While the barrier to automating processes is lower, there still is the matter of picking the right approach.     After all, many process automation patterns are quite simple, and there’s no need to take out a sledgehammer when you only need to put a pushpin in a corkboard.

Four of the most common process automation patterns are:

1.  Single Action - Event Rules – One of the simplest process automation patterns, Event Rules, consists of:

• Filters - often as basic as a folder or directory location, or specific metadata values
• Events - adding a document to the folder, saving indices or metadata, or checking in a new document version
• Actions – Events can trigger one more Actions, such as sending a notification email that a new document has been added, moving the document into a work-in-process state, or assigning security or access permissions.

While a simple model, Event Rules can provide a powerful way to automate processes and keep content organized.  Best of all, business users can understand and manage Event Rules, defining and updating them to fit changing needs.  

2.  Transaction – Sequential Workflow – A sequential workflow pattern executes steps in order, one-by-one. The pattern also can encompass conditional logic, looping or iteration, and parallelism. Invoice processing and approvals for things such as policy and procedures and marketing collateral are good candidates for sequential processing.

Workflows requiring little conditional logic and looping can be easily addressed through wizard-driven setups by business users, and established at runtime or as predefined templates. As complexity grows, more sophisticated tools will be needed.

3.  Intelligent Hub - Hub and Spoke Workflow – This pattern is designed with the knowledge worker (aka “intelligent hub”) at the controls. Workflow provides a structured way to move work back and forth between parties, yet allows for a single point of contact to manage the process, yielding flexible coordination among stakeholders to complete the job.  Frequently, a robust BPM tool, and one that supports integration with backend systems, is required.

Contract approval is a common use case.  Typically, a hierarchy of managers is required to edit and approve a contract; however, it is rarely the case that the contract can pass sequentially (i.e. A to B to C to D and back to A) through the approval cycle without stops and starts and questions. The contract initiator typically has to orchestrate the process in order to get it completed in a reasonable length of time. Hence, hub and spoke works nicely as the contract initiator controls the flow of the contract, getting the appropriate approval, all the while retaining good visibility and control over the process.

4.  Collaborative Decisions - Dynamic Case – Dynamic Case management brings together people, tasks and content in a semi-structured model focused on a set of specific requirements and an outcome, but with built-in flexibility on how it’s accomplished.   For example, consider a service request to on-boarding a new customer.

Dynamic Case provides the knowledge worker with:

• A set of collaboration tools
• A starting checklist of tasks, perhaps defined with some basic conditional logic (e.g. New customer; Existing customer with new account) and
• A few boundaries such as a completion date or SLA

From there, the knowledge worker uses her expert knowledge to complete the process with flexibility, accounting for complexities such as risk assessment, compliance, VIPs and more.  Given time and deep pockets, you could attempt to “hard code” all the possible situations, but failure is highly likely as circumstances evolve and change, and all the business cares about is that judgment is being applied. 

Selection “To Do’s”

There are a lot of process automation tools out there; selecting the right tool for the right job is critical for efficient and effective workflow deployment.  Tips to guide your selection process, include:

• Engage subject matter experts to gather requirements and map the business process
• Identify the workflow pattern for today’s use, and tomorrow’s as well
• Establish selection criteria
• Test drive tools on the short list to ensure ease of use and appropriate feature richness, in general, goodness of fit, and services and support
• Develop total cost of ownership and return on investment models
• Thoroughly check references

In work processes for which automation makes sense, it also makes sense to match the tool to the job.  Poor tool selection results in workers inventing “new” ways of getting work done. This is bad innovation! Provide the right tools and you’ve laid the foundation for workers to surprise and delight the organization.

Next up, a few thoughts on bringing mobile device users into the process automation experience…

Each year, I interview incoming Fellows and other AIIM Award recipients. Frank McGovern was posthumously elected to the AIIM Company of Fellows. I never had the good fortune to meet him. The words of his co-workers and peers – his friends – make me wish I had.

The following are recollections of his life.

From Craig Rhinehart

Frank spent 22 years in the U.S. Air Force and retired as a Lt. Col. after commanding a fighter wing in the first Gulf War, then serving as an aide to Defense Sec. Weinberger and General Colin Powell.  He then served as the Records Officer for the U.S. Air Force staying in the records management profession upon retiring.  During this time, Frank led the development of the first DOD 5015 standard which has become the defacto industry and government standard by which all records management products are measured.

In the private sector, Frank was President of the U. S. operations for Tower Software and their TRIM records management software.  Tower had success under Frank's leadership and even closed the largest known records management deal in partnership with EDS.  A record that may still stand today.  With Tower, Frank also helped the FDIC clean up recordkeeping practices of failed institutions during the savings and loan crisis in the 90s among his many accomplishments.

I knew and respected Frank from the industry and his days at Tower.  When I got the chance to build a team at FileNet, there was only one guy I wanted to build a team around.  I hired Frank at FileNet in 2004 and he was doing demos his very first day on the job (at the MER Conference) the week we launched P8 Records Manager and ZeroClick.  The business, and the team, grew fast.  With Frank's help we achieved market leadership very quickly ... a genuine business success story.  After we were acquired by IBM, he continued lead the records management strategy and marketing efforts.  Frank was integral to the tremendous success of IBM's Enterprise Records ... a business that was literally zero in 2004 and is many millions of dollars today.  Frank also served on the Board of Directors of AIIM International and was a frequent speaker and highly respected industry expert.  Many customers have sought his guidance over the years.  Here is just one example of what our customers think of him from Dr. Stephen Chambers: 

"Frank was a true gentleman in every sense of the word.  When Texas A&M started looking at the Records Manager product back in 2005, it was Frank who made the trip here to speak with us in person and help guide us in our discovery stages.  Through his efforts we were one of the first installations of RM.  It was with Frank’s guidance, deep knowledge, and unending patience that saw through to setting up RM.  For six years we have been running RM and because of Frank’s efforts, Texas A&M has been a reference client to IBM ever since.  I have spoken to many corporations, to many executives, and to many record managers about the capabilities of RM, but it is through Frank’s help that brought us to be in that position and pass the knowledge on to others in the industry"

Frank helped define, change and influence an entire industry, IBM and many customers.

Priscilla Emery -- From her original letter of support for Frank to join the AIIM Board of Directors

I am writing this letter of support for Mr. Frank McGovern, president of Tower Software US. Having attended quite a few AIIM Board meetings as a former AIIM staff member I think I have an appreciation for the kind of person that can provide an added value set to the other members.

Frank would bring to the Board an experienced senior management perspective of how a smaller software enterprise deals with the challenges of growing a business in today’s environment. He also understands how global operations work in a decentralized environment since Tower Software US is a subsidiary that has managed to thrive under the technological direction of an Australian-based parent.

Mr. McGovern now heads one of the more successful records management companies in that market but also has a breadth of knowledge beyond the records management space that would give AIIM the kind of pragmatic vision it needs in this era of continual change. Tower Software’s customer retention rate is at 98%, an enviable statistic for any enterprise. I think that has a lot to do with the company’s communication skills with its clients. Frank is respected by both his clients and his employees as a person who knows how to communicate well, set expectations and follow through with results.

And, lastly, but probably most importantly given some of the interesting discussions that go on during Board meetings, he is a genuinely good guy. Don’t misconstrue this to mean he’s a pushover but he knows how to get things done in an ethical manner. I am writing this not as an industry consultant (since Tower Software does not retain my services and they have not communicated any future plans to do so) but as an AIIM member who has spent some time talking with Frank about records management, knowledge management, the industry and baseball (he’s unfortunately from Boston). Nevertheless, I think he would be a valuable asset to the AIIM Board."

Bill Neale – from his letter of support for Frank’s Fellow nomination

I was first exposed to this amazing individual when he was on the AIIM Board of Directors and then worked with him at IBM and FileNet. During that time I gained a deep respect for Frank as a professional and friend. 

Mr. McGovern was an active member of both AIIM and ARMA, participating in many conferences and chapter meetings over the years. He not only attended, but spoke at them across the country, participated in panel discussions, and as mentioned, served on the AIIM International Board of Directors.  He also provided counsel to me during my term on the Board of Directors, with sound advice and his thoughts on key issues facing the association.  Frank was a strong supporter of standardization of records management best practices, and participated in the initial development of DoD 5015.2, the key standard for records management applications.

Frank was a lecturer and advisor on Records Management to many organizations, both as a mentor and customer advocate. He traveled extensively around the world promoting records management best practices for AIIM, ARMA and his employers.  He opinion and guidance was widely sought after, and he spoke with great credibility and authority with that classic Boston accent.  When he passed away I and others collected a book of tributes from literally around the world that totaled more than 42 pages of accolades from his many admirers.  These consisted of physical letters, emails, blogs and tweets.

Frank was a true gentleman and professional and epitomized the spirit of the Company of Fellows.

Jack Frost – from his letter of support for Frank McGovern’s Fellow nomination

Frank was instrumental in nurturing new technologies in the US marketplace with software companies, prospects, and clients. Frank was responsible for major technology implementations in both the federal government and commercial clients nationwide.

His ongoing support of local chapter operations, training, and support was critical to the early success of the National Capitol Chapter of AIIM.

Bob: Hello, I want to thank you for allowing me to interview you and for the record, can you provide my readers with some insight as to who you work for and with a description of your role?

John: I'm currently a first line manager at Fujitsu Enterprise Business Services. I manage a large team (25+) of senior DBAs and application engineers who support all the relational databases for Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina, as well as the team that supports BCBSNC's major document, content and imaging systems like Mobius, Filenet and Thunderhead.

Bob: When did you get the idea to make AIIM Education part of your training focus and what were the drivers for the decision?

John: I've relied on AIIM information, white-papers, etc. for a long time in the content management space. As my involvement in enterprise content management increased, both in terms of setting strategy, defining policies, and executing operationally, I wanted to take the next step and get some quality formal training. AIIM was my first choice.

Bob: What do you see as a benefit for you and future attendees of these programs?

John: Well, program curriculum is great but the benefits extend far beyond the classroom. Whether in class or as an AIIM member you get to be a part of a large network of folks who are not just thinking about but doing and going through the same things you are, and that's immensely valuable.

Bob: For the future, how do you see the role of AIIM education evolving in relation to you and/or your customers?

John: From e-discovery to social media, I think AIIM's done a great job of keeping up with changes in the marketplace.  I also appreciate the technology-agnostic approach. Whether it's imaging, content management, or social media, AIIM gets that success is never about the tool or the brand, but the deliberate and thoughtful approach you take in how you establish a program that values and accounts for people and process.

Bob: Is there anything else you might want to share with our readers related to AIIM Training and how it has been of benefit to you and may be of benefit to them?

John: I think I'd like to see more un-conferences, un-meetups, tweetups, etc., greater use of social media, and would like to see AIIM grow its community.  There's a lot of expertise out there, let's look for different ways to share that.

Bob: I want to thank you, for taking time to talk with me and for sharing your valuable insights and perspectives with our readers.

What say you? Do you have a story to tell? What are your thoughts on this topic? Do you have a topic of interest you would like discussed in this forum? Let me know.

Bob Larrivee, Director and Industry Advisor – AIIM

Email me: blarrivee@aiim.org   

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www.aiim.org/training