This question was posted on the Professional Planning Forum Back Office Linked in Group and here is eg’s response:

I think that your question has two points to it. Firstly which back office solutions can use the cloud rather than having to rely on desk-top applications to capture relevant back office data. Secondly, which solutions also provide sufficient flexibility to integrate with existing solutions such as WFM. eg’s back office optimisation software suite provides the most complete functionality on the market whilst delivering guaranteed benefits together with being fully accessible from the cloud. Standard integration components are also included that can use a secure gateway to our cloud service to allow data exchange with our back office solutions. I would be more than happy to share further details either directly; through this post or at the upcoming PPF Best Practice Seminar in Altrincham on 3 November.

We know the temptation of using eg production data for testing, training or support because you often want the same volume, variety and type of data which is hard to re-create.  But using production data backups without the necessary security measures, is potentially in breach of regulations and compliance laws.

Even when data is stored in a test or development environment it still needs to be protected against security breaches – this can often be overlooked.  The same issues arise when you want training environments, or when you copy data to investigate issues.

Fines of up to £500,000 can to be issued by the UK Information Commissioners Office for serious security breaches – and regulators are getting tough.

Are you protected?

* Overcome these issues and carry on testing with backups of your live data in eg work manager®/eg operational intelligence® WITHOUT THE RISK – by applying eg work manager® de-sensitisation

* Ensure legal, secure data management for test, training and support activities.

* Avoid serious security breaches and subsequent fines and penalties.

If you want a no obligation review of your eg data management just complete the form below or call 01785 715772.

Bloor Research have published an InDetail white paper on Optimising Back Office Performance.  The report was produced in conjunction with eg solutions, building on the Bloor Spotlight paper ‘Operations Management for the Services Sector’ which looked at operational management solutions for the Service Sector. This latest InDetail release looks at eg solutions operational management solution, including technical architecture and client case studies and is a must read for anyone interested in improving operations management and optimising back office performance.

Here’s an excerpt…..

Bloor Research identified that there were a number of solutions that organisations may have already purchased or are thinking of purchasing to solve the issues involved in gaining control of operations management.  Bloor identified that there were two key approaches of IT solutions built to support operations management.  The first is based around Business Intelligence which requires significant effort to tailor an appropriate solution.  The second approach involves the use of specialised applications consisting of a variety of automated components, including workforce management, capacity management, customer management, process management.

If you would like to be the first to receive this paper please complete the short form below.

Other associated link that may be of interest:

Linked in groups:

eg operations management http://bit.ly/cq6Egd

Operational Intelligence http://bit.ly/acZvOV

Blog: http://bit.ly/b6fVQ9

Summary taken from a white paper written by Mr P Ezzard, eg solutions plc.

To request a copy of the full white paper please email racheloliver@eguk.co.uk

Research in the USA retail banking sector suggests that at the turn of the century, 70% of customer transactions were still undertaken by face-to-face contact in High Street branches.  By 2005 this had reduced to 42% and it is predicted in 2010 it will account for only 30% of service transactions (Corporate Executive Board 2006 – Lean Manufacturing for Financial Services).

These face-to-face transactions have been replaced by telephone; internet and ATM entered requests routed to large Contact and Processing Centres. This pattern is being repeated in service organisations across the world.

This change has been driven in part by the development of technology but also by organisations wanting to reduce costs and improve service through centralisation, outsourcing and off-shoring of service support and processing.

In this context further research in the USA suggests that in service industries 40% of operational costs are wasteful even when the work is undertaken in dedicated centres (Corporate Executive Board 2006 – Lean Manufacturing for Financial Services). Similar research in the UK suggests that “failure demand” in Contact and Processing Centres can account for anything from 20 to 60% of all customer transactions in financial services, often higher in local authorities and utilities (Seddon 2003 and 2008).  (Failure demands are customer contacts and subsequent processing activities caused by a failure to do something or do something right for the customer.)

It is therefore not surprising that service organisations are continuously looking at ways in which to improve performance.

Two key ways of doing this are through:

• Operational management improvements that result in the more effective utilisation of resources and processing systems available.  For example, implementation of operational intelligence and improved operations management practice.

• Initiatives aimed at achieving improvement through re-engineering processes, structures and cultures.  For example, “Lean” and “Six Sigma”.

The two approaches are separate but complementary.  The purpose of the full white paper is to provide an overview of several of the more common improvement methodologies and then to show how eg operational intelligence^® can be used alongside them to monitor success and maximise the benefits that can be achieved by organisations striving to meet customer and cost improvement requirements.

To request a copy email me or contribute to what improvement methodologies you are using please comment.