Business process management software is playing an increasingly important role as a strategic enabler in enterprise settings. In many cases, BPM's relevance comes from the transition to a service-based IT environment that puts the emphasis on using IT as a business enabler.
According to a recent InformationWeek report, 2013 is beginning to look like a year in which many organizations will have to look and shifting technological trends and make important decisions pertaining to how they want to move forward in aligning IT with operations. This need is especially prevalent as big data, cloud computing, social media and mobile device use increase.
Understanding how IT is changing
The news source explained that the changing IT climate is also shifting how workers get the job done. Essentially, the innovation happening on the technology side of operations is also impacting day-to-day functionality. This is enabling new ways of getting the job done and helping IT departments play a larger role in operations.
However, this kind of service-focused functionality being enabled by cloud, mobile and social systems does present operational challenges. In particular, the convergence of these diverse technological systems can overwhelm workers, especially if the various solutions do not integrate well. BPM software can play a major role in overcoming these challenges and helping companies derive maximum value from their technological investments.
Using BPM as a strategic enabler
At its core, BPM solutions are fairly simple - they align the back-office technologies with business processes to maximize results. Obtaining that goal, however, is a complicated matter that requires the advanced technological functionality of BPM systems. Generally, the capabilities of BPM are achieved on two levels - back office and end user.
At the back-office level, BPM functions as an integration tool that enables the various cloud and mobile solutions to work in conjunction with one another. This is made possible, to a great extent, by enabling the various IT systems used by a company to share data and communicate in a social way. As a result, it becomes easier for data to flow between applications and databases regardless of where they are hosted.
BPM streamlines operations for end users. The technology presents all of the applications and data that it integrates in the back office to workers in an accessible interface. In this way, organizations can ensure they get the maximum value out of their technological investments and gain a considerable return on investment.
Malcolm Ross
Vice President of Product Marketing
