How to Improve Operational Efficiency During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Many organizations have experienced various difficulties due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  Whether they are short-staffed due to furloughs or staff in mandatory quarantine, or searching for ways to be more productive while employees are working at home, this may be an opportunity to address some operational inefficiencies within the organization.  Here are some things to consider:

• Manual processes: All software applications promise automation but few organizations ever achieve the goal.  Infor Process Automation (IPA) offers a workflow-based solution to automate nearly any process in Lawson.  You can use your own business logic to build a process that can do everything from onboarding automation to payroll automation.  This can be a great time and cost saver.
• Process improvement: In addition to eliminating manual processes, there are also ways to use Lawson more effectively to improve efficiency. Your functional users and support staff cannot be expected to understand every aspect of the software and how to optimize processes within the application.  Hiring a managed services partner that knows and understands the application will be an investment in your future.  Once you can optimize your processes, you will free up time for employees to be more productive.  The initial time and cost will be minimal compared to the eventual benefit.
• Empowering employees: Many employees have gone from doing 100% of their work in an office setting, to doing 100% of their work at home.  There are many solutions for allowing employees to connect to your network and do their work.  Since Lawson is web-based, it is a prime candidate for providing access externally over the internet.  To maintain a secure application, it would be best to configure Lawson to authenticate using with a secure method such as AD FS, and to implement multi-factor authentication.
• Managed Services: A good Managed Service firm can help you administer Lawson and other Infor products, and even provide functional assistance, at the fraction of the cost of an FTE.  If you find that your organization is short-staffed during this period, it might be the perfect time to try a Managed Services model.

For more information about how Nogalis could help your organization save money (including process improvement and managed services), contact us any time.