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Written by Brian Dwyer
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Why HighOrbit & High End BPMs can Co-Exist
Many years ago when we first took our Business Process Management (BPM) to market, our initial marketing and sales plan put us head-to-head against the “big boys”: Industry pioneers like MetaStorm, HandySoft, and Ultimus. Although we competed favorably with regard to features, capabilities & technology, success was limited. Sadly, we determined that large corporations just don’t purchase enterprise-wide BPM’s from small companies in St. Louis. A very valuable lesson was learned from the failure of this initial strategy. That lesson led to a comprehensive overhaul of our plan with a new focus on a small/medium business target.
Soon after that, something surprising started to happen. Large corporations began to purchase our system. In fact, it became a common occurrence. A little research revealed they all had existing high-end BPMs.
So we had to know…..why did they need another BPM and why choose HighOrbit?
It turns out the answer is simple. Inherent features of HighOrbit essentially compliment the incumbent high end BPM. While high end BPM’s generally require technical expertise and resources, HighOrbit does not. Also, with both BPMs in place the corporation now has project options. The options are not solely dependent on IT personnel when it comes to utilization choices. Now, project sponsors and stakeholders could be given the power to implement a project, circumventing a reliance on IT resources.
It is easy to see how having BPM choices benefits the entire organization. Certain projects can be implemented quickly and without IT involvement. Departments can automate their day-to-day processes while the traditional IT work “overload” can be minimized. When you factor in HighOrbit’s affordable pricing structure, it really does make a lot of sense for large corporation to invest in two types of BPM’s -- one for complex application development and enterprise-wide needs managed by IT, and another for fast and easy workflow automation projects managed by the stakeholders.
In retrospect, it is ironic how it all worked out. HighOrbit ended up co-existing with the same applications we intended to directly compete against. Just goes to show you; pay attention as industries and client use of your products evolve. A surprising opportunity may present itself.
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