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| Request Manager
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Why is Request Management Critical?
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We believe automatically tracking requests, work and
progress is a best practice. As email modernized communication, Request
Management will transform inter-office work.
Below are Request Management solutions to 11 common concerns that often dwell
in organizations. Does your business struggle with any of the following
concerns?
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1. Decisions are made before gaining the appropriate approval
2. Employees not knowing where to turn when confronted with problems
3. Lacking structure or control within your company
4. Effectively communicating between departments
5. Having adequate controls in your Financial Reporting system
6. Managing your outsourcing relationships
7. Enforcing consistent and accurate decision documentation
8. Accurately capturing and documenting test problem reports
9. Helping your team prioritize work
10. Managing numerous desktop applications
11. Installing more package software that does not fit your business
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1. Decisions are made before gaining the appropriate approval
Do some people in your organization believe it will be easier to ask for
forgiveness rather than get permission? They may perceive, or it may be
reality, that the amount of red tape encountered to achieve a simple task is
unbearable. These tasks could include bringing in a new employee, asking for
vacation or making a change to the computer system.
Solution
The Request Management process is critical to the long-term success of any organization. Request
Management software and methodology takes the guessing out of your request
process. This allows your employees to focus on their core competencies rather
than following an action item. A tool takes the ambiguity out of the request
process, gains & tracks the approval (with an audit trail) and ensures a
successful completion of the request.
Wouldn’t it be great for employees to
comment on how they were using the system and discussing how easy it was rather
than talking about how they “went around” the system? This is the way of the
future within an organization, and the days of constantly checking status will
be gone. Requesters can include anyone in your organization, and the requests
can achieve anything they “need”.
2. Employees not knowing where to turn when confronted with problems
There is nothing like the feeling of helplessness employees encounter when they
need something outside of their department. Whether it relates to ordering more
supplies, reconfiguring the office, or asking about benefits, too often people
don’t know where to turn.
Solution
Request Management takes the ambiguity out of these
situations. Rather than finding that specific phone number or questioning their
surrounding peers, requests can be entered into the system with confidence that
the issue will be resolved. Throughout this process the requestor can follow
progress and review logs if necessary
3. Lacking structure or control within your company
Are you concerned about “under the radar” activity that may be symptomatic of a larger issue?
Solution
Request Management is a process by which an organization takes control of its
countless activities. Request Management Software along with a consistent
methodology allows an organization to focus its resources on core competencies.
It will significantly decrease, if not eliminate, follow-up on activities in
which the resources have little control.
An audit trail will also help to “gain control” as it will track each request and work order. The software informs
users of all necessary expectations…including deadlines. The system creates
numerous audit trails in different formats to ensure the information is useful.
4. Effectively communicating between departments
You may have difficulty communicating between the “silos” in your company. The
largest issue could be that of no communication or where two departments may be
working on the same issue—unbeknownst to one another. This type of redundancy
must be avoided.
Solution
A Request Management solution is a simple way to avoid this
risk. The search capabilities assist in determining if a request is in progress
or has already been completed. Another check within would be for a Request Type
Owner to become the “gatekeeper” in their department. This allows all requests
to flow to an area “expert” rather than having the requestor make an educated
guess as to who should perform the work and what steps must be taken.
5. Having adequate controls in your Financial Reporting system
If you are in finance for a publicly traded company, you have heard that quote
from the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires
public companies to have adequate controls in their financial reporting system,
but there are no rules for these controls. Many companies are running ERP
packages so the financial reporting system may also be the production,
inventory and HR system. Tying all of these activities into the same “engine”
means adequate controls are needed across the board.
Solution
By implementing a Request Management system, your company will have actively gained control of your
system by requiring all changes in your financial reporting system to be
approved and tested. This process has an audit trail with a date/time stamp to
ensure controls are in place. Another benefit is that a consistent methodology
will save significant time preparing for an IT or other system audit. The hard
savings can occur when auditors don’t have to “dig” for information. The audit
trail of activities and decisions is readily available for the auditors to
review. Less time for the audit = less cost for your company.
6. Managing your outsourcing relationships
Outsourcing is increasingly popular as companies focus on their core
competencies and allow partners to handle their non-core activities. The
communication between the company and their outsourcing partners is increasingly
critical. The partner may have their own ways of communication and other tools,
but an easy-to-use web-based package is a simple way to get everyone on the
same page.
Solution
A Request Management tool can act as the communication mechanism
between the partners. Since the tool is web based, it is accessible to everyone
with an internet connection or access to the network. The work orders and audit
trails ensure decisions are clear and work is moving forward. It is also easy
to see progress and test results regardless of your outsourcing partners’
physical location. The internet makes everyone reachable.
7. Enforcing consistent and accurate decision documentation
Does your company need better decision documentation? Have you ever heard
someone say “This is the same thing we talked about six months ago”? These
decisions could be internal or with a customer or vendor. Businesses are always
making decisions and most successful businesses document these decisions and
move on.
Solution
A Request Management system can be used to create a consistent forum
for documenting your decisions—especially if research is involved. The requests
could be as simple as defining the options and simply asking for a decision.
Once the decision is documented, it is simple to review the decision using the
search capabilities.
Vendor/Customer authorization, sign-off and go-ahead
documentation may also use a Request Management solution to easily share
information. The workflow is driven via the external email address so requests
can be routed inside and outside of your organization. Share engineering
drawings with your suppliers or make sure your customer signs off on a
deliverable. Either scenario can be easily managed via Request Management.
8. Accurately capturing and documenting test problem reports
All IT related projects need some form of test problem structure and reporting.
The reports must be easy to read and understand as well as clearly define the
problems found during testing.
Solution
A Request Management application can be used to treat each “problem” as a request. By using the system this way, the problems
may be approved and addressed by the appropriate person.
9. Helping your team prioritize work
An urgent need is a critical priority for your business, but all immediate
needs are not necessarily important to your business strategy. With fewer
resources performing more and more activities, your team should be working on
important and immediate tasks before all others. How do you ensure this occurs?
Solution
In a Request Management application, a priority may be entered by the initial
requestor. This priority value (Emergency, High, Normal, and Low) is reviewed
by a manager before assigning the work. This consistency check allows the
person working on the request to prioritize their work knowing a consistency
check has already occurred. During the “assign work” process, an estimated
amount of time to complete the work may be entered for each work order. When
the work is complete, the actual time may also be entered to provide more
accurate estimates in the future.
10. Managing numerous desktop applications
Desktop applications must be tracked and version controlled. This is extremely
time intensive and costly. It’s necessary for many applications, but not
rightTRAX Request Management.
Solution
The rightTRAX Request Management application is a web-based tool that can be hosted by rightTRAX or loaded onto your corporate
intranet. Either way it can satisfy your Request Management needs without adding another desktop application.
11. Installing more package software that does not fit your business
A major concern when selecting and implementing package software exists if too
many changes must be made to the business in order to realize the benefits and
ROI. You may have a list of requirements and don’t think a package will ever
“meet” your needs.
Solution
Our Request Management application is completely configurable from server level changes to individual security settings. This is
critical for an application that has so many uses within your organization. The
change to your business when implementing Request Management should be to
improve your business processes to save money rather than changing to make the
software “work” in your environment. There are additional fields that can be
added to the request and work screens to “fit” the software to your business
rather than vice versa.
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The beauty of Request Management is that it can allay the concerns above without changing the basic structure of the application. The application is available to help you solve any business issue that needs to get the right information to the right people at the right time. That’s what we do at rightTRAX and why we developed the rightTRAX Request Manager. We want to help your organization be the best it can be.
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