Today Salesforce.com formally announced the availability of a new element of the Force.com platform – Visual Process Manager.Visual Process Manager is a toolset and platform for modelling and executing workflows that’s integrated into the Force.com platform. It’s based on technology acquired from call-centre automation specialist Informavores in 2009. Prior to this, Salesforce.com only had a *very* limited workflow capability on-board.
There are four main pieces to this newest element of the Force.com platform:
- A graphical process design tool
- A form / wizard designer for specifying user interfaces for process participants
- A “process simulator”. Right now, it’s not yet clear to me how much this offers “real” simulation functionality – but that’s not necessarily an issue, frankly, bearing in mind how much organisations use deep process simulation in anger in mainstream BPM work
- A runtime engine.
Although Salesforce.com pitches Visual Process Manager as something that will “help companies rapidly automate any business process”, it’s important not to get too carried away: Visual Process Manager can’t currently be reasonably compared to the tools and platforms of best-in-class specialist BPM providers. Nevertheless, that’s not really the point.
There are plenty of specialist BPM technology providers out there forging ahead with plans to create scads of innovative new features for those customers with heavy-duty process improvement and automation requirements. The general software platform providers (IBM, Oracle, SAP, TIBCO, Software AG, Progress) are getting in on the act too, and they’re looking to extend today’s market by offering large enterprises BPM functionality alongside lots of complementary software infrastructure.
But the real untapped opportunity in the market for BPM-related technology is in addressing the needs of organisations that don’t currently express requirements for specialised BPM tools – but they do want tools that can help them work smarter. They’re more likely to be attracted to low-cost, lightweight process improvement tools that can easily fit into their existing environments without requiring big commitments or culture shifts.
Visual Process Manager looks like being a really interesting development not because it’s an arse-kickingly advanced BPM toolset, but because:
- We know from our research that the most commonly focused-on business areas for process improvement are those relating to customer interactions (sales, service, promotions, and so on).
- Visual Process Manager is integrated with Salesforce.com’s existing Sales Cloud and Service Cloud applications, so customers of those applications can start building more sophisticated workflows straightaway.
- Visual Process Manager is part of the Force.com platform so it’s a capability available to any Force.com application developer.
- As mentioned above, prior to this, even entry-level workflow functionality was conspicuous by its absence from the Force.com platform.
Lastly – let’s not also forget the very likely integration of Salesforce Chatter (about which, more here) with the Visual Process Manager runtime. One of the hot developments in BPM right now is “social BPM” (see our recent free webinar) – well Salesforce has probably just side-stepped into that arena with a deft shimmy. (This is one of the areas I’ll be keen to dive into when I hear more from Salesforce in a few days).
Tags: Industry news
