Definition
Case Management is the ability to manage the workflow of events to their resolution to meet the needs of individuals or business. This may involve engagement, assessment, planning, implementation, coordination, monitoring, and evaluation.
Case management system attributes and architectures vary greatly depending on specific needs, and the AGA therefore considers the functionality as grouped into archetypes with acknowledgement that there are no hard divisions between these groups.
Purpose
The Capability of Case Management is realised through:
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Implementation of solutions that align with specific Case Management archetypes based upon the nature and complexity of cases being managed.
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Consideration of important Case Management design components including scale, security, privacy, and availability.
Objective
The objectives of this Australian Government Architecture content are to:
- Consolidate Case Management solutions with aligned functions across the digital landscape through archetyping and linking to related designs.
- Adopt, where suitable, low-code to no-code solutions that allow the development of complex workflows and rulesets through a human centred interface rather than programmatically.
- Reduce implementation risk through the reuse of proven designs within government.
- Ensure that new Case Management solutions draw efficiency from preceding investments, implementations, and learnings.
- Foster consistency across agencies in technologies, data, and workflow, resulting in simpler and more accessible services.
- Implement build-once-use-many solutions that allow for consistent application and maintenance of business and work practices across different systems and channels.
- Ensure traceability and auditability across complex systems and processes without having to embed these functions in all parts of the solution.
- Establish whole-of-government purchasing arrangements for Case Management products and services.
Whole of Government Applicability
Case Management solutions contribute to the seamless delivery of government services across different systems and business by leveraging:
- Low-code and no-code opportunities for skills development of business subject matter experts into technology fields.
- Multi-agency shared services arrangements (business process, platform-as-a-service, infrastructure-as-a-service).
- Reuse of Case Management designs, qualification and workflow models and reporting and management information approaches.
- Reuse of commercial engagements, including whole of government procurement arrangements.
- Replication and redeployment of proven technology platforms, data ontologies and workflows.
- Mobility of APS employees to support knowledge sharing.
- Reuse of lessons learned from prior implementations.
Policy Elements
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Understand alignment to Case Management Archetypes (primary stakeholder and usage).
Specific use cases can be broadly categorised into archetypes, which are groupings of comparable Case Management systems. Agencies should understand the archetype their system aligns to and use this as a focal point for identification of comparable previous investment and assessment of solution suitability.
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Develop a comprehensive understanding of non-functional requirements and considerations.
Before commencing any technology investigation, agencies should analyse and assess their specific needs and determine requirements for the Case Management solution.
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Check for existing re-useable Case Management designs before engaging in new development processes.
Consideration must be given to minimising risk, improving consistency, accelerating delivery, and lowering total cost of ownership of Case Management solutions through leveraging existing standards and designs prior to considering alternative new developments.
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Build for reuse.
Where reuse is not possible, provide evidence of which systems across government have been investigated (specifically across the archetype, usage and users, scale, and security classification of the system), and demonstrate how any new investment may be extensible and operationalised for reuse and how any new investment may benefit agencies seeking similar capability moving forward.
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Lower development and maintenance complexity of government solutions.
Low-code/no-code documented process and business rules logic that may be invoked across many channels and systems must be considered for suitability prior to programmatically developing a unified software unit that is self-contained and independent from other applications (monolithic).
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Understand the existing technology environment.
Initiatives utilising Case Management solutions must demonstrate engagement and applicability of the solution in the context of the technological environment within which they will operate, informing the technology decision and implementation approach.