Every few years we come across a new wave in technology which either reshapes the direction of the technology landscape or enhances substantially the application of existing technologies. Cloud computing is one such wave which seems to be setting a new trend in the technology world. Cloud computing, with roots in “Grid computing”, involves provisioning of dynamically scalable and virtualized resources over the internet as a service. This could be offered as Infrastructure or Platform or Software as a service. The realization of significant business value around cloud computing has suddenly created a hype and we see a spurt of activities with technology and business stakeholders planning to adopt the platform. For lack of accepted standards, proven scale, performance and many unknowns surrounding the cloud based environment, I would still refer to this as an emerging trend. But this concept has deep rooted value and benefits, that address many challenges surrounding local server based hosting and deployment of enterprise applications. BPM (Business Process Management) is one such technology space which is embraced by most enterprises but facing significant challenges in terms of hosting and implementation. Let us explore how cloud computing can compliment BPM in addressing enterprise adoption challenges.

BPM is a relatively well known term and has become a major transformation tool leveraged by businesses to model, automate and optimize their processes. BPM is still going through a hype cycle as many organizations have tried their hands at BPM and seen limited to medium success. Less than 25 percent of organizations implementing BPM have reached a high level of maturity and success. Gartner analysts have predicted that more than 50 percent of BPM Programs will fail by 2011. Based on a Prediction by Gartner Analyst Michele Cantara, “The share of BPM investments targeting end-to-end business processes that incorporate external services or cloud resources will increase 500 percent by 2012.”

Definition of a Cloud Compliant BPM Suite

A cloud-based implementation would derive value from three areas: Economic (No capital investments, Pay by use, expand/shrink resources as needed), Architectural (commonly accessible environment and resources for development and self-service provisioning), Strategic (outsourced ownership of infrastructure and operations enabling focus on core activities). A BPM suite must address these value elements for being classified as cloud compliant. The below diagram summarizes the capabilities and design elements that address this compliance.

A comprehensive ability to offer the following services is a must for BPM suites: