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Redwood Shores, CA - Oracle recently announced that the City of Kent, Wash., is using Oracle Imaging and Process Management, a component of Oracle Fusion Middleware, in conjunction with Oracle Applications and Oracle Database, to improve information processing, management, retention and disposition across multiple departments within the city.

Oracle's software provides the City of Kent a centralized, integrated digital platform for content storage, retrieval and workflow functionality, which helps improve disaster recovery capabilities, reduce the physical space required to maintain paper files and increase departmental efficiency by consolidating manual and redundant filing systems.

The City of Kent, with a population of more than 86,000, is comprised of several departments, each with its own business processes, data retrieval requirements and records. Previously the city managed data with a solution that could not scale to meet its growing needs and restricted the flow of information between departments. As a result,city employees were spending valuable time tracking down documents that resided in other departments' files.

For example, many of the police department's detectives worked across a parking lot from the physical case files, so every time they needed to access files they had to walk across the lot, find the physical files and walk back to their office to continue their work. Using Oracle Imaging and Process Management, those files are now accessible and easily searchable right at the detectives' desktops.

The City of Kent partnered with ImageSource, a member of the Oracle PartnerNetwork, to integrate Oracle Imaging and Process Management with Oracle Database, Oracle's JD Edwards EnterpriseOne and several third- party applications.

Prior to implementing the Oracle content management software, the city's lack of a central document repository was a strain on physical resources and a security and disaster recovery risk, as employees generated multiple copies of a single document and stored it in various departments' filing cabinets across city offices. Documents, such as permits, often required signatures from multiple city departments. In many cases, each department signed the document and kept a copy in a physical file within its office. This wasted valuable storage space as city departments repeated this process for thousands of permits each year, and it became a growing concern for the city, which has nearly doubled in population in the last five years.

Further, by saving multiple copies of individual documents, there was the potential for confusion about which version was the official document. Using Oracle software, the City of Kent eliminated its offsite document storage and secured its official documents and records against disaster through multiple electronic backups. The city's electronic document repository is recognized and approved by the State of Washington as the city's primary repository.

Oracle Imaging and Process Management's seamless integration with Oracle's JD Edwards EnterpriseOne and third-party applications provides the City of Kent with an image-enabled enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. As a result, the city has streamlined its accounts payable and accounts receivable processes, which helps increase accuracy and reduce the overall costs associated with maintaining and providing access to information regarding the city's economic performance.

Based on the City of Kent's use of Oracle Fusion Middleware with Oracle Applications to increase its capacity for growth and change, as well as to empower users for more productive interactions, Oracle recently selected the city to receive a 2007 Oracle Excellence Award.

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"With the Oracle system in place, it is much easier for our employees to share and access information. We also freed up significant space in our offices. The public works department alone was able to empty 10 large filing cabinets. As the City of Kent continues to grow, we can put that room to use instead of building new offices to house employees and files," said James McKenney, senior system analyst for the City of Kent.

SOURCE: Oracle