EDM and BPM Software Deliver the Knowledge You Need to Spring Ahead

All businesses make decisions from time to time that are as reliable as Punxsutawney Phil delivering the annual spring forecast. The tradition has European roots; a rodent similar to a groundhog was used each year to settle questions about the official start of spring. The groundhog’s shadow delivered a forecast based on criteria the people understood — no shadow on a cloudy day, or a brilliant sun that cast a long shadow — deciding whether spring would start in early February or mid-March. People made plans according to the result, but frankly, it wasn’t much surer than flipping a coin.

Although predictions like these are harmless today, a business manager’s future can change instantly as a result of inaccurate predictions and poor decisions. Good decisions require reliable and timely information. Too often the data that drives sound decisions is scattered, buried in reports no one has time to read, or is seemingly unobtainable. Pronouncements may be based on weak evidence, influenced by those with the best-constructed arguments or the most aggressive stance.

Every business faces uncertainty when timely and accurate data is unattainable. Where should you focus your sales efforts this year? Which of your subsidiaries’ products are most viable to which demographic and warrant more marketing dollars? Who from your customer support staff should you assign to your highest-profile (and most demanding) clients? Are there bottlenecks in your processes that are keeping you from maximizing productivity? These are tough to answer without real-time access to live data. The problem is that live data is a constantly moving target.

What’s the answer? Capture and manage information while it’s on the move. Sound impossible? It’s not…with high-performance business process management software that is integrated with your electronic document repository and business systems.

EDM + BPM = the business intelligence you need

Business intelligence is traditionally understood as the collective intelligence of the people within a company that helps to identify market behavior and business context. It describes the historical, current, and predictive information to help a company compete. Today, the term is fraught with new meaning. Modern business intelligence tools are wonderful for your company – but only if you have the foresight to jump on the bandwagon and use them wisely.

The implementation of an integrated electronic document management (EDM) and business process management (BPM) solution means mission-critical decisions today no longer have to be made based on employees’ memory and communication skills. Rather than rely on individual recordkeeping and faithful communication, EDM and BPM gather and facilitate analysis of file transactions and customer interactions from the beginning to the end of the document lifecycle. They leave nothing to chance. In an age of frequent mergers and acquisitions, turnover, and evolving business, EDM + BPM provide timely documentation that leads to better information management and decision making. Read on to learn how.

EDM

Security = credibility

Information transparency is vital to good decision making; data security is equally critical to consumer protection and regulatory compliance. EDM enables security in several ways:

• Online forms that are part of a web-based EDM system put the accuracy of sensitive information into the user’s hands. Companies using EDM can pre-direct data to flow securely to ‘locked’ electronic files accessible only to those with permission. Rules-based standards established by the company ensure data is complete and the form of data collected is correct.
• Documents imaged in the mailroom or on a desktop scanner can be scanned directly to specific folders, ensuring the content can only be viewed, annotated, or acted upon by authorized persons.
• Bar codes on forms with encrypted client information can be scanned as paperwork is returned to the company without the risk of displaying sensitive information such as social security numbers.
• Imaged COLD reports allow designated staff to create and analyze reports by capturing and storing print stream data.

In addition to the file security, actions such as annotations, signatures, approvals, denials, and emailing of files can be locked down to specific departments, departmental divisions, or individuals. Detailed tracking of interactions with each digital file make compliance and audits significantly easier.

Accessibility = satisfaction

Nothing is more frustrating for employees than searching for needed documents without success, or waiting for information from others that delays their ability to perform their jobs. In markets where service level agreements dictate swift action and slow response can result in penalties, inaccessibility can cause significant stress.

In contrast, an EDM system enables desktop delivery of all of the data a person needs to perform a job and its tasks successfully, following the pre-set security authorizations determined by management. Thorough indexing schemes created by the organization ensure that each department that needs to interact with — or retrieve specific information from — a file can do so within moments of a request. Each department and its staff can use keywords that make sense for them, as long as permissions have been granted and the indexing scheme has been followed. When EDM functionality is embedded within employees’ familiar applications via Web services, information is available at the touch of a button on familiar screens, eliminating the learning curve. A flexible system is easily customized to business requirements, delivering what each customer needs.

Consistency = quality control

Consistency is the key to providing quality information that leads to good decisions. Obtaining it can be challenging. Customers neglect to complete forms properly, using alternate names and nicknames that result in double sets of files (paper or electronic); they may neglect to complete a question or a section; or they may forget to sign a form, rendering it null and void or causing undesirable delays. EDM standardizes information and ensures completeness by:

• Removing the need to collect information already on file. Bar codes let your company encrypt vital information stored in your EDM system on outgoing documents, such as a customer record number, type of document, or a PIN or Social Security number. Re-scanning the bar code when a completed form is returned eliminates the incidence of duplicate files and keying errors.
• Online entry lets you provide 24/7 convenience to your clients while ensuring standardized data collection. Need to make sure the number of digits in a PIN are correct? Can’t process the document unless an indemnity clause is checked? EDM lets you specify the rules and tell customers what’s missing so you can make sure paperwork is complete and on time.
• Scanning into an EDM system lets you establish rules, too. Is a form missing a signature? EDM can be pre-instructed to send incomplete forms to a customer account representative, or to automatically send an email to the customer that a signature is needed and an electronic copy of the document they can print and re-send.

Reliability = confidence

There was a time when high-speed capture compromised quality performance, but that is no longer the case with quality software. Best-of-breed products boast and deliver high-speed and high-performance capture. Many top products maximize data accuracy and make correction quick and painless. EDM’s rules-based forms, document imaging, and online capture of customer information greatly improve information accuracy. More importantly, they allow authorized persons to access relevant information the moment it enters the EDM storage repository. This provides both staff and a company’s clients prompt answers to questions and reduces processing times.

BPM

A 10,000-foot view of BPM would resemble a rainbow of routine business processes that constantly changes as a result of never-ending optimization and streamlining. BPM software builds on the ready access to information provided by EDM. It ensures standardization of common procedures and simultaneous distribution of documents for quicker review and action.

Rather than placing the burden on employees for searching or acting upon files, BPM delivers actionable tasks to the right person at the appropriate time. It accounts for people who are ill, on vacation, or suffering from heavy workloads by redistributing work according to your rules. Processes formerly requiring days or weeks to complete are often reduced to days or hours.

By soliciting input from users throughout your organization, weaknesses in the current system can be exposed and improved upon prior to BPM automation. This lets you ensure that procedures are optimized for success. The unpleasant alternative — automating poorly conceived and/or performing processes — occurs all too often when organizations do not analyze their processes for efficiency prior to automation. Tapping into the people who are involved in the pains of daily processing also encourages them to embrace rather than resist transformation. They see it as an opportunity for improvement and advancement rather than unwanted or threatening change.

e-Distribution = Speed

BPM puts an end to senseless waits. Waiting for papers that are “in process” on someone’s desk, or digital desktop copies awaiting priority designation, is akin to waiting for Punxsutawney Phil to emerge from his burrow so we can discover the forecast for spring. BPM doesn’t wait for anything unless you tell it to. It can help you to:

• Designate priorities by setting acceptable timelines for action on specific documents or processes;
• Ensure that processes keep moving despite employee overloads, illness, or absence;
• Reallocate work according to your method of preference, such as current workload, employee role, or round-robin distribution;
• Push time-sensitive documents forward for priority completion, facilitating on-the-spot processing for critical processes;
• Make sure every customer is treated fairly and equally, according to the standardized rules you establish; and
• Demonstrate compliance with industry standards and regulations.

Speed = service

In today’s 24/7 “I want it NOW” world, speed of service is critical to a company’s survival. Our global economy, where service providers are not limited by geographical constraints, means that if your company can’t provide the service people expect, someone else will. BPM software, when fully integrated with your company’s other line-of-business systems, helps you act quickly from any location, at any time. From inventory control through new policy applications or billing for services, BPM makes sure there is not a moment of unnecessary, avoidable delay.

Service = satisfaction

“Great service.” “Good information.” “Very helpful.” “Unbelievably quick.” Those are the descriptions any manager hopes to hear about their company’s service. BPM software makes sure your team has the right information to act quickly, so you can provide the stellar and helpful service your customers expect. Provided with the information they need to perform their jobs, and without the stress that usually accompanies search, prioritizing, and action, every employee is fully equipped to deliver top-quality service.

Summary

Fortunately, today there are quicker and far more reliable sources of information than Punxsutawney Phil, Balzac Billy, Sir Walter Wally, and their woodchuck cousins around the world. Accurate data that help you make the right decisions, quickly, can be accessed and acted upon directly from your desktop using a Web-based browser coupled with integrated document management and business process management software. Don’t continue to follow Chance and decide with hopeful uncertainty like Punxsutawney Phil’s onlookers at Gobbler’s Knob. Hob knob with business leaders who carry the smile of success that comes from efficiency and improved standing in the marketplace. Share in their secret to success, and you will bear the same confident smile.

For more information or to schedule a demonstration, please Contact DocFinity now.