In the blog entry on the Microsoft Government Solutions Forum 2010, I promised some additional content would be made available soon.  This will take the form of a Whitepaper entitled ‘Case Management Using Microsoft Technology - How Singularity Leverages SharePoint, Dynamics/CRM and other Microsoft Products for  Enterprise Case Management Excellence’ . A summary of the content is below. I would be delighted for anyone to visit the Singularity website, read the paper, and let us know your thoughts on the content.

Microsoft technologies provide powerful and valued support for much organizational work today (this paper discusses the relevant capabilities of current Microsoft technology versions, including SharePoint 2010 and Windows WorkflowvFoundation 2008). Yet complementary technology is required to meet the demanding requirements of case management work. Singularity delivers solutions which leverage the strengths of SharePoint, Dynamics CRM and other Microsoft technologies while complementing them with Singularity’s Business Process Management Suite (BPMS) to meet the key challenges of case management. The result is an Enterprise Case Management Platform built on Microsoft-based technologies which delivers on today’s challenges, allows cost effective adaptation to future needs as they arise, and reduces TCO.

 Download the whitepaper at http://www.singularity.co.uk/case-management-using-microsoft-technology.lit 

Author: Manus Savage, Singularity 

Email has had a relatively short history compared to the overall history of computing! As someone who has worked in the IT industry for quite a few years – I have witnessed what it was like before the advent of email, and the impact that email has had since.

Whilst it has proven to be a great boon for many – for others it can be a real nightmare!

Many system administrators are pre-occupied with the management of email systems, the storage that they consume – and ensuring that they provide suitable uptime in support of the organisation.

However I believe there are much more fundamental challenges centred around email use within organisations.

As with the use of Excel in organisations for tracking application, email has become a type of ad-hoc glue which is used to bind varying resources together, to try to expedite an outcome. But it can be a very wasteful and inefficient glue for the symptoms outlined above. Everyone advises “appropriate use” of email – but let’s face it – it only takes a few email offenders – and the system breaks down very quickly.

Excessive email is a symptom of a lack of appropriate process and supporting technology to aid staff in delivering required services.

Organisations should be adopting BPM technology such as the Singularity Process Platform to switch from highly inefficient email-based processes.

So as you sit for another day ploughing through a deluge of how email – just imagine how your life could be transformed by BPM technology like the Singularity Process Platform.

Author: Paul O’Neill, Singularity

I recently read some interesting material in relation to “Context Management” in the Health Sector. Specifically the key point was about how “context” is managed across a number of different computer applications – as a patient is progressed from one stage to the next OR in terms of how a practitioner works across different systems – whilst focussing on a single patient at a time.

This is, in many respects, a focus of BPM technology – and perhaps more specifically the Case Management aspect of BPM technology. So how can I say this so glibly – very easily – the process is the context!

Whilst we often talk about processes and process management – from a business point of view – what we are delivering are services or managing cases.

So whatever you do as an organisation – whether its private sector or public sector – and you need to better manage the context of what you do – perhaps you should be looking at suitable BPM technology!

Author: Paul O’Neill, Singularity