Technology and SaaS in the Growth of Business Process Management Solutions
Business Process Management hasn’t always been a tool for small business. There was a time when workflow automation was a luxury item reserved for only large companies with large budgets. But technology and Software as a Service (SaaS) applications have together changed all of that and made business process management a viable tool for the small business staff.
When they were first introduced, application service providers (ASPs) were far too expensive for the average business, and were mostly implemented among the Fortune 500 elite. New systems now allow companies to act as renters rather than buyers, customizing web based software systems to specifically fit their process needs. Because they don’t have to pay for the software, hardware or maintenance, smaller companies are now able to take advantage of this technology.
The leader in this new brand of workflow automation solutions are CRM (customer relationship management) systems for sales and customer service. Technology has allowed companies to use web based applications to automatically manage many of the components of CRM that used to have to be done manually. This is commonly referred to as sales force automation.
Business process management continues to also gain steam in a number of other areas of the office as well. From order fulfillment and IT to human resources and accounting, the future success of small to medium sized businesses could very well hinge on their ability to take advantage of these automation solutions.