Enterprises are displaying a great hunger for using a public cloud to host business process management (BPM) software, argues Gartner vice president Michele Cantara. As concerns about security persist, few have taken the plunge so far. But Cantara claims to be seeing early signs that firms are losing their inhibitions over security. In the meantime, the use of BPM in private clouds is already growing at a fast pace.

BPM software allows enterprises to model applications and technologies after the way their business is organised, for instance ensuring that a new order is signed off by a manager before it is passed on to a supplier that will ship the goods.

Often used as part of a service oriented architecture (SOA), BPM lets firms quickly adapt their applications and processes to business changes.

Within cloud computing, one can differentiate between a private cloud, public cloud and SaaS delivery. The difference between cloud computing and Software as a Service (SaaS) is essentially determined by the rate at which outsourcing comes into play: a SaaS provider such as EnterpriseWizard offers a working BPM platform that is accessed through a browser window. With a cloud platform, the enterprise installs the software on a series of networked servers which it either owns (private cloud) or rents from a provider (public cloud) such as Terremark or Rackspace.

Cost is often cited as the main benefit of using a cloud based BPM solution. But other factors do come into play. "One of the greatest benefits of the cloud delivery model is the speed with which the system can be deployed," says Colin Earl, CEO of BPM provider EnterpriseWizard. "Not only is there no need to provision hardware, but the application is jointly available to both the vendor and customer during the initial deployment, the testing and the fine-tuning phase, without having to deal with firewall issues."

EnterpriseWizard offers its software in a choice of on-premise and SaaS delivery. Each model has its advantages, Earl argues: "The business manager may prefer to deal directly with the vendor, without having to depend on their IT department. Or the data may be so sensitive that the company does not want it to reside anywhere outside the firewall."

When it comes to security concerns, Cantara cautions that technology is only part of the problem. "Psychology plays into this. There's a reluctance to trust another organisation." But this reluctance is bound to fade. "We had the same thing a few years ago with outsourcing. Initially, there were many concerns about outsourcing, and then outsourcing came into the mainstream. We're seeing the same process now", she points out. One of the factors that has changed the situation is the way that particular applications tend to be embedded in the cloud these days. These are applications that are usually very industry-focused and specific to vertical markets - but that has led to wider acceptance.