The fact is – many companies are taking advantage of the downturn to rationalize operations and asking employees to do more with less. However, as I read through the story, I couldn’t help but think… in this economy people are working harder and longer, but are they working smarter?

And we’re not done yet. With an uncertain economic forecast at the forefront of their minds, executives today have the tendency to look for ways to further reduce their spending by cutting people, travel, budgets, events and anything deemed as non-essential. However, from my experience, many of the organizations are cutting without a plan. Doing more with less requires a more disciplined approach to executing your business plan. Doing more with less requires a smarter approach to deliver results.

We are fortunate today that business systems are beginning to incorporate the technologies that help improve the way work is done in an organization. By discovering best practices and automating business processes accordingly, companies can do more with less without shifting the full burden to their knowledge workers. Today, there are solutions that can help you dramatically improve process efficiency and employee productivity across your organization.

Business process management (BPM) software gives your organization the power and knowledge to work better, smarter and faster.

Increase your efficiency
Instead of cutting resources and offloading more work onto your employees, you can use BPM to understand and automate key processes – resulting in greater efficiency, fewer resources and reduced overhead.

Foster collaboration with knowledge workers across your enterprise
Finding a BPM tool with meaningful social networking capabilities gives knowledge workers the resources to collaborate on projects and access the right information, content and resources, effortlessly. With features – such as user profiles that highlight availability, skill sets and roles – managers can allocate work to the appropriate person, with the right skills and work load. This helps reduce stress on the knowledge worker and ensure projects are completed in a timely, efficient manner.

Establish greater visibility
For most organizations, it isn’t until they have delivered an initial BPM project that they can truly see their organization’s capabilities and where they can continue to make improvements. Once your processes are deployed through BPM you have the ability to understand the interrelationships within your processes to identify the right redundancies, discover process gaps and uncover underutilized systems. Instead of cutting resources you can make smart decisions that positively impact performance, profitability and customer experience, while promoting employee satisfaction.

With the final word on this economic downturn still unknown, it isn’t likely that companies will begin immediately adding back the positions lost. But, companies can do more to support the business in achieving more with fewer staff and without shifting the entire burden on their employees. Working smarter requires action and initiative on the part of companies to find better practices and enable employees with tools that are more on par with the technology solutions they use in their personal life. You’re just a call away to find out how.

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For these unpredictable and difficult to model processes, workflow and basic BPM will not do – organizations need a dynamic BPM solution that helps them improve, manage and monitor both their structured and unstructured processes.   In contrast to a more traditional, rigid workflow offering, dynamic BPM offers the ability to handle these unstructured, rapidly changing processes that require collaborative interaction from people.   Supply chain management and case management are both great examples of how organizations leverage dynamic BPM capabilities to track and audit processes that require a great deal of ad hoc collaboration and flexibility.

Supply Chain Management
Modeling, analyzing, understanding, and optimizing the activities and processes within a supply chain is crucial to the growth and success of companies in the manufacturing, retail and distribution industries.  For example, Blue Rhino, a division of Ferrellgas, distributes and refills propane cylinders to over 27,000 retail locations in 48 states and Puerto Rico.  Given the nature of its products and industry, Blue Rhino has a very seasonal business, with multiple locations across the United States, and a huge customer base. They needed a BPM technology suite that was designed to support constant change.  Challenges include fluctuations in supply and demand for propane tanks, unpredicted disruption within the supply chain, regulatory compliance shifts, and changing customer service demands.  These challenges necessitated that Blue Rhino implement a BPM offering dynamic enough to allow them collaborate with distributors and retailers and restructure process models based on changing conditions.  By investing in Metastorm’s BPM offering, Blue Rhino was able to increase its collaborative interactions with distributors to gain greater visibility and more accurate information, while also achieving better structure and automation across these dynamic business processes.   

Case Management
Legal case management is another scenario where an organization needs to respond to unpredictable events and adapt to a changing business environment.  To be more specific, the Department of Justice, Office of the Federal Detention Trustee (OFDT) is responsible for providing safe, secure and humane confinement of persons in federal custody awaiting trial or immigration proceedings.  With a population of some 55,000 detainees across 94 federal judicial districts, collaborative and dynamic interactions must occur.  While the process of detaining a prisoner is modeled out to the specific requirements of the federal government, there are numerous documents controlled by several federal agencies needed for each step of the process and unexpected events can occur for individual prisoners depending on their case.  The OFDT turned to Metastorm BPM because of its security and flexibility, which allowed them to break away from the structured process of detaining prisoners, respond to the situational change, and go back and complete the process.  Now, they can easily receive and process or check on the status of any prisoner’s detention designation document in real-time. 

Unstructured processes exist throughout organizations.   To gain better control and grow effectively, organizations need the flexibility to easily collaborate on and adjust business models and processes.  BPM is not just about workflow. Dynamic BPM offers the ability for organizations to track, manage and audit not only structured, well-defined processes but also the unruly, unstructured, ad hoc processes – the processes that are often the most critical to organizational success.

Contact us to learn more about Metastorm and our dynamic BPM capabilities.

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Over the years we’ve seen law firms try to dig themselves out of the seemingly endless cycle of redundant, paper intensive processes.  At one point in time, implementing processes – however manual – with multiple data entry points was meant to drive improvements and lower risk when gathering and reviewing critical new client information.  However, given the significant technology advances and growing demand for firms to offer best-in-class services, these manual processes have become outdated, confusing and frustrating, and they diminish business productivity as well as negatively impacting customer and employee satisfaction. 

Compiling, reviewing and processing new clients against the existing client database can be cumbersome.  Each individual client or new business requires extensive procedures to determine the conflict of interest, generate billing, and receive department approval—all before a new client is even taken on.  Investing in a robust business process management (BPM) suite is a smart, effective way for law firms to smoothly streamline and manage the end-to-end business process, while capturing the complete and accurate client matter, related party, and billing data for a potential client or business – information which is then automatically packaged and presented to the attorneys for approval via email, web or mobile device.  Data accuracy is improved, risk is reduced and attorneys waste little time on administrative tasks so that they can maximize billing hours.  BPM software equates to process improvement and increased revenues for the firm from the moment the first process goes live.

In ILTA’s 2010 Technology Survey, 464 firms representing over 80,000 attorneys and nearly 180,000 total end users were asked if and what they use to automate their business processes.  Of the responses, 27% of firms with 350-690 employees and 39% of firms with 700 employees or more indicated that they leverage Metastorm to help analyze, streamline and automate their business workflows.

Over 190 law firms globally, including six of the 10 largest firms in the world and over 30% of the AmLaw 200 rely on Metastorm’s Enterprise portfolio suite to model, analyze and improve the firm’s business processes to reduce overhead, improve the range and quality of services, and optimize resources, all while cutting cost without losing strategic advantage.  Law firms deploy Metastorm’s legal solutions to standardize process and automate manual operations to ensure complete consistency and accuracy, accelerate new client matter intake and conflict-of-interest review, maintain regulatory compliance and automate audit trail capture.   

Metastorm understands that in the legal sector time is money, and we have spent countless hours developing and perfecting the right software solutions to meet your industry needs. Investing in business process management software now will enable your firm to rapidly and effectively take on new clients in a way that is easy to manage while also addressing back office processes for increased productivity, faster customer response and improved profitability.  

If you’re interested in learning how your firm can benefit from Metastorm’s software solutions visit our legal solutions page, where you can download an overview of Metastorm’s legal services, learn about Metastorm’s Client Matter Inception Process Pod, and read customer success stories.

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As the economic recession has lagged on, industry analysts, vendors and practitioners have seen business process management (BPM) solutions succeed.  Mainly because these solutions offer organizations valuable tools to design, integrate, automate, optimize, monitor and improve both human-centric and system-centric processes.  With organizations reporting 10-20% return on investment per process project, investing in a BPM solution is a smart decision that will produce immediate benefits during the recession, as well as position your organization to effectively and efficiently respond to change once the economy has improved. 

By implementing a BPM solution, your organization will have control over key operational processes across the enterprise, inevitably giving users the ability to improve the quality of work produced on a daily basis.  Executives will gain visibility into the business operations across all levels, enabling them to identify redundant, complex, and underutilized process areas which will significantly decrease overall costs.  Additionally, BPM tools mitigate risk by allowing users to monitor operations.  Processes can be documented, enforced through process automation and business rules, and monitored and audited by users from all levels of the organization.

BPM tools also offer the resources to develop standard, automated processes, proven to increase productivity to a fraction of what it was before.  By automating processes, your organization will be in the position to do more with less by saving money and increasing agility. These improved processes allow your business to reduce overhead by eliminating redundancies or reusing resources that are no longer needed to meet objectives.   

What I find most important in this recession is that BPM solutions offer all users the visibility into organizational practices, capabilities, processes, and activities, allowing them to make better, more informed business decisions.  Don’t let this economic downturn force your organization to make decisions it will later regret.  Investing in a BPM solution will help your organizations cut costs now, position you to respond to change in the market place, and prevail when we approach an economic rebound. 

If you are interested in learning more about Metastorm’s BPM and EA solutions tailored for the economic downturn visit our recession and rebound solutions page, where you can read solution overviews and customer success stories.  Also, I encourage you to download Metastorm’s eBook “Two Smart Investments in a Recession and a Rebound” and watch our onDemand Webcast “Key Ways to Maximize the Value of Your IT Investment in Challenging Economic Times.”

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The article goes on to describe in some specific detail how BPM has helped Norfolk, VA maintain, and often enhance, service levels, meeting increased citizen expecations despite budget cuts.

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A little over 2 years after the first Earth Day in 1969, the single chip microprocessor was introduced to the world. In great part this invention catapulted us into a technological revolution.

To put things into perspective, the crew of the Apollo 13 mission – another 40^th anniversary celebrated this month – were working with a computer that had about as much memory as a pocket calculator; and today, in less than a minute, my cell phone can assess highway traffic, propose a new route, and then provide me with real time instructions as I navigate (I’m sure the crew would have had a much easier trip had they had their smart phones on them).

Our attitude towards technology and its Green capabilities has also changed dramatically.

During the era when “Going Green” was still a grass roots movement it would have been laughable to suggest that computers could help clean up the environment – and the phrase “Green Technology” would have been considered an oxymoron!

Today we have only begun to explore the benefits of green technology.

A few months ago I wrote a post, Lean process agility breeds green viability, which examines the relationship between the business attitudes that make up the New Normal – “we need to ‘Lean out’ and eliminate excess waste; being bulky causes us to operate ineffectively” – and the longstanding mantra of the Green Movement – “we need to change our wasteful ways.”

For businesses, the Green Movement isn’t just a moral choice, but it also makes a lot of sense. In a recent article about pharmaceuticals employing green practices, Mike Whaley, senior director of environmental health and safety at Allergan Inc. noted the business value of being Green – “The more efficient you are the more profitable you are,” he stated.

It’s true – when it comes to “Getting Lean,” and when it comes to “Going Green,” efficiency is the name of the game. At Metastorm we are proud that our software solutions can help organizations do both.

Through the use of our Enterprise Architecture (EA), Business Process Management (BPM) and Business Process Analysis (BPA) software, organizations have been able to identify “Fat” in their organization – or areas where they are wasting resources, and running inefficiently – and adjust their processes to eliminate unnecessary overhead and accelerate their performance; minimizing impact on the environment while maximizing their bottom line and competitive advantage.

And it keeps getting better! With new technologies (like the ones we will be unveiling at the 2010 Metastorm Global User Conference) that enable employees to collaborate more effectively without necessitating as much travel, organizations will also be able to further reduce fuel consumption and other associated costs.

To learn more about how we can help you “Get Lean” and “Go Green,” check out this complimentary eBook, Green BPM- The Best Kept Secret for Meeting Your Company’s Green Mandates. This eBook is absolutely a must-read whether you are looking to Lean out your enterprise for greater business value, to “Go Green,” or both!

Happy Earth Day everyone!

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The lives of many organizations have similar, humble beginnings.

But in order to survive and thrive in their environments both the caterpillar and the business have to grow – and for both parties, growing is essentially an input, output scenario.

For the business to grow, it needs to collect resources – people, materials, technology, infrastructure, etc. in order to produce its deliverables or provide its services, which will ultimately enable it to generate profits and expand.

The caterpillar on the other hand, needs to consume food to provide its body with energy - this enables the caterpillar to utilize food resources to increase its size.

Undoubtedly both the caterpillar and the business need resources to grow. But just like the caterpillar in a much beloved and well known children’s book, a business can become fat as it consumes more resources than necessary – or even the wrong resources altogether. Imagine your organization eating through 5 million sheets of paper, 40 thousand dollars in fines from a compliance violation, 150 hours of employee productivity because of duplication of effort, and so on.

Luckily for the caterpillar, it instinctively builds a cocoon that transforms it into a beautiful butterfly – eliminating its excess bulk, and allowing it to soar to new levels of prosperity.

But what’s a business to do? For businesses, overconsumption and poor management is a major problem that can lead to significant losses. Being too fat can be fatal to an enterprise – causing it to waste the profits that it needs to survive and thrive, and to become so sluggish that it is unable to effectively compete in the marketplace.

Unfortunately, no organization can wrap itself up in a cocoon and triumphantly emerge months later as a new and improved version of its former self. But if it were possible, I think it’s a safe bet that many would retract for a brief period and allow such a change to happen.

But there are technologies that can act like a cocoon to facilitate business transformation – and, even better than a cocoon, these technologies enable organizations to realize real, measurable improvements without ever requiring them to pull away from the marketplace. This means organizations can serve their customers and drive results while transforming to be Leaner, more agile and competitive than ever before.

For example, with Metastorm Enterprise, Metastorm’s integrated software suite of Business Process Management (BPM), Business Process Analysis (BPA) and Enterprise Architecture (EA), organizations can achieve business transformation in 3 easy steps:

Step 1: SEE the breadth of the enterprise including goals, resources and key process relationships with Metastorm ProVision®.

Step 2: THINK through and analyze possible organizational changes and process improvements with Metastorm ProVision for BPA – ensuring that the right changes are made.

Step 3: DO the right things with Metastorm BPM® – and quickly and cost effectively realize desired changes and results.

With Metastorm’s “See. Think. Do” capabilities, organizations can identify time and resource wasters, test and implement improvements, and then execute new processes to metamorphose from fat and sluggish to harmonious, well-balanced and resource efficient – enabling them to soar above the competition and achieve unprecedented levels of success.

With Metastorm Enterprise, business transformation truly is elementary – after all, it’s as easy as counting to 3!

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The podcast, “The USAF, Six Sigma, and BPM,” discusses how the US Air Force utilized Metastorm ProVision® and Metastorm BPM® to achieve a 200% increase in automation to gain more efficiency, productivity, and control.

According to Chaney, the project began when the Department of Defense (DoD) mandated that, in order for DoD organizations to continue receiving funding, their IT investments had to include an Enterprise Architecture (EA) tool.

As part of its new EA initiative, the US Air Force wanted to identify how its IT infrastructure was supporting its business processes, and how well the processes were performing in the supported environments. To meet the goals of an existing initiative, Air Force Smart Operations for the 21st Century (AFSO21), which aims to streamline processes and optimize resource consumption – the US Air Force also wanted to “Lean out” its business processes to do more with less.

Listen to this podcast and read this customer success story to learn how the team used Metastorm ProVision to see and analyze its processes, and to identify time wasters and other areas of inefficiency, how it subsequently used Metastorm BPM to execute the Leaner, more agile processes across the entire enterprise, and how it utilized the power of the Metastorm Enterprise software suite to realize greater efficiency, and meet the goals of AFSO21.

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In order to achieve the most success with a Lean BPM initiative, Chaney recommended that teams be small and agile. He said that it is important to ensure that a team has the right combination of skill sets, and that all members have a well-defined role. Make sure that the team has the correct mindset to work well with the business analysts and developers, and that everyone is brought into an executable environment. As usual, communication is a key factor in making a team successful, as is supporting the team and development cycles with the right tool sets and skills so that the project can move quickly and effectively.

Chaney also recommended that project managers time box the analysis phase so that the project doesn’t fall into analysis paralysis, because this will diminish its overall value. Setting a limit to the amount of time spent on analysis will help everybody on the team focus on what’s important for the project. With an end goal and a specific date, everyone can be better focused. BPM by nature should be  flexible and agile, so it is important to ensure that the team doesn’t get so caught up in analysis that they lose sight of that fact.

Prioritization of requirements is also critical. Make sure the team works on the most important things first. Chaney commented that 20% of processes are used 80% of the time, so if a team can get that core 20% “Leaned,” then they’ve addressed 80% of inefficiencies. He suggested prototyping the top 5 processes to show significant improvement early on, and to get everyone on board to expand the project across the enterprise.

Finally, Chaney encouraged rewarding the team if they have done a good job and are tracking ahead of schedule. Morale is very important to any process improvement initiative. If the team is not productively moving, they’re not really adding value.  So, if they’ve achieved their goal for a particular day, tell them to take the rest of the day off, and they will ultimately be more productive in the future.

Want to watch this webinar? Check it out as an onDemand webcast .

And don’t forget to sign up for the final webinar in Metastorm’s Lean Webinar Series, Lean to the Power of Three, which will run twice on Thursday, March 4, 2010 at 9:00 AM EST and 1:00 PM EST.

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The modern day Lean does not have to be about formal methodologies – the new Lean is about productivity, efficiency and competitive advantage. It is about doing business smarter and faster by squeezing out underutilized resources and eliminating time wasters. The new Lean applies to every industry, and it is becoming a top agenda item for CIOs everywhere. Metastorm’s Lean webinar series is designed to empower organizations to “get Lean” with enterprise architecture (EA), business process analysis (BPA) and business process management (BPM) to help cut costs, improve productivity and lower risk in smart ways that will enable them to gain a competitive advantage now, and to accelerate success in the future.

The following are featured in Metastorm’s Lean webinar series:

Lean Enterprise Architecture: EA Can Be Fast & Agile
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Session1: 6:00am PT/9:00am ET/2:00pm GMT
Session 2: 10:00am PT/ 1:00pm ET/ 6:00pm GMT

In the “new normal” of today’s operating environment, it is more important than ever to make the most of your enterprise resources. Well targeted enterprise architecture initiatives can help you achieve more, better and faster, with the same or fewer resources. Productivity, efficiency, optimal use of assets both in-house and in the “cloud” – that’s what Lean EA can deliver. Learn from a hands-on EA and BPM practitioner who has successfully implemented Lean EA techniques tied directly into business process management for fast, practical results. To register, visit http://www.metastorm.com/news/webinars.asp

Business Process Analysis: Identify & Eliminate the Fat in Your Processes
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Session1: 6:00am PT/9:00am ET/2:00pm GMT
Session 2: 10:00am PT/ 1:00pm ET/ 6:00pm GMT

To get Lean, you need to know where the fat is, and therefore where you have opportunities to be more efficient and productive. But where do you start when your organization is comprised of literally hundreds or thousands of business processes? Business process analysis software provides built-in expertise and algorithms to zero in on the best and worst areas of your processes and simulate changes that will deliver better results – no PhD required! This webinar will explore how packaged BPA software can give you the insight you need to make effective process changes that take into account all dependencies and a variety of objectives – including cost, time and profit. To register, visit http://www.metastorm.com/news/webinars.asp

Getting Leaner Faster with Business Process Management
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Session1: 6:00am PT/9:00am ET/2:00pm GMT
Session 2: 10:00am PT/ 1:00pm ET/ 6:00pm GMT
BPM has been hailed as one of the best and fastest ways to operate in a leaner, more optimized manner. But a critical question is what BPM approaches can allow you to get lean the fastest, with the greatest certainty and with the largest business results? Get advice from a hands-on CMMI, Six Sigma and Lean practitioner who has successfully implemented roundtrip process improvements complete with metrics and significant, quantifiable benefits to productivity and efficiency. To register, visit http://www.metastorm.com/news/webinars.asp

Lean to the Power of 3
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Session1: 6:00am PT/9:00am ET/2:00pm GMT
Session 2: 10:00am PT/ 1:00pm ET/ 6:00pm GMT
Are your goals out of sync with reality? Is the business out of sync with IT? Failing to align strategy with execution and difficulty aligning business and IT are two of the most fundamental issues standing in the way of optimizing organizational productivity, efficiency and performance. To truly “get Lean,” you need greater visibility into and collaboration on what matters most. Learn from industry experts who have successfully used EA, BPA and BPM software together to bridge these gaps – with significant improvements in the business. To register, visit http://www.metastorm.com/news/webinars.asp

For more Lean resources, visit http://www.metastorm.com/solutions/horizontal/lean-solutions.asp

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Of course this new, unwavering display of willpower and drive usually lasts until around March when gym attendance slowly trickles back to its normal, pre-resolution-season numbers. But there are always those dedicated few who come out on top – leaner, more agile and energized, and of course, healthier and more resilient than ever before.

A recent Financial Times post outlines ways that we can increase our chances of being successful with our fitness resolutions – one being to enlist a personal trainer. Another important element to a successful resolution season (and beyond!) is of course, to evaluate the way we treat our bodies – Are we drinking enough water? Are we wasting calories on poor food choices? Are we getting enough sleep, or spending too much time watching television?

This really comes down to one essential question— Are we allocating our time and resources to ensure that our bodies are running at optimal efficiency?

A few months ago I explained that businesses are just like the human body – living, growing and continually changing. So shouldn’t you pay attention to how you allocate your time and resources within your organization? Just like your body, your business can also get Lean to become more agile and productive, and healthier and more resilient than ever!

Set a fitness resolution for your business in the New Year, and let us be your personal trainer! You can fast track your efforts to get Lean in 2010 with help from Metastorm’s Enterprise Architecture and Business Process Management software. Using Metastorm as your platform for getting Lean will enable you to:

• Analyze your operations and infrastructure to identify underutilized resources,
• Run process scenarios to figure out how to accelerate cycle times and improve results,
• Identify where time is wasted and improve on those business processes,
• Automate processes to increase efficiency, save money, and become more agile – do more with less, and
• Give your employees a toolset that will make them more productive from Day One.

With Metastorm’s help your organization can lose the ‘fat,’ accelerate results and rev up the corporate metabolism!

Want to know more about your organization’s connection to the human body? Read this recent article by Laura Mooney, Vice President of Corporate Communications at Metastorm.

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Coinciding with the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, IDC released a buzz-generating report that found that 5.8 billion tons of CO2 emissions could be eliminated by 2020 with the help of certain green technologies.

The report examined four major economic sectors including the transport sector, which, according to the findings, needs to focus on supply chain logistics and private transport optimization for emissions reductions, and placed IT investments that enhance supply chain logistics among the most important to CO2 emissions reduction within this sector.

Streamlining supply chains is more than just a green initiative, however. In the new normal economy, technology is making the world smaller while greatly increasing the scope of business operations. Organizations who invest in IT to achieve the most agile and cost and resource effective supply chain will realize exponential ROI to outperform their competition.

Emphasizing this importance, respondents in another recent report Greater Innovation through Closer Collaboration said that it is critical for their corporation to respond to “competitive pressures to improve productivity and performance and customer demands for greater speed and visibility into supply and delivery chains” in order for them to survive in today’s fast-paced global marketplace.

The good news is that innovative technology solutions like business process management (BPM), business process analysis (BPA) and enterprise architecture (EA) can help you holistically model and analyze your supply chain and your entire enterprise, test the effects of potential change, and then execute leaner, meaner, and yes, even greener processes across your organization to achieve overall enterprise optimization by eliminating waste and accelerating performance.

Want to know more?

Metastorm’s complimentary eBook Green BPM- The Best Kept Secret for Meeting Your Company’s Green Mandates explains how BPM can help organizations:

• Reduce paper consumption,
• Reduce fuel and transport costs,
• And, of course achieve greater efficiency in their manufacturing and supply chain processes.

This eBook is absolutely a must-read whether you are looking to purify your enterprise for greater business value, to go green, or both!

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On the fence about a BPM investment?

A recent research report from AIIM,“Business Process Management- are we making the most of content-driven processes?” reported that 72% of organizations using BPM received a 100% payback in their BPM investment within 2 years, with 50% of those surveyed receiving a full payback within 18 months.

Ok, so you’re a believer—but what about the rest of your organization?

After nearly a decade of market research on what drives successful BPM implementations, the answer for what prevents them is consistently “lack of sponsorship” by upper management. In other words, the single largest hurdle to BPM implementation is cited as finding someone (an executive or a department) to pay for and champion it.

Want to build a business case for your BPM investment to get that upper management support that your project needs? Check out our complimentary whitepaper, “Building a Business Case for BPM- a Fast Path to Real Results.”

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A recent article from Society for Computers & Law features Laura Mooney, vice president of corporate communications for Metastorm, discussing how firms such as Allen & Overy, DLA, Duane Morris, Eversheds, Foley & Lardner, Freshfields, Hogan & Hartson, and Jones Day are increasingly implementing business process management (BPM) technology to help drive business efficiencies.

Many firms, prior to implementing a BPM solution, encounter problems that inhibit their overall performance in areas like productivity and revenue, regulatory compliance and customer service. However, with the help of innovative solutions like BPM, practices can strategically automate core processes—like new business intake, for example— which can dramatically reduce time, labor and supply costs across the firm.

Firms can leverage BPM software to achieve regulatory compliance and reduce risk to save hundreds of thousands of pounds on annual liability insurance premiums. Because BPM automates human-centric processes, it ensures repeatability and consistency in processes and enforces business rules and levels of authority in all actions. Every action taken in a process is captured into an online audit trail that can be viewed, analyzed and used during an auditing period, which helps firms maintain regulatory compliance.

With the functionality created through BPM firms can quickly achieve measurable results such as a decrease in duplicate data entry, errors and omissions and administrative overhead while centralizing reuse of existing data, systems and technologies through seamless integration.

BPM technology helps law firms achieve a competitive advantage by increasing efficiency and reducing costs while enabling superior client service, all of which are critical to success.

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Some states, however, are proactively turning toward innovative IT initiatives to achieve greater efficiency in their tax collection process– with the goal of extracting the greatest value possible from their underfunded budgets.

For example, one of Metastorm’s state government customers used Metastorm BPM® as a foundation for developing a streamlined, simplified and centralized system for managing liens and tax information within its Department of Revenue—the department that is responsible for collecting personal income tax, sales and use tax, all corporate taxes, inheritance tax and all other state taxes. The department used BPM to develop a single system that houses all tax data—allowing employees to easily access taxpayer information in real-time, and more accurately enforce the collection of delinquent accounts. Prior to implementation, it took the department up to 4 weeks to research and gather information on particular tax liens. Now it takes less than a day.

The reality is that states will continue to struggle with budget deficits as the country weathers the current economic storm. Fortunately, however, as governments reevaluate their IT spending to best utilize their resources through business process management and enterprise architecture initiatives, their overall efficiency will be greatly strengthened today and in years to come.

Because states cannot best utilize funds without perfecting their collecting process, a great starting point for these initiatives is leveraging BPM to create efficiencies in the area of tax revenue collection.

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