Upgrade Keeps Tabs on Process Performance

An upgrade to Lombardi Software Inc.s TeamWorks software platform is intended to move beyond the companys traditional business process management functionality by automating and monitoring business activity for unplanned or unexpected changes to normal operations.

The goal of TeamWorks 3.3, which debuted last week, is to enable users to link their business processes with their business objectives, according to Lombardi CEO Rod Favaron, in Austin, Texas.

The upgraded software recognizes when a business event requires a human decision and guides employees through actions to keep the process moving. The software provides electronic "process coaches" that guide users through their part in the process, dishing up information from multiple data sources needed to make each decision.

When TeamWorks 3.3 finds an event where a human decision is not required, it launches automated processes to respond to the event.

Version 3.3 provides score cards that capture and display process and user performance metrics to show managers how processes are performing, as well as how the process can be improved to meet strategic goals, officials said.

John Antaki, technology adviser at Shell Oil Co. Tax Firm, a division of Shell Oil Co., is using TeamWorks 3.1 to complete financial reconciliation and data validation for tax reporting and filing. The platform lets him maintain a complex Chart of Account Management for Shell, enabling him to keep pieces of Shells organization separate and distinct, as well as "auditable and traceable," Antaki said.

"If Lombardi helps with data integrity and data reliability, then obviously your business decisions are going to be made on more solid [information]," said Antaki, in Houston. "Shell can make global decisions—mergers, acquisitions, divestitures—much faster."

At the same time, Antaki relies on TeamWorks alert system to accelerate Shells monthly closing cycle.

"If expenses drop below a certain level, or capitalization is over a certain level, it will give you alerts," said Antaki. "Since we implemented TeamWorks earlier this year, we are now doing monthly closings, and were doing it very quickly, so instead of taking 15 workdays, were now able to do [it] in six."

Antaki is proposing that Version 3.3 be implemented in various divisions, from Exploration and Production, where TeamWorks would manage the operational business processes, to Shells refineries, where the platform would manage preventive maintenance.