The first industrial revolution began with the advent of the steam engine in the year 1760. The second revolution came in the form of mass production, and the third revolution has begun with the rise of digital technology. When we talk about the integration of digital technology in the industry, we just cannot forget the contribution of ERP to bring revolutionary changes how enterprise level resource planning works.
Enterprise Resource Planning aka ERP solutions have transformed the way we work by bringing automation and convenience with enhanced flexibility and scalability. The world-wide definition of ERP may have its own, but when it comes to functionality, all of us agree that it is a powerful tool for modern Corporates and Governments that integrates multiple functions across different business units.
Though the term ERP was coined by Gartner in the year 1990, the root of this concept dated back to the 1960s. ERP has evolved with time, based on the system known as Material Requirement Planning (MRP). By 1990, MRP-II or Manufacturing Resource Planning came into existence that has paved the way for ERP as we know it.
Today, ERP has expanded and evolved to integrate BI (Business Intelligence) and other advanced functions including Sales Force Automation (SFA), marketing automation, and eCommerce. With this, it has covered almost all sectors of like Healthcare, Retail, Manufacturing, and the like. But, when we apply this concept to the Government sector, we can get a stupendous outcome.
Less Paper ERP for Government- Software Ready to Meet Every ChallengeEnter a less paper ERP solution for the government or public administrations. It is configurable to address any challenges and requirements of central, state, and district administrations. Unlike E-Office, less paper ERP solution has a vast scope for customization and it is responsive to be used anytime and anywhere. As compared to E-Office, the less paper governance solution has
- Procurement, Inventory, and Budgeting module
- Facility to add new modules and functionality as per necessity
- Online permission and payment gateway integration
- Secure remote login with 24x7 access
- Responsiveness for anywhere access
- Support for 3rd Party integration
What’s more, the solution has common features like online grievance for citizens and RTI with Greensheet. The administration can also configure the solution as per changing needs and location.
Challenges of District Administration and Governance Solution Advantage
The less paper governance solution is developed by keeping the following primary challenges in mind. These challenges are usually faced by every district office and this solution can effectively minimize their impact in favor of the government employees and citizens.
Primary challenges- Physical file movement
- Absence of real-time data compilation
- Record-keeping
- Duplication of work
- Decentralization
“ERP cannot make Government Paper-Less as some or other paper is always required. Therefore your Document Management system should be great to make it Less-Paper department.” -Himanshu Jain (Director, North Operations - Silver Touch Technologies Ltd.)
Silver Touch Technologies Ltd. has developed a less paper governance solution under guidance of Mr. Himanshu Jain. It is known as ‘Silver ERP’ for mitigating these challenges and offering an array of benefits to the district and state administration.
Major Benefits of Silver ERP- Decision support system provides actionable insights to assist users to make informed decisions
- User-friendly dashboard can display every module and functionality
- Secure and configurable ERP can meet any administrative requirements
- Enhanced transparency improves people’s confidence in the government
- Audit Trail helps the administration define any suspicious activity
- Role-based access with 3rd party system integration support
- Minimal human effort leads to faster processing
Silver ERP has considered every aspect of different administrative processes. Whether or not the government officers are in the office, they can easily use this software for various purposes like grievance redressal, file creation and access, and data transmission through their smart devices. The solution has included technical modules for different departments of administration like museum, science, horticulture, world heritage, publication, cultural exchange, and archeology.
File Movement SystemWhat makes Silver ERP more useful for the government sector is its configurability and a robust file movement system across different modules. The administrator can add, modify, and delete modules as and when necessary. The government employees find it extremely easy to move and clear files in a short time. Online editing, drafting, and attachment facilities facilitate the process. Authorized persons can use the digital signature to clear the file online. An interactive dashboard shows the entire process right in front of the employees. Any authorized persons can access this information anytime.
Internal Administration and Employee Lifecycle
The ERP solution is designed to offer inventory management, human resource management, finance management, and other features related to the internal administration. In recent times, governments across the world have started giving more attention to well being of their citizens and infrastructure development.
Both these objectives can be achieved properly with the help of a private sector. The less paper governance solution is aimed at facilitating the PPP (Public Private Partnership) model and supporting the administration to address people’s problems more effectively. Just like a corporate ERP, the governance solution offers employee-focused features like promotion, advances, and even disciplinary action.
Employee Lifecycle in Silver ERP
The employee lifecycle in Silver ERP includes all stages from joining to transfer to the resignation of the government employee. What’s more, features like tour approval, claim management, training management, and leave management in the HR management system can help the administration to monitor the employee’s overall performance.
Another part is the internal administration. It involves DMS (Document Management System), workflow, RTI (Right to Information), legal module, and grievance module. The internal admin enables the user to manage key functions of various modules.
Here is an example of information flow in the grievance module.Grievance Flow of Silver ERP
ERP Solution for Government- Enhanced Security, Improved Functionality
Be it a corporate data or public data, we just cannot compromise on data security and privacy protection. The Silver ERP solution is designed to provide enhanced security to the government data from any cyber-attacks. We have implemented the following security features in the solution.
• User Authentication- As per the authorization access, the less paper government solution asks for the user authentication. Any unauthorized access attempt can be prevented by an encryption method and a complex password technique.
• Audit Trail- The ERP solution facilitates audit and monitoring of the user’s activity to find any suspicious movement or action. The audit trail management enables the vigilant department to keep the close watch on every action.
• CERT-In Certified- The ERP solution is CERT-In certified for offering the utmost security to data.
3rd Party Integration
The Silver ERP supports any third-party integration for improving functionality. The administration can facilitate citizens to pay their bills, taxes, or other charges through credit cards, debit cards, and net banking thanks to payment gateway integration. Email and SMS gateway integration is helpful to send real-time notifications to citizens at once. The digital signature facilitates quick file processing.
Integration of Futuristic Technologies
One of the biggest benefits of less paper ERP is- the features of emerging technologies like RPA, AI, cloud, and IoT can be readily integrated. When it comes to accomplishing repetitive and voluminous or tedious tasks, the Robotic Process Automation (RPA) works wonders. The intuitive and interactive dashboard is powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI), whereas the citizen’s data and other key information are stored securely in the cloud.
Altogether, the less paper governance solution offers the advantage of mobility to the users and the administration can come up with connected devices to enhance the comfort and convenience of people.
Parting NoteSilver Touch Technologies is committed to providing the best-in-class ERP solutions across all industry sectors. We keep on updating the solution to make it more user-friendly and productive for our corporate clients. Simply send us an email at info@silvertouch.com to know more about Silver ERP.
Author Bio:-Mr. Himanshu Jain is a Director at Silver Touch Technologies Ltd. and has 25+ years of experience in Information Technology. He has worked with Apple, IBM, Novell Server Platforms and also has experience with several software platforms. He specializes in service delivery and implementing e-governance solutions across India. He firmly believes that e-governance is the second war of Independence to give ultimate freedom to every citizen.
This article was first published on Nasscom.
