Customer Solution Case Study
/ / Education Zone Saves Four Days a Week With E-Correspondence System
Overview
Country or Region:United Arab Emirates
Industry:Government
Customer Profile
The Sharjah Education Zone (SEZ) manages primary and secondary schools within the emirate of Sharjah. It employs 200 people and follows the directives set by the United Arab Emirates Ministry of Education.
Business Situation
SEZ wanted to automate its correspondence management process, enhancing coordination with schools, setting up a central repository for information, and speeding up the internal approval processes.
Solution
Microsoft® Certified Partner ATS-1 Knowledge implemented a Web portal for schools and an online repository with analytical tools, based on Microsoft Office SharePoint® Server 2007.
Benefits
High user adoption
Schools’ requests processed inminutes
Reliable communication system
Employees save four days a week
Enhanced operational efficiency / “With Microsoft technologies providing an automated process, employees can complete tasks in 50 per cent less time and deal with more requests from schools.”
Mohammed Al Mulla, IT Manager, Sharjah Education Zone
A government organisation, Sharjah Education Zone (SEZ) manages all schools across the Emirate of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates. In 2008, it worked with Microsoft® Certified Partner ATS-1 Knowledge to automate its correspondence management processes. SEZ chose Microsoft Office SharePoint® Server 2007 over Xerox because it provided a complete solution comprising documents repository, Web portal for communication with schools, and workflows. As a result, operational efficiency has improved significantly. Employees complete tasks in 60 per cent less time, saving four days a week. They respond to schools’ queries within five minutes,speeding up response time by 24 hours. With an effective communication system, SEZ can proactively assist schools to meet the federal government’s curriculum agenda, leading to sustainable improvements in the Sharjah education system.
Situation
Working under the direction of the Ministry of Education of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Sharjah Education Zone (SEZ) plays a pivotal role in maintaining quality standards in primary and secondary schools across the Emirate of Sharjah. Over the years, its efforts have led to the creation of a multi-dimensional education system comprising 85 government and 100 privately run schools. The Ruler of Sharjah,His Highness, Dr. Shaikh Sultan Bin Mohammed Al Qasimi takes a personal interest in education and holds doctorates in philosophy from two United Kingdom universities.
SEZ is the main link between the UAE education ministry and the academic institutes in Sharjah. It is responsible for helping schools meet the strategic objectives of federal educational development programmes. This involves regular inspection of schools, renewing licences, ensuring compulsory Arabic tuition for all students, as well as arranging resources such as teachers, updated curriculum, and funding.
SEZ needs to maintain effective communication with schools so it can provide them with timely information on the federal ministry’s education agenda and fulfil the schools’ requirements. Therefore, SEZ has always maintained a well-organised system to manage correspondence with schools and the ministry, where a dedicated mail department keeps a record of all incoming and outgoing mail.
However, until 2008, these processes were mostly manual and led to inefficiencies in SEZ operations. Mohammed Al Mulla, IT Manager at SEZ, explains: “The only way to correspond was through the postal system or by sending an employee to collect and deliver documents. Schools had no way of confirming that a letter was delivered to us and not lost in the post. It was also extremely time consuming. Many times, we sent important documents needed for an inspection but they arrived after the audit had taken place.”
Al Mulla and his team were aware that to maintain the high standards of education in Sharjah, it was important to support schools more proactively. “What we needed was a quicker way of exchanging important information,” says Al Mulla. “For example, in order to estimate the number of expatriate and local teachers required for specific subjects for the next academic year, the education ministry requires records of teachers working in Sharjah. It could take SEZ more than a month just to find out the date of birth and nationality of teachers in the 85 government schools,delaying the ministry’s plans.”
Another challenge was providing a timely response to schools’ requests—such as for arranging inspections—due to the sheer number of applications. In an average month, SEZ receives 4,000 letters, most requiring review and approval from one of four SEZ departments. But, until recently, there was no system to track a document’s approval stage and the employee working on it. Documents were archived as hard copies in physical files and employees could not retrieve a document quickly. As a result, there was always a waiting list of requests to be dealt with and schools had to wait for weeks to receive a response.
In 2008, with a view to enhance communication with the education institutes, Al Mulla undertook an innovative IT project to automate the entire SEZ correspondence system.“We needed to exchange information electronically with schools as well as for internal processes. The aim was to reduce dependency on the postal system, have immediate access to information from schools, and speed up the approval processes,” says Al Mullah.
Solution
In March 2008, Al Mullah and his team considered a managed solution by Xerox where the vendor offered to scan and upload all documents to a central repository. However, on recommendation by the central body for research and consultancy for UAE public sector IT systems—the General Information Authority (GIA)—the IT manager chose to implement an automated correspondence management system based on Microsoft® Office SharePoint® Server 2007.
“Unlike Xerox, Microsoft provided us with a complete solution comprising an online documents management repository, a portal for communication with the schools, as well as automated workflows for review and approval of documents,” says Al Mullah. “Moreover, we could use the existing Microsoft Enterprise Agreement for low cost volume licensing.”
The agreement for schools gives SEZ users the benefit of all enterprise features of Microsoft technologies at no extra cost, including document management, electronic forms and workflow, and Web content management.
GIA suggested that SEZ work with Microsoft Certified Partner ATS-1 Knowledge. The partner first conducted a proof of concept lasting four months to identify the specific customisation requirements of SEZ. The system that went live in November 2008 comprises of:
Online Documents Repository
The partner designed the repository based on 14 categories of correspondence used by SEZ and scanned and uploaded all existing hard copies of correspondence documents from the last two years. It is supported by Microsoft SQL Server® 2005 data management software and documents are archived using metadata tags.
N.C. Ramgopal, Chief Technology Officer at ATS-1, adds: “To help ensure information security, the search feature provides users with access to documents that are relevant only to them. For example, a human resources manager will only have access to reports related to his or her job role.” In addition to the search available in the correspondence system, ATS-1 developed a customised search tool using the Microsoft .NET Framework. The tool allows SEZ users to access the repository as an application on their computers, from which they can easily retrieve files and get notifications and alerts.
Automated Workflows for Approvals
Ramgopal’s team set up a customised workflow engine to automate the approval processes. As soon as the SEZ mail section receives a letter by post, fax, or e-mail, it scans the document. The system automatically uploads it on the repository with metadata tags based on letter title, subject, key words, date, and the department to which it is addressed. Mail section users can see an index on their computer screens showing the number of letters scanned as well as those saved without metadata classification.
The document then goes to the appropriate department. Integrated with Microsoft Exchange Server 2007, the system sends an alert to the head of department, who can further assign the review task to another manager to add remarks, draft the response letter, and attach additional files.
At the next stage, the head of department receives another alert to edit the document or send it to, for example, the human resources and finance departments for further clarification. These sub-departments also receive alerts to complete their tasks. Once finished, the head of department receives it back and can click on a button to affix a scanned image of his or her signature to the document and confirm approval—only department heads can affix their signatures. The print preview of the approved document is shown as an official letter from the SEZ with the signature of the signing authority.
Web Portal to Communicate with Schools
The Web portal is the interface for schools to communicate with SEZ. They can log on to the system using a secure password and send letters as scanned copies or e-mail messages. They can also maintain employee records on this portal using the Microsoft Office InfoPath® 2007 information-gathering program to enter data such as a teacher’s name, date of birth, passport number, and certificates. This information is stored in the documents repository and SEZ can access it, as required.
To issue federal ministry’s circulars, memos, and orders, SEZ users select the schools’ names from the list available on the portal and send out the documents at the click of the mouse.
Benefits
The e-correspondence management solution has completely transformed the way SEZ works, creating major efficiency savings and improving customer service. Employees complete tasks 50 per cent faster, saving four days a week. They can respond to schools’ queries within five minutes—which earlier took at least 24 hours. With an effective communication system, SEZ can proactively assist schools to meet the federal government’s academic agenda, leading to consistent improvements in the Sharjah education system.
Change Management Strategy Leads to High User adoption
Although SEZ employees were accustomed to completing most tasks manually, they quickly adapted to the new e-correspondence system due to a clear change management program developed by ATS-1.
To help users become familiar with the online work environment, the partner provided the offline work option. If needed, SEZ employees can complete a part of the workflow manually—such as draft and edit letters—and then scan and upload them on the system to complete the approval cycle.
Working closely with the SEZ IT Department, ATS-1 helped SEZ train 190 internal users and 500 school users. Ramgopal says: “It was important not to burden them with technology, but help them adopt it according to their individual comfort level. That’s why we have achieved such extremely high levels of user satisfaction even though this system is a complete change to the way SEZ and the schools worked previously.”
Civil Servants Improve Customer Service by Processing Requests in Minutes
The central documents repository at SEZ contains more than 170,000 correspondence documents as well as records of 5000 teachers. “We can now provide any information to the federal education ministry within seconds. It used to take us a month to just provide teacher’s details,” says Al Mulla.
The repository provides a very reliable document archival and records management system that prevents the loss of any correspondence documentation or its communication history. The system indexes all files within the repository, which enhances document search and retrieval. Documents are securely stored on the system as only users with the correct access rights can locate and open specific files.
There is also a significant reduction in time taken by SEZ to respond to schools’ requests because the portal, e-mail, and workflows are all integrated. The system triggers the approvals process as soon as the school sends the letter and once a head of department finalises the response letter, schools immediately get a reply. Al Mulla says: “What best demonstrates time savings is quick completion of approvals. Now, we can respond to schools’ requests within five minutes—previously, there was no way schools could get a response within 24 hours.”
Reliable Communications Help Improve Sharjah Education System
For the first time, SEZ correspondence processes are not reliant on the postal system. There is no chance of a document being lost, and schools do not have to wait a day for an SEZ employee to collect and deliver letters. As a result of more reliable and quicker communication, SEZ can closely coordinate with schools to satisfy the federal ministry’s education agenda.
“For instance, earlier we could not even provide date and time for audits in time, now we can do it proactively by sending out memos through the portal,” says Al Mulla. “The system has opened new opportunities for us—not only in terms of communicating important announcements. We can easily add new sections—such as to launch competitions and inspire innovation in teaching methods—and help schools strive for higher standards of attainment.”
SEZ Employees Save Four Days a Week with Automated Systems
With Sharjah becoming an important centre of learning in the Gulf region, SEZ cannot afford to stand still in delivering services to schools. It has responded by bolstering the productivity of its employees. Al Mulla says: “Previously, there was always a waiting list of requests. Now, with Microsoft technologies providing an automated process, employees can complete tasks in 50 per cent less time and deal with more requests from schools.”
The employees in the mail department also do not have to travel to schools to collect and deliver letters any more. “The result is that they are saving at least two working days a week. Overall, we expect to be able to reduce the number of employees assigned to correspondence management and free people for higher value, strategic work,” adds Al Mulla.
Efficient Information Management Results in Operational Efficiency
SEZ senior management is now much better supported in policy making by the analytical tools at its disposal through the system. Automated workflows, data archiving, and customised views for tracking document approval stages helps management get a clearer insight into internal operations.
For example, each document bears an account number. Management can monitor which employee is working on a particular case, number of documents approved, pending tasks, and deadlines. This helps with better allocation of work and timely delivery.
“Using the IT expertise of ATS-1 has helped us build the next generation e-correspondence system that is ensuring greater transparency, improving service delivery, and saving operational time,” says Al Mulla. “We plan to showcase this to the federal education ministry so it can provide similar solutions to help other education zones and councils across the UAE.”
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