Workflow Automation

The search for “why” continues

These days it is difficult to escape any business event without discussions centered on the struggling economy. In nearly all cases, it revolves around how business revenues have been negatively impacted, or specific industries are in trouble. The story is all too common. I can certainly empathize, as I have many friends and family members being hit by the recession. But for reasons I have yet to put my finger on, the economy has had no negative effect on my company. In fact, I’m beginning to suspect that it may actually … Continue Reading

For many years, the software industry has promoted the virtues of standards, approved common models by which all programs could co-exist and effectively communicate.  We’ve learned of great function, interoperability and even exchange of information across multiple programs developed by multiple vendors.  Too many times, these standards were expected to be the saviors, allowing organizations to operate efficiently, improve customer service, and provide a platform of shared information among all employees, divisions, and locations.  And for many large organizations, they’ve performed.  It may have taken many years, millions of dollars, and full implementation staffs to get there, but if the … Continue Reading

The Client
The client is an online provider of products for the telecom repair and refurbishment industry. The company provides a wide range of replacement accessory supplies including batteries, handsets, cables and more.

The Client’s Need
The client was dealing with a break down in communications with their overseas manufacturers. When a new product was developed, it was shipped to manufacturers for bidding purposes. Along the way communications went back and forth between both parties. If the bid was accepted, the communications continued back and forth. The problem is, there was no system in place to catch missed … Continue Reading

The Client
An east coast company that provides accounting and financial services through temporary and permanent employee placement. The case study below describes how HighOrbit’s Workflow has allowed them to manage the constant flow of incoming resumes they receive.

The Client’s Need
The client needed a process to manage the constant flow of resumes coming into the company. Being a staffing firm, their success relies heavily on recruiting and securing the most talented accountants and financial professionals available. But there were issues with the company’s current process. Sometimes, multiple staff members needed to have access to the resume simultaneously. And because the … Continue Reading

I recently received a “cold” call from a web marketing firm that suddenly took a turn for the worse.

Ok, so maybe this guy was just having a bad day, but I would tend to think the owners of this company would not condone this guy’s behavior. No names have been changed to protect anybody.

Also, a little background: I have what is medically described as “profound” hearing loss in one ear, and “severe” hearing loss in the other. For the most part I can do OK with telephone conversations, but occasionally need to ask a person to repeat something. This is … Continue Reading

If you have used the Internet in the last couple of years, you probably have either heard the term “RSS” or seen those little orange wavy line icons. You even may know what the acronym stands for, or that RSS is based on XML. There’s no point in going into details. Who cares?! Because none of that really answers “What can RSS do for me?”

In reality, RSS is one of those things that once you understand the benefits, you’ll be using it left and right, and constantly thinking of ways RSS can improve your online experience. It is also kind … Continue Reading

Business Process Management hasn’t always been a tool for small business. There was a time when workflow automation was a luxury item reserved for only large companies with large budgets. But technology and Software as a Service (SaaS) applications have together changed all of that and made business process management a viable tool for the small business staff.

When they were first introduced, application service providers (ASPs) were far too expensive for the average business, and were mostly implemented among the Fortune 500 … Continue Reading

When was the last time you thought about opening a can of tuna manually? If you’re like me, you’ve come to rely on (and maybe even take for granted) the fact that the electric can opener simplifies this routine kitchen process immensely. I for one, reserve my manual model for camping trips and other such rustic moments in the wild.

But many of us might not make that same mental leap to automation as it relates to our company’s sales process. For example, do you currently have any aspect of automation in place or is your process completely … Continue Reading

So, you want to automate a business process. Well, you basically have three primary methods to choose from:

1. Out of the Box Software
2. Custom Application Development
3. Workflow Automation Toolkit

In today’s post we’re going to cover your options in detail and weigh the advantages and disadvantages of each.

Out of the Box Software
The first option is to use some sort of out of the box software solution. The first and most obvious advantage to this solution is it is readily available and it is the most affordable option of the three. Plus it’s the easiest solution to set up. Out of … Continue Reading

Because workflow automation used to be reserved primarily for big budget Fortune 500 companies, many small to medium sized businesses still carry the mentality that, for whatever reason, it’s just not for them. They may think they can’t afford business process management. It’s a common misperception. Even if they know they can afford it, they may struggle to understand how to implement it and how it could improve daily operations in their business.

We’ve long said that business process management is for every business. To prove it, we’ve developed a one-size-fits-all list of 3 processes that virtually … Continue Reading