IT DRILLDOWN
 
NEWSLETTERS
 

CIO.com updates, insights and advice on technology, management and your career.

 
 
 
LEADERSHIP
 
CIO Executive Programs
The Leader in Face-to-Face Education for Senior Executives

Offering regional and national programs, CIO (and CSO) events bring together some of the most respected names and thought leaders in information technology and security. Presented by CIOs and other senior level executives, these invitation-only programs offer timely topics and strong networking. Learn More »

 
CIO Executive Council
A Peer-Advisory Service and Professional Association for CIOs

Social Responsibility's Strategic Benefits

December 15, 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM US/Eastern (GMT-5)

Join Ed Granger-Happ, CIO of Save the Children, for a discussion of how creating an organization that is socially responsible improves staffing, retention, leadership development and overall corporate health.

Working With and Communicating to Your Board of Directors

January 13, 2009, 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM US/Eastern (GMT-5)

CIO panelists who will share tips and experiences working with their boards: Twila Day of SYSCO; Jeff O'Hare, West Corp.; Marc West, formerly with H&R Block.

IT's Role in Growing Mid-Market Companies

January 14, 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM ET (GMT-5)

Mid-market Council members will share their companies' stories and challenges in driving or coping with growth. Panelists represent Veterinary Pet Insurance, Medicis Pharmaceutical, and Intrax Cultural Exchange.

More / Register »

Learn more about the CIO Executive Council »



 
 
RESOURCE CENTER
 
 
 
SUBSCRIBE TO CIO
 
Are you involved in setting the direction for your company's IT budget or strategy?

Apply today for a FREE subscription to CIO Magazine!

 
 
 

Making Workflow Work and Flow for You

Workflow isn't rocket science, but it isn't magic either. While workflow can make major improvements in the way an organization runs, it achieves that goal only when its principles are applied correctly. We explain the success factors and the benefits that the process can provide.

 

October 23, 2007CIO — From a business perspective, workflow is a way to make people, information and computers work together consistently and efficiently to produce the results the business needs. In effect, workflow applies the equivalent of systems analysis to the entire process, not just to the part done on a machine.

From a bottom line perspective, adding workflow to a process saves money, increases customer satisfaction, gets results quicker and largely eliminates things getting lost in the shuffle.

From a manager's perspective, the most important benefits to workflow are saving cost and saving time.

"With workflow, the process is really in focus," says Wilhelm Ederyd, a technical project manager at Bonver, a major Scandinavian distributor of home entertainment products, such as films and music. Another benefit, Ederyd says, is "hiding unnecessary complexity from the users."

As an example of a typical workflow, Ederyd cites building support for individuals and businesses ordering broadband services via the Internet, postal mail and e-mail. "This can be a rather complex process, with the need for the systems and personnel to interact efficiently in order to make the process slim and pleasant to the customer," Ederyd explains.

You can think of workflow as systems analysis that mixes humans, machines, documents and other information. In Edervd's case, he designed the process for ordering and installing the broadband connection for the customer. Typically that means—given a whole raft of business requirements generated by others—working out how the process would flow from the customer's initial contact to the actual installation: who does what, what the IT system does, when decisions were made and who made them. If you were doing this all on a computer, you'd probably call it "systems analysis."

Ederyd's example is a classic case: a fairly complex, multi-step process where computers and people have to interact as smoothly and efficiently as possible. It's also a process that is exposed to the customer, and delays or mistakes can damage customer relationships.

For Defense Health, an Australian insurance company, customer relationships were particularly important. "We needed a system that would let us answer a customer's question up front rather than saying 'We'll call you back,'" says Andrew Guerin, COO of Defense Health. For Guerin, that meant having processes in place to access information as quickly as possible. Using workflow tools from OpenText, the company designed processes that combined IT systems, documents and people to get a handle on customer queries quickly.

Loading...
 
 
ABCs
 

Just the basics, please. Sometimes we all need a refresher or we need to make sure our team and our colleagues are all on the same page.

Over 25 tutorials on everything from business intelligence to virtualization.

 
 
FEATURED SPONSORS
 
 
 
SPONSORED LINKS
 

Learn how the new Quad-Core AMD Opteron™ processor improves performance

The Link Between APM and Customer Satisfaction

Providing Around-the-Clock Customer Satisfaction

IT Service Management: Metrics That Matter

How to Start a PMO & Realize the Benefits Fast

The Future is Fusion. Only from AMD. Learn more

Google Case Study: Kimberly-Clark

Project Portfolio Management - Boost the Value of IT

IT Cost Transparency & Performance Management for Optimizing IT

SAS a Leader in Forrester BI report. Click here to see evaluation.

Protect data-HP All-in-One and Disk-Based systems

Microsoft SQL Server 2008. Read Case Studies, Watch Demos, & Download for Free

The 2008 CEO Study: Implications for the CIO

HP LaserJet P4014n printer starting at $799 after $100 IS. www.hp.com

NEW HP Color LaserJet CP3525n printer starting at $699. » SHOP NOW. www.hp.com

Predict the future with HP Insight Power Manager

A new level of interoperability. Make IT Work As One@novell.com

Businesses Transform with VMware Virtualization

IT Service Management: Metrics That Matter

Download the free CIO Starter Kit to access useful resources created by top CIOs

Log onto Hitachi True Stories, films inspired by the next great achievement

Request a Novell/Microsoft deployment workshop

Strong Authentication. Secure USB data storage. One Device

Build up or Tear down? See how UC makes sense with Nortel. Calculate your UC ROI

SOA Educational Library at the TIBCO SOA Resource Center

APM Solutions: A Window into Complex Web Applications

APM Solutions Offer Insight into Complex Web Applications

Optimizing Infrastructure Control

Configuration Assessment: Choosing the Right Solution

AMD. The Future is Fusion

Google Case Study: Sunnybrook Health Sciences

Portfolio Management for Effective IT Governance

Telepresence - A Realistic Solution Connecting a Global Workforce

New research validates telepresence solutions.

Predict the future with HP Insight Power Manager

Drive Business Value with Enterprise Social Computing - whitepaper

See how IBM helped Bharti create a new business model

Read how IBM helped Hughes enhance security

HP LaserJet M3035 MFP series starting at $1,599. » SHOP NOW. www.hp.com

NEW HP Color LaserJet CM3530n MFP starting at $2,499. » SHOP NOW. www.hp.com

Affordable technology-no compromise. HP server solutions

Make IT Work As One@novell.com

Learn about the software-based VoIP solution from Microsoft

CIO Starter Kit includes useful resources created by top CIOs. Free Download>>

Rolling the dice with your security? Take the Self-Assessment Test now

Request a Novell/Microsoft deployment workshop and kit

Request a Novell/Microsoft deployment kit

Compuware.com - See how we make IT rock around the world

Discover PMI's credentials and career path tools

Learn how companies are changing how they reach out to their most profitable customers.