Fujitsu has just finalised an interesting acquisition in the cloud space with the purchase of France-based RunMyProcess (RMP), for an undisclosed sum. Although it will be a small acquisition in financial terms, the focus on what RMP refers to as iPaaS is noteworthy because it majors on business process integration in the cloud, in a market where many PaaS providers focus on data integration and address the process aspect as a secondary concern.
The RMP offering enables organisations to build and deploy new applications by integrating and combining existing services and assets from cloud and on premise solutions with the emphasis on achieving a specific business outcome. This puts it firmly in the business process integration area and differentiates it from data-centric cloud integration players like Dell/Boomi, IBM/Cast Iron, and Pervasive. As the recent ESAS stream Cloud UK 2013 report highlighted, data and process integration are areas that have to be mastered if cloud-based enterprise business applications like ERP are to move into the potentially lucrative back office.
It is a neat little purchase for Fujitsu and builds its cloud assets. The venture-backed company was founded in 2007 and has 300 active projects in 45 countries. The number of partnerships – with 53 cloud integrators across 25 countries – is notable and will play a part in extending Fujitsu’s cloud credentials. Furthermore RMP appears to be the first move in a major initiative for Fujitsu. The Japanese giant plans to create a global software centre in Silicon Valley which will become the hub of its cloud business, with RMP as the first in the portfolio. Like many system and service providers Fujitsu is looking to the cloud for new business opportunities, which necessitates building up software assets. This will be a venture worth watching.