Enterprise Approval Flexibility: The Kinetic Data Approach

The Kinetic Data Approach

Enterprise request management (ERM) is a concept that combines an intuitive portal interface with back-end process automation to give employees one simple way to request any type of service, resource or product needed to do their jobs. This approach ensures cost-effective enterprise service delivery with first-time fulfillment, resulting in lower costs and happier customers.

Kinetic Data’s ERM software solution combines the powerful Kinetic Request portal application with Kinetic Task, the company’s award-winning business process automation engine. Kinetic Task utilizes an open architecture allowing scalable integration with any back-end system, enabling end- to-end service automation across the enterprise. This document outlines how Kinetic Data ERM software can be used to solve the challenges associated with enterprise approval strategies.

The Enterprise Approval Challenge

In today’s complex business environment, organizations looking to streamline key processes are challenged to find consistent, scalable and manageable approaches to shared service delivery. Each shared service organization in the enterprise has its own unique set of tools and processes to manage and automate the fulfillment of key business needs. These systems are critical to ensuring scalable delivery of key support services quickly and in a compliant and business-focused model.

In any enterprise environment, these fulfillment services are automated via many different COTS and custom platforms including IT service management, CRM, facilities management, ERP, billing, HRIS and payroll systems among others. More often than not, the systems are designed with a focus on the functional area they support. For example, the HRIS system will handle assignment of key HR tasks as well as manage approvals specific to the human resources department. To ensure the required service levels are met, effective process bonding across towers is required; eBonding is the practice of integrating processes among enterprises (“bonding” them) to provide a centralized, automated and scalable delivery approach.

While area approvals may be mapped to a specific tool, this model creates a challenge in segmenting various approvals across a diverse back-end toolset. Not only is this a challenge due to lack of centralized reporting, but also because of inconsistency in approval strategies and processes across departments.

Solving the Enterprise Approval Challenge

The Kinetic Data approach to solving corporate approval challenges is all about evolution and efficiency. Our approach is flexible and designed to be integrated across the entire enterprise, coupling existing system approvals with a centralized delivery model.

In Kinetic Data’s ERM software, approvals are defined using a GUI-based builder designed to allow business users to create robust delivery models with a drop-and-drag approach. We call these processes “task trees” and, by design, all processes, including approvals, can be mapped with unlimited flexibility in a configuration-based, continuous-improvement model. Service models are configured using business logic as Kinetic Task Trees. The process owner drags in the appropriate process steps from a library of available steps, or Kinetic Task Handlers.

Reusability

In most organizations, the approval process is replicated across different request types and services. Kinetic Data makes this easy, encapsulating these processes as reusable components called “routines.” This capability allows you to configure standardized approval processes that can be independently maintained in a manageable and scalable approach, ensuring approval consistency across the enterprise.

By using Kinetic Data ERM software to centralize approval strategies, existing investments in systems, processes and training can be leveraged in an evolutionary manner to meet the ever-changing demands of the business.

Delivery

Kinetic Data applications can provide approval notifications in a number of ways, including via email, for easy completion of the approval process. By enabling approvals to be provided via email, the timeframe for approval completion is shortened, making it easier for the provider to meet customer service level agreements (SLAs).

Approvals can also be sent via text message by including an SMS Task Handler using an organization’s SMS provider API or an external service such as Twilio. In this scenario, the approver would typically be sent a link to open and approve. It’s also possible to text back an approval message (Example: “Approved”) with the appropriate configuration, depending on the SMS provider capabilities.

Because email, SMS, and other transactional notifications can be lost or ignored, Kinetic Request also provides the ability to show pending (and completed) approvals in an easy-to-use Web interface. Whenever an approver logs in to the portal, he or she can easily identify what needs attention. See the screenshots at the end of this document for examples.

Federated Approvals

Additionally, if there are existing approval processes designed in key fulfillment systems, the Kinetic Data solution can “call” that system’s approval process and wait for a return value to move the fulfillment forward. All of this is defined in the delivery model via the Kinetic Task Builder. This approach ensures that approvals can be managed via a centralized system.

Approval Console Examples

Kinetic Data applications can provide approval notifications in a number of ways, including via email, for easy completion of the approval process. By enabling approvals to be provided via email, the timeframe for approval completion is shortened, making it easier for the provider to meet customer service level agreements (SLAs).