Vitria Moves BPM Suite to the Cloud

Vitria Technology has introduced a software-as-a-service version of its business process management suite, which blends process management and event processing through a slick, Web 2.0-style interface.

The SaaS version of M30 offers the same functionality as the on-site version, including the ability to model, manage, monitor and optimize business processes, according to Vitria . The unified environment is designed so untrained business users can intuitively use the software without help from IT. The package also includes some social computing capabilities, including team-based messaging for remote collaboration.

Like SaaS offerings from other software companies, the Internet-based version of M30 is expected to appeal to companies looking to avoid upfront licensing fees and the need for additional on-premise infrastructure.Vitria is selling the Web service based on usage, so companies can scale their computing resources up or down to match seasonal demand or changing business conditions.

Similar to other SaaS products, Vitria handles maintenance and upgrades as part of the subscription. Companies have the option of migrating from the SaaS version of M30 to the on-premise suite anytime. "M3O in the Cloud gives organizations the flexibility to create business solutions in the cloud, to deploy them either in the cloud or on-premise, and to migrate them between the cloud and on-premise at a later date," DaleSkeen, chief technology officer of Vitria, said in a statement.

Vitria also launched last week an online community and services called VitriaCloud.com that provide access to the company's products and the ability to interact with company staff, partners and other customers.

The site includes a store where customers and partners can review the company's product catalog, set up user accounts and order runtime services. In addition, an interactive forum is provided for customers to discuss Vitria products and share experiences and ideas.

Vitria's SaaS offering is hosted on Amazon's data center through the online retailer's EC2 service. The hosted version of M30interoperates with all major enterprise service buses and application servers. Pricing was not disclosed.

In general, SaaS offerings can reduce some IT costs. However, experts writing for Intelligent Enterprise have advised approaching the on-demand model with a value-added strategy.

The reasons for thinking in terms of enhancing rather than replacing software includes the cost and risk of complete core business system replacement, which is typically more than any upside cost savings from the use of aSaaS-delivered system. In addition, replacing software with SaaS typically involves the use of very costly data integration technology.

Finally, SaaS has a tendency to be most successful in new and higher-value applications.