BPM: keeping it flexible

"We wanted an automation tool that would support us in growth mode and allow us to add clients while maintaining our level of service," says Rob Brown, VP of sales and marketing at RDX. "Our clients are carrying out transactions such as processing credit card data, so we have to ensure a high level of compliance in our support." At the same time, human action and expertise plays a major role in network maintenance, so collaboration within the context of workflow was also essential.

Resolve automates the testing of IT resources to determine whether performance is within specified levels, and also handles the initial customer response. Decision trees for those processes are developed to guide the workflow. The run book associated with the process determines who the customers are and what systems they are using, and then starts testing their services. CPU spikes are a common issue. Brown says, "In the past, our staff would have to log in, look at why the spike occurred and then respond to the customer. With Resolve, the initial testing and response are automated." Technicians can then spend their time on solving the problem rather than doing basic testing and administrative tasks.

The impact of Resolve has been substantial. "In the past, with our proactive monitoring response centers, one person could handle 10 servers," explains Brown. "With gen-E, we had a tenfold increase, so now one person can handle a hundred servers." In addition, the reporting capabilities allow standardized audits and tracking, which provide documentation for compliance purposes.

The social elements in the process automation support a collaborative approach to problem resolution. "If a call comes in and the responder needs to know more about the subject, the social interface allows a subject matter expert to chat with the responder," says Duke Tantiprasut, CTO of gen-E. "Decision trees cannot cover all the alternatives, especially for new processes. In this case, feedback from the team that set up the new process can help everyone become aware of the change."

Resolve is designed to allow subject matter experts to define processes. "The software is very intuitive," Tantiprasut explains. "Building blocks are used to connect to different systems. For example, if information needs to be pulled from a CRM system, they can do that. Processes change all the time, and the ability to adapt is important."