Companieshave to meet numerous challenges: products and services must be consistently deliveredto a high level of quality, new products must be developed and introduced onthe market, and actions must be initiated to respond to clients' needs,competitors' moves and changes in the regulatory environment. Due to themultiplicity of tasks, company business processes merge into a complex system runby senior executive in such a way that the company as a whole meets its numberone requirement: to satisfy owners' expectations concerning profit and businessvalue. iPAM™ is aprocess management tool developed by EuroMACC that renders all companyprocesses transparent and manageable. Executives will be able to easily measureand analyze processes, and make tasks and responsibilities clear at alllevels of the company. Linking and automating the processes considerablyincreases the efficiency of the organization: higher performance may bereached with the resources available, new company resources can be identified,while fast and reliable data flow is ensured within the company and towards thepartners.

Who should choose the iPAM™ solution?

iPAM™ provesuseful to all companies with complex organizational structures and operationswith multi-layered tasks, each using different software solutions .iPAM™ middleware functionality brings together the various applicationsand organizes them as a single process.

iPAM™ provides high-level support for quality assurance and qualitymanagement processes. All steps of a work process become traceableand can be documented, as well as the times allotted andresponsibilities assigned to these tasks. These are all importantprerequisites of providing consistent, high-quality services.  

How do you work with the iPAM™ system?

iPAM™ manages processes at all locations and in all relevant organizational units,e.g. from the customer support centre to the call center and the billingdepartment.

Duringthe work process, tasks are performed according to the previously setmethod and deadline. These are typically: decision-making, recording ofinformation and automatic forwarding.

Teamsinvolved in a specific work process are assigned tasks according to a set ofdefined rules, so that each employee sees only their own tasks on theirworkstation. 

MAIN FUNCTIONALITY OF THE iPAM™ SYSTEM

Creation of processmodels

iPAM™ hasall the interfaces required to create process models, keep track of them andallow for changes.

Processmaintenance

• The process elements related to each task may be maintained separately, if required by changes to personnel or resource reallocation. The following maintenance functions are available:
  
• Task maintenance
  
• Organizational unit maintenance
  
• Resource maintenance
  
• User maintenance

Authorizationsharmonized with work processes

Users at alllevels of the company can be granted authorizations according to their role inthe work process. For example, an employee can monitor his or her daily orfuture tasks on screen, while an executive can view the work of all of theemployees and receive status information on individual tasks or largerprocesses.

Creatingconsistent documentation

Standardizedtemplates can be created for a variety of documents, including contracts. TheiPAM^TM system can also export data to Microsoft Word templates, allowingup-to-date documents to be created in Word format.

Middlewarefunctionality and system integration

iPAM™ linksto the software applications of contractors, such as call centers, ERP systemsand billing programs, allowing rapid system integration by associating andsystemizing their data. 

BUSINESS BENEFITS ASSOCIATED WITH USING iPAM™

EXECUTIVEBENEFITS

• Transparent and manageable processes are designed;
  
• Lower costs;
  
• Corporate strategy can be realized more effectively through business processes;
  
• Customer satisfaction can be improved by providing quicker, more consistent services;
  
• These benefits increase the business value of the company.

CONTROLLING BENEFITS

• More controllable and analyzable processes;
  
• Performance can be measured both at individual and group level;
  
• Reduced external and internal communications costs;
  
• A more efficient organization through improved internal collaboration.

QUALITY MANAGEMENT BENEFITS

• ISO specifications can be validated in work processes;
  
• Business processes can be standardized and simplified;
  
• Internal performance and deviation from specified standards can be clearly monitored;
  
• Easy-to-understand and agreed notions can be applied to work processes;
  
• Documentation of processes and sub-processes can be simplified.

IT MANAGEMENT BENEFITS

• iPAM™ works with other applications (such as MS Office, ERP and CRM solutions);
  
• Different applications can be linked (middleware functionality) to achieve systems integration;
  
• Quick, accurate and secure data flow within the organization and towards partners and customers;
  
• Corporate IT strategy goals can be monitored;
  
•  iPAM™ can be integrated with the business applications of other contractors via a number of interfaces.  
  

Example iPAM process: Managing debt collectionprocesses

Acompany has several thousand customers, and offers services of different levels,issuing invoices on a monthly basis. Somecustomers make payments late, and others fail to fulfill their obligations. Asolution is required that makes it possible to manage the debt collectionprocesses quickly, and without delays or errors.

Planningdebt collection processes. The first step is to develop anaccurate process plan. For example: the customer receives notice three daysafter the first instance of late payment; the call center makes a warning callon the 15^th day; service-limitation is initiated after exceeding adebt limit; and finally the contract is terminated and the debt is collected.These processes should be determined in accordance with the business objectivesof the company: Solvent but "undisciplined" customers should not be drivenaway, while insolvent customers should be identified as soon as possible.

Processmanagement. iPAM™ automates processes to shorten debt collectiontimes associated to each customer (from one week to as little as 15 minutes)and practically eliminates any possibility of error. Based on the debtcollection steps incorporated in the process, most customers in arrears willmake s payment, and legal steps are very rarely required. This reduces the timeand cost associated with debt collection significantly.

Ex-postcontrollability and monitoring. The processes defined iniPAM™ provide a quick and efficient response to changes in the businessenvironment. These processes can be extended almost simultaneously as newrequirements arise. The system is tuned on the basis of monitoring data andensures significantly more efficient work processes. iPAM™ allows systematicanalysis of the efficiency of debt collection processes, for example, thedecrease in the number of customers in arrears as a result of automated callcenter calls.

Technical background

iPAM™ runs on IBM System i5 servers installed with theOS/400 operating system. If employed as middleware, the system offers adatabase management and platform independent solution. The system uses IBM DB2 RDBMS for data management, andthe software was compiled in RPG and CL.

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