The age-old expression “fortune favors the bold” means that Fortuna, the Goddess of Luck, is more likely to help those who take risks or action. And, to further reinforce this, it is the motto of the U.S. 3rd Marine Regiment. To us, this particular quote resonates very well in the world of Business Process Management (BPM) and government. Why? Because BPM is all about action. And we have a story about “BPM in Action” that would certainly apply with any government sector.

For many years, it was common knowledge that our Armed Forces, and the Intelligence Community for that matter, grappled with internal information sharing and collaboration issues. The U.S. Army essentially lacked a central hub for information dissemination, knowledge sharing, and collaboration to support among the more than 2.4 million active soldiers, reserve members and civil employees. In addition, geographically dispersed and disconnected computer systems severely limited its collaboration capabilities.

Here’s where BPM comes into play. The U.S. Army created Army Knowledge Online (AKO), which was based on Appian’s leading-edge BPM solution technology that enables the streamlining of enterprise collaboration and facilitation of knowledge management. Launched after only three-and-a-half months and on budget, the AKO — the largest intranet in the world with more than two million users — provides a unique community-oriented approach to building structured professional forums, driving successful enterprise knowledge management. In addition, check out this Congressional Report that highlights how AKO saves the U.S Army more than $500 million annually.

On top of that, the U.S. Army extended its use of Appian’s enterprise portal technology, business process management solutions and underlying process-based services to develop of Defense Knowledge Online (DKO), which is a single enterprise service portal, serving as the entry point for all U.S. Department of Defense (DoD).

Clearly Fortuna is shining her light on the U.S. Army. Its use of BPM is ripe case study for action translating into fortune. And, the fortune that the Army reaped is in the form of being more effective through better collaboration.

Tags: , Army Knowledge Online, BPM and Human Capital, BPM for Federal Acquisitions, Case Management, Process Improvement for Government

What are the biggest momentum-killers for any government acquisition and procurement project? If you guessed a) lack of a process-focused method, resulting in massive amounts of paper work and administrative overhead, and b) the need for more trained contracting officers in federal service, you are correct. And, if you also guessed lost savings, then you take the grand prize.

What is the grand prize? We’ll talk more about that later in this post. But first, did you know that the federal government is a major driver of our economy that spends approximately $530 billion annually for a wide range of goods and services to meet mission needs? For the government to spend this money effectively, it requires a highly complex acquisition and procurement system that adheres to very strict regulations.

Historically, the procurement and acquisition process for government was mired in the “momentum-killers” highlighted earlier. This was further reinforced by a recent study highlighted in Government Executive Magazine that found that federal procurement managers estimate they can save up to $158 billion annually by implementing more efficient acquisition processes and stronger program management training.

But the tides are turning. We are seeing government embrace Business Process Management (BPM) acquisition solutions (versus COTS) in order to gain process transparency, react quickly to change and improve process efficiency; thereby allowing federal purchasing organizations to successfully enhance the entire procurement lifecycle. Leading BPM Acquisition Management solutions provide:

1) a single, web-based offering for everyone from customers and contracting personnel to finance and vendors;

2) secure information sharing across multiple domains and functional areas;

3) easy compliance with the numerous Federal Acquisition Regulations – freeing up resources and accurately guiding less senior contracting personnel through an agencies unique procurement processes.

So, what is the grand prize? The simple fact of knowing and understanding that BPM is the new frontier for effective government procurement and acquisition, and the time and expenses it can save is the ultimate grand prize that is worth its weight in gold.

Finally, to learn more about government acquisition trends, be sure to attend the “Hottest Trends in Diplomacy and Defense” Bisnow event on July 13th at the Ritz Carleton in Tysons Corner. Three contracting leaders from the State Department and the Department of Defense will discuss current trends and the plans for fourth quarter acquisitions. And, Appian is the premier sponsor of the event with Appian CEO Matt Calkins speaking as well. Click here to learn more.

Tags: , Appian, Bisnow, BPM for Case Management, BPM for Federal Acquisitions, BPM for Human Resource Management, Business Process Management, COTS, Process Improvement for Government

The textbook definition of the term ubiquitous is “being everywhere at the same time, or being constantly encountered.”  Ubiquity of business and IT services supports the drive for increased agency effectiveness, cross-agency collaboration and constituent inclusivity.  The term is very apropos for what is happening today as the government increasingly adopts Business Process Management (BPM).

How fast is this happening?  Many of our readers may not be aware that dozens of government agencies are currently using Appian’s BPM solutions.  To just name a few, Defense Acquisition University, Department of Justice, FDA, FEMA, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Library of Congress, the US Army and the US Marines have all experienced the benefit of increased efficiency and effectiveness through more flexible, agile and adaptive business processes.

These agencies have improved everything from dealing with committee approvals for new medical devices being introduced to the market; to reducing the time it takes for the onboarding of talent; enhancing a Micro-Purchase Management System; improving procurement processes; as well as providing visibility into acquisitions, budgets and spending.  Clearly, BPM for government addresses a wide breadth of applications – from the routine to the truly mission-critical – that are critical for effective governance.

While we recognize that BPM is still an emerging trend in government, we believe it will reach true ubiquity within the government sector within the next few years.  As the expression goes, there is a Starbucks on every corner; there should be BPM in every corner of government.  When that happens, the “effectiveness revolution” will truly be achieved; and we, as citizen-consumers of government services, will be the beneficiaries.

Tags: , Appian, BPM and Human Capital, BPM for Federal Acquisitions, BPM for Human Resource Management, BPM in the Cloud, effectiveness revolution, Process Improvement for Government

AnyDoc Software, a leading provider of automated document, data capture, and classification solutions, and Appian, the global innovator in enterprise and on-demand business process management (BPM) technology, today announced that AnyDoc will develop and deliver the next generation of document processing solutions by combining AnyDoc’s industry-leading document processing technologies with the Appian BPM platform. Through the partnership, AnyDoc will leverage Appian’s 100 percent web architecture and powerful process, task, and data orchestration to help customers automate and manage the end-to-end workflow for both structured and unstructured documents and data.

“Utilizing Appian’s powerful yet easy-to-use BPM platform within our already robust product line will help our customers achieve optimal efficiency in daily tasks, and provide management teams with the tools to view the health of their organization at the department or corporate level,” said Samuel Schrage, President of AnyDoc Software. “Capturing your business processes and decision data from the time it enters your organization, monitoring its progression, and having it available immediately at a lower cost provides companies with great advantages. Real-time status of overall business processes with a highlight on exceptions, approvals, and related activities keeps executive management responsive to the pulse of the company.”

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Calling all Appian Developers!

Appian is proud to announce the first in an ongoing series of monthly webinars highlighting Appian Tips and Tricks for Appian Developers and Process Modelers.

Each of these webinars will feature presentations, training, and sample demonstrations from the Appian Technology staff who contributed to building the feature in discussion.

In our first Tips and Tricks session, Brett Shomaker, Appian Program Manager, will explain the new Appian 6 Plug-in architecture and demonstrate the creation and deployment of an Appian 6 OSGi Smart Service.

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When thinking of “going down to the crossroads,” many are drawn to the classic folk tale of blues legend Robert Johnson. Johnson made a deal with the devil to ensure that he could be the most talented and influential blues songwriter and performer of all time. We like to think of the “crossroads” as a metaphor for the intersection of two things that will effectively create lasting change for the better.

In the BPM world, we are talking about the intersection of cloud computing and constant process improvement — both are now meeting at the crossroads and are helping government achieve efficiency goals in a more cost-effective manner.

U.S. CIO Vivek Kundra noted in the White House Open Government Blog that by using cloud services, the Federal Government will gain access to powerful technology resources faster and at lower costs. He also stated that the cloud frees the government to focus on mission-critical tasks instead of purchasing, configuring, and maintaining redundant infrastructure.

Here is where the big meeting at the crossroads happens. BPM applications and cloud computing together minimize the cost and risk that often come with larger IT integrations for government. One major government agency is leading the way by using Appian Anywhere, the BPM SaaS solution, to quickly scale up efforts to gather demographic data for 7,000 institutions around the U.S.

So, unlike Robert Johnson who had to sell his soul to the devil in order to attain his talents, by using BPM in the cloud there is minimal risk for government. And the rewards are immeasurable = the cloud is a low cost way to jump start any BPM-powered task and make government more effective.

Tags: , Appian, BPM and Human Capital, BPM for Federal Acquisitions, BPM for Human Resource Management, BPM in the Cloud, Process Improvement for Government

It’s a great thing when doing well intersects with doing good. This concept was recently reinforced by an announcement from both Appian and CollaboraLink Technologies that highlights the availability of the Wounded Warrior application. The Wounded Warrior application was developed by CollabraLink, and it leverages Appian’s out-of-the-box Case Management capabilities. Wounded Warrior speeds the processes for on-boarding, diagnosis and rehabilitation of injured U.S. soldiers at military Warrior Transition Units (WTU). In addition, this application has been receiving plenty of attention from InformationWeek and ITBusinessEdge.

Following is an exclusive podcast with Rahul Pandhi, Executive Vice President of CollabraLink and Malcolm Ross, Director Product Management, Appian, who discuss in detail this very unique BPM application.

Tags: , BPM and Human Capital, BPM for Case Management, BPM in the Cloud, Case Management, Wounded Warrior

When a major trend grabs hold of a large population, it’s called a “fever.” Remember disco fever? Well, government is on the cusp of experiencing “process fever,” meaning that it will be fundamentally changing its processes for the better. And, this will be a very long-lasting trend.

Major government mandates under the Obama Administration, such as the eGovernment Act, are pushing federal agencies to improve their overall processes. Secure, efficient, transparent and open government are more than mere catch phrases; they are a new paradigm for government that is being brought to life every day through Business Process Management (BPM).

Why BPM? It helps agencies meet federal mandates and drive core mission performance by making underlying processes more visible, transparent and efficient. It fosters levels of collaboration previously unknown in the government space. It allows agencies to perform better at lower cost, especially when coupled with cloud computing and cutting-edge social technologies. BPM also “formalizes” social media and therefore government 2.0 – another major fever hitting the government sector now. BPM puts structure around broad collaboration, and can precisely target the power of social media to a specific process.

Making processes more visible, transparent and efficient while enhancing performance? This is a fever that any major federal agency will want to catch. And, unlike disco fever, this trend will never go away.

Tags: , Appian, BPM and Human Capital, BPM for Federal Acquisitions, BPM in the Cloud, effectiveness revolution

For far too long government has relied on systems integrators (you know who you are out there) to develop technology process solutions based on Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) products. At first glance, this may seem like a cost effective way to develop systems for government to operate effectively.

But that’s not the case at all. The truth is that COTS systems are highly cumbersome to install and manage, and they offer zero flexibility to deal with new and emerging needs. And, here’s a little trade secret: systems integrators bill the government by the hour. So, when the requirements change, an integrator is more than happy to bill two years of time to a government agency to re-configure a COTS system.

The time has come for a totally different approach. There is a new sheriff in town called Business Process Management (BPM), which is creating what we call an “effectiveness revolution.” This new sheriff is armed with the ability to be easily configured and managed, and can scale up or down based on needs and requirements. Most importantly, BPM is simply a more cost effective approach to government IT solutions.

And, the new sheriff is on a mission to protect government from overspending and inefficiencies – inherent problems with COTS. Isn’t that what a good sheriff should do? Provide protection and make our lives better. We think so – what’s your take?

Tags: , Appian, BPM and Human Capital, BPM for Federal Acquisitions, BPM in the Cloud, Business Process Management, COTS

It’s nice when doing well and doing good coincide. That’s the case for Appian with a new application being rolled out to the U.S. Army. The application, called Wounded Warrior, uses our BPM software to help speed rehabilitation for U.S. soldiers wounded in the line of duty. It was developed by our partner CollabraLink, and it leverages Appian’s out-of-the-box Case Management capabilities.

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Tags: , Appian, BPM, BPM for Government, Business Process Management, Case Management