Electronic Management

The next generation of workflow software is making its way into government offices.

Business process management, a method of mapping out a work process, tracking who does what, and automating steps is a supersized version of shared disk drives. Not only can managers look over employees' shoulders and check up on their actions, but they also can reassign tasks, identify holdups and see how work is getting done.

Appian Corp., a Vienna, Va.-based BPM provider, offers software that helps agencies manage their procurements. The product, which is similar to other business process management offerings, features a "dashboard" that tells users where requests and tasks stand and includes potentially useful information, such as a pie chart identifying funding sources. Managers have access to a customized workflow map, which visually shows the steps in the process, from opening a new acquisition request to validating funding and notifying vendors. "The tools we provide . . . connect people and data systems, and measure how well they work together and optimize them," says Michael Beckley, vice president of Appian's product strategy.

If there's a delay, the manager can call the person responsible, or reassign tasks if an employee is overburdened; they also can check that the rules are being followed. Some steps, such as the submission of information to FedBizOpps, the government Web site for posting bid solicitations, are automated. Business process management programs usually are Web-based and interact with applications already on clients' computers, such as e-mail and spreadsheets.

Business process management "is a young and immature market with vast potential," says Connie Moore, an analyst at the Cambridge, Mass.-based Forrester Research Inc. Several companies, including Dallas-based Fuego, are ramping up their presence in Washington because of a marked increase in interest at agencies. That spike can partly be explained by the Office of Management and Budget enterprise architecture initiative, which evaluates agency business processes.

Intelligence, Defense and Homeland Security agencies use the technology, but vendors say they have been instructed to keep the details secret for security reasons. Other government organizations, such as the Marine Corps Systems Command's procurement office in Quantico, Va., use business process management software for less sensitive data.

"It allows us to share information," says Mark A. Hoyland, director of the command's acquisition center for support services, which uses Appian's product. The system links to multiple reporting systems and allows 27 vendors and 1,500 customers (primarily program officers within the command) to access acquisition information from one central Web portal. Hoyland says it cut the time it took to make an award to fewer than 16 days from 45 days and reduced the amount of data entry required by at least 60 percent. He expects the cost reduction to add up to $26 million by the end of fiscal 2005, or 15 percent of the value of awards.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is in the initial phases of implementing HandySoft Global Corp.'s BizFlow software, which Bill Dean, assistant for operations in NRC's office of the executive director for operations, says should help the commission manage its documents and tasks. If a member of Congress asks NRC for information, for example, that request would be entered into the system and employees would receive e-mail reminders when the due date is approaching. Privacy issues, he adds, are not a problem because sensitive and classified information would still be handled manually.

If it seems like there's something mundane about automating tasks and making sure everyone follows the same workflow process, it's because there is-but vendors say clients like it that way. "The stuff you're automating is routine and tedious work. What generally happens is people have more free time and are usually given more interesting tasks," says Phil Gilbert, chief technology officer of Lombardi Software.

And there is no need to fear robotic machines taking over all work, says Jeffrey Mills, a vice president at the Cincinnati-based Bluespring Software. "Most things that occur inside a business require a human being to do something and always will," he says.