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BPM may be all the rage, but sometimes implementing the BPM tools out there means loads of various expenses and consulting fees. From the land down under, eVision hopes to change that with its MessageXchange.com solution, which delivers integration and business process management through the Software-as-a-Service model -- a model which eVision co-founder John Delaney says can take a lot of the pain out of BPM.

EVision got its start back in 1996 with a business focus of business-to-business integration. It offers its services on MessageXchange.com both directly to customers and through licensing to service providers.

Using SaaS for Integration and BPM

"People may be surprised that Software-as-a-Service can be used for integration and BPM," he says. "But I think they will quickly become excited by what they can do and how easy it is to use."

SaaS has long been used in other areas like CRM, such as is the approach of companies like Salesforce.com. Delaney points out that SaaS works the same way for integration and BPM as it does for those applications -- customers have the functionality hosted for them without the need for infrastructure and with a pay-as-you-go approach that is scaled to individual usage needs and amount of features used. For BPM, that means a monthly message volume fee and per-seat user fee.

"The removal of the up-front capital expenditure and on-going operational and maintenance costs significantly reduces the total cost of ownership," Delaney points out. "It also means the ROI can be achieved in months rather than years."

Software-as-a-Service also has a faster speed-to-market, Delaney points out, with reductions from 10-30% as compared to a conventional software application, and is future-proof since enhancements and new functionality are added without the need for customers to purchase upgrades.

Case Studies

If you're wondering how SaaS-based BPM might be used, one existing eVision customer is a financial services company that has an outsourced mortgage processing service running on MessageXchange.com.

"Their developers use the web portal and have created the messages and processes that integrate mortgage brokers, banks, credit rating agencies, legal services and government departments," Delaney says. "They also monitor and support their customers’ usage via web portal. This service enables them to take a mortgage application and automatically process it."

Another example is a telecommunications company with a 200-retail shop network with call centers and  adealer network. This company uses MessageXchange.com to integrate the front of house systems with the back-end and the outsourced warehouse and other partners.

Future of SaaS

The future of SaaS is now, says Delaney, and he predicts it will become the dominant way of delivering software thanks to its ability to allow any sized project to quickly achieve ROI.

"In the software product model, most integration and BPM applications remained the preserve of larger organizations. They have the critical mass to achieve a return on the up-front capital costs and on-going running costs associated with those projects," he says. "The SaaS model means SME’s and smaller projects can also access the same if not better functionality and achieve a return since they only pay for what they use."

Delaney predicts a proliferation of SaaS applications starting strongest in the SME end of the market but then with larger organizations following suit -- similar to how client server applications overtook mainframes.

"Our ever more competitive and changing world will require a rapid, flexible and lower cost model, which is why Software-as-a-Service will become the popular choice," he says.

To learn more, including eVision's future plans for MessageXchange.com, listen to the entire podcast.

Executive Summary by Krissi Danielsson

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