Ultimus Adaptive BPM Suite and Microsoft
Microsoft applications such as Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), SQL, SharePoint, Biztalk, Infopath as well as Windows and Windows Server are commonplace in nearly every work environment. As such, it is critical that a successful BPM solution leverages the Microsoft “stack”. In particular integrations with MS Office can include not only document sharing, but also application integrations that significantly create a comfortable working environment for business process users.
Regarding document sharing, the creation of MS Excel and MS Word documents as well as process related document storage and management are needed for both historical and compliance reasons. Ultimus recognizes that MS SharePoint is becoming a widely used application for document management systems (DMS). In response, Ultimus Adaptive BPM Suite provides numerous ways to leverage SharePoint’s document management technologies into BPM.
From an application integration perspective, Microsoft SharePoint, Outlook, and Office are used to host Ultimus Adaptive BPM Suite modules and functions. For example, Word and Excel documents could be natively used as electronic forms for viewing and processing BPM tasks.
Leveraging MS Office in Business Processes
As part of a complete and comprehensive business process solution, Microsoft technologies can be used to execute automated business processes steps, as well as serving as a user interface through SharePoint portals, Outlook, and MS Word / Excel / InfoPath Forms.
Ultimus Adaptive BPM Suite contains numerous integrations with Microsoft Office SharePoint technologies to ensure that business processes remain easy to deploy and maintain, have a shorter end-user learning curve, and are flexible to changes.
Consider the simple Contract Approval process. In this everyday process, requests for services contracts are generated on a Request Services Contract step via an Excel form (that can be utilized over the web). From there, steps in the business process leverage Microsoft technologies to provide a comprehensive solution for contract handling. This business process utilizes Office, Outlook, and SharePoint to not only provide tight document management capabilities, but also as an application front end for client users.