Shanon Inc.

Q. What kind of situations did you start using Questetra BPM Suite for?

Shanon Inc. is a software company that provides Marketing automation to help companies market themselves.

We support companies in their marketing activities in the form of cloud services. In addition, we have also deployed comprehensive marketing consulting services such as outsourcing, process design and infrastructure system building, besides offering the tools for its implementation (cloud services). In market research for integrated marketing support we have received the rating of No.1 market share for five consecutive years (*). (* ITR Market View; Marketing Management Market 2015)

We are a young company. Even though the history of the company is short, we are using Questetra BPM Suite under the belief that we want to strengthen the backbone of the company by systematizing the expertise which we have gained so far!

We began using Questetra BPM Suite in February 2011 with about 60 people. In the beginning, we used it only for application-related tasks, but after a few years we started using it for all employees’ tasks.

Q. Please tell us specific ways you utilize it.

There are approximately 100 Business Processes operating in Shanon. Among them, although we have very strict rules for the transfer of information, we have created a Business Process so that everyone can follow those rules.

More specifically, for example, in the handling of personal information we define a Workflow procedure that can achieve the following:

• Checking by a third party
• Saving work evidence
• Recording of work history and ensuring traceability

Even though we will not store personal information in Questetra itself, we can simply indicate the Business Process Definition for personal information management and its business history when we get evaluated by the certification institution for updating the Privacy Mark.

• 2004: Information Security Management System BS7799-2: 2002, certified
• 2004: Information Security Management System ISMS V2 Conformity Assessment Scheme, certified
• 2007: Information Security Management System ISO 27001, certified
• 2008: PrivacyMark System, certified

We appreciate that even the staff in overseas bases (like Shanghai) can use it at the same level of service as domestic staff.

Q. Please tell us about your implementation.

In a slightly different area of internal control, we also link data to Google Spread Sheets for asset management.

Since we have a lot of IT equipment such as personal computers, etc., which are difficult to manage, we implemented request applications on the Workflow to install new equipment or dispose of the old. The latest information is automatically registered on a Spreadsheet for asset registration, so we can monitor equipment use in real time. This is also useful for third party asset checks, as they can quickly see what equipment is being used, where and by whom.

In addition, we have recently implemented a collaboration with Backlog, the project management tool. We are now aiming to execute operations according to the the progress plan in Backlog, as well as the progress management and business records in Questetra.

Q. Please tell us about your expectation for Questetra in the future.

Although it has already been more than four years since we started using it, we still feel that the setting up the operator of each Step is difficult.

For instance, the decision-making authority is determined by the combination of Role and Organizational hierarchy, but the rules are very complex and therefore the Workflow diagram will become really complex as well. Although this might be a somewhat unreasonable demand, we would appreciate if settings for operating personnel became more intuitive even when the assignment rules are complex.

Also, we are planning to get more staff involved in Business Process designing. We would be able to accelerate the improvement cycle of Business Processes if the help function and manuals were enhanced together with improving searchability.