Tip Guide

Collaboration: The critical extra C in dynamic case management

For a growing number of companies today, collaboration is no longer a soft, nice-to-have conceptits an essential component for competitive differentiation. In this Tip Guide, readers will learn: How collaboration and related approaches enhance dynamic case management. How collaboration empowers not just a companys caseworkers (and other information workers), but its customers as well

Sponsored By:

ebizQ.net Tip Guide Collaboration: The critical extra C in dynamic case management

E-Guide

Collaboration: The critical extra C in dynamic case management

Table of Contents
Collaboration: The critical extra C in dynamic case management About IBM

Sponsored By:

Page 2 of 7

ebizQ.net Tip Guide Collaboration: The critical extra C in dynamic case management

Collaboration: The critical extra C in dynamic case management

By Anne Stuart, ebizQ Site Editor Collaboration is king just about everywhere in business today, and the dynamic case management (DCM) arena is no exception. In fact, experts say, collaboration capability isnt just part of dynamic the approachs raison detre, or reason for beingits really part of DCMs DNA. Forrester Research analyst Craig Le Clair even includes the concept in his definition for the approach. Dynamic case management is a semi-structured process that is collaborative, says Le Clair, a Forrester Research vice president and principal analyst who numbers case management among his specialties. A key aspect of what's great aboutand whats driving the market incase management is that it can provide strong collaboration that can break down organizational silos to meet business objectives. A World of I-Workers Such capability is especially important today, in an era dependent on what Forrester calls information workersiWorkers for short. Its very, very broad category [involving] anyone doing work that uses a computer, Le Clair says. Some iWorkers are basically deskbound, but still collaborate via multiple applications. Others are constantly on the road, collaborating frequently from various places (in one Forrester survey, mobile iWorkers reported working from an average of five different locations). Bottom line: Work has changed drastically with mobility and social [technologies], says Connie Moore, a Forrester vice president and research director. Of course, iWorkers roles, tasks and priorities differ greatly from industry to industry, company to company and even from function to function in the same organization. But forward-thinking businesses should think about the same goal: Supporting the iWorker in a different wayin a way that recognizes the trends in technology that are emerging, Le Clair says.

Sponsored By:

Page 3 of 7

ebizQ.net Tip Guide Collaboration: The critical extra C in dynamic case management

One such way is DCM, which no longer simply involves workflow or content management, but increasingly relies on social, mobile, collaborative and even cloud technologies as well. Companies interested in reaping the maximum benefits from DCM should make sure their strategies include components for all those areas, Forrester recommends. Benefits for Customers But dont get the wrong idea: A social/collaborative approach to DCM isnt just about supporting iWorkers to help them do their jobs faster and better. Its about empowering customers as well. And those customers are themselves increasingly sophisticated about social and collaborative technologies. Many use IM, email, social networking sites, mobile devices and other technologies both in their personal lives and in their own jobs; in some cases, their social and collaborative know-how may outpace the businesses they patronize. Whether its social, whether it's mobile, whether its cloud technologies, theyre dwarfing the capabilities of the company iWorkers to be able to support them, Le Clair notes. There's a growing gap. The expectations of consumers and customers are just growing exponentially. So where does case management fit in? The idea is to try to use case management and these types of enabling technologies to provide a better, more mobile, more connected, more personalized experience with customers, Le Clair explains. That approach requires a radical shift in traditional environments where customer-service agents and other iWorkers fall into one of two categories: Theyre either locked down, meaning that they are heavily scripted with traditional workflow technologies or controls, Le Clair says. Or theyre disenfranchised and they've just given up. They don't know that they can innovate. Riding to the rescue: a new breed of employees that Forrester calls HEROes, for highly empowered resourceful operatives, who can use social, collaborative and other contemporary technologies to better meet their clients needs. These are individuals who can innovate with these more modern technologies to really satisfy customers, and thats

Sponsored By:

Page 4 of 7

ebizQ.net Tip Guide Collaboration: The critical extra C in dynamic case management

what we want to encourage, Le Clair explains. We feel case management has a very, very strong role in managing towards better customer experiences. Meanwhile, how can companies support their HEROes? Among other advice, Josh Bernoff and Ted Schadler, Forrester analysts and co-authors of Empowered: Unleash Your Employees, Energize Your Customers, Transform Your Business (Harvard Business Press, 2010), suggest that you: 1. Create a IT-based cross-functional council. This group, which should be owned by IT, should include HEROes, business managers and IT staffers; its job is tracking and making make recommendations on technologies that support HEROes work. 2. Establish a business-oriented collaboration program. This program should be overseen by a clear leader, preferably a business executive with technology skills or a technology executive with business skills, Bernoff and Schadler say. It should link together collaboration tools, applications and other resources, which can then be provided to HERO employees throughout the organization as kind of a standard collaboration toolkit. A Cross-Functional Approach Ultimately, that cross-enterprise mindset is critical for DCM success, especially when dealing with untamed processesthat is, out-of-control, heavily manual or bloated processes that span an enterprise. The process support that's required is one that goes across departments and across information-systems silos. There needs to be a solutions layer that can really manage that; to date, it's been sporadically treated with traditional workflows, technology and BPM, or extensions of the packaged applicationsbut not very effectively, Le Clair says. The idea, then, is moving away from that universe of untamed, manual and paper-based processes where you have very low process visibility, very little iWorker efficiency, says Le Clair, who has illustrated this situation with a picture of a worker in a straitjacket. The goal is developing a more flexible, more dynamic environmentand yet one where people, rather than systems, are ultimately in control. When you reach that destination, Le Clair

Sponsored By:

Page 5 of 7

ebizQ.net Tip Guide Collaboration: The critical extra C in dynamic case management

says, youre supporting an under-appreciated, under-invested area in most corporations, where most of this specific company expertise resides, which is in that information worker. Thats where the social and collaborativethat is, the humanaspects come to the forefront. The user experience is really the social layer, so social needs to move into business, Le Clair says. He uses the example of a caseworker trying to serve a customer on the phone in real time by finding the needed in-house expertisealso in real time. You may want to see [a particular in-house experts] resume, where theyve worked and what their expertise is. You may want to see a star ranking of their previous six cases to understand what was the best one and whether its applicable in this instance, Le Clair says. Then you may want to instant message [that expert]. Ultimately, such capability drives internal collaboration ways that were never possible before. That, in turn, can lead to new heights in customer experience. After all, says Le Clair: The customer experience is across departments. The customer doesn't care how youre organized. About the Author: ebizQ Site Editor Anne Stuart is a technology and business writer based near Boston. She can be reached at astuart@techtarget.com.

Sponsored By:

Page 6 of 7

ebizQ.net Tip Guide Collaboration: The critical extra C in dynamic case management

About IBM

At IBM, we strive to lead in the creation, development and manufacture of the industry's most advanced information technologies, including computer systems, software, networking systems, storage devices and microelectronics. We translate these advanced technologies into value for our customers through our professional solutions and services businesses worldwide.

Sponsored By:

Page 7 of 7