Industry Trend Reports Independent Expertise in BPM September 2012

Transcription

1 BPMS Watch Industry Trend Reports Independent Expertise in BPM September 2012 C A S E MANAGEMENT: A D D R E S S I N G U N I Q U E BPM R E Q U I R E M E N T S In the world of BPM, the hottest topic today is case management. Some call it dynamic case management or adaptive case management, and some say it s not part of BPM at all. One thing is for sure: Conventional BPM Suites cannot do it very well. The objectives of case management are identical to those of conventional BPM: managing work more effectively and efficiently, providing end-to-end performance visibility, and increasing business agility. What makes case management different from conventional BPM is the nature of those business processes. This report explains what case management is, how it differs from (and is similar to) conventional business process management, and what to look for in a case management platform. To illustrate, we ll look at examples from one of the best case management offerings available today: Case360 from OpenText. Table of Contents What Is Case Management?... 2 Case Management Examples... 3 Dispute Resolution... 3 Benefits Administration... 3 Underwriting... 3 Project Management... 3 Differences from Conventional BPM... 4 Technical Requirements for Case Management... 4 Case Context through Shared Case Folder... 4 Case Information Managed as Documents... 4 Case Activities Added at Runtime... 4 Cases May Never Close... 5 Case360: A Case Management BPM Platform... 5 Accessing Work with Persona-Based Home Page... 6 The Case Folder... 8 Tasks... 8 Contents... 9 Content Capture Enterprise Content Management Outbound Customer Communications Forms Case Notes Case History Processes Performance Monitoring Next-Generation Case Management: Social and Mobile Computing...15 The Bottom Line: What to Look For in a Case Management Platform...18 Bruce Silver Associates BPMS Watch: [email protected]

2 What Is Case Management? Case management is software that manages, monitors, and optimizes unstructured or semi-structured work. What distinguishes case management from conventional business process management is how a case progresses toward completion. In conventional BPM, a process moves through a sequence of steps defined explicitly in advance, leading from a single initial state to some defined end state. The process definition may contain branch points at which an instance could take one path or another, but all possible paths are defined explicitly in advance. Steps cannot be performed out of the prescribed order, and once a process instance has started, new steps cannot be added. Conventional BPMS process engines depend on this constraint in order to automate the workflow. It is no problem in many of the repetitive processes commonly found in business, but many other types of work cannot be described this way. In case management, by contrast, work has a more flexible structure. Each case activity can be performed independently of the others. The step may have a deadline based on completion of some other step, but the flow is not defined in advance. Instead, a case progresses toward completion simply based on the judgment of case workers. A case template typically lists the tasks and documents that normally need to be completed, but each worker on a particular instance of the case is free to add new ones at any time, or ignore certain tasks that are normally required but are not needed in this instance. While the flow of work is more freeform than in conventional BPM, case management offers the same degree of status tracking, performance monitoring, and user alerts required for structured processes. Documents play a central role in case management. In fact, creation and approval of documents are some of the most common steps necessary to complete a case. In addition to required case content specified in the case template, ad hoc content added by case workers at runtime along with the tasks of creating and approving that content plays a critical role in case management. This content not only drives advancement of the case, but needs to be managed even after the case is complete. Conventional BPM may support documents as process attachments, but it does nothing to manage their storage, metadata, access control, versioning, or retention. To do that, a conventional BPMS typically requires custom integration to a third-party enterprise content management (ECM) system. In contrast, case management must have native content management functionality built in, including integration with a robust ECM repository. In addition, the ability to capture content received from parties to the case through any channel paper, , or the web is a vital part of case management, as is the ability to generate outbound customer communications. In other words, case management requires comprehensive content management. From a user experience point of view, the thing that most clearly distinguishes case management from conventional BPM is the case folder. It is the container of all the documents, forms, tasks, processes, and other case information defined in the original case template plus those added at runtime by a case worker. Unlike conventional BPM, which presents to the user just the data needed for a particular task, the case folder provides shared access to all information related to the case documents, task assignments, and their associated deadlines and completion status, as well as threaded discussions, case notes and history. While conventional BPM advances sequentially task by task, case management allows multiple users to work on separate aspects of the case simultaneously, each with access to the entire case folder. It is simply a different paradigm of getting work done. In spite of these differences in the nature of the work, the motivation for case management and BPM are fundamentally the same: Work takes too long to complete and resources are not used efficiently. Information is misplaced or not retained, and the status of work in process is unknown. The expected completion time cannot even be estimated. Best practices are not standardized across the organization, and compliance with policies and regulations is difficult to enforce or even to monitor. The list goes on Bruce Silver Associates

3 The good news is case management provides answers to all these problems. Case Management Examples While the need for case management is strongest in government, insurance, banking and credit, legal, and healthcare segments, the most common case management scenarios are actually cross-industry: Dispute Resolution Case management helps businesses improve customer service and governance in resolving disputes, such as those concerning billing and credit card statements. Processing payments is a conventional structured process, but when a customer disputes a charge or demands a refund, case management is usually required. Even if the credit card issuer provides a standard form for initiating the case, the activities required to resolve each case depend on a myriad of factors. What is the reason for the dispute? Were the goods delivered or services provided? Were they defective? Was the defect the fault of the manufacturer, the shipper, the customer, or some other party? Does the dispute concern the amount of the charge? And so forth. Resolution of the dispute could depend on any or all of these factors, each of which typically involves production and review of documents. The credit card company may require information from the customer; the manufacturer, retailer, or service provider; the shipper; possibly legal counsel, attorneys, or even law enforcement. The rules involved could depend on the customer s location. As the facts unfold, new tasks and documents may be added to the case. In the end, there is no way to define in advance the credit card company s dispute resolution process as an explicit flow from case initiation to resolution. But many of the same factors that motivate conventional BPM timely resolution, efficient utilization of resources, compliance, and end-to-end performance visibility are still important. Other examples of dispute resolution case management include healthcare claims and grievance procedures, HR termination, and civil litigation and mediation. Benefits Administration Case management is well established in many segments of benefits administration, particularly in the public sector. Examples include disability, veterans benefits, welfare assistance, student financial aid, and grants programs. Within a single case there are issues of eligibility, disbursement of funds or services, changing circumstances of the beneficiary, reporting and compliance. Underwriting In various segments of financial services, including commercial lending, life and disability insurance, and securities, the underwriting process is really case management. The activities and documents required depend on the circumstances of each case. While the components of standard cases may be predictable, there are many exceptions, requiring additional input from lawyers, accountants, regulators, and investigators. In addition to these risk and compliance benefits, case management can significantly shorten the time and effort of onboarding new clients and accounts. Project Management An application area that could benefit from case management, but has received little attention to date, falls under the heading of project management. Examples include launch of a new product or service, a major IT system upgrade, or mergers and acquisitions. There may be relatively few instances of a particular type of case, but each may represent high value and high risk. As with the other examples, the Bruce Silver Associates

4 significant attribute is the fact that unanticipated tasks and processes may be added once the project is underway. Case management helps the business improve internal collaboration and status tracking. Project management software typically provides just planning and tracking; case management adds the BPM dimensions of automated workflow, enforcement of business rules, and application integration. Differences from Conventional BPM Technical Requirements for Case Management These examples share a number of common factors. Some of them are absent entirely in conventional BPM, while others simply play a different role in case management. Case Context through Shared Case Folder Human judgment about advancement or resolution of the case frequently depends on not a single document or activity in isolation, but the collection of case documents, tasks, and data as a whole. Thus, all case information subject to security and access control rules is simultaneously available to all users working on the case through the shared case folder. In addition to case data and documents, the case folder provides shared access to case tasks, deadlines, notes, completion status, and audit trail. Cases may be structured with a master case folder, underneath which are separate sub-case folders, allowing complete flexibility in the organizational hierarchy. Case Information Managed as Documents A large fraction of case-related information is received and managed in the form of business documents rather than structured data. Where conventional BPM applies automated logic to data, case management more often applies human judgment to information contained in documents. Thus a case management platform must include comprehensive content management, including facilities for creating, capturing, indexing, storing, finding, viewing, sharing, editing, versioning, and retaining a wide variety of document types. Simple document attachments and a viewer, as provided by conventional BPM, are not enough. Content capture is an important feature. Advancement of a case often depends on receipt of some critical document, so software that can receive and recognize those documents from any channel paper, , or web and automatically attach them to the right case is extremely valuable. Technologies such as optical character recognition (OCR) and intelligent document recognition (IDR) are well-established and should be tightly integrated with the case management software. Case management should be able to monitor document events check-in of a new version, for example and automatically generate notifications and alerts. In addition to the documents that the case definition says are required for case completion, it should be possible to add new documents and their related tasks on the fly at runtime. Case Activities Added at Runtime The case template defines the set of tasks normally needed to complete a case. But the ability for an end user to add ad hoc tasks whether selected from a predefined menu or defined from scratch in the middle of an active case is a critical case management requirement. Conventional BPM, as mentioned previously, cannot do this. Managing a case as a single unit, when it is composed of independent tasks and processes some added ad-hoc at runtime is simply beyond the scope of conventional BPMS. Bruce Silver Associates

5 Cases May Never Close A conventional BPM process has well-defined end states, but case management does not require that. A case representing a customer account, a patient record, or criminal investigation may remain open essentially forever. And unlike conventional BPM, in which the folder of document attachments goes away once the process is complete, the case folder is saved as a business record. Processes and tasks may be added to the case long after it begins, but the case folder retains all the information. Case360: A Case Management BPM Platform One of the best examples of a comprehensive case management offering today was also one of the first: Case360 from OpenText. Case360 is a dedicated case management system that can also manage conventional BPM processes. Users can collaborate on case tasks, or the case may be routed to users in a process. Tasks can trigger other tasks, and users can freely add tasks or documents to the case at runtime. Case360 includes extensive reporting and analytics, delivering alerts to users when service level agreements are in jeopardy. Its strength is the breadth of the spectrum of case management applications it handles, from production case management to the ad-hoc adaptive end. In fact, it is possible to create a case with data only, no tasks, documents, or processes, but still supporting collaboration, deadlines, and alerts. Figure 1: Case360 Case Management Capabilities. Source: OpenText The heart of the system (Figure 1) is the case folder. It organizes all the case artifacts tasks, documents, forms, discussions, and case data in configurable layouts tailored to the various roles or personas Bruce Silver Associates

6 working the case. Users populate the case folder with the information required to work the case to completion. Case360 also includes a conventional process design and automation subsystem that interacts with the case folder in a variety of ways. For example, processes may be components of a single case, or the case folder may be routed through a process. Case360 delivers work to end users, manages deadlines, and tracks completion status of individual items as well as the case as a whole. Case360 provides content management tightly integrated with the case folder, leveraging the most widely used ECM repositories including FileNet, Documentum, and SharePoint, plus OpenText s own Content Server. In fact, case content may not all reside in a single repository. By aggregating references to all case content through the case folder, Case360 effectively becomes the system of record for the case, without having to move or replicate the physical content objects. To provide comprehensive content management from a single source, Case360 integrates with companion products in the broader OpenText portfolio, including: Capture Center, supporting intelligent document classification and character recognition, important for supporting paper document input to a case; Content Server, a native OpenText document repository, for management and retention of case artifacts; and StreamServe for Customer Communications Management, to automatically generate customer correspondence related to a case. Communications are multi-channel enabled, including mobile, , fax, letter, and web. Multi-channel allows information to customers in the way they would like to receive it. StreamServe can generate personalized communications from information stored in multiple systems, and provides multi-lingual support. This combination of capabilities from OpenText raises the bar for a complete dynamic case management platform. Accessing Work with Persona-Based Home Page One of the most important features of case management is delivering work to end users. Case360 provides each user a personalized Home Page (Figure 2) that aggregates all case work assigned to the user documents, tasks, process activities via queries. Default queries for assigned and overdue work are provided out-of-the-box, which are supplemented by customized queries tailored to specific case types or process queues. Each query specifies the data and columns displayed in the worklist, and end users can personalize the queries used on their own Home Page. Bruce Silver Associates

7 Figure 2. Case360 Home Page organizes case work via prebuilt and custom queries. Source: OpenText Case360 comes with persona-based Home Pages oriented to common case worker roles including Data Entry, Processor, Researcher, Supervisor, and Manager, making the user experience for each role more familiar and efficient. The persona-based user experience is not determined by the type of case, but by the user s role related to the case. For example, supervisors require different views of the case than do researchers or data entry personnel. Persona-base Home Pages support breadcrumbs allowing return to recently visited pages, announcements, and slider controls for status reporting. For example, a processor s view of a case may look like this: Figure 3. Persona-based Home Page for a Processor. Source: OpenText Bruce Silver Associates

8 while a Manager needs to be able to see multiple cases and their status, using a different view: Figure 4. Persona-based Home Page for a Manager. Source: OpenText The Case Folder Case folders are electronic work folders that organize and track all information for a case, including documents, data, processes, and other case folders. Case templates customize the case folder for each type of case, including forms to display case data, charts of case status, and reporting and retention properties. Templates with What s New? enabled indicate any case folder items added since the user last viewed the case, and templates with Subscriptions enabled send notifications of any case folder changes to subscribing users. Base templates are typically defined by solution designers, but end users can modify the template instantly from a case instance they are working on. Any content, tasks, and discussions they have added to the instance become part of the new template, and new instances of that case will reflect the new items. The case folder user interface provides a set of information panels Tasks, Contents, Fields (data and forms), History, and Discussions (sometimes called Notes) that can be arranged in a wide choice of role-based layouts that are easily configured or modified. While an owner can be assigned to the case as a whole, the case folder itself is a shared resource, not locked to the owner or a single current user. This is critical in order to allow multiple case activities to be performed in parallel. Case360 separates the case folder s business logic from its presentation, which can vary based on the user role, stage of the case, or virtually any other case information. This allows task-specific views of a case, simplifying user interaction. Tasks Organizing and tracking tasks is perhaps the most basic function of case management. The case folder Tasks panel (Figure 5) lists all of the tasks for the case, their completion status, assignee (by name or role), and deadline. Users are automatically notified when they are assigned a task, and access the task user interface either via the case folder as a whole or a task form. Deadlines (Figure 5, bottom) may be either fixed or calculated relative to changes in completion status of some case folder item. Case tasks not completed before their deadlines generate alerts used to escalate the case. The Actions menu in the Bruce Silver Associates

9 Tasks panel allows the user to select from a menu of additional tasks that may be added to a particular case, or define completely new ad-hoc tasks on the fly. Figure 5. Case360 case folder Tasks panel with Deadline definition. Source: OpenText Contents Creation, revision, and review of documents of all sorts are critical aspects of case management. In case management, documents are more than simple file attachments. The case folder actually provides content in context. A loan application, for example, is not just a scanned image, but a first-class case object linked to tasks, assignees, deadlines, and discussions. In the Case360 case folder, the Contents panel (Figure 6) lists both documents attached to the case as well as placeholders. A placeholder represents a document that is required by the case, and may have an assignee, completion status, and deadline. Assignment and deadlines work just as they do with tasks. Also as with tasks, a base set of documents and placeholders is typically specified by the case template, but others can be added ad-hoc from the Actions menu. Bruce Silver Associates

10 Figure 6. Case360 case folder Contents panel. Source: OpenText Content Capture Content capture extraction of data from received content objects and linking the content to a particular case is another important case management feature. It should be a native capability, not a bolt-on. Case360 Capture processes input files into objects used by Case360. A capture package defines all the rules used to recognize incoming files and messages received via JMS, , fax, or image capture and add them to a case. Moreover, Case360 is integrated with OpenText Capture Center, which provides intelligent capture of scanned paper documents via character recognition (OCR/ICR) and intelligent document recognition (IDR). IDR analyzes recognized text from documents with variable layouts, such as an invoice, to identify fields, such as PO Number, that associate it with a particular case. Enterprise Content Management Case document types are defined through the use of templates, much as with case folders. These templates define the document formats and metadata associated with each content object type. The case folder does not physically store the content, but just contains references to content objects. This allows a single document to be included in more than one case. The content objects themselves still must be managed in an enterprise content management (ECM) repository. ECM functions include managing content metadata, folder structure, access control, check-in/check-out, and version control, and these should be tightly integrated out-of-the-box. Other ECM features including records and retention management, rights management, and auto-classification, are important for case management. Unlike many other case management offerings, Case360 includes a native ECM repository, and tightly integrates with OpenText s own Content Server (Figure 7) in addition to FileNet, Documentum, SharePoint, and other popular ECM systems. Bruce Silver Associates

11 Figure 7. Case360 Content is managed in a true ECM repository. Outbound Customer Communications Another important use of documents in case management is for outbound customer communications. Many organizations employ dedicated customer communications systems for customer billing and marketing activities, and it would be nice to be able to leverage those systems in case management. Case360 integrates directly with OpenText StreamServe for Customer Communications Management to allow case workers to easily create and send personalized communications to the customer regarding a case. StreamServe completes the lifecycle of case work. For example, an insurance company issuing a new policy using case management has any number of documents it needs to communicate to the new customer: a welcome letter, account status, monthly statements, and customized offers. The ability to populate these documents with case data and format them properly for sending to customers is a natural part of getting work done, and adds tremendous value to the case management platform, improving both customer communications and customer service. Today, customer communications is increasingly multichannel, and possibly multi-lingual. It is not just about sending a letter. Customers may prefer receiving them on mobile devices, via the web, via a fax, or . StreamServe brings all of these capabilities inside the Case360 environment. Figure 8 illustrates a personalized Welcome Letter sent to a customer joining a new program. To create it, the system merges case data with the selected Letter Template and allows the case worker to provide additional text edits. The system sends the customized letter and saves it as part of the case. Bruce Silver Associates

12 Figure 8. StreamServe provides Case360 with professional outbound communications merged with case data. Source: OpenText Forms As in conventional BPM, structured data plays a significant role in case management. Case360 Fields are used to store and track structured data associated with the case folder or any component of it. Case360 provides a Layout Designer that arranges the Fields in custom layouts for data entry and display (Figure 9). Figure 9. Case360 Layout Designer creates forms for entry and display of case data. Source: OpenText Bruce Silver Associates

13 In addition to simple field types, Case360 supports complex data types through XML fields. Solution designers can define key fields as simple types for performance reasons, and capture other data in a single XML field. This simplifies application design, since it means all data elements for the case need not be individually defined in the database. In the case management solution, all elements of the XML field are easily accessed via scripts, expressions, and forms. Case Notes Case360 s case folder supports case notes or Discussions, formatted as discussion threads assigned to a category or topic. Topics can be attached either to the case folder or to a particular task or document within it. Discussion threads are access-controlled and retained as part of the case folder record. Solution designers can predefine a set of discussion topics, and end users can define new ones. Case History The case folder History panel (Figure 10) provides a complete audit trail of actions involving the case. It identifies the user that made any change to the case, the date the change was made, and the action performed. You can even record every time a user opened the case folder without making a change. Figure 10. Case360 History panel. Source: OpenText Processes In addition to isolated tasks, Case360 also supports processes. A process is essentially an envelope that can route either selected case items data, forms, or documents or the entire case folder to user queues and automated steps. As in a conventional BPMS, a Case360 process activity can perform various automated functions, such as a database query or web service call. When users access their work from the Case360 Home Page, process tasks are handled just like other case work. The only portion of the user interface (Figure 11) that distinguishes a process task from a regular case task is the set of dispatch buttons at the upper right: Send to Approver, etc. Bruce Silver Associates

14 Figure 11. Case360 processes route case work to users in a predefined workflow. Source: OpenText In addition to processes that route work to user queues, immediate mode processes define screenflows that a single user steps through to complete a task (Figure 12). The user triggers the process by clicking on the task, and the right pane displays the screenflow, at the completion of which the task is marked Complete. Figure 12. Immediate mode processes implement complex screenflows easily. Source: OpenText Case360 provides a Visio-based process design tool (Figure 13). Available activities in the left panel include prebuilt nodes for a variety of integration, content management, and business rule tasks, as well as conventional workflow queues. In addition to manual interaction with the case folder and portal, the design environment supports scripting to implement custom automation of case processing. State changes of case tasks, content, and data generate events that, in turn, trigger scripts that can assign new Bruce Silver Associates

15 tasks or placeholders, update case data, or execute a web service. Scripting has access to the entire Case360 API, so it can do about anything you want. Figure 13. Visio-based Case360 Process Design tool. Source: OpenText Performance Monitoring While analytics are an afterthought in many case management offerings, Case360 includes performance visibility and optimization tools. Task and content events are aggregated and tracked by an analytics engine that can provide dashboards of KPI charts, tables, and alerts. Supervisors can monitor the productivity of case workers and teams, and adjust QC/audit and priority review thresholds as current performance conditions warrant (Figure 14). Such features are just as important in case management as in conventional BPM for many types of processes. Figure 14. Monitor performance of case management and traditional process work. Source: OpenText Next-Generation Case Management: Social and Mobile Computing Technology innovations in social and mobile computing are enabling entirely new ways of getting work done, collaboratively and on the move. In addition to sharing the case folder, case workers should be able to directly collaborate on performing case work by inviting colleagues from their social network to add Bruce Silver Associates

16 their expertise and guidance. They should be able to post notifications to users working similar cases about an issue of common interest, and subscribe to such streams themselves. By integrating social computing with case management, both productivity and decision-making are improved. Also, case workers may not always be on premises. Today it is possible not only to stay up to date on a case through phones, tablets, and similar mobile devices, but to perform case tasks, document approvals, and discussions on those devices as well. By extending participation to users on the go through a variety of devices, mobile technology also provides productivity and status tracking benefits. The next generation of social/mobile case management will also leverage the new smart app paradigm, using customizable out-of-the-box solutions for a particular type of case, such as new account opening or claims management. OpenText sees social/mobile interaction as a critical emerging component of case management. Case360 offers a web interface that allows participation through either a PC or mobile device. In addition, it has a large team working on a next-generation cloud-based social/mobile platform called Touch that will be tightly integrated with Case360. Touch provides enhanced engagement with the case worker s social network in a variety of ways: Following. Users can subscribe to any or all changes in a case case events, tasks, or metrics and receive updates via their personalized feed Stream. Micro-participation. Users can perform simple case tasks, such as approvals, quick data capture, or process initiation, via bite-sized interactions on a mobile device. Collaboration. Case workers can easily consult and collaborate with members of their social network through comments, threaded discussions, and posts. Case processing. The case folder interface is enhanced by integration of the social event stream. Figure 15. Users can follow any changes to case content or metrics via their event Stream. Source: OpenText In the usual social/mobile implementation, posts and topics (post categories or lists) are person-to-person, but Touch-based case management extends them to system-to-person or person-to-system. A KPI threshold or other case condition can automatically post a message seen by all users subscribing to that topic feed in their stream through any device: PC, tablet, or phone. Bruce Silver Associates

17 For example (Figure 15), suppose Case360 defines various metrics and thresholds related to Account Opening, so that changes in the Account Opening backlog will generate a post to the Account Opening Backlog topic. This post will be visible in the stream of any user subscribing to that topic, allowing the user to stay instantly informed and post any supplementary comments. In a micro-participation scenario, a Case360 process creates a Work Order post that includes a simple form with instructions to attach and upload certain documents, and sends it to an individual or topic for action. The recipient or topic subscriber sees the post in both their stream and Case360 My Work list. For example, Figure 16 illustrates a Claims Investigation work order as received from Case360 (left) and as handled by the user through the micro-participation form (right). On Submit, the form and any attachments are uploaded back to Case360. A handler at the Case360 process engine matches the submitted data to the case process. Work can also be initiated by users through Touch. An app on the user s phone or tablet provides a form that creates a new case or an item for an existing case. On Submit, the handler creates the requested Case360 process instance. Figure 16. Micro-participation allows users to perform simple case tasks on a mobile device. Source: OpenText Touch-enabled Case360 extends case management to the social network. Users can stay informed about latest developments simply through their stream. They can see what others have been doing with the case, collaborate or consult with others on the case, and use the stream to follow other topics related to the case. The user s Stream or case event feed is integrated directly into the case folder user interface (Figure 17), listing the posts associated with the open case. Case workers can comment on existing posts in the feed, or create new ones. They can post collaboration requests and track them directly through this event feed, which is continually updated with new case events. Bruce Silver Associates

18 Figure 17. All events related to a case are integrated directly into the case folder. Source: OpenText The Bottom Line: What to Look For in a Case Management Platform The list of vendors claiming to support case management is rapidly growing. Their claims all sound the same, but the offerings are not all the same. To meet the needs of real-world case management, here are some important things to look for: Case folder out-of-the-box. The case folder is the heart of the system, the central access point for all of the tasks, processes, documents, data, and other artifacts related to the case, along with case status. Some vendors offer toolkits that let you build a case folder, but it s better to have a complete case folder that works out-of-the-box, with tools to customize the presentation as needed. Integrating the various tasks, documents, processes, etc., is a huge amount of work if you tackle it yourself. You want that integration to be prebuilt. Case templates. A case template is a model for a particular type of case, specifying a list of tasks and documents typically required. Of course, in any instance you can elect to omit some or add new ones, but the case template provides the starting point. The case management platform should include a rich case template design tool that supports event-triggered automation in addition to interactive tasks. While base case templates are typically built by solution designers, it should be possible for end users to easily update the template from a single case instance. Persona-based user experience. Managers, supervisors, data entry clerks, and customer service reps interact differently with case information, and the case management platform should tailor the user experience to the needs of each role. It is best if the platform supports a framework of persona-based layouts that can be assigned to various roles in the case. Ad-hoc tasks and documents. A key distinction between case management and conventional BPM is the ability to add new tasks and required documents at runtime. Look for tools that allow case workers to Bruce Silver Associates

19 pick from a menu of predefined task and document types, as well as to create entirely new ones from scratch. Support for conventional processes. Some case management vendors are so far over on the unstructured end of the spectrum that they ignore the important role conventional processes play in case management. You shouldn t have to give up conventional BPM to handle a case. Real-world cases often contain multiple conventional processes, and these should be supported with conventional BPMS functionality: workflow automation, application integration, business rule support, etc. The point is a case is not a process. It contains multiple processes, including those added at runtime. The processes need to be managed as processes in addition to managing the case as a whole. Look for case management offerings with good BPM features. Comprehensive content management. Documents play a critical role in case management. A single document may be referenced by multiple cases, and its lifetime is independent of the cases that use it. You need a robust ECM for case management, providing foldering, search, versioning, access control, records and retention management, auto-classification, and rights management. Integration of the case folder with the ECM repository should be tight and out-of-the-box. It should not require substantial custom integration. In addition to managing content in the ECM repository, the case management offering must have built-in intelligent content capture capabilities that automatically link received files and messages to the appropriate case folder. Integrated customer communications. Communicating with customers is a critical aspect of case management. Customer communications related to a case should be able to leverage the systems companies use for standard customer communications such as statements and marketing offers, by populating document templates with case data and personalized case worker edits and delivering through a choice of channels. Performance visibility. Business activity monitoring (BAM) and analytics are an important feature of conventional BPMS, and the need is no less in case management. Managers and supervisors need dashboards key performance indicators and alerts at both the case instance and aggregate level. Extension to the social network. Tomorrow s case workers are not chained to the desk. They are always on the go, and their work goes with them. Social and mobile technology innovations are beginning to support this, and they should be part of the case management offering, either today or the near-term roadmap. This includes support for case-related posts and event streams, micro-participation on mobile devices, and collaboration via the social network. Clearly, the bar is high for case management vendors. The platform needs to support both unstructured work and conventional processes, both predefined templates and ad-hoc task definition, both freeform case advancement and a comprehensive audit trail. Case360 shows that it can be done. If you ve been wondering why conventional BPM doesn t seem to be flexible enough for your business problems, it s time to think about a case management solution. Bruce Silver September 2012 Bruce Silver Associates