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Smart Process Applications vs. Office tools
“Why would we need a Smart Process Application when we have Excel, Access databases, and emails?”
Everyone does it. Complementing existing IT solutions with more or less manual procedures based on paper documents, Post-Its, Excel sheets, emails, and access databases. Managing the “rest”, which is not taken care of with even the finest and most advanced core business systems in place. It’s humans’ second nature to find the easiest way to handle that rest. The tools closest at hand are: Excel, Outlook, Post Its, and paper.
Business output
In most companies, at least majority of our clients, documents produced by their business systems (invoices, purchase orders, statements, reminders, pay slips etc.) are captured automatically.
Most frequently in Next Business Output, but sometimes in other archiving solutions. If you define automatic purging in accordance with local legislation and your corporate retention policies, you are home safe.
Efficient, reliable, documented, and future proof.
Business documents
When it comes to managing documents created by individuals using Word, Excel, Power Point, and Outlook etc. - the business documents – the picture is a little more blurred. Local hard drives, shared network drives, internal instructions, and departmental repositories and even binders are often parts of the puzzle.
Considerably fewer companies have gone all the way with Next Business Documents, and secured all business documents in a single shared corporate archive.
Less efficient, less reliable, less documented, and not that future proof.
Business processes
When it comes to the more or less structured business processes we see two developments. The core business processes – such as order processing – are highly automated, strongly supported, and closely monitored for compliance by increasingly advanced core business applications. The rest, the supporting business processes, are left to generic tools, that offer little or no user guidance, little or no compliance control, and little or no documentation.
Of course you can scan and distribute your supplier invoices for approval in Outlook. Of course you can keep track of expenses and travel costs in Excel. Of course you can manage all your contracts in folders on the file server. Of course you can manage the product certificates in a set of Access databases.
But it’s inefficient, unreliable, undocumented, and not at all future proof.
Chaos out there
“23% admit that their management of inbound emails and faxes is somewhat ad hoc, or even chaotic”.
A recent study conducted by AIIM (aim.org) showed that even simple processes as handling inbound correspondence poses great challenges to many companies.
Email and manual procedures are simply not up the job.
Smart Process Applications
That’s why we suggest – actually insist – that adding a Smart Process Application to take care of such processes is the only way forward. To-the-point standardized products geared towards very specific business issues. With a high level of process support, highly adaptable to future needs, and fitting seamlessly into your current IT landscape. This should go down well with both business and IT managers.
Ready for change
In all industries the rate of change is increasing. The cost of skilled labor is rising. And the need for collaboration almost exploding.
You may very well be doing OK with Excel, Access, email, and paper for now. But for how long?
No silver bullet
Smart Process Applications are surely not a sliver bullet to solve all challenges arising from an increasingly volatile business environment. But they are worth looking into for business processes, where a high level of process support is a must.
And remember Smart Process Applications are not instead of your core business systems. And not instead of your office tools. Smart Process Application are a great addition to your existing IT landscape, helping you to be more agile and to be in control at the same time.
And the answer?
The answer to the question: “Why would we need Smart Process Applications when we have Excel, Access databases, and emails?”
Because Smart Process Applications helps you optimize those supporting business processes, in an efficient, automated, documented, and future proof way.
Agile and in control.
Letting you be agile for tomorrow’s changes, and still comply with both legislation and corporate procedures.
Coming up
In the last of this series of blog post, I'll address why on earth you'd want to look into Smart Process Applications when you have the most fantastic of all business systems on order.
