Introducing a system that automates all or most of the manual tasks associated with any business process. Presentation delivered at the "IT Infrastructure / Operations Management (Data Center) Strategies" CampIT conference in Chicago.

1. How to Digitally Transform Your Internal Operations
Tom Martin – Manager of Customer Success, Integrify

2. Who Am I?
• Former member of the US Navy
• 20+ years of IT experience
• Trained in LEAN/5S principles
• Graduate of the inaugural class of Leadership Walworth County
• 6+ years at Exacto, Inc., a mid-sized private label chemical
manufacturer located in Sharon, Wisconsin
• Went from Network Administrator to Director of Operations
• Now the Manager of Customer Success for Integrify

3. Having goals are great, but when creating those goals, do they add value for your customers?

4. What do I mean by
“Digitally Transform Internal Operations”
“Introducing a system that
automates all or most of the
manual tasks associated with any
business process.”

5. Digitally Transforming Internal Operations
Most internal operations involve:
1. Sharing information
2. Following standard or agreed upon processes
3. Streamlining communication
4. Assessing process performance

7. Simple Example:
“Onboarding a New Employee”
• How does your organization handle onboarding new
employees?
• Is there a consistent process that everyone follows?
• Is there a well thought out method or is it a fire drill that repeats
itself?
• Who “Owns” the process?
• How would you transform this simple process?
• What is the first impression your new employee receives?

8. 1. Sharing information
• When is this new employee starting?
• Who do they report to?
• What department are they in?
• Where will they be based?
• What hardware and software do they
need?
• What system access do they need?
• What training do they need?
• Who will “show them the ropes” aka be
their work buddy?
• What does their first day, week schedule
look like?
• Has anyone communicated to them about
dress code, lunches, hours, etc?

9. 2. Following standard processes
• How do we start the process?
• Who needs to be alerted? When?
• Are there exceptions? Why? When? How are they handled?
• Who needs to take action? When?
• Have proper approvals been provided?
• Where are the decision points?
• What is considered a successful completion of the process?

10. 3. Streamlining Communication
• Who needs to know? Are you sure they need to know?
• Or, do they REALLY want to know?
• What’s been done?
• What information is still needed?
• Who’s holding it up?
• What do we do if someone in the process is unavailable
• What’s going to happen next?
• Are we eliminating departmental/divisional silos?

11. 4. Assessing process performance
• What was the goal of the process and did we successfully complete it?
• How did we do?
• Who did what and when?
• How responsive was everyone?
• Can the process be improved?
• How long does this process typically take, how long do we want it to take?
• Were there exceptions?
• Were steps missed or is there information/steps needed?

12. This Is a
Simple Process
• Yet there are a lot of
questions—who in your
organization can answer
them.
• What about more complex
processes?
• How much money, labor or
resources are being wasted?

13. Suddenly Use Cases Everywhere!
IT/IS
IS Service Requests
Security Access Requests
New Account Setup
Software Change
Requests
New Project Requests
Security
Incidents/Breaches
Finance
Purchase Requests
Expense Approvals
Salary/Wage Changes
Facilities
Office Relocations
Resource Scheduling
Facility Access
Move and Expansion
Requests
Maintenance Requests
Sales
Quote Approvals
Contract Reviews
Pricing Discounts
Proposal Approvals
Product Discount Approvals
HR
Benefits
Enrollments/Changes
Timesheets
New Hire Management
Employee On/Off Boarding
Vacation Requests
Purchasing
General Procurement
Capital Purchase Approvals
Vendor Management
Invoice Approvals
Product Pricing
Marketing
Marketing Campaign
Approvals
Print/Online Ad Requests
Sponsorship Approvals
Marketing Collateral
Approvals
Brand Management
Legal
Legal Holds
Contract Reviews
Client Intake

14. Why Automate Processes?
• Increase Labor Production
• Reduce Labor Cost
• Mitigate Labor Shortages
• Reduce or Eliminate Routine Tasks
• Improve Safety
• Improve Quality
• Reduce Lead Time
• Enforce Accountability

15. The Need for Internal Digital Transformation
• Expedited and/or unplanned growth
• Competitive Threats
• Acquisitions or Mergers
• Lack of Internal Visibility
• Regulatory/Audit Challenges
• Challenges in moving business classes
• Change in Leadership

16. How many “Core” business
processes does your
organization have?

17. Employee Onboarding New Product Process
Change Product
Process
Sale To Payment
Process

18. “The man who knows how
will always have a job. The
man who knows why will
always be his boss.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson

19. Exacto’s Dilemma & Challenges
• Long lead times
• Struggling with tremendous growth
• Stagnant and guarded workforce
• Too many “Insert the name” processes
• Cart before horse scenario with a software system to “fix” all
their problems
• Homegrown leadership
• “That’s the way we’ve always done it”

20. Workflow Platform or Point Solutions?
• We didn’t want to buy separate solutions for each use case.
• We didn’t want to code completely from scratch.
• We didn’t know what other use cases might reveal themselves.
• We wanted to be able to build and customize workflows.
• We wanted a central portal for all activity.
• We desired simplicity & transparency across all departments.
• We went with a workflow automation platform.

21. Planning
• Ensure you have buy-in from the top
• Document the processes
• Agree on measurables and KPIs
• Automate the process
• Unveil the improved, automated process
• Celebrate
• Pick the next process & repeat

22. Document The Process
• Start with the end in mind
• Choose an easy win, low hanging fruit
• Listen to the end user and ask why, multiple times if needed
• Respect the work that has been done to get to this point
• Many times there are misconceptions of how the process
really runs
• Set a realistic timeframe for completion & adhere to it

23. Integration & Automation
• Challenge the current process
• Don’t get stuck on the ands, ifs or buts
• Encourage feedback from those doing the work
• Never chase perfection
• Changing behavior is your initial challenge
• Understand your limitations, audience & goals
• Be open, yet firm with your decisions
• Don’t make changes if it doesn’t make sense

24. Communication
• Build excitement company wide
• Keep a scoreboard that shows measurables
• Celebrate the wins, big or small
• Keep an open dialogue about other processes or the next
process to be automated
• Ask for feedback

25. Training
• Do a rollout and a rollup
• Bring everyone involved in the specific process together
• Lunch & learn
• 30 minutes
• High level
• Highlight the efficiencies gained
• Discuss the measurables and KPIs
• Where will they be displayed?
• Who is going to be tracking that data?
• Celebrate & build the excitement

26. Impact/Results
• Lead time from 11.52 to 4.56 to 3.52 days
• Quality improvement to the 4th decimal
• Customer satisfaction improvement – NPS at 81%
• Revenue growth of 85% in 6 years
• Margins grew by 11% in 6 years
• Safety – 1 lost day (8 hours) in 4+ years
• Employee satisfaction improvement –
• Lack of turnover
• Increased participation
• More “Buy-In” & Ownership

27. When someone says
“We don’t need to reinvent the wheel.”
That much is true –
However, never stop challenging yourself or your
business to get better!

28. Questions?