefits of high-quality BPM software are achieved.