Use of integrated ECM/BPM platforms in financial, quality and HR processes – a case study of a large organization from the medical industry

Abstract

This paper discusses the integration of two independently evolving fields in management and information technology: business process management (BPM), and enterprise content management (ECM). The paper’s objective is to highlight the advantages of integrating these fields – particularly from practical and technological perspectives. The analysis of the integration benefits is based on a case study of a project that was focused on digitizing financial, quality, and HR processes within a nationwide network of diagnostic laboratories. In this project, an integrated open-source ECM/BPM platform that combined the Camunda BPM and Alfresco ECM environments was used as the primary technological component. The analysis of the implemented processes showed that most of them were classified as content-/document-centric, thus necessitating the use of the standard content processing services that were embedded within the ECM systems during their execution. Furthermore, the content that was generated and shared within these processes was stored more efficiently and securely in the ECM repository. The final aspect that is discussed was the potential for creating a centralized content processing model across the organization by using the integrated ECM/BPM platform as the central component.