Collaborative Intelligence, a decisive factor for competitiveness

Collaborative Intelligence: In an ever tenser and unpredictable market environment, gaining and keeping a competitive edge is now essential for companies to survive. Building a more efficient organization that is also innovative and more flexible towards change requires new business paradigms, favoring a more intelligent and systematic collaboration between teams. Many companies have understood this and seek to integrate knowledge, ideas and experience sharing into their value chain. Working differently and capitalizing on Collaborative Intelligence has become a crucial strategic challenge. ROK Solution, acclaimed by their clients, has won the Microsoft Finance Innovation award and has been selected among the Red Herring Europe top 100. ROK Solution is a Collaborative Intelligence platform with a state-of-the-art architecture, recognized as the most efficient on the market. ROK Solution has won the Microsoft Finance Innovation 2012 award and has been selected among the Red Herring Europe Top 100. ROK Solution’s low service costs, easy integration and overall flexibility are decisive arguments to ensure fast return on investment: ROK Solution allows companies to seamlessly and effortlessly: Gain control over their operations thanks to collaboration and processes intuitively integrated into transaction systems (SAP, Oracle, Dynamics, …) Boost productivity and reduce costs in a few weeks’ time, by reorganizing collaboration between teams on all relevant company activities. Gain flexibility and harness the constant evolution of your working environment. Promote innovation through Collaborative Intelligence, guide collaborators and partners by giving them access to knowledge and activities optimized for their relevant tasks, leading to value creation and new patents. Unprecedented technology and ROI ROK Solution offers unprecedented returns on investment. ROK’s availability on the Cloud and their ready-to-use collaborative process models on the ROK Store (featuring more than 60 ROK Apps) allow any company to collaborate instantly, without any complex integration process. ROK’s SaaS commercial modality provides clients with nearly instant returns on investment and perfect control over Total Costs of Ownership.

Get competitive now! From promises to reality with ROK Solution

In an environment of highly tense market conditions, it is time for companies to take initiative and gain a competitive edge to keep leading the race. Improve transversal process productivity In an environment of highly tense market conditions, it is time for companies to take initiative and gain a competitive edge to keep leading the race. Too many promises yield too few significant results. Many General Managers are starting to run out of ideas to keep their company competitive, and hesitate to promote new and daring initiatives. Projects stagnate, status quo becomes the norm and competitiveness decreases. Olivier Bourrouilh, ROK Solution CEO shares his point of view on competitive companies “for dummies”. “Competition strategies need to undergo a complete overhaul!” Drop promises, switch gears to control your company’s competitive advantage sustainably. Join our clients, switch to ROK Solution. Gain control over your operation thanks to collaboration and processes intuitively integrated into transaction systems (SAP, Oracle, Dynamics, …) Boost productivity and reduce costs in a few weeks’ time, by reorganizing collaboration between teams on all relevant company activities. Gain flexibility and harness the constant evolution of your working environment. Promote innovation through Collaborative Intelligence, lead your collaborators and partners by giving them access to knowledge and activities optimized for their relevant tasks, generating value and creating new patents. ROK Solution, acclaimed by their clients, and awarded by Microsoft Finance Innovation and Red Herring 100. ROK Solution is a Collaborative Intelligence platform with a state-of-the-art architecture, recognized as the most efficient on the market. ROK Solution has won the Microsoft Finance Innovation 2012 award and has been selected among the Red Herring Europe top 100. ROK Solution’s low service costs, easy integration and overall flexibility are decisive arguments to ensure fast return on investment: Reduction of costs and delays related to financial processes (closing, budget, management control) up to 40% Optimization of logistics and transaction times on local and global operations by 60 to 80% Improvement of internal and client services, better client satisfaction and retention Improved control over transversal processes that generate risks and inefficiency: HR, special projects, transformation, merger-acquisition-divestitures… Faster market integration for products, with no additional costs, amounting to several weeks’ worth of turnover savings Improvement of operational and administrative production potential, identification of tasks with no added value, and other ineffective processes Knowledge sharing leading to the creation of new, optimized processes and decisive patents

ROK solution strengthens their partnership program

Strengthening our partnerships is essential to bolster growth and provide our clients in France and abroad with a high quality partner network. Essentially designed for Consulting firms, this program includes new partnership and mutual commitment guidelines, taking the specifics of each partner into account. Thanks to this program, our partners will be able to: Industrialize Transformation projects with ROK Solution in order to define and implement new organization structure goals, significantly reducing costs and efforts related to operational implementation and change management. Create their own ROK Store, a reference base for good practices relevant to specific tasks, making the most of knowledge capitalization in “Asset-Based Consulting” offers such as sectorial practices, processes, risk references, auditing and internal monitoring. Share mutual processes with their clients for Transformation projects and Business Process Outsourcing operations, thus establishing durable client and partner relations. Deliver collaborative services and engage their clients with recurring propositions, with immediate returns on investment. Use ROK Solution internally to optimize their own organization and processes. In addition to gaining access to ROK Solution’s platform, partners benefit from dedicated pre-sale support, relevant marketing actions, formations and professional advice. “Our clients and prospectors choose ROK Solution to optimize their operations and stand out in a context of demanding and fierce competition. The role of our partners is essential. We provide innovative technology, and they support our clients on value creation. Our partnership program is a great opportunity for ROK and our partners. Return on investment is unprecedented, and makes it possible for partners to generate services with high added value, and claiming market shares in a hyper-competitive environment.” Olivier Bourrouilh, ROK Solution CEO.

New partners, new features, new version!

We are happy to present the new features and partners available in ROK Solution’s new 3.0.9 version! An exceptional product, acclaimed by major consulting actors: 6 new partners have joined us in 3 months. A new ROK Store, featuring more than 1000 reference processes. A new multilingual support, featuring ten languages More than 40 new features on 8 major aspects: Model your organization layout and processes even faster. Execute your processes with numerous planning options. Collaborate on your processes in real time. Integrate ROK to your existing IS seamlessly (SAP, Oracle, Dynamics…) Follow management KPI in real time. Improve risk management with new updated dashboards Work faster thanks to ultra-efficient content management tools (ERM, ECM, forms…) Our optimized architecture is ready to integrate new modules yielding very high added value. Schedule a digital presentation of our tools and new features now!

ROK Solution, the first multilingual Collaborative Intelligence platform (10 languages)

ROK adds new languages to its multilingual version! As of today, users can collaborate and share in ten different languages. After receiving acclaim from all over the world, ROK solution chose to add new languages to its multilingual Collaborative Intelligence Platform. Now, ROK users will be able to collaborate and share knowledge in ten languages: French, English, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Russian, Chinese and Japanese. ROK can now be used in more than 140 countries and covers all continents. The addition of these new languages can benefit from ROK Solution’s platform as well, allowing to localize ROK Solution quickly if needed. ROK’s unique approach to language management allows to differentiate processes and knowledge by localizing them, making it possible for users to: Translate content integrated in ROK Solution Switch between languages easily within ROK. Local specificities can then be respected, as part of global knowledge sharing and collaboration. This new stage of development for ROK Solution shows how the platform can support international clients wishing to develop multilingual, cross-cultural and localized collaborative processes. “The services our solution provides are universal. This universality needs to be at the heart of our user interface as well. This multi-language version strengthens ROK’s international and mobile aspects, allowing it to be deployed on the Cloud, providing managers everywhere with a user-friendly touch interface”, concludes Olivier Bourrouilh-Parège, ROK Solution CEO.

Finance Management and innovative technology: new accounting closing and internal auditing experiences

APDC Nord and IFACI, in partnership with KPMG, CIC Nord Ouest and SKEMA Business School have organized a conference on March 20, 2013, on the theme of “Finance Management and innovative technology: new accounting closing and internal auditing experiences”. During the conference, several finance managers took the floor, including Laurent BOULLIAT, Accounting Manager, DECATHLON FRANCE Eric CASPERS, Deputy manager for Financial Strategy on Auditing, Accounting and Risk management, VILOGIA – Vice-President of IFACI NORD David LECLERCQ, ENODIA President – BENCHMARKING INSTITUTE Vice-President: Two companies from Northern French regions who chose to use innovative technology solutions shared their experiences: DECATHLON on optimizing and controlling their accounting closing process VILOGIA on managing risks and deploying an internal monitoring solution on operational tasks. Two experiences made possible by ROK*’s Collaborative Intelligence Solution. (*) ROK: Risk Organization Knowledge. We help develop your company’s performance: task and resource optimization, risk management, collaboration, know-how capitalization, real-time control, internal auditing evaluation, organization flexibility, productivity gains, finance management assistance.

Looking at CSNs from a new angle

On top of current trends, Corporate Social Networks (CSNs) have quickly become the new must-have innovation for companies to boost their competitiveness, but the sheer number of available solutions can prove confusing. Olivier Bourrouilh, ROK Solution CEO, tackles this question, talks about what makes CSNs effective, and puts their daily use in perspective. Let’s consider CSNs from a better angle! Olivier Bourrouilh, hello and thank you for taking the time to answer our questions. You are the CEO of ROK Solution, a Collaborative Intelligence platform for companies. Today we will talk about Corporate Social Networks, or CSNs. Beyond the process management side of ROK, another essential feature of your platform is to provide companies with a wide selection of communication tools. Let’s start with the basics. What exactly are CSNs, and what do we use them for? Olivier Bourrouilh: A CSN is a rather large concept that includes many corporate communication and collaboration tools, like chat, wikis, internet, videoconference, VoIP… This all-encompassing concept has been pushed forward by the younger generation, who was born with Facebook and has always had the ability to communicate online at all times. When we ask the question “What can we use CSNs for?” we often confuse the tool (a CSN means implementing communication tools) and its purpose (Why do I want people in my company to communicate? What for? What is the purpose of establishing this communication? Do I want them to communicate as they would next to a coffee machine, or in a conference room, sharing thoughts about various topics, or specifically dealing with a project?) I think this is an essential prerequisite for any company that would consider implementing a CSN in their structure. According to you, what are the other prerequisites to using a CSN? Olivier Bourrouilh: If we consider this issue from the right angle, that is to say, by considering the available tools as a means and not an end, a CSN’s purpose will be to create bridges between collaborators and even company partners, adding work value to their communication. Yes, we will use these tools but we will do it with an organization structure in mind. I remember giving a speech for French TV channel Canal+ about the “Second World”, a place where we could “walk around the web” thanks to an interface designed after the streets of Paris. We could reach a number of people and chat, discuss, exchange… I logged in on a Friday, and tech teams at Canal+ were really excited about creating some sort of Constitution to define communication rules for their virtual interface. If we consider a Corporate Social Network as a simple wiki, chat or videoconference platform, it’s easy to end up in anarchy. Companies need to implement CSNs around a clearly defined organization structure, and create a “Constitution” that will allow people to communicate with a purpose in mind. This all needs to be laid out beforehand, so I think one of the essential requisites of a successful CSN is a tool that can model the kind of collaboration you want to establish. This has to do with workflow model and it’s a rather complex matter. The workflow needs to consider Who does What, with Whom and with Which tools according to the different tasks (content management, photos, files, etc.) At its core, an efficient CSN should have a workflow that gives access to VoIP, wiki or chat functions according to the organization layout, as well as content management tools, and monitoring data for managers. In short, you need to see how to organize a collaborative democracy, with rules you will be able to establish and enforce. Today, we notice that a lot of CSN solutions are built the wrong way. We think having communication means the same as a CSN. This is not true. Communication tools are here to strengthen your company’s existing social network features and make them more efficient. Some say “companies only need to implement CSN tools, collaboration will happen intuitively”. Do you agree with this vision of CSNs? Olivier Bourrouilh: Not really. I think this approach to CSN tools, which is shared by many companies, often leads to failure. Managers want to implement a social network in their company because they see it as the next step they absolutely need to take. By doing that, they will implement communication tools and forget about establishing inherent rules. CSNs are complex and need to be as user-friendly as possible for collaborators. This is about enhancing workflows with the available communication tools. The complexity of this kind of tools makes CSNs even more of a challenging investment. Migration and change management must happen as simply as possible. The network must support collaborators and lead them to meet the added value potential they can now access. Thank you for your insight on this matter, Olivier. Stay tuned for more soon on www.rok-solution.com

ROK Solution, a valuable tool for strategy and international expansion

ROK Solution helps drive growth and profit for companies who wish to boost their development and reach new international markets. According to a study on the international presence of French actors, carried out by INSEE, the French national statistics office: “There are about 2500 French groups in charge of 31 000 subsidiaries outside of France, counting 4.7 million employees internationally, and 4.2 million in France.” Establishing an organization that manages to share good practices with several subsidiaries and collaborate on global matters is becoming an important challenge for these companies. ROK Solution helps drive growth and profit for companies who wish to boost their development and reach new international markets. The service ROK Solution provides is tailored for companies who wish to expand internationally. Thanks to ROK Solution: Deploy our solution in less than an hour to all your subsidiaries in France and abroad: ROK Solution is available in the Cloud, and marketed as SaaS (Software as a Service). Collaborate in multiple languages on your transversal processes: ROK allows instant collaboration and knowledge sharing on common topics, in multiple languages. ROK includes extended localization features, covering more than 120 world regions. Manage your collaborators access rights automatically: All the involved collaborators (on-site or in another subsidiary) in your projects are integrated simply and dynamically, and benefit from a clear view of the collaborative tasks each member needs to perform. Measure and monitor your subsidiaries’ performances in real time: ROK Solution provides managers with a monitoring dashboard that allows them to see “who does what, where, how and when”. A series of key numbers and indicators helps to instantly identify elements that may need improvement. No need for change management: ROK Solution is easy to implement, learn and use, thanks to its user-friendly interface. Updates are automatic and deployed in real time. ROK Solution helps companies wishing to carry out international expansion strategies and improves their subsidiaries’ performance to increase their responsiveness towards competitors. With their innovative solution, which integrates and harnesses the latest technology in an intuitive interface, ROK Solution significantly improves company responsiveness on markets where competitive pressure is always increasing. Improve your transversal flow productivity by up to 80% with ROK Solution!

APDC-IFACI Conference on Finance Management and Innovative Technology crowned with success on March 20th

APDC Nord (French Association of Accounting and Management Directors) and IFACI (French Auditing and Internal Control Institute), in partnership with KPMG, CIC Nord Ouest and Skema Business School, have organized a meeting on the theme of “Finance Management and innovative technology”. At the heart of competition and performance challenges (costs reduction, risk management and practices optimization), APDC Nord and IFACI have asked two companies from the North of France to talk about their finance management experience with ROK Solution. The APDC-IFACI conference lasted over 2 hours, and featured speeches from Décathlon on optimizing their accounting closing process, and Vilogia on risk managements and deploying an internal audit solution; Enodia, ROK Solution’s consulting partner, talked about the clear advantages and added value that an optimization project can yield when supported by an innovative solution. Over 100 attendees, many of which were major actors in the Northern regions of France. The event proved very successful, demonstrating companies’ motivation to promote and benefit from innovative technology to gain a competitive edge. Some of the major actors of the French Northern regions who attended the event have expressed their satisfaction with how good and relevant the interventions had been. About ROK Solution: ROK Solution is a Cloud-based Collaborative Intelligence solution that allows companies of any kind to boost their performance, promote innovation and carry out expansion strategies. The platform allows companies to model a structure quickly and simply, generate an array of dynamic tasks for collaborators, and output monitoring data on a dashboard for managers. ROK Solution has won 1st place in the Microsoft Finance Innovation award in 2012. Their solution properly integrates the latest technology in a user-friendly interface that allows to avoid any transition or migration management.

Author: ROK Solution