Go with the workflow, says Ovations Technologies

In today`s demanding corporate climate of time constraints and effective customer relationship management, a competent workflow management solution has evolved as a highly strategic business tool.

Workflow and business intelligence specialist Ovations Technologies believes it is not only about implementing the right solution, it is about making sure the process adds value to the business.

"Workflow is effectively the re-engineering, where possible, and the automation of existing processes, utilising technologies to achieve this," explains Rainer Gaier, MD of Ovations Technologies. "And it has been adopted and accepted as a differentiating factor in business."

Workflow management places the focus on processes rather than documents, and there are many companies that develop workflow products in order to automate the process.

Ovations Technologies utilises various leading workflow engines, and has also written an in-house application layer called Ovaflo. This product runs in conjunction with the workflow engine to speed up and enhance the workflow process.

Instead of merely selling workflow automation products, Ovations Technologies offers skills and services to complement implementations. The company also provides direct client support through certified staff members who have specific product knowledge.

For example, an insurance company could use a workflow automation application to ensure that a claim is handled consistently from initial call to final settlement. An effective workflow application ensures that each person handling the claim uses the correct online form and successfully completes their step before allowing the process to continue to the next person and procedural step. "Automating an existing process would only be partially beneficial. The real benefit is obtained when the process is optimised," says Rainer. "During a workflow implementation, one must be open-minded to business process re-engineering. A workplace study should ideally transform the `as is` process and make it a more optimal process with fully automated tasks where possible."

To successfully perform this transition, a company would have to introduce `technology enablers`. This usually signals change and can be a difficult process because people generally tend to be adverse to change.

"With a workflow implementation, we are effectively changing the way things are being done, as well as the tools with which they are being done," says Rainer. A frequent concern among workers is that automation will remove the manual component and thus render a worker redundant.

"This is not true in many cases," Rainer asserts. "Automation relieves those employees of mundane, time-consuming tasks like filing papers and tracking things down, to focus on more important issues such as improving the process, as well as concentrating on the customers` needs in order to deliver a better service. In other words, focusing on exceptions rather than every item of work.

"Introducing a workflow solution involves a cultural change because certain procedures have been in place for a period of time, and people are comfortable with that. This is where the workflow conversion becomes an HR issue. If the transition is not done successfully, alongside the actual technical implementation, then it also fails," explains Rainer.

Traditionally, these issues have plagued the successful implementation of workflow. "The preparation in the conversion from the one method to the other requires a detailed analysis of the existing process, a mature approach to redefining the process, applying the technology, working through the HR exercise and finally going through a gradual roll-out plan, as well as managing user expectations.

"A workflow solution takes a while to be accepted. It takes time to get to the point where the solution works like a well-oiled piece of machinery, and is therefore not a process that should be rushed."

After the initial implementation, it is an evolutionary process, Rainer points out. "Just like business changes, the workflow itself must be flexible enough to allow companies to make those changes. The products, tools and techniques used in a workflow implementation must be adaptable for ongoing business transformation."