Vorsite Streamlines Pharmaceutical Firm’s Grant Disbursement Process
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The world’s largest pharmaceutical company needed to streamline its grant approval and
disbursement process in order to stay competitive. Each year, millions of dollars in research grants
and physician stipends must be managed for optimal response time while ensuring that all related
documentation was properly tracked and archived in accordance with government regulations.
Solving this problem was not easy. Information had been stored using disparate systems and
processes. Employee and financial information was stored in SAP. Documentum was used
for document management and most end-user groups employed SharePoint to store request
justifi cation documents and execute other collaboration activities. Simply obtaining a disbursement
of funds required the use of three completely different systems.
For a solution to be acceptable to the company, it had to:
- Be familiar and easy to use
- Leverage a return on previous technology investments
- Be rapidly deployed
The client had previously deployed an EMC Documentum only solution, which required employees
to learn and use Documentum for their collaboration activities. As a result this solution was roundly
rejected. Their Microsoft SharePoint only solution could not satisfy the requirements because of its
limited workflow capabilities. Additionally, the company needed to leverage its investment in the
workfl ows it had developed in Documentum.
To reduce the cost of training and ensure end-user acceptance, the client needed a solution that
would enable users to submit and track requests in the approval process from a single application
that users already knew.
The Solution
Using Vorsite’s two products; Transfer Agent and Web Parts, the company bridged the gap between
the diverging technologies.
Researchers and research organizations apply to pharmaceutical companies for grants and stipends.
An employee completes the application using an InfoPath form, retrieving financial data from their
SAP system. The completed form is stored in a SharePoint library. Based on business logic, the
Vorsite Transfer Agent recognizes the completed application and transfers the form automatically to
Documentum, while kicking off a workflow enabling qualified employees to track the completion of
the grant application. The key to this solution was a zero code integration that meets the needs of end
users through SharePoint and utilizes the workfl ow features of Documentum while leveraging the
company’s investment in both technologies.
Through the Vorsite Documentum Workflow and Vorsite Documentum Inbox Web Parts, people from
the review board can monitor the progress of the application or perform actions required of the
Documentum workfl ow from the SharePoint interface. An employee in charge of granting acceptance
of the application will be able to work with the application from the Vorsite Documentum Inbox Web
Part, allowing the grant to be accepted or rejected in a matter of clicks through one interface. The
applications can be routed to the secretary’s inbox for printing of a contract or rejection letter. In
short, an employee can perform their job in Documentum but through the usability of SharePoint.
Benefits
By deploying a solution which uses Vorsite’s products to integrate the capabilities of EMC
Documentum Server and Microsoft’s SharePoint technology, the company gained significant
new effi ciencies.
Streamline Disbursement Process
Utilizing the Vorsite Web Parts, Transfer Agent technologies and a custom Web Part to integrate with
SAP, users could conclude the grant request and monitor the approval process from their SharePoint
site. And because the approving authorities also work in the same familiar environment, the time
from request to approval and payment of disbursements is signifi cantly reduced.
Leveraged Technology Investment
It was extremely important to preserve the investment the company had in EMC Documentum and
leverage what had already been developed. The Vorsite Inbox Web Part for Documentum made it
possible for users to interact with the workflows already existing in Documentum. They view tasks
assigned to them and take action directly from the Web Part. All this from the familiar SharePoint
environment deployed throughout the company for collaboration.
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