“I don’t think of cloud, mobile and social as really having boundaries now. I think of them as coming together and reinforcing each other.”

These are the words of Maribel Lopez, principal analyst and vice president at Constellation Research Inc. and founder of market research and strategy consulting firm Lopez Research LLC. In an interview with SearchCIO.com, Ms. Lopez talked about the convergence of these three trends, why enterprise mobility strategies should focus on improving business processes, and how all of that together opens the door for a new world of “contextual services.”

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Tags: , Cloud Computing, contextual services, enterprise mobility, social technology

Cloud computing is confusing. The term covers multiple deployment and service models, and the decision to “go cloud” requires thought around economic considerations and security. Luckily, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has published a detailed document for anyone looking for information, definitions and guidance around cloud computing. While NIST’s “DRAFT Cloud Computing Synopsis and Recommendations” report has been prepared for use by Federal agencies, commercial IT and business leaders can also learn valuable lessons from federal models for IT and security. A review of the report shows that Appian’s Cloud BPM meets NIST’s key considerations for a variety of cloud models.

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Tags: , Appian Cloud, BPM in the Cloud, Cloud Computing, NIST, PaaS BPM, SaaS BPM

Cloud computing isn’t just good for the bottom line; it’s also good for the planet — that’s according to the Government Accountability Office. It’s tough to reduce the carbon footprint left by an organization’s information technology use, and the stakes are higher for federal agencies. The GAO recently released a report that took a critical look at how federal agencies are measuring their efforts to meet goals of cutting energy use. Cloud computing is a primary method. Cloud BPM is an excellent on-ramp for commercial and government organizations looking to develop a solid cloud strategy.

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Tags: , Amazon Web Services, Appian Cloud, AWS GovCloud, BPM for Government, Cloud Computing, Green IT

In July, the GSA began offering cloud computing services via its Apps.gov website. Federal agencies now can order from a menu of three Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) offerings: cloud storage, virtual machines and Web hosting. All are sold by service providers with GSA Authority to Operate (ATO) certifications.

This is exciting news for proponents of federal cloud adoption. In the words of Elizabeth Montalbano at Informationweek, “the GSA is now for the first time allowing agencies to buy on-demand computing power through service providers that already have the federal stamp of approval, which should make government adoption of cloud computing easier and more efficient.”

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Tags: , Appian Cloud, BPM for Federal Acquisitions, Cloud Computing, Government 2.0, GSA, software-as-a-service

Federal agencies are moving to the cloud at a rapid clip so it’s not surprising that so many federal contractors are packing their bags (and servers) and joining them. Cloud computing makes sense for organizations of all stripes, federal contractors included. As more and more large organizations migrate to the cloud, there will inevitably be growing pains. BPM software in the cloud is a particularly good fit for contracting firms, given their preponderance of classic “knowledge worker” employees. Provided they can ward off the demons.

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Tags: , Appian Cloud, BPM in the Cloud, Cloud Computing, federal contracting, Government 2.0, SaaS BPM

The Federal government is sending mixed messages when it comes to telework. BPM software, accessed via mobile devices and delivered through the cloud, can unify both the federal strategy for and the tactical execution of enabling an increasingly remote and mobile workforce.

The Obama Administration is aggressively pushing to move applications and information to the cloud – and to ensure that federal employees can use mobile devices and related technology to create more open, responsive, adaptable interactions with each other, and with citizens. On the other hand, there’s still a fundamental disconnect in the way the government sees telework, confining it to official telework centers that receive low marks from federal employees – and continued budget cuts.

BPM software presents a new, more cost-effective way to enable federal telework.

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Tags: , BPM for Government, Business Process Management, Cloud Computing, Government 2.0, mobile BPM, Telework

One of the first big success stories in the Obama Administration’s push to reform Federal IT is the Department of Education, which is using Appian’s cloud BPM software to collect survey data as part of the “No Child Left Behind” program. By the Dept.’s own estimations, using the application in a cloud environment streamlined collection operations by 15 percent.

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Tags: , Appian Cloud, BPM for Government, Business Process Management, Cloud Computing, Dept. of Education, software-as-a-service

BPM software provides a solution to recent drastic changes in the federal government’s approach to telework. Mobile BPM in particular helps fulfill the vision for telework, despite the budget cuts levied at telework centers.

Earlier this year, the General Services Administration announced it will cut funding to over a dozen regional telework centers. The remaining telework centers will operate under a private sector model. This move seems to be at odds with the 2010 Telework Enhancement Act, which expands telework opportunities for federal employees. While the legislation encourages federal agencies to create telework opportunities for employees, it did not provide funding for telework centers.

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Tags: , BPM for Government, Business Process Management, Cloud Computing, Government 2.0, mobile BPM, Telework

“Within a decade, [government] will have a nearly complete cloud infrastructure.”

That’s according to Deniece Peterson, manager of industry analysis at government research firm Input. Peterson was quoted in a special feature in Washington Technology magazine, promoting a December 2010 survey of 460 government officials by the 1105 Government Information Group.

The survey indicated that 90 percent of government officials surveyed consider the cloud to be the real deal – not merely a passing fad. That said, adoption continues to be hampered by lingering concerns, particularly over security. The article points out that “leading cloud vendors are in the process of getting their clouds certified as safe and secure by the federal government during the next several years.” As a cloud platform and application solution, Appian’s cloud BPM software is way ahead of the pack in this regard.

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Tags: , Amazon Web Services, Appian Cloud, BPM for Federal Acquisitions, BPM for Government, BPM for Human Resource Management, BPM in the Cloud, Business Process Management, Cloud Computing, Government 2.0, SaaS BPM, software-as-a-service

It’s no secret that the last two Gartner BPM Summit events had lackluster attendance. This was no fault of Gartner’s; the recession drove expense reductions and corporate travel bans that hit the event industry pretty hard across the board.

I’m not going to say corporate conferences are necessarily a bellweather of the economy, but judging by last week’s BPM Summit in Maryland, something has changed. The place was packed, and the general vibe was way up on the optimism scale.

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Tags: , Appian Cloud, BPM, BPM in the Cloud, Business Process Management, Cloud Computing, CME Group, Gartner, mobile BPM, SaaS BPM, Social BPM, UPS