Cloud BPM investments on the rise

The process management software industry is showing promising growth, especially in relation to cloud services. A recent study by MarketsandMarkets, "BPaaS And Cloud BPM Market by Process Outsourcing (Sales, Finance and Accounting, Human Resources, Marketing, Operations) ñ Global Advancements, Opportunity Roadmaps, Market Forecast and Analysis (2013 - 2018)" found that the cloud BPM market is expected to grow at an impressive 45.5 percent CAGR over the five year span, reaching a total of $7.12 billion by 2018.

This massive growth is attributed to several factors, including an increasing need for process agility, improved cost controls and a pervasive demand for automation and virtualization of business process management. Cloud solutions are perfectly positioned to deliver all of these factors to firms in need, regardless of industry, due to their flexibility and scalability. This eliminates issues regarding varying organizational structures and process needs from the equation.

Automation in particular is a driving concern for many firms as their operational demands increase. A growing need to be more competitive and efficient is pushing companies to consider process management, in particular the cloud, because of its ability to streamline significant tasks and provide anywhere access to the control of these functions. In addition, the cloud optimizes the cost considerations of these efforts to ensure firms aren't overspending their budgets for these improvements. The cost efficiency makes BPaaS a viable option for businesses of all sizes.

With expected growth in 2013 alone to reach $1.09 billion, more firms are investing in cloud BPM solutions immediately. The steady improvements over the next few years indicate an increased reliance on the improvements that will amplify their growth and value adding services.

Cloud BPM solutions offer a variety of advantages to businesses because of the ability to scale with enterprise needs. Rather than paying for services that aren't needed or struggling to adapt an older solution with company growth, a firm will be able to continue operating smoothly. This flexibility also affords itself to process changes themselves, allowing a business to adapt or improve its process management capabilities as needed. Ultimately, this provides a firmer foundation to launch company improvements from, as well as operating under the assurances that efficiency and optimization are always in place due to BPM automation and virtualization. The cloud supports the tools necessary to keep a business afloat, regardless of market conditions and the current state of its in-house workload.