How a large organization manages service portfolio processes with WorkflowGen

WorkflowGen makes even the most complex business requirements simple to implement, deploy and update

The service portfolio is the core repository for all information on all services in this organization. Each service is listed along with its current status and history. Service portfolio requests originate in different sectors of the company, and are separated into packages.

Originally, the company would have its IT department program its service portfolio processes, but each time a modification was requested, the developers would then have to reprogram the entire process, which was inefficient and consumed significant resources. WorkflowGen was thus chosen as the solution for this process. With WorkflowGen’s solid workflow logic and low-code environment, any business user can modify process definitions without the assistance of the development team.

The company required a solution that would meet many specific needs for the different sets of actors involved in the process:

Requesters

• View only the fields pertaining to them for each request type.
• Easily understand which form data will impact downstream processes in the service portfolio to ensure the correct information is entered.
• View all submitted requests and their statuses in one location.
• Be able to contact other actors and teams involved in the request, including a chat function to get immediate responses to queries.
• View process diagrams of submission processes and other help information.
• Attach files to requests to provide additional information or assets needed for processing.
• Perform bulk imports from spreadsheets.
• Export customized reports to Excel or CSV format.
• Configure automatic notifications to confirm when requests are received, when request information is modified and when requests are completed.

Program Staff

• View different types of requests and assign the next user.
• Easily report data required for escalations.
• Schedule contract editing requests.
• Configure automatic notifications to stakeholders.
• View reports that confirm whether a service level agreement has been met, and be notified if there is a risk that it will be missed.
• Configure notifications based on request data.
• Be able to update the phase or state of a package.
• Perform searches for requests by ID, requester or other metadata.
• Be able to track all aspects of a request.

Administrators

• Build and configure new forms and fields, including populating or showing/hiding fields based on other field selections.
• Configure form field validations.
• Update configurations without having to code.
• Apply specific service level agreements to request types.
• Review notifications that have been sent.
• Manage tiers of knowledge management content by audience, as well as questions on documentation.

WorkflowGen was set up as a repository in which the portfolio requests could be created and modified. Then, the WorkflowGen implementation was configured to meet all of these requirements while providing the flexibility needed for modifications to the process as well as future business needs.

The WorkflowGen solution

• Users can initiate new portfolio requests that trigger preconfigured sets of validations. Over the course of the request, any user can modify requests to add additional data.
• Forms contain all relevant request information, with automatic population of fields so that requesters fill in all form data correctly and completely, greatly reducing the possibility of requests being returned due to missing or incorrect information, while allowing requests to be reactivated in case of errors that slip through.
• Only the form elements pertaining to specific process actors are visible to them, eliminating confusion over whether or not they’re required to provide certain information.
• Easy escalation of requests and the ability to chat with other users allows greater reactivity and immediate responses from the support team.
• Preconfigured automatic notifications confirm that requests have been successfully submitted ensure that process actions are carried out on time and let process actors know when requests are completed.
• The WorkflowGen User Portal provides a customized landing page on which requests can be launched and viewed, with quick access to documentation and help information.
• WorkflowGen’s customizable User Portal Dashboard feature includes reporting capabilities, and lets users immediately view pertinent information relating to the process such as request and package status tracking, roadmap generation, request status and cycle time, and aggregate data that can be displayed as custom charts.
• Files in various formats can be attached to requests to provide more information, and documents can be viewed directly from within the requests.
• Requests are fully searchable by ID, process actor name and other metadata, eliminating the need to browse through requests.
• Child requests can be viewed via parent requests without having to search.
• The ability to filter and save views and queries allows quick access to and easy re-use of request information.
• Process administrators can create and update workflows for request types to accommodate changes in business needs and rules.
• Metadata can be updated and propagated throughout the system, allowing platform-wide taxonomy updates.

Despite the sheer number and specificity of the client’s requirements, all of these solutions were successfully implemented using WorkflowGen’s standard out-of-the-box features. The WorkflowGen implementation completely eliminated the need for developers to reprogram the entire process even for the smallest modifications to the process. If needed, though, more advanced integration possibilities always remain available thanks to WorkflowGen’s built-in integration features, such as the GraphQL API and webhooks.

This use case is a prime example of WorkflowGen as a turnkey solution designed to meet the most basic and general to the most intricate and tailored requirements of any organization of any size, without the need for complicated, expensive and time-consuming development.