Automating time-consuming, manual and typically paper-driven processes is the bread and butter of a whole sector of the business software industry. The benefits of business process management (BPM), which provide for accurately mapping, understanding and automating the exchange of information to support a business process, rather than using physical pieces of paper, provides for substantial benefits in efficiency, accuracy, reliability and measurability. But such approaches, says Tim Stanley, Global 360 sales director, do have limitations.
“Most BPM solutions are designed to cope with synchronous processes, which are standardised, repeatable and have a defined journey from beginning to end. However, many sectors, such as justice, health or financial services, rely on long-running processes that are complex, utilise content-rich artefacts, and which can take different turns depending on preceding inputs and additional specific information or content that is added at any particular time.”
For these kinds of processes, Stanley says case management is the answer for automation that can cope with complexity and the ability to handle ad hoc process requirements, but still maintain a high degree of control and measurability. Case management, in effect, combines the best of BPM along with the ability to manage content that is related to these processes.
“The information and documents acquired and related to these processes need to be kept in a single container, which we refer to as a case folder,” Stanley says.
Several good examples for case management can be found in areas such as the police and justice cluster, insurance underwriting or claims processing, asset management and even student or customer administration. Here, a process could begin when a person initiates an interaction that is usually followed by some form of document-based activity. For example, in the case of an insurance claim, a claims folder is created, statements are taken, police records may need to be obtained, and an independent assessor reviews the claim and assists in the decision to pursue or decline the claim. “These processes need to follow a strict approval process and has many artefacts which must be stored and associated with or attached to the claim docket as the case moves through the various business areas.
“But it is not just about the storage of content,” says Stanley. “During the life cycle of that case folder, other activities could be initiated that need to follow a defined process, and relies on the existing, or even new artefacts that will be added to the case folder.”
A case management software solution provides for the automation of these processes, while still allowing for the many varying process-related functions to be managed and monitored, and further resulting artefacts to be attached to it. The result is an electronically enforced chain of control, which ensures that nothing is mislaid and that the full details of the case can be retrieved accurately and easily.
However, despite the many applications for case management, and since a great deal of business types feature complex ad hoc processes, the concept is not well understood. Says Stanley: “Case management is something of an anomaly in that it is not a pure process management solution, but one driven more by ad hoc events that are closely related to content such as documents, images or other digital assets. The focus of information and processes are around a single entity - an asset, customer or student.”
There is often no clearly defined start or end to the process and the case and artefacts associated to it can remain active for years, even decades, he notes. “The case folder, therefore, is a very powerful way to provide a single view of the entity.”
Stanley says case management was more popular in the early adoption of BPM several years ago, especially when content workflow was seen as the silver bullet to all process problems. As this approach has matured, it appears that the process model has taken precedence to how work is done, not always with the desired results.
“The concept of case management has recently achieved increased focus as companies see this as a more suitable alternative to typical synchronous process management,” he says.
This has prompted industry and technology analysts to take a fresh look at this domain, which has resulted in some interesting articles on the topic. One of the more recent white papers drafted on the subject is by well know analyst, Bruce Silver.
Should you wish to review this white paper, please feel free to download it from: http://www.global360.com/xres/uploads/resource-center-documents/Case_Management_WP_final.pdf
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