Phora Group was founded in 2003, and since that time, we have worked closely with SME and large enterprises to automate their mission critical processes. Much of our history has involved the creation of custom automation solutions, and in doing that work, we developed our understanding of how businesses use processes. We learned that when it comes to running a business, process is everything.
Over time, we began designing reusable tools to make it easier for to automate and update processes. But in working with our customers, we found that their real preference was to design the processes themselves. That was the spark that started us on the road to creating iPhora.
We also witnessed the rise of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions, which have greatly changed how businesses operate. At the same time, we were appalled by the lack of data security, privacy, and control found in most SaaS products. It seemed that every news cycle brought more and more stories of major data breaches, even by the biggest service providers. That was our next insight, that security and privacy can never be compromised.
Finally, we noticed that many of our customers wanted to involve external companies in their workflow processes. Those companies could be distributors, OEMs, or even franchisees -- any company that might have an important steps to perform in the process. However, it was vital that their access was limited to only the data and features needed to perform those steps. This was the third insight, that processes involve more than just internal users.
We then focused our efforts on creating iPhora, a private-cloud SaaS solution. Those three insights would form the foundation and philosophy of iPhora:
- Easy enough for business users to design their own processes, but advanced enough to handle any task
- Installed in the customer's private-cloud environment to maintain security, privacy, and control
- Ability to handle complex processes with external users with a limited access portals and hierarchical deployment of apps and data