Systematization of Business Know-how

Shanon Inc.

Established

August 25, 2000

Number of Employees

Consolidated: 275 (including contract employees, as of October 2023)

Business

Development, sales, and implementation support for marketing automation and event marketing systems

Website

http://www.shanon.co.jp/

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Industry

Hitech

User Departments

IT, Approval Flows, Human Resource

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.

Data Integration with Google Spreadsheet and Backlog

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.

5 years since its implementation, now ALL Business Operations are on the Cloud-based Workflow!

Cybertrust Japan Co., Ltd.

Established

June 1, 2000

Number of Employees

251 (as of May 2024)

Business

IoT Business, Linux/OSS Business, Certification and Security Business

Website

https://www.cybertrust.co.jp/

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Industry

Hitech

User Departments

Approval Flows, Accounting

From Request and Claim operations to Sales Support in only 3 years!

Q. Please tell us what you are using Questetra for.

MIRACLE LINUX CORPORATION (currently Cybertrust Japan Co., Ltd.) was founded in 2000 as a company that provides operating systems for servers. Today, we develop and sell products for system monitoring and backup software, based on OS kernel technology. We introduced Questetra as a workflow system in the spring of 2010 for online expense reports and applications.

When selecting a workflow for Miracle Linux we wanted A) to reduce the number of paper application procedures as much as possible, and B) a cloud-based service (SaaS) which was accessible from anywhere, because we make so many business trips, both domestic and overseas.

The actual selection and implementation process was done by two people, the president, who has had a long career in the IT industry, and the HR manager, who has no programming experience. It was introduced officially in only about one and a half months. Above all, I think its Flash-based workflow modelling tool is excellent. When it was introduced 18 business procedures were made paperless. Specifically, these procedures were Expense reimbursement request, Expense report, Travel request, Name card order request, BYOD request, Contract creation and reviewing request, Admittance request, among others.

Over four years have passed since we started using Questetra and now we are doing almost all our work on it. In terms of Workflows we now have about 70 different types of business operations.

Q. How did the number of applications increase?

In the beginning, we were using it mainly for operations managed by the Accounting department.

However, once we experienced the advantage of not having to pass around paper documents we wanted to promote the reduction of paper application procedures as much as possible.

Thanks to the Questetra modeller, which allows people without IT knowledge to build complicated Workflow systems, it was possible for our internal staff to increase the number of applications.

However, since Miracle Linux is a company that deals with Linux OS, there are numerous engineers who are familiar with information systems working at our company, and sometimes they had pretty severe feedback about, for instance, the ambiguity of the data input screen or in the business flow. In fact user survey questionnaires were conducted several times, and we made gradual improvements to address the complaints gathered from them.

Recognized the effectiveness in case of an earthquake

Q. Could you tell us your impressions after all the years you have been using the system?

Although this can be said of any tool, it is very important that A) it is usable at any time, and B) it is available from anywhere.

The Great East Japan Earthquake occurred on March 11, 2011, about a year after introducing Questetra.

There was a quake of around 5 degrees on the JMA scale in the Tokyo area as well, where Miracle Linux is located. We fell into a really confusing situation because the in-house server was no longer available and the employees could not even go home. However, we could continue using cloud services like G Suite (formerly Google Apps) (Email / files) and Questetra (Workflow).

Although we talk in the terms of “Business continuity” or “BCP” nowadays, it was thanks to cloud-based services that we could continue our business activities without stopping. We are very happy with its high operational performance, even in normal times.

Q. Please also tell us about points to be improved in Questetra itself.

Questetra, as a cloud-based service, is good because it has periodic additions and enhancements to the functionality. On the other hand, as users we need to examine carefully the content of the new version specifications to make sure it does not incur big changes in day-to-day operations.

In some cases, we need to carry out pre-testing of the changes. We would be grateful for a mechanism which allows us to recognize Workflows that might be affected when such changes occur.

Also, we submit business processing records in Questetra for the year-end audit, etc. For this we need to print out Questetra’s data because even these days much of the audit trail must be submitted in paper. I think it would be useful if there was a mechanism that could enable us to customize the layout of the information, because currently data unnecessary for the audit is included in the print contents, and therefore it increases the number of pages that need to be printed.