Interview of TAdviser with the director of the company of ELMA Alexey Trefilov

Alexey Trefilov: Modern Russian electronic document management systems represent the taken place mature solutions. In recent years the number of active players was reduced – some products and the companies did not sustain the competition, other solutions morally became outdated and withdrew. The most unique and strong products and the companies survived.

Along with it I can notice that the phase of active creation of unique solutions ended. Products develop rather "evolutionarily", progressively, with some lag implementing the general trends inherent to other modern IT products, such as BPM systems, the CRM system and others.

It is possible to carry to such trends, for example, serious interest in mobile applications. If few years ago it was only "counter", then today it is the serious working tool which many organizations built in the business processes. Existence of qualitative mobile application often becomes important criterion when choosing a system – we repeatedly cooperated with clients who passed to our solution from another, as a rule, an outdated product which mobile application did not suit the client, or simply was absent.

The following important trend is the real care of users expressed in easy and available interfaces. Modern users are not ready to be reconciled with inconvenient interfaces of systems – they know that it is "convenient", they already managed to get used to beautiful interfaces of services outside office. And if work with interfaces of social networks, online stores, portals of the order of services on the Internet gives them pleasure, it becomes unclear – to be reconciled why with inconveniences at work. It is very good trend which qualitatively changes a development approach of corporate systems. The question of interfaces always was important for me personally. In a priority of development of the ELMA system the flexibility of interfaces and simplicity of the built-in solutions always lay – it often allowed us to bypass competitors who had no similar properties and imposed to users certain solutions which could be inconvenient them. Recently the situation changes, solutions of all players in steel market is qualitative better, more pleasantly in work and that is important, they became more flexible. Very much I hope that interfaces of the state resources providing services to the population will be tightened under these trends too and will make our life easier and more pleasant – so far here a situation the most deplorable.

As I already noted earlier, the electronic document management systems presented at the market – already mature solutions. Their developers not really actively develop the platform of these systems – it is globally possible to note a tendency to development of application solutions. So, in the middle of 2015 we started shop of the ready-made solutions ELMA Store where provided our examination and the best practices. It is a set of flexible solutions which our clients can develop at themselves in the company and quickly adapt to the internal features. It allows to start solutions quicker and cheaper. Paid attention that in the similar way decided to go now and other companies – in news about releases of the Russian electronic document management systems an overwhelming part occupy stories about new application solutions, and development of platforms fades into the background.

Alexey Trefilov: First of all here it is possible to note one more trend of the Russian market of electronic document management systems – real interest in the Russian developments. A talk on import substitution ceased long ago, but that is interesting – when this subject was actively exaggerated in the press and at conferences, real movements personally we saw a little. Now reverse situation. There are real actions, we are often invited to participation in tenders to the choice of the system substituting the outdated product implemented on the basis of the western solutions. Along with this movement it is necessary to notice such state and organizational initiatives as formation of "The unified register of the Russian programs for electronic computers and databases", promoting of solutions based on "domestic" DBMS and others. Existence of a product in this or that register, ownership of certificates or support of certain "friendly" technologies became more critical. Earlier similar requirements were exposed by only very narrow segment of the organizations from a public sector, now similar meets even more often.

Secondly, I cannot but note obviously increasing attention of customers to quality of interfaces and flexibility of setup of a system. A good user-friendly interface with a possibility of deep customization and creation of minimalist automated workplaces, convenient mobile application is rather standard request of our customer when choosing an electronic document management system. Often support of multilingual interfaces, i.e. an opportunity to organize interaction of the employees knowing different languages within one business process is still added to it. It quite often meets in the organizations when the main part of the company works with a system in Russian, however their foreign management Russian does not understand. When a few years ago we for the first time had to face this task, having implemented it in one of system releases as basic functionality, we did not think yet that in the nearest future this requirement will become rather widespread.

Separately I want to stop once again on importance of mobile applications. If before them it was possible to consider as additional function of workflow systems, then for many companies it in a priority today. Quite often the organizations build the business processes in such a way that a part of employees interacts with an electronic document management system only by means of smartphones and tablet computers – as a rule, it is various "field" employees who spend the main part of working hours out of office. The management on which dynamics of work dynamics of work of all company depends is added to such employees. The convenience of mobile application by means of which decisions are made during working trips begins to play a special role.

Alexey Trefilov: Business Process Management Suite of ELMA BPM is the cornerstone of an electronic document management system of ELMA ECM+. It gives certain advantages to some clients and at the same time can be a shortcoming for others.

For absolutely small companies our solution can be excessive, heavy. Our standard customer – the medium-sized and large companies with difficult internal business processes. Such customers are not satisfied with standard classical electronic document management systems in which they lack flexibility. Our system just allows to organize more difficult interaction, and the solution received as a result will be flexible and will change together with the company.

Alexey Trefilov: As I noted earlier, ELMA is Business Process Management Suite. Thanks to the powerful process engine we can give to our clients opportunities for creation of difficult processes in which all company participates. A system easily fits into an IT landscape of the company and integrates other IT systems in unified information environment. Very often our customers are the companies which did not manage to reach the desirable with other workflow systems – there was not enough flexibility of these solutions.

What is important, solutions based on our system turn out flexible. So the solution changes together with the company. Instruments of continuous improvement of business processes are integrated into a system. Thus, process can constantly be improved and change. Such solution will serve really long as owing to series of small changes aging of process slows considerably down and postponed. And in general the procedure of maintenance of a system in time becomes cheaper. When it is necessary to change considerably the business processes constructed based on competitive solutions complete processing of these products, reengineering is required. In case of ELMA, with its flexible processes, structure of documents, objects and data, it will be possible to do, as stated, without surgical intervention.

The architecture of ELMA allows to implement the solution using flexible techniques of development, for this purpose in a system a number of instruments of support of version control, debugging, emulation, etc. is implemented. The powerful competitive advantage of a product which is logically following from here is the high speed of development of solutions. For example, last year we had rather large project in Azerbaijan – we automated the Capital of Bank front office, the legal successor of Sberbank, bank with the largest branch network in Azerbaijan. All project which is consisting of 7 circuits and totally covered study about 90 business processes was executed rapidly – 5 months. Of course, the big group of analysts worked at the project, but here our product allowed to organize correctly work of all command and to start everything in work in time.

The rare implementation project of document flow does without integration with the accounting system, the CRM system. Often here accounting systems, storages and obligation fulfillments under agreements, a control system of execution of instructions and others are also added. At the same time a part of these systems can be based on low technologies and has no modern interfaces of integration. In the largest organizations the integration bus quite often meets. Thanks to the fact that ELMA is a BPM system she has good potential on integration into information space of the company.

Alexey Trefilov: Today there is a number of clients where we ensured functioning to several thousand users. At the same time some of these installations really high-loaded systems. I will remind, our system resolves not only issues of document flow but as Business Process Management Suite is used for automation of the most different tasks of the organization.

For example, in the same the Capital Bank where we have at first sight not really many users – 1300 people – ELMA is used for automation of problems of all front office of bank. So all main transactions of bank anyway pass through our system. I believe, it is possible to provide the number of transactions and density of these transactions.

In general, the question of high-speed performance of a system directly affects not only high-speed performance of work of users that is obvious, but also on their relation to a product and comfort of work therefore we are concerned by this question constantly. The selected development team constantly is engaged in system operation optimization. At us not always everything was fine with a performance, but receiving new calls, we solved these problems, improved a situation and developed a product.

Alexey Trefilov: Actually rather most part of our customers selects "turnkey" implementation when the project is in full implemented by forces of our analysts or analysts of our partners. At the same time we use own technique of implementation with we at which first stage of the project acquaint the customer. In some cases, when it is necessary to observe implementation in very short time, we use more classical flexible techniques, besides combining them with own technologies.

At project implementation we always create Competence Center which is capable to service independently a system on the party of the customer – the benefit for this purpose is not required any supercompetences. By means of this command a system will continue to develop. Quite often happened when our specialists implemented to the customer 2-3 business processes, and years later we learned that the customer independently implemented already several tens of new circuits. It is of course very good and correct approach – in this case we understand that a system really brings benefit and becomes the strategic tool.

It is a lot of also clients who initially execute implementation independently, without resorting to services of external experts. And it is not necessarily small organizations. We have examples enough large banks which involved our specialists incidentally, is exclusive for the purpose of consultations at analysis of the arisen questions, and performed the main work independently.

Alexey Trefilov: First of all they should understand business of the company. We put on employees of category "analyst", but not on "programmers". Our product is not difficult accompanied, however such specialist should have an understanding of internal processes of the organization, business needs, needs of end users. Of course, the accompanying specialists should understand possibilities of our product, but for this purpose we prepare a large number of training programs. Besides, if to speak about a system at a low level, we use standard technologies, in particular a stack of Microsoft therefore training even of technical specialists who are engaged in integration of systems takes short time.

Alexey Trefilov: Actually from this inclusion we have no special expectations – simply this compliance of time. Yes, we completely Russian development, and we just should be in this register. Besides, even more often we hear such question from customers whether our system is completely Russian, and whether there are we in this register of Ministry of Communications. In general, as the initiative of the state, is the fine idea which we fully support.

Answering the second question – we have customers from public sector, but much more often we work with real business. Development of our product and the strategy of its promotion nevertheless are started on the companies which live in the market and fight in this market, aim to increase the efficiency. If it is correct to position a product under public sector, a large number of actions which will allow to receive the weight, necessary for these clients, will be required, but for us it will be the actions aside which are contrary a little to our strategy.

Alexey Trefilov: Quite right, in the closest major release the opportunity for work with the version of PostgreSQL will be just provided. We worked on it rather long time and, at last, are ready to provide it. The version showed the result which a little surprised us during the first load tests – fine performance together with economic policy of the developer. By the way, now it is possible to call support of PostgreSQL one more trend of the Russian corporate systems.

Alexey Trefilov: We continuously improve interfaces of our system: they should be easy, adaptive, modern. At what it concerns all channels of interaction with a system, whether it be the browser or mobile application. In particular, on mobile application at us there are a lot of plans.

The second important direction determines development of tools of analytics and the reporting. The electronic document management system accumulates a huge number of data. For the correct use of these data and their analysis we will develop already existing tools of analytics and unloading of data from the workflow system in external systems of analytics.

Alexey Trefilov: Perhaps, the main lack of modern solutions is the evidence of their presence. "Ideal" EDMS is not just a system with familiar interfaces inherent in it, it represents something bigger – a part of workflow. Something so infrastructure integrated into the company and its employees that it is naturally imperceptible. Users work with information space of the company, obtaining and transferring it necessary information, at the same time without feeling coercion or need. Just it is so convenient to them – they would like to work quite so even if nobody would force them, the choice differently would be to work for them.

In this situation of the employees dissatisfied with implementation of EDMS who would remember "earlier it was convenient with pieces of paper, and now to have to spend with the silly computer so much time", simply would not be. Now in this direction social networks seriously promoted. These are not just the websites - it is Wednesday in which users exist, continuously exchanging with it data from all the electronic devices, without coercion, naturally. It is not a resource in usual understanding, it is valid Wednesday.