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ELMA Business Process Management System

Product
Developers: Elma (Elma, Intellect Lab, BPM Practice)
Last Release Date: 2020/10/06
Technology: BPM,  SaaS - Software as a service

Content

ELMA is a business process management system that allows you to build effective interaction between company employees and monitor their activities in order to improve the quality of work of the entire company. ELMA (ELegant MAnagement) implements the concept of BPM (Business Process Management), which allows you to build flexible adaptive information systems that can quickly change along with changing business processes of the company. Along with this, ELMA automates typical business processes and electronic document management. By using the WorkFlow mechanism, you can quickly tailor your system to the needs of your company and its customers.

The main thing about the ELMA system

ELMA. Business Process Management System. Everyone draws processes. We're improving.

ELMA is a business process and performance management system. It allows you to move from instructions to automatic execution and process control and helps you manage your company's performance. The continuous improvement mechanism allows you to develop a management model in the company.

The system consists of packages. The main ECM + package contains standard workflow processes and helps to establish the movement of documents and the operational activities of the company. To effectively implement end-to-end processes, we have released CRM + and Projects + packages. ELMA KPI helps you manage your company's efficiency and organizational development.

Our task is to squeeze the maximum out of the computer to facilitate the work of the manager and reduce the cost of managing the company.

All applications work on the basis of business processes, which allows you to not only track any stage of any process - document negotiation, task execution, deal or project maintenance - but also constantly improve them without resorting to the help of expensive specialists. Thus, by choosing the ELMA system, your company always remains competitive and highly efficient with any rapid changes in the market.

The operational analysis and accumulation of information that the ELMA system provides in a simple and readable form radically changes the work of key departments of companies: accounting, sales, production, marketing, logistics, finance. As a result of using the system, the company is more manageable, and more effective strategic decisions are made.

Sales Department: Customer Base Organization

Display of indicators

Business Process Design Processes

EDO: Movement of electronic documents

2021: Integration with "Contour.Prism"

SKB Loop on March 29, 2021 announced that a joint solution for checking customers under Law 115-FZ with ELMA. More details here.

2020

Integration with counterparty verification system Contour.Focus

Elma integrated Checking counterparties Contour. Focus in BPM the system. The company "" Special design bureau Contour announced this on October 6, 2020.

Now, for users of the BPM-system ELMA, automatic verification of counterparties is available using the service Contour.Focus. This makes it easier to work with a large number of suppliers, customers and partners in manufacturing, wholesale, banking, leasing and factoring companies.

When deciding on transactions, lending, opening accounts, it is important to have up-to-date information about the counterparty. It is necessary to know his details, financial condition, connections with other persons. It is also necessary to take into account the facts of economic activity: licenses, participation in public procurement, arbitration cases, enforcement proceedings. This will allow you to make the right decision about cooperation, as well as control risks throughout the entire period of working with the counterparty.

To provide users of the BPM system with more capabilities, ELMA and SKB Kontur agreed to cooperate. The partnership involves the joint creation and promotion of technological solutions. So, based on the data API Contour service. The focus in the ELMA system is implemented integrations with any of the available methods.

Integration of Focus with the ELMA system helps to quickly update counterparty details and track changes. The module automatically delivers data from official sources to the counterparty card, and also provides an express report with an assessment of the risk level. In addition, the solution collects extended analytics about the financial condition and business activities. The results are automatically recorded and sent to the ELMA system directories. This allows you to monitor changes in the performance of the counterparty, notify those responsible about them, as well as confirm the validity of decisions and compliance with the requirements of the law on due diligence.

Daler Khairullaev, Lead Circuit Expert

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To implement the verification mechanism, ELMA uses Focus data and allows it to be embedded in business process models in the form of plugins - plug-in software blocks. This automates the work as much as possible: the user can set up ready-made plugins for his tasks and start the process. For example, check the relevance of the details, change the head of the company and notify the person responsible about the changes. The solution significantly reduces the number of manual checks and automates the entry of details, and workers free up time that they can spend on solving more business-critical tasks.
File:Aquote2.png

Dmitry Sandalov, leading analyst at ELMA

File:Aquote1.png
All counterparty information is available in Focus in one place. It does not need to be collected from different sources, and the Loop keeps the data up to date. Focus has a simple and accessible API, which allows you to quickly integrate your existing business processes with it.
File:Aquote2.png

Low-code release of ELMA4 platform

On May 4, 2020, ELMA announced to TAdviser the release of the low-code platform ELMA4. The solution will not only support, but even increase the efficiency of the company, thereby overcoming the crisis, possibly in more advantageous positions compared to competitors. More details here.

2019: ELMA is the most implemented BPM system in Russia

A review prepared by CNews Analytics[1] by the beginning of 2019, reflecting the dynamics of the development of the Russian market for BPM systems (Business Process Management System). Results for 2016 and 2017 are presented - ELMA leads the number of BPM projects implemented in each reporting time period.

The chart shows the number of ELMA implementations in 2016 (132) and 2017 (110) compared to the projects of other vendors. Source: CNews Analytics, 2018

2018

ELMA 3.13

July 5, 2018 released version 3.13.

Major changes:

  • In the section "Customer service" added payment details of the counterparty

  • Reassign active tasks when a user is locked

Before you lock the user, a dialog box is displayed in which you specify whether to reassign active tasks. By default, the radio button is set to No.

  • EQL Search in Projects

The EQL search allows you to fetch objects according to a set of conditions specified in EQL.

The EQL (ELMA Query Language) is a query language for data stored in the ELMA system, which enhances the ability to create complex data samples, that is, it allows you to create a filter even with criteria that are not embedded in the basic functionality of filter settings.

EQL Search Form
  • Through authorization

A new end-to-end authentication mechanism is implemented. If you enable only Windows authentication in the IIS settings at the root of the site and set the SSPI.UseInPlaceAuth = true radio button in the settings.config configuration file, the ELMA server can retrieve the current domain user from incoming requests through the root site and authenticate it using existing tools.

  • Possibility of partial signing in approval

ELMA 3.12

January 12, 2018 released version 3.12.

Major changes:

  • Merging Project Plans

When you import a project plan, you add the ability to merge it with the plan you are importing into.

  • Template for displaying a report as a table

The generated Razor layout template has been added to display the report results as a table.

  • RKK (Registration and Control Card) is taken into account when converting the document

  • Ability to preview and edit documents through Office Web Apps

If Office Web Apps Integration (from the ELMA Store) is installed on the system, the Microsoft Office documents (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) will be displayed as follows:

Also, if you install this module, you will be able to edit documents in a web browser window.

  • Third Party ELMA Rebranding
  • Display of EDS in case of certificate expiration

2017

ELMA 3.11

ELMA in June announced the release of a new version of its eponymous system for managing business processes and efficiency. ELMA 3.11 has made changes to a significant part of the main functionality of the IT tool, as well as many solutions for accelerating and stabilizing the system.

According to the developers, the customization of the automatic execution and control of internal processes of the company is optimized - due to the revision of the Internal Portal (a single information space for employees), the Designer ELMA (programs for modeling business processes), the Form Designer, specialized applications of the ELMA Projects + system and ELMA CRM +.

Key changes in version 3.11 affected:

1. Internal portal

Unlike previous versions of the system, ELMA 3.11 introduced support for time zones, as well as additional settings for production calendars. The procedure for coordinating employee work has become more transparent, the possibilities of integrating the system with the LDAP service (Active Directory) have been improved.

2. Working with Business Processes

Well-updated operations when working with messages and Workflow processes - the capabilities of online editing of message types and process versions in the ELMA Designer are implemented.

3. Designer of ELMA

Custom enhancements - scripts in the Designer action block palette - are versioned. The tool for finding extensions in the program has been refined. When publishing processes, a ban on starting them from a web application was added. The procedure, which describes the management order and the results of business processes, now includes additional data - for example, the time of an operation, a description of transitions and gateways.

4. ELMA CRM + Application

Globally changed IP telephony settings - according to ELMA, they have become much easier. A multifunctional call control panel is implemented in the system - with its help, the user can schedule, carry out, hold and forward calls, as well as view the activity history.

5. Application ELMA Projects +

The Form Builder tool for designing a form for creating, editing, and viewing various objects in the system has been expanded. In addition, the possibility of castomizing the form of design tasks has been added.

Register of Innovative Products

The ELMA business process management system is included in the Register of innovative products, technologies and services that are manufactured and recommended for use in the Russian Federation. Information about decisions included in the Register is used in procurement under 94-FZ and 223-FZ.

All products, technologies and services that apply for inclusion in the Register are studied by members of the Expert Council. Uniqueness of solutions, functional characteristics, competitive advantages and potential economic effect for consumers are analyzed. All applicants must have experience in product sales, technology implementation, or service delivery.

Organizations that use the ELMA Business Process Management System are available with an application for, electronic document flow ELMA ECM+ a customer service management system, ELMA СRM+ an ELMA Projects + project management solution, and an efficiency management application. ELMA KPI Application applications work on the basis of a single BPM platform.

Following consideration by the Expert Council, ELMA decisions in May 2017 were included in the Register of Innovative Products, Technologies and Services that are manufactured and recommended for use in the Russian Federation.

2016

ELMA 3.10

ELMA released ELMA 3.10 in November. The priority updates in this version were: the ability to use, DBMS PostgreSQL increase the performance and fault tolerance of the solution, a new useful functionality of ELMA applications, as well as facilitating the maintenance of work BPM systems in customer companies.

Key updates in ELMA 3.10:

1. Support for the new DBMS - PostgreSQL.

In previous versions, ELMA supported the selection of DBMS - FireBird, Oracle Database or Microsoft SQL. As of version 3.10, users have the ability to work with PostgreSQL. Today, PostgreSQL support is one of the trends in Russian corporate systems. Based on the results of load tests, this solution shows high performance.

2. Automatic check for doubles and import of currency rates in ELMA CRM +.

When working in CRM, different employees sometimes accidentally enter information about the same company client, which later interferes with work and confuses users. In version 3.10, when you create a new opportunity (add a lead to the system), the function of checking the data for all possible matches is triggered. For convenient work with foreign clients, modules for importing exchange rates from the websites of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation and the National Bank of Ukraine in manual and automatic mode have been implemented.

3. Expansion of scheduling functionality in ELMA Projects +.

The rare project is implemented exactly with the initial schedule. Navigating the flow of requirements, changes, improvements and incidents, the project manager is working towards the intended goal. To make project management even more convenient, ELMA Projects + added the ability to create new versions of the project schedule, as well as support for planned, actual, and projected task dates.

4. Phase alignment in the ELMA ECM + electronic workflow application.

The BPMS-based electronic workflow application allows you to build flexible document routes. The solution is used in a medium and large business, which, in addition to complex and extensive routes, is characterized by phased coordination of documents. In a new version of the system in ELMA Designer or in a web application, you can set up the required document negotiation steps and specify performers. It is not necessary to spend time creating several tasks and waiting for an employee to agree on a document.

5. Internal ELMA portal, preview media files in the browser, and customize the color solution of system interfaces.

In the new version, the ELMA Internal Portal has become easier for customization and integration into the information infrastructure of customer enterprises. Some options for integrating ELMA with LDAP (Active Directory) have been developed to easily import new users into the system. The number of available licenses is displayed directly on the import page and is changed in real time. Other convenient changes in the system were the ability to customize the color theme of interface elements, as well as the function of previewing media files in the browser.

The ELMA system is included in the Unified Register of Russian Software

The ELMA business process and electronic document management system is included in the Unified Register of Russian Programs for Electronic Computers and Databases. The corresponding order of the Ministry of Communications of Russia No. 455 was issued in 22.09.2016, registration number ELMA: 1831.

A single register of Russian software one was formed in accordance with Article 12.1 of the Federal Law "On Information, Information Technologies and on Information Protection." It is carried out in order to expand the use of Russian programs for electronic computers and databases, confirm their origin from, Russian Federation as well as state provide support measures to copyright holders of programs.

The ELMA system is included in the registry according to the following software classes:

  • Office applications.
  • Project, research, development, design and implementation management systems.
  • Organization process management systems.

ELMA Changes BPM System Licensing Structure

First of all, the price structure in the ELMA Express version for small companies was simplified. Instead of complex spreadsheets, customers now have two standard ELMA Express-20 and ELMA Express-30 packages that automate 20 and 30 workstations, respectively.

The packages already include the applications ELMA ECM +, CRM +, Projects +, which will automate the business processes of document management, sales and organize the quality of the project office. In addition, the delivery included 10 consulting hours of the ELMA expert, who will help in the initial configuration of the system and tell how to best organize the implementation project.

In the ELMA Standard version, it became possible to purchase competitive licenses (previously only registered licenses were used in this version). This allows companies to save and organize comfortable work at the same time for both active users of the system and employees who work with the system periodically. In addition, the ELMA Standard version, like the Express packages, already includes the ELMA ECM + application. You do not need to purchase and install it separately.

ELMA 3.9

Based on the results of comparative load testing after the changes, the new version of ELMA 3.9 shows an increase of almost twice the number of operations per unit time compared to the previous version.

Version ELMA 3.9 contains improvements related to the ELMA Designer. First of all, this is a functionality that allows you to make the modeling of business processes quick, simple and understandable to everyone.

So, in the form designer, 2 new form elements were added: String and Button, which significantly expands the capabilities of the system:

The button on the form allows you to add a special object to the page, clicking on which you can click on a link or execute a script.

A string on the form allows you to create a custom property view.

In version 3.9, the changes also affected the export/import configuration procedure, where the step of viewing the imported data was added and the ability to upload razor forms, as well as some parts of the indicator model, became available.

2015

Released version ELMA 3.7

On April 22, 2015, ELMA announced the release of ELMA 3.7.

The product includes three mobile applications for iPhone, iPad and smartphones on the OC Android platform. In them, the entire functionality of the ELMA: Electronic Document Management system is available. Functions related to starting and executing business processes, setting, viewing and monitoring tasks, communication in the message feed, and the ability to leave comments.

Mobile applications allow you to always be in the process, regardless of time and location.

Main opportunities

The ELMA mobile application involves three categories of tasks:

  • document tasks;
  • Process tasks
  • Regular assignments.

Screenshots of the application window, 2014

ELMA: Performance Management

KPIs Key performance indicators or simply KPI is an evaluation system that helps an organization determine the achievement of strategic and tactical goals. Their use gives the organization the opportunity to assess its condition and help in assessing the implementation of the strategy. KPI allows you to control the business activity of employees and the company as a whole in real time.

The ELMA: PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT system is designed to meet the strategic objectives of the company based on a system of balanced indicators and consistently communicate to the staff the strategic success factors at all levels of management and execution, the company's goals and monitor their achievement through key performance indicators (KPIs).

According to the developers, the application "ELMA: Performance Management" after full implementation allows the company to implement the principles of targeted management and remuneration based on labor results. Implementation in an "easy form" will allow you to form a set of performance targets (KPIs, KPIs) and establish operational control over the achievement of planned values ​ ​ of indicators in the context of the company's goals and development strategy (implementation of the BSC mechanism, or "Balanced scorecard").

According to ELMA, the application "ELMA: Performance Management" will be very useful in the company in several cases: when implementing a motivation system based on Key Performance Indicators (KPI); at automation of balanced indicators system (MTP, BSC); in the case of "revitalization" of the "paper" system, the quality management system - that is, the transfer of the quality management system from a pack of paper to a really managed and improved company management system.


The system is a convenient tool for the manager to solve tactical tasks and answer questions:

  • How well the unit or individual works;
  • how the plan is being implemented by offices and departments;
  • what indicators need to be adjusted to meet strategic objectives;

All this allows you to implement the enterprise strategy quite efficiently and make adjustments if necessary. The product is a Russian development and is fully adapted for use in Russian enterprises.

The main idea of ​ ​ the ELMA system: Indicator management is extremely simple:

  • Step 1. Transfer the company strategy from paper in the form of tasks (goals), key figures, processes
  • Step 2. Measure the effectiveness of strategic tasks, the quality of processes, personnel through the indicator mechanism
  • Step 3. According to the received data, you make decisions, make adjustments to the strategy, form a motivation system based on real effectiveness

What results from the implementation of the performance management system: Top Manager

  • Always have reliable and up-to-date data at your fingertips to make a decision
  • Spend a minimum of time monitoring strategic tasks
  • At meetings, solve issues not "how to do," but "how to improve"
  • Do not dig into a bunch of heterogeneous systems and documents to get important current information
  • To control projects
  • Work in an understandable conceptual model of strategic goals and company indicators, not abstract technical values from reports
  • Be able to always "fail" to a level lower (up to initial data) and understand what is wrong
  • Quickly make adjustments (add new tasks, key figures) to the management model of the company

HR Director

  • Establish a mechanism to assess staff performance ratios
  • Generate bonus card based on employee KPI
  • Head of Department (Department)
  • Be able to watch KPI of your subordinates at any time

CIO

  • Organize data collection processes as quickly as possible
  • Organize the collection of management information from the geographically remote branches of the company
  • Monitor the timeliness of data from other information systems
  • Minimize support costs, avoid coding by using an industrial system

To the employee

  • Receive timely information on the company's performance
  • Have a clear understanding of your performance every day


Developers and Solutions

The company's specialists EleWise developed a methodology for implementing a process approach in the enterprise using the ELMA software product. The company conducts initial information collection, researches the current activities of the enterprise, identifies needs and together with the management of the enterprise determines the range of tasks to be solved. The result is a list of tasks that need to be addressed during the system implementation.

Next, the organizational structure of the enterprise is studied, and recommendations are made to improve it. Improving the organizational structure of an enterprise is an essential part of its organizational development. At this stage, the staffing table is updated to the actual type.

The next step at the preparatory stage of the system implementation is the analysis of the current activity of the enterprise. The purpose of this analysis is to identify a certain number of business processes for further automation. As a result, a network of processes is formed that reflects the current state of affairs in the enterprise. In addition, the responsibility of employees for the scope of work they perform is clearly defined. This dramatically increases the executive discipline and manageability of staff. The manager sees the real state of affairs at the enterprise.

Graphical modeling of business processes is also useful in that it allows you to more carefully analyze these processes and make management decisions based on real information about the activities of an organization or enterprise and its employees. The ELMA system allows you to measure each activity within the business process, evaluate the performance of each contractor and make a balanced management decision on the results of the work.

Once the primary models have been formed, a comparison of results and management vision is made with managers and key responsible actors. At this stage, both the business model of the enterprise and the procedure for performing some operations in the enterprise according to the goals and tasks of the managers can be adjusted. As a rule, this happens in the format of extended meetings, where each responsible performer makes his proposals for improving the activities of the enterprise.

Technicians, in turn, prepare to deploy the solution from the customer. This step involves installing on the server and checking the health of the system at users' workplaces. In the course of these works, the last comments and shortcomings in the system operation are eliminated. At the same time, customer employees learn how to interact with the program, and receive basic knowledge in the field of business processes.

ELMA Solutions Development

In addition to providing licenses and system implementation services, the company EleWise offers services for refining and creating solutions based on the ELMA system.

In this case, the implementation process is as follows:

  1. Express cost estimate of additional modules
  2. Analyze company activity.
  3. Write the Technical Assignment for additional modules of the system.
  4. Develop additional modules.
  5. Implement the system and add-ons.
  6. The system is designed using MS.NET technology.

Cost efficiency

  • Employees of the company take a more responsible approach to their duties, because: the processes are regulated, and the employee clearly knows what he is obliged to do. In addition, the system provides effective management monitoring of tasks.
  • The efficiency of employees in solving "typical" tasks is increased due to clear regulation of processes in the company and increased discipline.
  • Time is saved for employees to find the right document, because all the necessary documents are available "in 2 clicks."
  • Employees quickly get the information they need and can make their own decisions by quickly accessing documents and understanding their area of responsibility within each business process.
  • Reduces the percentage of information lost when tasks are transferred from one employee to another.
  • The volume of paper document circulation is reduced.
  • The overall process speed is increased.
  • The creation and support of the Quality Management System is simplified due to the ability to receive relevant process regulations and the ability to constantly improve business processes.
  • The training and adaptation of new employees is facilitated.


Possibilities of a system

  • There is enough web browser to work with the system. Thanks to this, you can work with the system from anywhere in the world without installing additional software.
  • To describe business processes, the modern BPMN language is used - by far the best and most progressive world standard for describing business processes.
  • The possibility of generating business process regulations, which is a prerequisite for certification according to the quality standard GOST-R ISO 9001:2001. At the same time, duplication of work is excluded, and the company always has regulations for current working processes.
  • No "hidden" payments for software licenses. You don't need to buy a database or other expensive components.
  • The price of the product is 2-3 times lower than the price of similar systems.


BPMN Implementation List

Business Process Simulation Notation (BPMN) is a graphical notation system for visualizing a business process diagram to a person. The BPMN language was created BPMI.org. Currently, BPMN is being developed by the Object Management Group (OMG) consortium. The goal of developers is to unify the description of business processes. Among the Russian developers of business process management systems, the BPM notation is gaining more and more popularity. Recently, the BPMN.org website, once again confirmed that the ELMA program, is an adequate implementation of BPMN, including the system in the list of development companies using the BPM notation.

ELMA 3.8

On November 22, 2015, ELMA announced the release of the ELMA 3.8 system.

In version 3.8, the priority was the concept of "Ready-made solutions + Independent implementations": to make ELMA more understandable and accessible through ready-made solutions and convenient tools for self-implementation and adaptation to the needs of the company.


ELMA Store

In ELMA 3.7, the company introduced the ELMA Store, a ready-made solution store that contained more than three dozen products ready for immediate use: processes, process groups, configurations.

Contract Management Process (2015)

The content of the ELMA Store has expanded significantly: with the release of ELMA 3.8, eleven solutions developed by ELMA are ready and several solutions are developed by a partner - Impeltech.

The following capabilities have been expanded:

  • BPM Apps concept: ready-made solutions that can be created without leaving the ELMA Designer. BPM App helps you add reports, custom forms, documents, add-ons, and other components to your solution. Once created BPM App can be finalized at any time.
  • a large number of changes in the work of the ELMA Designer. The speed of the Designer's work has increased, the capabilities of the form editor and script editor have been expanded. Added tools to facilitate the writing of code, its debugging.
  • created ELMA Framework 2.0. A large number of documentation with examples for developers has been prepared. Developed by PublicAPI.


Methodological basis for self-implementation

Prepared a series of special textbooks - ELMA Book. They are built on a simple principle: among the many functions and capabilities of the system, those of them are described step by step and in the right order, the use of which leads to a working solution as quickly as possible. The description is detailed and contains many examples, so the manuals allow you to independently and without studying additional sources to get a specific result.


ELMA KPI

The ELMA KPI application was developed. The developers emphasized the connection of indicators with activities and goals, worked on interfaces.

The changes affected the goal maps - now the web part is convenient to plan goals and activities. Simplified scales in indicators - setting them to work has become faster and easier. The data collection process is also simplified. The user performance matrix is integrated into the user profile.


ELMA Projects +

Most changes to project budget management:

  • redesigned the budget structure, it became more applicable to large organizations,
  • tools have been created to visually monitor the financial condition of the project.

Smaller changes affected the labor and scheduling system.


ELMA ECM+

The ELMA ECM + application has been redesigned. The changes did not pursue the goal of expanding the functionality - the interfaces for registering documents and setting registration parameters were finalized.

A plugin has been created for the Microsoft Outlook mail client. Using it, manually or automatically, you can capture correspondence directly from Outlook in ELMA.


Other

The system has a convenient production calendar: in the administration section you can specify the business schedule, weekends and special days.

  • The calendar is set up with the mouse and after saving becomes the global rule of the system - all tasks, business processes, calendars begin to adhere to the work schedule set in the production calendar.

  • The ELMA line of mobile applications has gained momentum. From your mobile device, you can now perform and monitor tasks, view messages, start business processes, view employee cards (with the possibility of calls and letters).

  • The application actively communicates with the user through background notifications.

  • ELMA 3.8 is equipped with a full multilingual interface. The basic delivery of the system has two languages: Russian and English. The user can choose the default language - after that, all elements of his interface will switch to the new language, while other users will continue to work in a language convenient for them.

  • In this version of the system, you have set up daily limits and limits for retroactive labor.

2014: ELMA 3.6

On October 16, 2014, ELMA announced the release of ELMA 3.6.

Among the goals and tasks of this version of the product, developers call:

  • simplification of process modeling, more accessible to analysts. And created the Visual Script Editor tool.
  • determining the long-term goal of implementing this approach for the BPM system, when the system itself ceases to be something monolithic, central. Improved user interaction. And two new system interfaces are created - the E-mail interface and the Lite interface.
  • redesigned Projects +. This is a process delivery application for project management.
  • Optimized system speed.

2013

ELMA 3.2

A new version of the ELMA 3.2 system was released in June 2013, the press service of the development company said on July 5, 2013.

This version is more focused on convenience and ease of use. In the process of developing the new version, the company took into account not only the practical wishes and suggestions of users, but left a big burden for the future growth and development of additional functions of the system.

Improvements to all system applications

  • internal portal - enhanced access security measures (authorization by token, trusted devices and certificate, Single Sign On technology);

  • business process management - updated design, process regulation, business process escalation, integration with Business Studio;

  • Performance Indicator Management (KPI) - many changes have been implemented towards simplicity and usability (full description will be in the next news);

  • solution for project organizations (Project Management) - introduction of labor costs;

  • Sales Solution (CRM) is an active sales funnel.

ELMA 3.2.5

Main article: ELMA 3.2.5

On October 7, 2013, the development company announced the release of ELMA 3.2.5.


Improvements of the interface

In this solution, the developers focused on user interfaces, their improvement:

  • Improved workflow and internal portal interfaces
  • quick and convenient tools for online configuration of your own task interfaces, documents and other objects
  • New and convenient tools for rapid analysis of information and monitoring of the employee's work


Telephony

Enhanced telephony capabilities. The effective work of the sales department is also an opportunity not only to assign calls to counterparties in their account card, but also to call without leaving the system. In the new version of ELMA 3.2.5, it became possible to integrate with three IP-telephony systems: Infratel, Oktell and Asterisk.

If one of these programs is installed on the company server and the CRM + module is activated, you can:

  • make outgoing calls from the customer card, while the outgoing call is recorded in the counterparty card - you can view the entire call history.
  • Receive and record incoming calls, they are also fixed in the counterparty card.


Integration with Office

ELMA Release 3.2.5 supports product integration Microsoft Outlook with the latest package software. Microsoft Office Previously, the system was integrated with this mail program, but only earlier versions of the program were supported. Currently interacting with MS Outlook versions 2007, 2010 and 2013.


Integration with 1C 8.3

The interaction of two systems with updated functions allows you to achieve quick and high-quality results in business management. In particular, work with directories and documents of the 1C: Enterprise program, run system functions, and access the system object model. Once you have set up integration, you can control system interaction directly in business processes.

Also, ELMA developers, taking into account all the current needs of users, carried out a number of fixes and performance optimizations. After analyzing the functions and options, new tools have been added to speed up the evaluation of information and monitoring indicators, which will help simplify the work of the manager and allow you to make the right decision on time.

A fundamental difference between ELMA and similar developments is the BPM platform on which the system operates. The continuous improvement mechanism allows you to constantly develop the management model in the company and flexibly customize the system to the individual needs of each client, the developers say.

For example, in the new version of ELMA 3.2.6, the introduction and display of work does not go beyond the project budget. Now the manager can set up the display of the current work on the project, which the employees entered and correct their work in a timely manner.

The interface and functionality of the system has undergone qualitative changes in several sections, work with the system is also gradually becoming more logical by adding important elements, fields, buttons. For example, a history is kept on the rights of access to the document.


ELMA 3.5

  • Target 1. Redesign the user interface - make it more convenient, implement new work scenarios plus make a tool for easy personalization of the interface.
  • Goal 2. Achieve a large degree of "standardization" of the tool. I.e. to achieve this approach: at the entrance there is a desire and a specialist - at the exit there is a successful implementation and a trained specialist. To do this, we had to introduce a competency system and release ELMA Framework 1.0.
  • Goal 3. Speed of work and processes. Moreover, you need to work both with the response of the interfaces, and analyze the main scenarios when configuring and implementing the system and think about how you can speed up these processes.

Firstly, the design of user interfaces for the web application of the system was completely redesigned. It became an order of magnitude fresher, we made the interface elements larger - and it really became more pleasant to work with. Moreover, almost all forms within the application itself have been redesigned (along the way we implemented many scenarios that were previously inaccessible or difficult to access for the user).

Big changes have occurred in Message Feed. In the current Feed, we made 2 big innovations - we singled out "New messages" separately and made message priorities - this will allow us not to read messages "not very important." This will be especially demanded by people employed, leaders.

Editor of the portal

But this is far from all! No matter how beautiful the interface is - we cannot "guess" in the box what processes will be embedded in the system at the implementation stage. The list of processes dictates the list of roles that the system will use. For example, to use the system as an office, these would be the Office Officer, Managers, Implementers, Controllers.

And imagine that not one clerical process is "implemented" into the system, but many different ones (the benefit of the BPM system is that the set of processes in the system is limited only by fantasy and the feasibility of their implementation).

Our experience has shown that in this case the functionality begins to "swell" and on one screen it is already difficult to fit many functions for different consumers of information.

Therefore, in the version of ELMA 3.5, a new tool has been released that allows you to make role-based personalization of interfaces very easy. We called this function Portal Editor. What does this look like in practice?

  • During the design or use phase of the system, you highlight the roles that work with the system.
  • Make a convenient interface for each of the roles.

ELMA Framework 1.0

But what if you lack just configuring interfaces? If you need to finalize something, make a new functionality. To realize these things, a new product has been released - ELMA Framework 1.0.

Technically speaking, the ELMA Framework consists of the following parts:

  • ELMA API 1.0 ELMA API is a set of methods and system objects assembled into a clear structure. (see ELMA API)
  • ELMA Web API WebAPI - a set of root web services that allow you to interact with the server at the SDK level, for example, download a list of tasks, documents, track changes to system objects and much more.
  • ELMA 3 Plug-in for Visual Studio ELMA extensions are developed in C#. For the development of extension modules, the ELMA Framework presents ELMA Visual Studio 2010 Plugin, an extension for the development environment that includes features that allow you to develop your ELMA system extension module.
  • ELMA Refinement Documentation This ELMA Framework component includes articles with examples and instructions for refining the system, contains entries of webinars and courses.

BPM (Business Process Management)

In the mechanism itself, we implemented a very important thing - a mechanism for emulating (or debugging) business processes. What do you need a tool for? In general, a BPM system is bought when the company needs to quickly implement some large complex processes for which there is no standard Software out of the box. And then the BPM system shows itself perfectly - it contains tools that are usually unnecessarily complex for ERP systems and portals, which allow you to build and quickly implement processes of 100 or more steps, with large branches.

In order to make the implementation process even easier and easier, we have released the Business Process Emulator tool.

The essence of the tool is very simple: you can debug how your process works in a single window and from any point in this process.

Those who have done processes from 50 steps, I think already well imagine how much time this tool will save.

In addition to the Emulator in the platform, we added a single mechanism for linking processes to objects (for example, you can indicate which processes can be started from a project card or counterparty), refined the Process Monitor, and so on.

ECM + (Workflow)

Many innovations in the ELMA ECM + application. The most, perhaps, more is a tool for previewing documents. In ELMA 3.5, it is not necessary to download the document to the client machine, a function is implemented that allows you to view the contents of the document through a web browser.

Another novelty is integration with ABBYY Recognition Server - which allows you to implement document recognition during scanning. The recognized document automatically enters the system and can be used for searching.

When working with documents, it is very often necessary to see what you have been working with recently. Of course, you can try to remember where the document you need was and what it is called. The ELMA system offers a fundamentally different solution to the problem - lists of your latest documents.

So, for example, in the Last Activity portlet, you can view all the documents that you have worked with recently. Do not waste time searching for a document - it is always at hand right on your home page. And we have seriously refined the Office - there are really a lot of changes.

CRM + and PRJ + (Customer Management and Project Management)

Processes, Processes and Processes Again! This is our motto when developing CRM solutions and Project Management. For CRM +, we have released a big update - Marketing Activity Performance Management - more information can be found here.

For the Project Management solution, we have implemented the Project Pipeline concept. The essence of the concept is simple. When you run one project, you have time to "fail" and understand what is happening there.

If you are in charge of the top ten, you need to know who to clarify + present statuses. If we are talking about several dozen or hundreds - not before the "failures," there should be clear processes, clear statuses of projects, and so on.

The Project Pipeline concept just implements a tool that will be useful for companies that want to build project management processes.

So what is new in ELMA KPI in version 3.5?

In addition to a large number of minor improvements, we have made 2 big milestones:

  • Released ELMA KPI for iPad (the application will be available for download around May 30, 2014, now under review).

The application is aimed at managers and allows you to understand the situation and the dynamics of changes in 1 minutes and in the morning.

  • Released a new target control module. This solution will allow you to combine Indicators, Motivation and Company Goals into a single loop.

Please note that the upgrade from the previous version of ELMA is not yet supported, i.e. current customers cannot upgrade to version 3.5 yet. During the month, you will be able to upgrade from version 3.x to version 3.5. In addition, it should be noted that to work in the new version of ELMA 3.5, you need to update the ELMA Agent (you can download it from the user profile).

2012

ELMA 3.0.3

On May 11, 2012, EleWise released ELMA 3.0.3, which contains a number of important improvements and updates that relate to working on the system.

The main modules have been corrected: Tasks, Calendar, Workflow, Processes, Customer Service. Corrections have been made to make the system more stable.

The main innovations of ELMA version 3.0.3:

  • Added the ability to create periodic tasks.
  • SOA-Connector is a web service for working with business processes from external systems. Enables you to start business processes, work with context, tasks, and process instances.
  • Added the option to confirm participation in events.
  • Improve the procedure for publishing objects and document types. Now you need to restart the server only after significant changes in their structure: add new properties, change parameters related to the database structure or program code.
  • Improvements in scripting in the designer. Possibility of test run (emulation), as well as recompilation of scripts for published versions of processes (corrects errors in running instances).
  • Ability to create a reconciliation sheet. You can now generate a document reconciliation sheet in PDF format for printing.
  • Function to move tasks in the project plan. Ability to move tasks up and down the project plan.
  • Refinements in Customer Service: added Marketing Activities; added the possibility of automatic assignment of categories to counterparties and filter capabilities; Set up the display of additional fields in CRM objects.

Also, the ELMA 3.0.3 version took into account the wishes of numerous users of the system and made modifications and changes. Some of them significantly improved the operation of the ELMA system.

ELMA 3.0.4

  • Import and export configurations
  • Powerful Customer Experience - CRM Expert
  • Create your own custom enhancements
  • Communication Mechanism Between Business Processes * Customize the Appearance of User Tasks
  • Also, the ELMA 3.0.4 version took into account the wishes of numerous users of the system and made modifications and changes. Some of them significantly improved the operation of the ELMA system.

ELMA 3.0.5

On July 3, 2012, EleWise released ELMA version 3.0.5, which contains a number of important improvements and updates that relate to working on the system. The most important points are:

  • Many additions related to the operation of user tasks:
    • Ability to create dynamic forms for custom task pages. This makes user task pages interactive, responsive to user actions.
    • Opportunity to take into account time spent on tasks (labor accounting). You can then view time and funds in the system reports as needed.
    • Ability to use additional parameters in custom tasks.
    • Ability to modify the appearance of user task cards.

  • Many updates to the ELMA: CRM Basic and ELMA: CRM Expert applications:

    • Create tasks from counterparty card. Tasks tab.
    • Start BP from counterparty card.
    • Linking documents to counterparty card.
    • The ability to easily comment on messages on the counterparty card.
    • Ability to link new incoming call numbers to an existing counterparty card.

Also, the ELMA 3.0.5 version took into account the wishes of numerous users of the system and made modifications and changes. Some of them significantly improved the operation of the ELMA system.

ELMA 3.0.6

On August 9, 2012, a new version of the ELMA system was released - ELMA 3.0.6. This release is the last minor version in major version 3.0 - in September, EleWise plans to release ELMA 3.1, in which users are waiting for a large number of new features. With the release of release 3.0.6, the system received a number of innovations, the most interesting of which mainly touched on the work of the applications "ELMA: Process Management" and "ELMA: CRM Basic"; a number of improvements were made to the document repository. In addition, the ELMA system now has an integration tool with another external application - this time it is a mail client. Microsoft Office Outlook

The main innovations in ELMA 3.0.6:

  • New functions for working with documents: the ability to subscribe to changes to the document, flexible adjustment of the appearance of document cards.
  • New Customer Functions: Customization of the application menu "ELMA: CRM Basic," import of counterparties from Microsoft Excel tables.
  • Project Budget Management.
  • Integration of ELMA with Microsoft Outlook.

ELMA 3.1

  • ELMA: Performance Management. A new ELMA product that enables the company to implement the principles of targeted management and remuneration based on labor results. Implementation of the application will make it possible to create a set of performance targets (KPIs, KPIs) and establish operational monitoring of the achievement of the planned values ​ ​ of indicators in the context of the company's goals and development strategy (implementation of the BSC mechanism or the Balanced Scorecard).
  • ELMA for iPad. Our official iPad app is designed to provide a complete, easy-to-use experience with ELMA from iPad tablets. The ELMA for iPad application allows the manager to usefully spend time on the road, monitoring the work of his organization remotely.
  • ELMA Portal Connector. Enables you to integrate ELMA into your organization's information space portal solutions. Currently implemented in two solutions: ELMA for Bitrix Enterprise Portal and ELMA for SharePoint. Portal Connector makes it possible to use ELMA portlets and features in Bitrix and SharePoint enterprise portals.
  • MS Visual Studio Plug-in. A plug-in for developers that allows you to develop system extensions in a convenient and familiar Microsoft Visual Studio environment.
  • ELMA Offline Connector. Allows developers to create applications that use the ELMA system as a data source, but also work without direct communication with the system (that is, in Offline mode). For example, these may be mobile applications or enterprise web services (such as an online store or portal).
  • New project management capabilities. Many changes affected the work of the ELMA: Project Management application. Now project managers can work even more conveniently and efficiently!
  • New document capabilities. In particular, the process of registering documents received a significant optimization of user actions - thanks to new mechanisms, this can be done faster. It also became possible to delete documents from the document store and send irrelevant documents to the archive.
  • New Calendar features. In the Calendar of ELMA 3.1 system it is possible to work with Internet calendars.
  • Changes to reports. The reporting system has been significantly refined and modified, making the self-reporting process easier.

ELMA 3.1.1

The largest number of changes affected the applications "ELMA: Performance Management" and "ELMA: CRM." In addition, many small pleasant functions have been implemented, for example, in the system it became possible to export calendars to other programs and Internet calendars. The number of portlets has been significantly expanded. Also, the ELMA 3.1.1 version took into account the wishes of numerous users of the system and made modifications and changes. Some of them significantly improved the operation of the ELMA system.

The main innovations in ELMA 3.1.1:

  • Metrics and business process metrics. With the release of ELMA 3.1.1, the applications "ELMA: Business Process Management" and "ELMA: Performance Management" received an additional point of contact. Each business process in the system now has a Metrics and Key Figures tab where you can set up measurement of almost any business process parameters by setting metrics and key figures.
  • New in the application "ELMA: Electronic document flow." As of ELMA 3.1.1, documents can be registered in the electronic document management system in several document streams at once. Multiple document registration allows you to link a document card to several registration and control cards (RCC) at once - the document will have several RCC numbers at once. This practice is quite common in some organizations, especially in public sector organizations.
  • New in the application "ELMA: CRM." A sales funnel report has appeared. Three new portlets of the ELMA: CRM application have appeared, allowing you to always have the necessary information in sight. New Revenue Plans Page. The Revenue Plan page has changed significantly. The page contains five tabs that show receipts depending on the date of their holding: the receipts of the current week (the nearest receipts), the current month, the previous month, the old receipts (later than one month ago) and the receipts of the distant perspective (later than one month ahead) are separately displayed. At the bottom of each tab is a summary of the period receipt amounts.
  • Export ELMA calendar. Working with ELMA calendars is now much more convenient - it is possible to export calendars. The exported calendar can be imported into a convenient application, such as MS Outlook, or into popular Internet calendars, such as Google Calendar.
  • New portlet Employees of the organization. Using this portlet, any user of the system can quickly view the card of another employee of the organization: find out his contact details, find out his birthday, as well as assign a task to the selected employee or schedule some event in the calendar with his participation.
  • New capabilities of dynamic forms. In ELMA 3.1.1, it became possible to determine the contents of the drop-down list depending on some conditions. For example, you can now use a script to change the contents of the drop-down list when you change one variable on a form. That is, the drop-down list will contain only those elements that belong to the other selected variable.

ELMA 3.1.2

The largest number of changes affected the application "ELMA: Electronic Document Management": one additional module "ELMA: Barcode" appeared, the business solution "ELMA: Contract Management," as well as the basic supply of the application includes the ability to protect user actions using an electronic digital signature (EDS).

The capabilities of ELMA: Performance Management and ELMA: Project Management applications have significantly expanded. Also, the ELMA 3.1.2 CR version took into account the wishes of numerous users of the system and made modifications and changes. Some of them significantly improved the operation of the ELMA system.

With the release of ELMA 3.1.2 CR, the product licensing system has changed slightly. There are several additional modules and the first business solution for our system. We offer two new packages to our new customers: "ELMA ECM" and "ELMA BPM Suite." Each package contains a complete set of necessary system applications that are ideally suited to the needs of a particular business. Please contact our managers for details.

  • Bar coding support. The system has a new additional module "ELMA: Barcode." The module allows you to automatically print the barcode of a document when you register documents. Based on this barcode, you can then instantly find documents in the system by simply moving its paper version to the scanner.

  • Business Solution: Contract Management. Business solutions are ready-made solutions that solve specific business problems. With them, you can quickly achieve the desired result from using the system.

In the release of the ELMA 3.1.2 CR system, the first business solution appeared - "ELMA: Contract Management." With it, you can significantly expand the capabilities of the ELMA: Electronic Document Management application.

The business solution "ELMA: Contract Management" allows you to perform efficient and comfortable work with contracts throughout their life cycle. The business solution automates creation, accounting, search, and contract management. In this case, users will always be aware of contracts that are about to expire.

  • New ELMA Application Capabilities: Performance Management. In the ELMA 3.1.2 CR version, the ELMA: Indicator Management application has received a powerful tool for monitoring employee performance and motivation - an efficiency matrix.

The performance matrix is, in fact, the final part of the performance management system, which allows you to set up an effective system of assessment and remuneration in the organization. The performance matrix is a tool that enables each employee in an organization to see the productivity of their work. At the same time, the efficiency matrix contains information not only on the overall performance of work, but also reflects what it depends on how these data turned out.

  • Generate business process documentation. In ELMA 3.1.2 CR it is possible to generate automatic documentation for business processes. It takes only a couple of minutes to create this generation - to do this, simply click the Documentation button in the ELMA Designer and in the wizard specify what business process content should get into the HTML report. You can generate summary reports for multiple business processes at once.

  • New ELMA Application Features: Project Management

ELMA 3.1.5

  • Added a link in the user profile to send a message to the user. For the convenience of working in the new version, it became possible to send a message from the user card. The user card now contains an additional Send Message button, which opens the new message page. In this case, this user of the system will be automatically substituted in the recipients of the message.
  • Mass task control. A large number of fixes affected work with tasks. In particular, it became possible to mass control of tasks.

Managers who actively use orders in the ELMA system sometimes face a problem when it is necessary to monitor a huge mass of tasks performed by their executors. Moreover, this manager already knows that the task was completed correctly, so there is no real need to view its page to confirm its implementation. Previously, to mark a list of similar tasks as having passed control, it was necessary to open the task page and click the corresponding button. With the release of version 3.1.5, you can perform this action much faster - the manager simply marks in the list of tasks all tasks in the proper execution of which he is sure, and presses the "Finish" button in the toolbar.

  • Notification via SMS. Starting with version 3.1.5, ELMA has an additional tool that always keeps users up to date with important tasks. Previously, the user could get information about tasks using the ELMA Agent, by e-mail or directly on the pages of the web application of the system. Now you can also receive task notifications on your phone in SMS format. In the new version, integration with the service was made http://iqsms.ru. By default, SMS notifications are configured for normal high priority tasks.
  • Support for Windows Server 2012 and Windows 8. The end of 2012 was marked by the release of new Windows operating families - user Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012. In the coming years, you should expect a massive transition of users to a new platform.
  • Changes in Customer Service. In particular, the design of the Relationship Contact Information tab has been changed for the convenience of storing information on relationship contacts.
  • Possibility of ELMA operation Agent via secure HTTPS protocol. As of version 3.1.5 of ELMA, the Agent has been able to work using the secure HTTPS protocol, which allows for a higher level of protection of transmitted data.
  • Customizable work calendar. You can now customize your work calendar flexibly. In the system configuration file, you can specify not only working days, weekends, working hours, and lunch hours, but also exclude lists. For example, such exceptions are likely to fall on days such as March 8 or January 1, which, regardless of the day of the week in most organizations, are weekends. There are other features of customizing the system's work calendar.

2011

ELMA 3.0

  • Support for the BPMN 2.0 business process modeling language (the final version of this language appeared only in 2011).
  • Internal portal. The portal allows you to very flexibly customize the user interface of the system and form a single information space in the company.
  • Custom object model. In ELMA 3.0, you can "expand" any of the existing objects (add missing fields), create your own object and use it within the system when modeling and executing business processes.
  • Open source ELMA. The entire ELMA 3.0 user interface will be delivered in an open form and will be available for customization.
  • New Report Designer. Allows you to build reports on system objects quickly and with the mouse!
  • ELMA 3.0 Development Tool ELMA 3.0 is a plug-in for MS Visual Studio for self-development of system extensions.


Architecture of a system

The ELMA business process management system consists of a set of programs:

  1. ELMA Server.
  2. ELMA Designer
  3. ELMA Agent
Image:ELMA 2.png

The ELMA server includes a set of related components:

  • Database
  • Web Application
  • Server of configurations
  • Server of notifications

The ELMA server is the root of the system. You must register it before you can work with the server.

The ELMA designer is an application that is installed on the user's computer and provides a convenient interface for modeling processes and creating configurations.

Image:ELMA Designer.png

To work with the Designer, you must register it.

ELMA Agent is an application that is installed on the user's computer and shows in real time the alerts that the server generates for the user.

Image:ELMA Agent.png

ELMA Agent does not require registration to get started and can be installed on any number of computers in the organization.


SOA Implementation

The ELMA system implements the SOA architecture and provides the necessary interfaces to extend the system. ELMA allows you to:

  • Start any business process loaded into the system from an external application
  • Call external application functions. Synchronous and asynchronous calls are supported.


For mobile users

The ELMA Server can include the Application for PDAs and smartphones - a separate Web application that allows mobile users to work with the system. To work on the system, you must have a cell phone with a web browser.

ELMA 3.0.2

The main modules Tasks, Calendar, Processes have been corrected. Also, the ELMA 3.0.2 version took into account the wishes of numerous users of the system and made modifications and changes. On April 4, a new licensing and packaging system began to operate.

Separate applications "ELMA Electronic Document Management," "ELMA Business Process Management," "ELMA Project Management" have been released. Now each company will be able to purchase any of the applications separately commensurate with its needs, without overpaying for unnecessary functionality. This approach will help to assemble the necessary applications that will work perfectly together in one internal portal.

Major innovations of ELMA version 3.0.2

  • An optional 1C Integration module has been released. This module provides integration with versions 7.7, 8.0, 8.1 and 8.2.
  • An organizational structure accounting function appears when assigning tasks.
  • The base module CRM (Customer Experience) appears. In the next release, it is planned to release the ELMA CRM Expert application, which will allow you to not only take into account but also manage sales processes.
  • Language DevKit. Ability to localize the system into other languages.
  • Ability to integrate with LDAP directory (ActiveDirectory).
  • Updated Database Converter from ELMA 2.x to ELMA 3.x

2010: ELMA 2.5

  • A new Report Designer - Custom Report Application tool has been added to the basic system delivery. Enables reporting during the implementation and operation phase of the system. The application is implemented as a Win32 application. A graphical report layout editor is included in the application.
  • With version 2.5, the ELMA system is delivered in 2 versions: ELMA Express and ELMA Standard.
    • ELMA Express is a full-featured version of ELMA. The DBMS is a free database FireBird. This version is very easy to install and maintain - all the components necessary for the operation of the system are included in the ELMA Express installation program. Ideal for small and medium-sized organizations (up to 75 users).
    • ELMA Standard - This version of ELMA is suitable for companies that need to organize a large number of jobs and ensure stable system response time with a large number of simultaneous users. MS SQL Server 2005, 2008 is used as the DBMS.

  • You can set the attributes of system objects (Tasks, Companies, Appointments, etc.) and use these objects in business processes.
  • The functionality of the Free version of the product has been expanded: now in the free version you can design processes and configure the company's business item (Free version ELMA 2.5 will be available for download from November 1, 2010).

ELMA (ELegant MAnagement) implements the concept of BPM (Business Process Management), which allows you to build flexible adaptive information systems that can quickly change along with changing business processes of the company. Along with this, ELMA automates typical business processes and electronic document management. By using the WorkFlow mechanism, you can quickly tailor your system to the needs of your company and its customers. Compatible with 1C: Enterprise.