IBM Enterprise Content Management Government Making a case for citizencentric services in government agencies
2 IBM Enterprise Content Management Raising the productivity of employees whose jobs can t be automated is the next great performance challenge and the stakes are high. McKinsey As the economy starts to recover, government agencies are under increased pressure to streamline their processes, reduce costs, and improve citizen services with fewer and fewer resources. With change as the driver, government agencies of all sizes are charged with balancing needs with greater demand and complexity to keep government moving. In addition, new laws and regulations are changing the playing field on a daily basis. These forces are driving governments to transform, requiring their organizations to find new and innovative ways to minimize bureaucracy while providing better service and faster outcomes. To satisfy these demands, there is a need to provide a viable platform to deal with the multiple tools and processes as well as the thousands of documents, files, and related content created from emails and other electronic transactions that are pervasive in government. Although great strides have been made to automate most services, government agencies remain burdened with processes that require high levels of manual intervention that, in turn, can lead to operational inefficiencies. Many of these processes are supported with different systems creating complex and redundant solutions that are costly to maintain and manage. This complexity, coupled with limited budgets and resources, the pressure of public scrutiny, and the need for transparency, creates unique challenges for today s government. Building a case for the Smarter Planet By smarter we mean that intelligence is being infused into the systems and processes that make governments work. Today, departments and agencies using IBM information applications and advanced analytics can dynamically work with citizens, communities, and businesses in real time to promote efficiency, innovation, and progress. At its most fundamental level, smarter government means making operations and services citizen-centric by streamlining cumbersome processes and providing easy access to information that affects their lives. With these tools, governments can work smarter through better collaboration and with greater insight, to speed decisions, improve efficiency, and manage their resources more effectively. Unfortunately, most government agencies are handicapped with multiple, isolated, business processes that use a combination of time-consuming manual processes as well as automated systems to manage and solve a variety of issues. Typically, there are disparate systems for creating and managing bids for public works, contracts, permit applications, tax filings, pensions, social services, law enforcement, maintenance and asset management, to name a few all of which need to be integrated to be more efficient. With change as the leading driver, public officials and managers in federal and central, state and provincial, and local governments are responsible for balancing the growing needs of their communities with the ever expanding demand for services. Everything from citizen services to green initiatives is changing the way governments do business. Issues like accessibility, education, accountability, regulatory oversight, transparency, and cyber security all have to be taken into
3 consideration while trying to satisfy an increasing demand for improved government services. Solving these problems as they evolve and coordinating the work of multiple public employees and agencies requires timely and precise communications of information between all of the parties involved. This effort requires a vehicle to merge all of an agency s systems and content sources to improve access to information regardless of location to speed the process, optimize productivity, and aid in making the decisions that are critical to keeping the government moving. The solution is IBM advanced case management. With IBM advanced case management, a case can be as simple as a request for information all the way up to a multi-agency review of tax and revenue usage. A case contains all of the processes, information, correspondence, tasks, policies, rules, and events that are required for resolution all accessed, circulated, and managed in the context of the case. Forrester defines case management as: A highly structured, but also collaborative, dynamic, and information-intensive process that is driven by outside events and requires incremental and progressive responses from the business domain handling the case. Examples of case folders include a patient record, a lawsuit, an insurance claim, or a contract, and the case folder would include all the documents, data, collaboration artifacts, policies, rules, analytics, and other information needed to process and manage the case. Dynamic Case Management An Old Idea Catches New Fire, Forrester Research, Inc., December, 2009 The need for advanced case management Government agencies need to manage incidents such as complaints or disputes to improve public service while protecting the agency if escalations occur. Advanced case management provides the tools required to perform, monitor, and evaluate a given case to reach the optimum outcome for all constituents. Governments need better tools to meet Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for case handling. In addition, administrators and case workers in all areas of government, faced with fewer and fewer resources, need better tools to support the way they work. Often this need requires the input and management of paper-based documents such as letters, applications, faxes, contracts, and similar documents, in addition to electronic information to provide an all-encompassing view of the case. Case management supports worker efficiency and effectiveness to help control costs for these activities as well as improve decision-making. The need to manage important information and associated processes, decisions, and other artifacts around a case for legal or compliance reasons is also increasing. Case management supports the entire lifecycle of a case according to set policies to increase transparency across multiple entities for more efficient information sharing, service, and records keeping. Governments require solutions and tools to rapidly respond to the needs of its constituents. Solutions need to be delivered in days instead of months. They also need to scale rapidly in response to changing requirements. The quicker an agency can implement a given case management solution, the quicker the agency can start benefiting from its value. Advanced case management combines people, processes and information Case management involves multiple information and process types that need to be collectively and interactively grouped, managed, and related in both ad-hoc and structured ways. Cases contain content related to a resident, taxpayer, licensee, business, beneficiary, project, and so forth. Content can be of any type from any source inside or potentially outside the
4 IBM Enterprise Content Management industries, the demands of case management in government require greater operational flexibility. Processes, while structured, are often more ad hoc in nature and vary greatly depending on the task or project at hand. They are generally comprised of a series of events as well as controls, such as changes and approvals, which involve multiple agencies, businesses, and individuals all working in concert. In essence, these kinds of processes need to be orchestrated rather than driven through a series of preset routines and functions. It is the consistent delivery of trusted information to the right people, at the right time, which gives organizations the ability to use that information in entirely new ways while improving their operations. IBM advanced case management solutions include the following capabilities: organization. Examples include property deeds, construction permits, tax information, social services, competitive bids, legal documents, environmental studies, traffic patterns, correspondence, and so forth. Processes organize required tasks into manageable and auditable steps. They might require information to be moved dynamically and reviewed among people, or they might be more transactional and static in nature. Expressed as specific service deliveries or process applications, case management assets can include data models, process models, rule sets, and case configurations. IBM advanced case management provides comprehensive and integrated tools for life-cycle management. Case life-cycle management includes design, simulation, execution, monitoring, and optimization. A case and its contents persist past the lifecycle of the processes within it so that the information remains available for search and retrieval when a case is closed. Case management is a dynamic business application Unlike the fixed, repetitive processes in many businesses and Analytics: Analytics help people working on cases make the right decisions in applications for construction permits, bids for public works, issuance and removal of tax liens, court case management, and so forth. Analytics help detect patterns within or across cases or simply optimize the overall case handling to optimize case outcomes. Rules: Many decisions in a case depend on set values, such as compliance with laws and regulations, tax tables, bid requirements, fees and fines, approval authority for transaction amounts, and so forth. By separating rules from processes, case handling becomes much more agile as rules change in step with government changes. Collaboration: Finding the right subject matter expert is often critical in order to make a ad-hoc decision required to resolve a case for optimal closure. Collaboration in the form of instant messaging, presence awareness, and team rooms enables an organization and its employees to work together to drive case outcomes. Process: Cases might follow static processes that are prescribed for certain situations. They might also follow more dynamic paths based on changes to information associated with a case. Straight through, transactional processes can be specified as can more collaborative processes.
5 Content: By placing the case model in the content repository, information and other artifacts associated with a case are not only readily available for viewing, but also managed in the context of the case over its lifecycle. These include collaborations, processes steps, and other associated case elements. Social Networking: Dynamic to-do lists that are role-based help people working on cases establish conversations and actions that must take place to close cases and link to information about the resources that can help. Users can brainstorm solutions and actions and create wikis linked to particular case types to assist colleagues in resolving their cases. Advanced case management use clusters The key to advanced case management is successfully managing all of the information in the enterprise. Successful government agencies are those that find a way to make the information from case management work as a strategic resource in predicting future needs, expediting requests, and Case management templates shorten time to value! Case templates are easy to create using the advanced case management tools. Each template is created using a goal-oriented to-do-list that meets specific organizational requirements. To-do-lists can contain individual tasks, compliance rules, required content items, and forms. New tasks can be added to cases as needed. Tasks can be a full process, process fragments, or individual steps. Case templates capture best practices for industry specific tasks or horizontal processes. Configured case templates can be used to create new case management templates improving productivity. In addition, better case management can have a positive effect on meeting goals and mitigating risk. Today, government agencies face significant scrutiny if they lose or mishandle the content required for case resolution. This need for security requires increased discipline in retaining, tracking, managing and retrieving all relevant information. In order to better understand the types of cases that can be handled with IBM advanced case management we have divided them into four broad-based categories: Investigation - Investigative bodies know they are going to receive hundreds if not thousands of requests a year to provide information. Yet the exact nature and timing of the requests is unknown. The special-case, collaborative, and unstructured aspect of investigations lends itself to case handling, and a wide range of use cases fall into this realm. The emerging regulatory environment that focuses on transparency and accountability will pressure agencies to provide rapid response to inquiries that provide insight into their operations. Also, analytic capabilities are critical because those capabilities can pinpoint fraud, uncover vulnerabilities, and trigger remedial case activity. Key characteristics of investigative cases typically reflect unstructured resolutions: there are millions of ways to resolve a given case. There is no way to anticipate the volume of cases per year, yet most case closures need to occur within defined timelines. Incident management - Incident management processes are triggered by an event. The event can be the simple submission of a complaint or an unexpected accident. Independent of the incident type, the process that responds must keep track of actions, coordinate people, leverage collaboration for decision making, use rules for escalation, and document the entire process. Visibility to process effectiveness through analytics is critical to guiding refinements to the processes used for resolution, which in turn should reduce the number of similar incidents over time. Problem tracking and complaint systems are a strong example of this use of analytics. Typically, incident management cases are somewhat structured with limited paths for resolution. Agencies and departments can usually estimate the volume of cases per year and outcomes focus on case
6 IBM Enterprise Content Management closure, reduced volume of incidents, and improved service while meeting Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Service requests - Service request cases such as provision and tracking of social services revolve around structured processes that can be visually mapped but also allow case-based progressions, collaboration for decision making, and variations to be added within the flow of the process. Unlike incident management and investigative cases, these use cases are more predictable. In government, it might be the number of new constituents who need to be brought online, or in energy the lifecycle of a given pump or filter used in a power plant. The key characteristics of service requests are mostly structured with finite paths to resolution. Outcomes focus on case closure, improved customer service and loyalty and, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Complex projects - Complex project case management covers a wide range of processes, but centers around the ultimate production of a tangible product. The product produced can range from a building permit to a traffic plan. The commonality of these cases is that production is driven through a project management process. These cases include a high degree of collaboration for decision making, where participant involvement is dynamic based on the resources needed and the specific stage of the process. Many of these cases involve external companies in a consultancy role while case volume is controlled by the volume of products produced. The key characteristics of complex projects are that they are based on processes where collaboration is central. Typically, the volume of cases per year and outcomes focus on delivery of report-based products or intellectual property. Expediting case resolution IBM advanced case management provides end-to-end process automation and a complete document archive for strategic information using the state-of-the-art IBM Enterprise Content Management platform. By continuing to leverage the IBM FileNet P8 platform, government agencies can maximize their Government Advanced case management solutions Social Services and Social Security Business Initiative Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) Potential Return on Investment (ROI) Improve management of benefits and enrollments while providing controlled access to multiple agencies Optimize benefit management Reduce fraud and abuse Meet regulatory compliance Safety and Security Crime Analytics Dramatically reduce disruptions in program benefits through proactive compliance Business Initiative Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) Potential Return on Investment (ROI) Predict and prevent threats to public safety while improving interagency collaboration Create a flexible and reliable information environment for proactive law enforcement Allow greater predictive analysis and data mining from disparate sources Provide officers with mobile access to criminal complaints, arrests, and 911 records as well as criminal records, parole files, and photographs Metropolitan Transportation and Roads Intelligent Transportation Business Initiative Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) Potential Return on Investment (ROI) Manage adaptive and effective operations while enabling growth and stability Balance risk, security, and compliance Accurately predict traffic flow prior to congestion Provide accurate information to travelers in real-time Adjust tariffs to optimize traffic flows and revenue Tax and Revenue Management Use historical data and real-time input to predict traffic flows Cut traffic and emissions Increase use of public transportation Business Initiative Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) Potential Return on Investment (ROI) Improve revenue management and expense forecasting Increase revenue timeliness and minimize underpayments Accurately forecast revenue collections Improvements to online filing systems can help expedite tax filing and improve return accuracy
7 IBM Advance Case Management provides a platform that unites content, processes, and people around an enterprise infrastructure. Key advance case management solution benefits Support work management of structured and unstructured activities. Provide a 360-degree view of all cases, allowing all participants to understand relevant information for case progression and resolution. Improve asset management and maintenance effectiveness resulting in higher asset availability and increased public safety. Effectively manage the delicate balance of transparency and privacy when dealing across departments through predetermined rules. Provide customer service solutions to improve problem resolution and customer satisfaction. Retain and manage a range of information formats, including electronic forms, documents, email, social media, web content, XML, and multimedia assets. Provide a horizontal Advanced case management Framework for rapid time-to-value through configuration, not coding. investment in more ways than originally planned. The open platform expedites the collection, organization, management, and retrieval of relevant information from a variety of applications in a security-rich environment. The system also supports records management policies by identifying the type and format of records, monitoring compliance with government and legal retention requirements, and implementing established security requirements and user access in accordance with the agencies requirements. Advanced case management solutions also allow governments to move to a disciplined solution that controls their processes, manages reporting of work-in-progress, helps support compliance, and delivers a more productive, agile response to resolving cases. Generating business results IBM advanced case management is an innovative, powerful software solution that helps provide process automation, and business collaboration for case handling and resolution. Advanced case management delivers government agencies functionality with standards to facilitate integration between applications and devices across departments and agencies. It is flexible and leverages this functionality based on the requirements of each case. Advanced case management by IBM: Establishes an entity called a case and provides semantics and the tools required for complex handling of a case. Cases can be expressed as a wide variety of issues such as a contract, work order, permit filing, change order, and so forth. Unites content, process, and people around a case. It involves a variety of information sources (content and structured data), and work management techniques that can include predetermined processes, goal-driven processes and special-case activities. Collaboration and social networking tools can also be integrated to support case progression and resolution activities. Provides a 360-degree view of the case to allow all participants to understand all of its content. The relevant information derived from the process, content, and analytics helps drive better decisions and optimized case outcomes. Leverages analytics to gain insight into cases and provide micro and macro case optimization. Case optimization is focused on resolution and outcomes versus throughput. Extends governance and retention capabilities to the case allowing for policies to be applied and enforced to all important artifacts in a case. Enhances decision making using the data and information aggregated from case management to analyze events and develop insights to improve flexibility and performance. Improves customer satisfaction by delivering a convenient, personalized experience that resolves issues in a timely, equitable process.
Models, manages, and optimizes processes to speed case resolution and improve productivity. Meets regulatory, risk, and compliance management requirements. Case contents, histories, and forms can all be included in records management environment and made available for discovery for regulatory and legal requirements. Full audit trails are maintained to track decision making and reduce risk while complying with mandated regulations. Put advanced case management to work for you IBM has the broadest portfolio of case management capabilities and the most extensive ecosystem of case management solutions. More than 3,000 partners help deliver over 200 out of the box tools and templating capabilities designed to solve specific case management problems in the energy and utility industries. To learn more about how IBM advanced case management stratgey can help your organization manage and optimize your case management challenges, please contact your IBM representative or IBM Business Partner, or visit ibm.com Copyright IBM Corporation 2010 IBM Software Group Route 100 Somers, NY 10589 U.S.A. Produced in the United States of America November 2010 All Rights Reserved IBM, the IBM logo and ibm.com are trademarks or registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both. If these and other IBM trademarked terms are marked on their first occurrence in this information with a trademark symbol ( or ), these symbols indicate U.S. registered or common law trademarks owned by IBM at the time this information was published. Such trademarks may also be registered or common law trademarks in other countries. A current list of IBM trademarks is available on the Webat Copyright and trademark information at ibm.com/legal/copytrade.shtml Other company, product and service names may be trademarks or service marks of others. References in this publication to IBM products and services do not imply that IBM intends to make them available in all countries in which IBM operates. Please Recycle IMW-14509-USEN-00