IBM Launches Cloud BPM For Partners

Business process management (BPM) is one of those IT services that have traditionally been relegated to the realm of the large enterprise. But now IBM is launching Blueworks Live, a BPM solution delivered by channel partners to SMB customers by way of the cloud, for as little as $10/user/month. Here’s the story.

The idea behind BPM is to improve common actions like new user on-boarding or sales quote approvals by giving better visibility and control, according to IBM’s press release. It also adds a new ability to “structure and automate ad hoc processes in 90 seconds that businesses currently run over email and attachments.”

Blueworks Live puts those kind of activities into a Facebook-style news feed, enabling users to see what their colleagues are up to.In addition, IBM is touting Blueworks Live’s “intuitive” discovery and documentation capabilities – of great utility to, say, a call center.

When Big Blue is making moves towards more public cloud services for partners serving companies that could never afford on-premises versions, it’s probably safe to say SaaS has gone from fad to here-to-stay. The official launch is on November 20th, and we’ll be keeping a closer eye on Blueworks Live as we zero in on the date.

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