Process Digitalization With AgilePoint
The RhB has been dealing with the topic of workflow automation for quite some time. The topic has now been actively addressed as part of the digitization strategy. The RhB wanted to evaluate and introduce a suitable workflow engine.
As a partner, 1stQuad actively supported RhB in all aspects of process digitization. This included surveying the needs and requirements, evaluating the suitable workflow engine, introducing the selected engine, developing customer-specific solutions, installing the test and production environment, and integrating it into the surrounding systems, as well as commissioning and supporting the digitized processes.
Rhätische Bahn AG
With around 1,500 employees, the Rhaetian Railway AG (RhB) moves 12 million travelers through the whole of Graubünden every year. The RhB has a network of 384 kilometers. The most famous RhB routes are the Bernina and Albula lines, which since July 2008 are the third railroad line to be listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Their landmark is the Landwasser Viaduct, which leads directly into the Landwasser Tunnel.
RhB’s IT landscape is a heterogeneous environment consisting of classic local infrastructure and cloud services. Components from Office 365 are already being actively used today.
Implementation of the use cases
As part of the implementation, the two processes expense receipts for rolling stock and room reservations were implemented in close cooperation with RhB business analysts. This support served as system training for workflow modeling, form design and the connection of the corresponding peripheral systems. The close cooperation during the implementation made it possible to achieve the greatest possible learning effect on the part of RhB.
Learning by doing
The two use cases to be implemented also served as training objects. 1stQuad defined the steps necessary for the implementation, trained the users and checked their implementation for correctness. In addition, a training concept was created for the key users. The target group of this training was process owners and the focus was not on modeling processes, but on monitoring and error analysis and correction (debugging) of process instances.
Guidelines and concepts
A governance guideline was developed that defined role models, permissions, application structure, reusability, development guidelines, and deployment for ongoing operations. “Dos” and “don’ts” were defined to ensure that no structures were created that would hinder the operation and development of further workflows. In addition, an implementation concept and a rollout workshop were conducted with process owners and process participants (task recipients and form users / initiators).
Team development and build-up of know-how
In order to be able to use the existing talents on the IT side / business analysis, governance was set up and expanded in cooperation with RhB, and authorization and naming concepts were developed. A super-user concept and super-user training were further components of the support.
The targeted training and pair programming ensured the achievement of an important goal of the RhB: Build a team that can independently develop workflows end to end from process discovery to go-live. If required, they are supported by on-demand support.
Photo by Azzedine Rouichi on Unsplash
