Comic Relief: Migrating from paper to a full digital system
grants.comicrelief.com
The problem
Comic Relief are experts in raising money and then spending it effectively. However,
the paper and rudimentary database that supported the complex grant application
and monitoring processes for the distribution of this money becoming a significant
hindrance on the good that Comic Relief could achieve. It was concluded that it
was time to migrate to a full digital system.
The goals
The primary objectives were to:
- To have an end to end digital process
- To have an end to end digital process
- To have a flexible, scalable architecture
- To gain increased insight into how to get best value from money raised
- To attain an increased rate and volume of knowledge distribution across the organisation
- To achieve an increased rate and volume of knowledge distribution across grant holders
- To meet accessibility standards
The Delivery
There were two major technical elements to the successful delivery for Comic Relief.
- A flexible workflow system with integrated data storage
- A computer understandable knowledge base (semantic enablement)
These components needed to be combined in a way that ensured Comic Relief’s users
did not have to go hunting for the knowledge or learn complex grant application
processes. This would enable Comic Relief to scale up the grant making process while
at the same time increase the quality of grants made.
For knowledge to be useful you need both to be able to find it and understand it.
In order to achieve this the completed Comic Relief system was semantically enabled
or, put another way, the RDF tagging was used to create a virtual triple store.
This had the effect of taking MOSS and MS CRM from a normal content store to a computer
readable knowledge base.
In order to ensure the true semantic nature of this project Professor Nigel Shadbolt
from Southampton University was consulted. The workflow system was then used to
deliver notifications to a rules processing engine that could utilise the ever growing
knowledge base MOSS, MS CRM and the ontology. This information is then fed back
to the users throughout the user interface, thus delivering the increased rate of
knowledge distribution and delivering insight into how the best grants run.
Conclusion
Working with Agency.com, FelineSoft took Comic Relief from a paper-based application
process to a semantically enabled grant application and monitoring process that
will actively increase knowledge sharing in under a year.
Davidson Morris: SharePoint Customisation and Integration
The Situation
Davidson Morris Solicitors came to FelineSoft with an idea to create a website
which would allow their customers to complete an online form; the completion of
this form would then produce a document that could be reviewed by a qualified solicitor
before being sent back to the client. The goal was to create a system that quickly
delivered detailed and accurate reports with as little human interaction as possible,
thus saving time and staffing costs.
The business of handling immigration and visa applications involves fixed processes
and Davidson Morris’ business processes were naturally document-centric. At the
time of commissioning this project they were already using SharePoint 2003 as a
basic document management system, so integrating their SharePoint system with the
new online questionnaire was a key functionality
The Solution
The website was to consist of a single product, the immigration report. Once a
customer chooses to purchase the immigration report, their credit card details are
taken and the card transaction processed. The customised online questionnaire was
developed by FelineSoft using .Net technology with SQL server and SharePoint.
With the purchase complete, the customer is granted access to the Immigration Management
Zone (IMZ) where they can complete the questionnaire; once completed, a report is
generated in MS Word. Completion of the online questionnaire produces two lists,
one of the customers/ users’ details, and one of the questionnaire results. The
documents are created in .docx format and then inserted into SharePoint using SharePoint
Web Services. A customised SharePoint Workflow was then created to handle the document
processing. The SharePoint Workflow sends an alert by email to the Resource Allocator
each time a new item is added to the list. So, whenever a new customer fills in
the online questionnaire, the appointed administrator is notified to assign the
document to a junior member of staff. Once the junior member of staff sets the status
to complete, the SharePoint Workflow pushes the document for review by a senior
member of staff. Once set to sign-off by them it is automatically emailed to the
client. In cases where the document is complex a document workspace is created for
group collaboration on the document. The SharePoint personal site is configured
to show each individual user their lists of tasks and assigned documents.
Summary
The integration of SharePoint with the customised online questionnaire was the
easiest and most cost-efficient method of storing and uploading the documents which
were created by the online system. As stated earlier, the major goal of this project
was to minimize the interaction between Davidson Morris staff and their customers
while maintaining high standards of service. Therefore, the customisation of the
questionnaire and the integration to their existing SharePoint system were integral
to the success of this project. The automation had to be made smooth enough to allow
a large percentage of the documents to be accepted first time by the solicitor,
and this in turn would ensure that margins remain high along with customer satisfaction.
By working through the complex nature of the visa application administration carried
out by Davidson Morris Solicitors we were able to streamline their business processes
and successfully automated their document management through SharePoint integration.