The Organization
The South Carolina Department of Administration works closely with the Governor’s office to advance the state’s efforts to better serve South Carolinians. Utilizing shared services and centralization, the department helps other government agencies efficiently and effectively carry out their respective duties. Within the department, the Executive Budget Office develops the Governor’s budget and provides oversight of the annual state budget, as well as oversight of the state’s permanent improvement projects.
The Challenge
From August to October each year, the Executive Budget office collects budget data from over 100 different state agencies. The budget office was using multiple spreadsheets and Word documents — each with multiple tabs and copies — to collect this data. Every spreadsheet had to be locked and unlocked multiple times in an attempt to control and limit data entry, and each document had to be saved separately and combined into one PDF for each agency. Spreadsheets were prone to user error and had to be proofed in detail with every update. With such a time-consuming process, the budget office staff spent weeks compiling and splitting out statewide data.
The Solution
After observing and reviewing the Executive Budget Office’s processes, KeyMark helped them install OnBase by Hyland, a leading document and process management system. The OnBase solution developed by Keymark provided the Executive Budget Office with the ability to collect data in a secure manner from each of the 100+ state agencies. The solution validates the data elements entered and limits invalid data entry, saving budget office staff much time and effort in proofing and editing the data. The OnBase filters allow the budget office to see the data in real-time and export the data to Excel for further reporting and manipulation.
The Results
After implementing KeyMark’s solution, the Executive Budget Office has seen processing times drastically reduce.
“The OnBase system allows budget office staff to collect and review data easily. This saves staff at least one week of processing time to build the agency templates, and three to four weeks of processing time reviewing the submissions and reformatting for publication.” – Beth Quick, Budget Development and Analysis
Weeks of time make a world of difference during this three-month data collection period. With almost a month of time back, the South Carolina Department of Administration’s budget office is working more efficiently than ever, helping the entire organization better serve South Carolinians.
