CloudSocket · Project

Plug Your Business Processes Into the Cloud Without Needing IT Experts

digitalTestedTRL 6

Imagine you run a small company and every time you need to register an employee with social insurance or file a tax report, you're wrestling with three different software tools that don't talk to each other. CloudSocket built something like a smart power strip for business processes — you describe what your business needs to do, and it automatically finds the right cloud services, wires them together, and runs the whole thing for you. It even watches the bills and performance so you're not overpaying. Think of it as an autopilot that matches your business tasks to the best available cloud tools, so you can focus on running your company instead of managing IT.

By the numbers

consortium partners across multiple sectors

countries represented in the consortium

73%

industry partner ratio in the consortium

SMEs participating as partners

demonstrable prototype deliverables produced

total project deliverables completed

EUR 3,548,596

EU contribution to the project

The business problem

What needed solving

Most small and mid-sized companies know they should move their operations to the cloud, but the gap between understanding your business processes and configuring the right cloud services requires IT expertise that SMEs simply don't have. The cloud market is exploding with PaaS and SaaS options, but choosing, combining, and managing them demands time and technical skills that are in short supply. Companies that can't bridge this gap lose competitive ground to larger players who move faster.

The solution

What was built

The team built a complete Business Process as a Service (BPaaS) platform with 11 prototype deliverables: a marketplace for discovering and designing cloud-ready business processes, an allocation engine that automatically matches processes to optimal cloud services, an execution environment that deploys and runs them across multiple clouds, and monitoring tools with process-based billing. They also delivered a Cloud Transformation Framework to help companies assess their readiness, and an openly accessible demonstrator with sample processes like employee registration and tax reporting.

Audience

Who needs this

Accounting and HR service firms processing payroll and tax filings across multiple systemsCloud service brokers looking to package business-friendly cloud offeringsIT consultancies helping SME clients digitize operationsPublic administration agencies moving citizen services to the cloudBusiness process outsourcing companies seeking automation

Business applications

Who can put this to work

Professional services and accounting

SME

Target: Small accounting or HR services firms handling payroll, tax filing, and employee registration for multiple clients

If you are an accounting firm dealing with repetitive compliance tasks like tax reports and employee registrations across different systems — this project developed a Business Process as a Service platform that packages those workflows into ready-to-deploy cloud services. The Cloud Transformation Framework helps you assess which processes to move to the cloud first, while the BPaaS marketplace lets you pick pre-built process templates instead of building from scratch. The system was tested with 11 consortium partners across 7 countries.

IT services and cloud brokerage

mid-size

Target: Cloud service providers or IT consultancies reselling cloud solutions to business clients

If you are an IT service provider struggling to package cloud offerings in terms your business clients actually understand — this project developed a BPaaS broker infrastructure that translates business process needs into optimal cloud configurations automatically. The allocation and execution environment matches business requirements to PaaS and SaaS components, handles multi-cloud deployment, and manages SLAs and process-based billing. The final broker prototype incorporated real broker experiences and feedback from evaluation rounds.

Government and public administration

enterprise

Target: Municipal governments or public agencies digitizing citizen-facing administrative processes

If you are a government agency trying to move paper-based processes like permit applications or social insurance registration to the cloud — this project developed workflow tools specifically tested with processes like employee registration at social insurance and legal verification. The openly accessible demonstrator lets you explore sample processes before committing. The design environment lets non-technical staff model business processes that are then automatically matched to cloud services.

Frequently asked

Quick answers

What would it cost to adopt this technology?

The project received EUR 3,548,596 in EU funding to develop the platform across 11 partners. The BPaaS model is designed around process-based billing, meaning you pay per business process executed rather than flat licensing fees. Specific commercial pricing was not published in the project deliverables.

Can this handle the volume of a real business operation?

The project produced both first and final prototype iterations for every major component — design, allocation, execution, and monitoring environments. However, the allocation prototype was deployed in a university laboratory environment, suggesting testing was at demonstration scale rather than full production load. The openly accessible demonstrator was aimed at early adopters and third parties for evaluation.

What is the IP situation and how can I license this?

The project was a Research and Innovation Action (RIA) funded under Horizon 2020, with IP typically shared among the 11 consortium partners. The coordinator BOC Asset Management GmbH, an Austrian SME, would be the primary contact for licensing discussions. Based on available project data, no open-source release or specific licensing model was documented in the deliverables.

How does this integrate with our existing IT systems?

CloudSocket was designed specifically to bridge the gap between business processes and cloud IT. The Cloud Transformation Framework provides an assessment and guidance path for enterprises moving to the cloud. The BPaaS execution environment handles multi-cloud deployment and adaptive rules to react across different cloud providers while maintaining SLAs.

Is this still maintained after the project ended in 2017?

The project closed in December 2017. The coordinator BOC Asset Management GmbH is an established software company specializing in business process management, so elements may have been incorporated into their commercial products. Based on available project data, no continuation funding or follow-up project was documented.

What specific business processes were tested?

The project objective explicitly mentions employee registration at social insurance, tax reporting, and legal verification as target processes. The demonstrator includes sample processes produced during the project. The 33 total deliverables cover the full lifecycle from process design through execution and monitoring.

Consortium

Who built it

The CloudSocket consortium of 11 partners from 7 countries (Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Greece, Spain, Italy, Romania) is heavily industry-driven at 73% — one of the highest ratios you'll see in EU research projects. With 8 industry partners and 4 SMEs alongside just 2 universities and 1 research organization, this was built to produce usable tools, not academic papers. The coordinator BOC Asset Management GmbH is an Austrian SME that specializes in business process management software, meaning the project lead already had commercial channels and customers. This consortium composition suggests the results were designed with real market deployment in mind, though the project ended in 2017 and commercial uptake would depend on individual partners continuing the work.

BOC ASSET MANAGEMENT GMBHCoordinator · AT
MATHEMA SRLparticipant · IT
FACHHOCHSCHULE NORDWESTSCHWEIZ FHNWparticipant · CH
UNIVERSITAET ULMparticipant · DE
IDRYMA TECHNOLOGIAS KAI EREVNASparticipant · EL
ATOS SPAIN SAparticipant · ES
BWCON GMBHparticipant · DE
ATOS CONSULTING CANARIAS SA UNIPERSONALthirdparty · ES
ATOS IT SOLUTIONS AND SERVICES IBERIA SLthirdparty · ES

How to reach the team

BOC Asset Management GmbH (Austria) — an SME specializing in business process management software. Contact through SciTransfer for a warm introduction.

Order a report on this consortium See BOC ASSET MANAGEMENT GMBH profile →

Next steps

Talk to the team behind this work.

Want to explore how BPaaS technology could streamline your operations? SciTransfer can connect you with the CloudSocket team and help assess fit for your business. Contact us for a tailored briefing.

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