Fujitsu looks to blast cloud silos with RunMyProcess buy

Japanese ICT giant Fujitsu has announced plans to build out its cloud business with the acquisition of little-known French PaaS vendor RunMyProcess (RMP) and the development of a new Global Software Center in Silicon Valley.

RunMyProcess, a member of the Cloud Alliance for Google Apps, essentially allows customers to build and deploy workflow apps in the cloud using simple drag and drop functionality.

A major selling point of the firm, which Fujitsu describes as providing “integration Platform as a Service” (iPaaS), is in allowing customers to integrate their processes with a range of both SaaS and on-premise apps, thanks to over 1,000 so-called “connectors”.

Although little over five years old, RunMyProcess boasts over 300 active projects in 45 countries as well as partnerships with 53 “cloud integrators”, according to Fujitsu.

The acquisition is part of the Japanese tech giant’s plans to build out its cloud services business on a global scale, with the yet-to-be established Global Software Center in Silicon Valley at its heart.

Forrester vice presidentfor software and cloud computing, Michael Barnes, told The Reg that the deal could help Fujitsu expand “visibility and mindshare” in North America, where it has traditionally lagged behind its major competitors.

“With the acquisition of RunMyProcess, Fujitsu is wisely targeting its large existing customer base, almost all of whom will leverage cloud-based services in a hybrid approach, alongside existing on-premises systems, applications and information,” he added.

Chris Morris, an associate VP on IDC’s Cloud Services APAC team, argued the acquisition would add cloud integration capabilities to Fujitsu’s portfolio – as IBM did with its Cast Iron purchase, and Dell with its Boomi buy, back in 2010.

“Customers could be building custom solutions or using iPaaS as a service aggregation platform to support cloud brokerage business models,” he added.

“However, while Fujitsu has a lot of technology partners, its ISV partners aren't nearly as broad and deep. To build a brokerage business in the US could be a big investment at a time when its bottom line isn't too flash.” ®