The LeaseWave® WorkFlow workflow management system allows for various classes of “objects” to be passed through user-defined workflows. Examples of “objects” include Lease Applications and Check Requests (A/P decisions, supported through comprehensive vendor-invoice and asset management systems). Each object becomes a container for the information related to it. For example, lease applications are comprised of specific fields of data and related information; Lease Applications would then be defined as a “class”.
Decisions in organizations follow given processes or workflows, irrespective of what the decision might be. The decision to pay for a group of assets across several vendor invoices has a process that needs to be followed. Business rules, conditions, document and task requirements dictate the decision each step of the way until it is finalized. The workflow management design of LeaseWave® WorkFlow allows for the flexible setting up of the decision-making process. Each class of objects, as described above, can have any number of workflows defined against it, and each workflow can dictate a different path the object can take through the lease management system.
Any Business Rule or Condition that may be needed can be set up in the system to accurately reflect the exact decision parameters needed. Conditions, once defined, are system-driven and are automatically enforced by the LeaseWave® WorkFlow workflow management system. Based on the outcome of conditions, a given object in a workflow might advance in a pre-determined manner. The variables and parameters that are involved in a condition can be as complex as required. The LeaseWave® WorkFlow system allows for the easy definition of conditions; any field stored in the system can be used to create conditions. The outcome of conditions then drives lease decisioning processes in the workflow management system.
At each stage in the workflow, various tasks may need to be performed outside the automated LeaseWave® WorkFlow system by designated users or roles. The progress of an application or a check request (or any other object that requires decisioning) might be contingent on or affected by the successful completion of certain tasks occurring outside the system. The LeaseWave® WorkFlow system allows users with requisite authority to set up any number of tasks to be accomplished in a given workflow. The requirement for tasks and/or their completion can be set up to be sensitive to both business rules as well as the stage at which they are needed in the workflow. Tasks can be added or over-ridden on an ad-hoc basis by users with the requisite authority.
Anytasks that need to be automated, such as getting information from external third party systems or gathering credit-scoring information, can be bundled into automated procedures. The LeaseWave® WorkFlow system comes with standard auto-procedures that can be set up and used as needed. For example, tapping into credit bureaus in order to obtain credit information is an automated procedure. By bundling it into a procedure, the LeaseWave® WorkFlow system allows users to determine exactly when and under what circumstances in a given workflow that procedure needs to be used. As opposed to hard-coding this functionality, the LeaseWave® WorkFlow system allows for the flexibility to use it when it may be appropriate for each company. There are numerous other similar auto-procedures that come with the workflow management system. Others that may be unique to a given customer can be customized individually, or even incorporated with existing systems already in place. This feature in the LeaseWave® WorkFlow system allows for an unprecedented approach to accommodating for any type of integration or interface with other third party systems, including functioning as a trigger for events and procedures in other systems.
The occurrence of any event within a workflow can be used as a trigger for notification. Whether a lease application passes a given stage in the workflow or whether there is a credit score that should be of concern, notifications can be flexibly set up. Recipients of notifications can be defined as individual users, roles or user groups; third parties such as vendors / brokers / customers / potential customers can be set up as groups. Notification in LeaseWave® WorkFlow system comes in one of two forms. The LeaseWave® WorkFlow system has an internal notification system that allows users to communicate with each other online; this is similar to online chatting forums that allow for the exchange of information on a real time basis. The second notification method is the more traditional e-mail based mechanism; automated emails containing the reason for the email, relevant information and directions for response can be sent out as notification. History and audit tracking is maintained for each notification sent within the LeaseWave® WorkFlow system; receipt of notification can also be tracked and maintained if desired.
With each workflow that is defined, users can also determine statuses. The user not only names the various statuses to be used but also defines at what points within a workflow they might apply. So, unlike systems that pre-determine status names and/or transition points, the LeaseWave® WorkFlow system allows the user to define both. Every company may have its own status classification criteria and the transition points between each given status; the LeaseWave® WorkFlow system gives its users the tools to incorporate this accurately. Auto procedures, as described above, conditions, notifications, tasks and other business rules can be triggered based on the transition into or out of any given status in the workflow management system.