What is BPaaS?

Business Process as a Service (BPaaS) employs the cloud computing service model to outsource Business Process Management (BPM) dependent on related cloud services; these include Software as a Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS) and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). Traditional BPM Systems (BPMS) which run business processes and track active instances of these processes. A BPMS automates the workflow of a business process step by step and provides reporting on the status of a process instance giving details on whether it is completed or stalled. In the case of a stalled process, BPMS shows which step a process has stalled on; allowing companies to be proactive in their approach to optimising their processes and resolving workflow steps that may continually stall.

BPaaS on the other hand is simply Business Processes uploaded to a cloud service that performs the tasks and allows for monitoring and reporting on the workflow status of active and completed tasks.

The added advantages of BPaaS over traditional BPMS are what set it apart.

A business process as a service example of outsourcing services available with the BPaaS model include payroll, procurement, tender and industry operation processes. The aim of BPaaS is to reduce labor costs through an increase in automation of business processes and adheres to the usual cost structures typical of cloud computing – ‘pay as you go’.

Automating business processes is not a new concept and has been achieved in the past either manually or programmatically often incurring costly modifications to existing ERP, CRM or other business logic software packages.

With the advent of Cloud services, this approach is changing as companies look for applications, which can be used with existing business processes and comply with business policy. The flexible nature of cloud applications allows them to be used in many areas of a business; as they are not tied down to predefined processes like many business logic software packages. The advantage of this is the ability to have a consistent process application used across the company that allows for the management of complex business processes that need to be linked with various services which may include SaaS, IaaS remote data storage as well as data centre applications.

BPaaS differs from traditional business logic software packages as it is specifically designed-oriented towards delivering services. BPaaS therefore will tend to have well-defined application interfaces that are useable by many different businesses and offer a consistent, automated and repeatable service assisting in the standardisation of business processes.

Below is a summary of the advantages of uploading your business processes to the cloud:

• BPaaS utilises all three foundational cloud services; SaaS, PaaS and IaaS.
• ‘Pay as you go’ pricing model – avoid the cost of expensive server infrastructure and software licences.
• Scalability; like all cloud services, not having to worry about the IT costs of upgrading software and server infrastructure means you can massively scale your operations up or down to match your business size. This means a service that manages a few operations having the capacity to manage hundreds (even thousands!).
• A BPaaS service is versatile and configured based on the process it is designed for.
• BPaaS services must be easily integrated with related services through an easy to use application user interface (API).
• Increased mobility and geographical expandability.

Interested in integrating your processes with BPaaS cloud services? Automation Technologies offers highly flexible solutions through the VisualVault platform.

Contact Us today for a free consultation – We have the solutions for assisting you in optimising your business process management.