Michelman & Robinson, LLP (M&R), a national law firm, was faced with the challenge of transitioning from a paper-based workflow system to an automated one. The firm needed a system that would not only simplify processes for its partners and employees but also comply with the regulations of the legal profession. The initial system they chose was successful, but a buyout of its software provider and the discontinuation of upgrades to its system necessitated a search for a new provider of workflow management that would integrate with other existing systems. The firm needed a workflow management system that would work with the Omega time-entry system and was configurable and easy to adapt to change at a sensible cost point.

Cardinal Logistics Management, Inc., a leading logistics provider in North America, faced significant operational challenges as it expanded. The company's traditional method of manually processing requests or using disjointed desktop databases for communication between field locations was becoming increasingly inefficient and disorganized. Each department had its own processes and preferred communication methods, which led to confusion and inefficiency. The company needed a standardized and streamlined process to manage workflow better, improve customer service, and continue its growth. Additionally, as the company prepared for its future public offering, it needed a system that would comply with the Sarbanes-Oxley requirements for publicly-held businesses. This included the need to verify all P&L input from employees at all levels of the company.

Island Insurance, a Hawaii-based property and casualty insurance company, faced a significant challenge in managing its rigorous audit and compliance requirements. The company's Chief Information Officer, Jeff Fabry, recognized that the stringent standards for information handling and tracking in the insurance industry were putting the company at risk due to reliance on manual processes. The company needed to improve its processes and procedures for granting access to resources, control over who had access to sensitive customer data, and visibility and instant access to records of their IT transactions. The company was externally audited every year, and the intensity of privacy, PCI, and identity theft concerns were increasing annually. The company needed a solution that could automate these processes and provide a robust audit trail.

HealthStream, a provider of internet-based solutions for the healthcare industry, was facing challenges in managing its rapidly growing operations. The company was struggling to efficiently track the progress of various processes, particularly its pricing request process. The efficient and timely response to pricing requests was crucial for meeting customer needs and expanding HealthStream’s customer base. The company needed a process management solution that could handle the demanding turnaround of pricing requests from its sales team and be flexible enough to track other processes like software implementation, travel requests, IT hardware and software requests, and expense reporting. The company’s IT managers were hesitant to commit to and invest in software that may not meet their needs once implemented. HealthStream was looking for a cost-effective solution that didn’t require a large upfront investment.

Acklands-Grainger (AGI), Canada’s largest distributor of MRO (Maintenance, Repair, Operating) products, was facing a significant challenge with its IT request form system. As a company with 2,000 employees, distributing over 60,000 in-stock items annually to more than 70,000 customers, AGI had outgrown its e-mail driven IT request form system. The system, which was housed in public folders on a network server, was proving to be unmanageable and lacked a traceable method of processing and fulfilling equipment requests, account set-ups, and service requests. The company needed to replace its email-driven request management and change management systems in the IT department with an automated system that provided electronic approvals and a real-time tracking system with built-in workflow. Additionally, AGI needed a way to track and archive data necessary for compliance under the Sarbanes-Oxley regulations.

Northern Natural Gas (Northern), a Nebraska-based company operating an interstate natural gas pipeline, was facing challenges with its approval process. As the company expanded, the approval process became increasingly cumbersome and time-consuming for its 1,100 employees. The process, which relied on email and manual forwarding of messages for requests and approvals, lacked a reliable audit trail, leading to requests often getting lost in the routing process. Northern sought a solution that would provide secure, automatic notification of approvals, saving employees' time. They needed an audit-compliant security approval process with a reliable audit trail. The solution had to be fully functional, integrating seamlessly with existing systems at an affordable price. Furthermore, Northern required a product that could handle all levels of requests, from customer service interaction to internal employee matters.

Nick-at-Nite and TVLand, both served by one sponsor promotions team, faced a significant challenge in their On-Air Sponsor Promotions department. The team was responsible for recruiting sponsors for special programming on the networks, a process that required collecting information from five separate departments and obtaining each department’s approval on the sales sheet before it could be sent to the salespeople. The approval process was often delayed due to the requirement for each department’s representative to physically sign off on each sales sheet. This led to sales sheets being held up in in-boxes or on the desks of employees who were out of the office. As a result, special programming sponsorships were often undersold or unsold because the sales team didn’t receive the package information in time to contact potential sponsors. The team needed an automated, cost-efficient solution that would streamline the approval process and provide a complete record of the process and approvals.

Affiliated Computer Services, Inc. (ACS) developed PrePass, an automatic vehicle identification (AVI) system that allows commercial vehicles to bypass designated weigh stations, port-of-entry facilities, and agricultural interdiction facilities. However, PrePass faced significant challenges in maintaining system reliability and accountability, which were crucial given its importance to the Motor Carrier Industry and Federal and State agencies. The existing mechanisms for reporting system defects, enhancements, or requests for system data were inconsistent and subjective. This lack of an effective monitoring system led to a focus on maintaining system stability and addressing immediate issues, rather than innovating or expanding the product portfolio. PrePass needed a holistic, automated approach that would allow them to track defects, identify recurring product weaknesses, and focus on critical path items.

MT Højgaard, a leading construction company in Denmark, faced a significant challenge when a subsidiary needed to retire several aging web applications and workflows used by over 400 field staff. The company had been using Lotus Notes, but the software hadn't seen development in three to four years, making the shift to online a significant challenge for the users. The company's subsidiary, Lindpro, had several outdated ASP.NET web applications running on Windows 2003 servers that needed to connect to the enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. Lindpro was also concerned about preserving the workflows staff used in the field. The existing forms were hosted in a central location that was slated for decommission, making it critical to improve the system while preserving their data for all projects.

The University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Health (UCH) was facing a significant challenge in maintaining productivity due to cumbersome manual processes. These processes were not only slowing down operations but also making it difficult for the organization to comply with patient privacy and security regulations. The manual onboarding process for new employees and the process for closing accounts and access when an employee left the organization were particularly time-consuming. These processes, while compliant with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 and other patient privacy and system security regulations, were taking an inordinate amount of IT staff time and attention. The organization was in need of a solution that could streamline these processes and accommodate growth without compromising on patient care.

KBA, Inc., a Seattle-based construction management firm, was facing a significant challenge when its public-sector clients tightened their construction project budgets following the recession in the late 2000s. The firm needed to enhance its efficiency and client satisfaction to stay competitive. The company identified its document management processes as a key area for improvement. The existing paper-based processes were prone to delays and errors, and manually keyed spreadsheets were also error-prone, with a risk of version control problems as they were circulated within the organization. Even when business processes worked as intended, they drove up administrative costs. When they didn’t work as intended, they could also increase project costs and decrease client satisfaction. The company tried InfoPath forms and SharePoint Forms, but found them either too complex or not sufficiently customizable and mobile-friendly.

Adventist Health System, a healthcare organization with over 78,000 employees across 44 facilities in 10 states, was facing a significant challenge in managing their ordering processes. The system, which was primarily based on verbal and email orders, was proving to be inefficient and time-consuming. The IT department was spending excessive time handling a mix of paper form requests, verbal requests, and a flurry of follow-up emails for new equipment and business card requests. The process was not only cumbersome but also prone to errors and delays. The inaccuracies in the system often led to late deliveries of computer equipment and inaccuracies in business cards. The challenge was to find a solution that could automate this process, reduce errors, and free up the IT staff to focus on other critical tasks.

Hawke’s Bay Regional Council (HBRC) in New Zealand was facing a significant challenge in ensuring the safety of their waterways. The council needed to gather water testing results efficiently and accurately for decision-making purposes. The process involved field scientists collecting up to 50 samples in a single day from various locations. Along with the samples, the scientists had to manage stacks of paper forms that often ended up damp, muddy, or lost due to environmental conditions. The data from these forms then had to be manually entered into the system, a process that was prone to errors and inefficiencies. The council had previously attempted to digitize the forms using various data collection and management systems, but these attempts were unsuccessful, leading to inefficiencies and inaccuracies.

The Insurance Fraud Bureau of Massachusetts (IFB) was grappling with a paper-intensive process for handling insurance fraud cases. The bureau investigates approximately 4,000 potential fraud cases annually, managing numerous documents related to these investigations. Eighty percent of these documents were paper-based, and 20 percent were electronic. The process involved bundling up paper documents and printing out electronic documents related to a case, resulting in boxes of documents. These boxes would not reach the assigned investigator until someone visited the regional office where the investigator worked, causing delays of up to a week. The manual, paper-based review process also posed a risk of lost documents and wasted time spent tracking down documents. The limited visibility of relevant documents for others on the investigation team also delayed processing. Furthermore, the bureau's decision to keep documents for three years instead of one year created additional storage challenges.

Arizona Electric Power Cooperative was facing significant challenges in managing the engineering drawings that support its generation assets and Southwest Transmission Cooperative’s system. The process of making changes to these drawings was extensive and manual, often taking months to be incorporated into the system. This delay resulted in version control issues, as engineers could not be certain if a drawing on the cooperative’s SharePoint was the most up-to-date version. The cooperative maintains tens of thousands of drawings, and changes to a drawing meant a slow and manual change order process. The cooperative’s engineering records library contains about 50,000 records, including versioned, finalized documents, reference material, and unincorporated documents. The existing system was not effectively managing the versioning of these unincorporated documents.

ANZ Bank, one of the fastest-growing banks in Indonesia, was grappling with the inefficiencies and governance challenges of manual processes. The bank's rapidly increasing transaction volume was overwhelming its existing business processes and workflow. The manual handling of document submission and verification, particularly for loan and ATM applications, was slowing down customer service and making governance difficult. The bank was also struggling with the complexities of regulatory compliance, including the Foreign Accounts Compliance Act. The bank needed a scalable, standardized solution that could enhance operational efficiencies, provide workflow transparency, electronic collaboration, and document storage, and scale easily to support business growth.

BGC Engineering, a Canadian applied earth sciences company, was facing challenges with its traditional data collection model. The company, which provides consulting services to various industries, had to manually collect data at many of its remote project sites due to lack of connectivity. This process was not only time-consuming but also prone to transcription errors and missing data. The company's standard laptops were not durable enough for job site use, and while Toughbooks were used when electronic devices were needed, they were not an optimal solution. BGC needed a solution that would improve data collection efficiency, reduce the need for multiple site visits, and optimize its field information capture and customer reporting processes.

Buckman, a global leader in specialty chemicals, was facing significant challenges with its procurement processes. The company was heavily reliant on email-based, manual processes for purchasing, which resulted in a backlog in employee inboxes and procurement delays of up to five weeks. This not only slowed down the overall business operations but also affected the company's ability to respond to customer needs in a timely manner. The inefficiencies in the procurement process were costing the company both time and money, and there was a clear need for a solution that could streamline and automate these processes.

Bender Group, a global leader in monitoring systems for electrical safety, was grappling with inefficient internal processes that were largely paper-based. These processes were not only time-consuming but also prone to errors and delays, which affected the overall productivity of the company. The company's Quality Management team, responsible for maintaining the high-quality standards of Bender's products, was particularly affected by these inefficiencies. The paper-based process for submitting faults was error-prone and typically took three to four days. Additionally, Bender was facing the challenge of knowledge retention, with many of its long-serving employees nearing retirement. The company wanted to capture and retain the valuable knowledge and understanding of its systems and products that these employees possessed.

BC Ferries, a major transportation company in Canada, was struggling with a time-consuming and inefficient method of manually revising and distributing paper-based process and procedure information to its 35 ships and 47 terminals. This posed a significant risk as employees might not receive important safety updates in a timely manner. The company was also facing challenges in maintaining up-to-date printed policies and procedures across its vast network. The manual process of updating policies and procedures involved physical sign-offs, leading to version control issues and confusion about who needed to approve which changes. This laborious process was so time-intensive that updates were only provided once or twice a year.

Industry Fund Services (IFS), a leading Australian wealth management firm, was facing challenges in improving their IT and production processes for new employees and customer interactions. The firm was dealing with repetitive processes and was looking for a way to onboard new staff quickly and efficiently. The company also needed to increase staff and customer engagement to retain its competitive edge. IFS was dealing with complex security issues due to its staff working all over Australia. The company had a poor track record with poorly configured SharePoint systems in other companies, which hid some of the programs most useful features and functionality. This led to several IFS employees expressing concerns about the implementation of a SharePoint solution.

Lippuner, a Switzerland-based energy company, was grappling with an outdated, paper-based system for ordering supplies such as smartphones and marketing materials. This inefficient process was not only time-consuming for employees but also cost the company money. The process involved employees physically going to the HR department to fill out a paper form to order a new phone, which would then take two to three weeks to arrive. With nearly 350 employees across four sites in different cities ordering phones every two years, the paper-based forms were causing significant delays and adding unnecessary time to the process. Additionally, the company had to manage over 450 orders per year across 41 different marketing material items from four offices spread widely over Switzerland, which was challenging with the existing system.

University College (UCC), a Denmark-based educational institution, was grappling with a manual, paper-based payroll and expense reporting system. The process was not only cumbersome but also inefficient, leading to higher administrative costs, poor data quality, and an increase in support requests. The proctor staff members, who were paid hourly, had to fill out paper timesheets and expense reports, which were then manually approved by managers. This resulted in delayed paychecks and an increase in complaints and administrative roll-backs. The institution urgently needed to resolve the situation, but it lacked the necessary budget and skilled resources.

New Belgium Brewing Co., a leading craft brewer in the United States, faced significant challenges as it expanded from producing five beers a year to over 30. The company's existing communication and planning methods, which relied heavily on email, meetings, and SharePoint, were proving inadequate for the increased scale of operations. The brewery was concerned about potential communication gaps and missed details that could hinder its success. The process of launching a new beer involved multiple departments, dozens of employees, and several processes, making it a complex task. The company's reliance on email communication and SharePoint to track tasks was slowing down the launch schedule, a risk the company could not afford in a competitive market with new breweries opening every year.

Kaspersky Lab, a leading global IT security company, was facing a significant challenge in managing its internal processes. The company operates in almost 200 countries and serves over 300 million users, making it a highly process-driven organization. The Internal Automation team at Kaspersky Lab was tasked with developing a large number of workflows for its internal customer base. However, the team was struggling with a growing backlog of workflow automation projects. The need for speed was paramount, but the team didn't have the time to learn and implement a complex workflow tool. The core functions that required immediate attention included contracts management, consolidation of financial reports, business trip approval, intellectual property management, and marketing development funds distribution.

GBM Minerals Engineering Consultants Limited, a UK-based firm that designs and manages the construction of minerals extraction plants, was facing challenges with its legacy system used for managing complex project documentation processes. The system lacked functionality, was slow to use, and difficult to scale. This was a significant issue as the nature of GBM's business required strict attention to document management for proper project execution. Inefficient processes could lead to incorrect specifications, resulting in wrong materials and equipment being shipped to site, construction delays, and budget blowouts. Therefore, GBM needed to keep careful track of its documentation and closely manage transmittals—specific sets of version-controlled documents—sent to clients.

Klinikum Wels-Grieskirchen, the fifth-largest hospital in Austria, was faced with a significant challenge during a period of business transformation. The hospital, which cares for over 75,000 patients annually, was tasked with implementing and managing 100 projects simultaneously across its 30 departments and institutes. This was due to recent reforms in Austria that mandated healthcare centers to institute process and infrastructure changes throughout all departments. The hospital needed an agile, centralized project management tool to help organize and track company-wide efforts and help employees retrieve project-related information quickly. Prior to this, the organization had been using a SharePoint platform based on Microsoft SharePoint Foundation for document management.

KupiVip, an online fashion retailer based in Moscow, Russia, was facing a significant challenge in its legal department. The approval process for legal documentation was inefficient and time-consuming, leading to a growing backlog of files waiting to be processed. The department, responsible for regulatory compliance, resolving corporate legal issues, contract development and approval, organization of the legal workflow, and providing legal support for departments across the company, was struggling to streamline approvals due to the large backlog of files. The lack of a defined archive for storing and tracking documents as they moved amongst stakeholders further complicated the process. The team needed a more efficient process to improve the speed and quality of its processed documents, and a secure way to organize and store files that were in the approval process.

Epson America, a company known for its consumer and commercial products, was facing a significant challenge in optimizing the conversion of its leads. The company's commercial products group, through campaigns such as “Where There’s Business, There’s Epson,” was generating between 40,000 to 60,000 leads each year. However, the responsibility of optimizing the conversion of these leads fell on Chris Nickel, Sr. Commercial Marketing Manager for Epson America’s five commercial groups. The challenge was that there was no solid process in place for managing these leads, and the situation was further complicated as the company extended its product lines. The effectiveness of lead management was also hindered by a lack of visibility into lead follow-up, making it difficult to track and optimize conversion rates.

Sunset World, a company with six resorts and travel services brands in Cancun and the Riviera Maya, was facing a significant challenge in managing its high volume of leads. The company's promotional campaigns could generate up to a million leads a week from various promotions and sweepstakes used to market to prospective guests from Canada to South America. The sales and marketing team was struggling to handle this volume of leads effectively. The company's CIO, Edgar Osorios, recognized the need for a more personalized way to engage prospects beyond generic emails and telemarketing scripts. The challenge was to find a solution that could handle the high volume of leads and provide a more personalized experience for potential guests.