VHA Electronic Manager (EM) - Quick Facts
	EM supports your requirements for Records and Content by use of the IBM Content Manager and IBM Record Manager DB2 based products.
	EM can be utilized as a Workflow/Collaboration tool.
	Tracking is provided to support audit requirements and/or can be used for accountability purposes.
	The EM Administration Module provides specified employees within your organization with the ability to maintain and make changes, as needed, in the program without continued support from VHA.

	EM provides security by allowing unique permission levels to be set for all users throughout an organization.

EM Product Description
Document & Content Management | Workflow/Collaboration | Tracking | Admin Mod Utility | Security
Technical Perspective

After four years of refinement, Van Hoose Associates (VHA) is proud to reintroduce our Paperless Office, Electronic Manager (EM) Solution Application. It is a rapidly customizable application, designed to work with the Enterprise Information Management Tool Suites to enhance records, file, and document management, as well as, workflow tasking and collaboration capabilities. It may be tailored and expanded by the customer as needed, to reflect any organization’s business processes. EM Application Solution benefits include:
	User Friendly
	Ease of Training
	User Based Culture Change
	Efficiency Improvements
	Productivity Gains

EM – A User-Simple Interface
EM presents a clean and simple interface to assist an organization in migrating to a paperless work environment.
It provides an open architecture which allows a user to see elements that are customized with their own familiar environment and terminology. Every functional area (i.e., department or division) in a company receives a screen model that corresponds to the nature of their own work. All work is managed within formatted electronic ‘folders’ which are built to mirror the business processes which already exist in an organization. For example, an existing process may already be in place to initiate a purchase of major equipment. First, someone identifies a need for new equipment, an investigation is initiated in order to evaluate the availability and prices of the equipment, collaboration with others is necessary, a budget will need to be developed, and approval obtained for the purchase, and so on. Using EM, business process models can contain a recognizable set of ‘sections’ and ‘tabs’ bringing organization and consistency into folders, as the sample “Folder” screen below demonstrates.

Additionally, EM is tightly integrated with existing desktop productivity tools (such as Microsoft Excel, Word, and Power Point) which enables users to quickly adopt and adapt to the EM application.

SAMPLE EM FOLDER SCREEN Click HERE or on image for larger view

Document and Content Management
The folders created in EM store any type of file that can be collected electronically, (i.e., unstructured formats: memos, letters, e-mail messages, reports, forms, recordings, drawings, photographs, presentations, scanned documents; or snap shots of output from structured data). The only requirement is that the application from which the document was developed must reside on the user’s PC to allow viewing or editing of that file. In other words, if you need to store and later edit a photo created in Adobe Photoshop®, that program must already exist on the PC from which editing will be performed.

Workflow/Collaboration
EM utilizes Workflow functionality to enable collaboration on any project. A Workflow is an active element within a project and remains with the effort for its complete lifecycle. All Workflows can be routed and tracked step by step. Further, they can collect comments, allow reassignment of tasks, and gather supporting file attachments, as needed.

Creating Workflows within EM only takes a couple of minutes. Any Workflow can host and distribute files for collaboration to individuals or groups, provide extensive space for instructions, and utilize your e-mail system for notification of pending tasks.

A Workflow can be issued to multiple users sequentially, or concurrently, in shotgun fashion. A Sequential Workflow takes on the nature of work scheduling in that it assumes the first person in the list must complete his task before the next person begins his. A Shotgun Workflow asks for a response from everyone to whom it’s assigned simultaneously--a quick and efficient way to solicit approval of an action. In either case, file(s) may be attached for review or edit, enabling collaborative efforts. The assignees may also attach files in response or reassign their task(s) to another individual.

When originated, Workflows are associated with a folder. They are retained even after the work is complete, thus, automatically providing an audit trail of the documents exchanged, comments made and decisions reached. Users with appropriate permission can review the contents of a Workflow at any time. A sample Workflow Management Screen is shown below:

SAMPLE EM WORKFLOW SCREEN Click HERE or on image for larger view

Tracking
EM tracks activity within each folder. These tracked events are reflected in the “Chron Log”, in the chronological sequence in which they occurred. Logging of events is automatically updated by the system. Additionally, a user can add (but not delete) comments of their own within this log. Samples of the events that may be tracked are as follows:

	when the folder was created
	every time the folder is opened and by whom
	every time a file is imported, edited, or deleted
	every time a Workflow is created and completed (each user separately)
	when the folder is locked down

Tracking specific events in the life-cycle of a folder or project can be used to support audit requirements and accountability. A sample tracking screen is shown below:

SAMPLE EM TRACKING SCREEN Click HERE or on image for larger view

Admin Mod Utility (Administrator Module)
EM includes a support tool where various tables and security settings used to model your company are managed. The Admin Mod provides for ‘programming-free’ customization of your user screens without any additional expense. These screens walk the administrator through the process of building the layers of your department structures (models), setting permission levels, assigning passwords, and setting up accounts for users. These tasks can quickly and easily be carried out by a semi-technical individual. We will train specified people within your organization to be responsible to work within the Admin Mod so they will be able to carry out all of these tasks without need for a VHA staff member to be available every time a change is needed in the program. The ease of use that is inherent in the EM User Module also extends itself as a feature in the Admin Mod.


Security
The EM Admin Mod tool allows you to build your organization from the top down, defining each functional area (department or division) and assigning security access permission levels to each element and every user. Separate access levels can be assigned for access and ability of users to:

	Create a folder
	Add a file
	See a file exists
	Read a file
	Edit a file
	Move a file
	Delete a file.

EM supports any electronically signed document and interfaces with your infrastructure to provide user authentication through mechanisms such as Microsoft’s Active Directory®.

EM has the additional benefit of allowing folders to be “locked down” and secured to prevent edit or deletion of materials. This feature supports the many demands for record management and compliance expectations by industry or government.

Technical Perspective
The VHA Electronic Management solution requires a Windows or Unix operating system and is compatible with various document management solutions and platforms. To obtain specific information as how to best install the Electronic Management solution in your environment, please contact VHA and we'll build those specifications with you.