County, city and town governments face a unique challenge - maintaining transparency, security and operational efficiency on a tight budget. Many companies have to do these things separately, and for a variety of different reasons, but few organizations face the kind of scrutiny that government bodies have to deal with while also facing the budget restrictions that a local government has to work within. The reality, for most government bodies, is that they only stay in power because the people support them. Funding comes from taxes and taxpayers want results. If they do not like the work that one administration is doing, they will elect another person when the next polling season begins. As a result, many government entities face incredible pressure to maximize operational efficiency. Business process management software for government can be a major asset in this fight.
Government organizations and transparency
The Freedom of Information Actmandates that government data that is not sensitive from a security perspective be made available to the public. For local government bodies, this means that everything from emails to records about who moved to adjourna meeting could become public knowledge at almost any time. Documentation can become an obsession in this kind of environment. BPM software can alleviate this challenge by tracking processes through an organization, identifying which workers completed different tasks, when they did them and how the project wasprocessed.
Security in local government
Data protection is often an issue of privacy and regulatory compliance in the local government sphere. While some issue of espionage and malicious hacking are definitely apparent in the sector, concerns like mobile device protection are often more pressing for many town and county government bodies. A mobile BPM solution can prove to bea vital tool in this area, as it carries all of the documentation and process integration capabilities that come with BPM into themobile sphere. The technology can also feature specialized tools to help protect data through mobile-friendly application architectures.
Operational efficiency in the public sector
Fatigue with high taxes has hit many parts of the United States. Many government organizations are left with less money to spend, but higher expectations for service. Advanced technologies, like mobile devices and cloud computing systems, can be the solution to this problem. However, these technologies can disrupt business processes. Cloud, mobile and social BPM solutions can ease this disruption and position government organizations to maximize the value of innovative IT systems.
Government organizations do not always have an easy path to getting the job done, but BPM solutions can alleviate many of the challenges facing public-sector entities.
Ben Farrell
Director of Corporate Communications
