Requirements	Must Have	Feature Supported (Yes or No)
Supports Manual Routing	Yes
Supports Rules Based Routing	Yes
Reporting Capability to include WF Status	Yes
Supports Change of Workflow Path via Management Console	Yes
Supports routing to groups	Yes
Supports routing to individuals	Yes
Supports Variable Input	Yes
Supports User Defined Input	Yes
Supports branching logic	Yes
Notification of Workflow Items via email	Yes
Notification of Workflow Items via popup message	No
Allows for definition of non business days	No
Support for escalation messages	Yes
Support for escalation movement to new user	Yes
Supports linking multiple rules together at completion of rule	Yes
Can build customworkflow reports and save the reports to multiple output such as PDF, XML, CSV, etc.	No
Ability to automatically route at the time a document is filed into the system	Yes
Other

Ensure that the selection process includes gathering of the following information from the vendors as you request information.

System hardware requirements—this information is important to ensure that the correct computing infrastructure is in place to run the software efficiently. Without proper hardware, the software may not run at optimum performance, thereby negating any time savings anticipated from implementation of an electronic process.
Requirements for any specialty hardware such as signature pads, scanners, or Web servers.
Cost for software maintenance and technical support.
Availability of technical support.
Reference accounts for similar size companies.
How is the data backed up?
Training programs offered.
Availability of professional services for integration and customprocesses.
Is the software proprietary or is it built on an open architecture?
Is a software development kit or application programming interface (API) available to allow for integration to existing software products?

Vendor/product selection should not be based solely on cost. The product should meet the critical functional requirements and have the flexibility to grow with your business. Ease of use and speed of deployment are also key factors to look for when selecting a product. Avoid products that require excessive customization and programming services to make the basic functions of the workflow process work.

This step alone can cause major delays and cost overruns. The majority of items on your requirements list should be available 'out of the box.' Customer service and support availability are also extremely important elements of the total solution. The product selected may perform well but without service and support, undo frustration may arise when the need for help is warranted.

Quantifying the Results

When you make the transition to automating document workflows in your business you should be able to measure improvement in your processes. An obvious starting point is the time it takes to completely process documents from start to finish.

If you perform a simple time study on a process before and after implementing your electronic document workflow solution, you can compare the average process time from start to finish. If the system you choose provides a management console for monitoring and managing the documents processed by each of your groups and workers, you will be able to quantify performance of individuals, giving you the ability to adjust workloads and enable people to improve their performance.

There are other benefits of automating your document workflow processes which are more qualitative and more difficult to measure. One good example is the "missing document." This is a frequent issue with paper-based, and even with electronic documents, that are not stored in a controlled repository. A document is handed to or emailed as an attachment to a person for review and approval. That email or document is subsequently lost or accidentally deleted.

Now there are many problems that can arise. Who will know that the document is missing? Will the person who sent it know to follow up and request the approval? If so, will that person be able to re-create the lost document? Studies have shown that the average cost to re-create a lost document is $250. And what if this document was a customer order or an important equipment requisition? These "missing document" episodes happen every day in most businesses and they create a tremendous toll, both financially and in damaged customer service and competitiveness.

Conclusion

There is really no reason for businesses to continue using outdated and inefficient workflow processing methods given today's availability of affordable and easy-to-use software technology. The trick is getting started and having a plan.

Pick a single workflow process. Analyze this process at each step and create a diagram to document the process. You can do this for multiple processes, but you should be weary of getting too bogged down in the analysis stage and creating a risk of never actually getting around to the implementation stage.

With this documented process workflow, you can now enter into discussions with potential document workflow software vendors to find the solution that is best for you. This approach will put you on a solid path toward continuous improvement of your business workflow processes to make your organization more efficient and more competitive.

Abe Niedzwiecki is VP Technology of document management software and workflow provider, Cabinet NG (www.cabinetng.com). He is an expert in consulting and implementation of technology as it relates to business process automation and specializes in application integration and streamlining business workflows. He can be reached at aniedzwiecki@cabinetng.com.

Special Reports /

Implementing Document Workflow Processes

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