These organizations are responsible for qualifying and processing the license and permit requests of professionals, from medical practitioners to plumbing contractors, and businesses that operate under state regulations –– companies and professionals that serve as the vital lifeblood to local economies.
While licensing agencies carry out an important function, the process they perform tends to be time-intensive, cumbersome and confusing. And in many cases, it can actually hinder or delay professionals from entering — or continuing in — their respective fields. There are common design flaws inherent to the process and the technology that underpins it, creating vulnerabilities on both sides of the equation.
Challenges of Existing Systems
Most licensing platforms across nearly all industries and states are built on legacy systems that don’t facilitate interoperability, automation or allow important system changes in a nimble manner. Processing applications often requires manual paperwork to be handed off between multiple internal departments or external agencies for review and approval.These manual handoffs are one of the design flaws in the system that can open the door to errors and delays. It can also create data and processing silos, which inhibits collaboration and transparency and tends to generate redundancies in workflows. As a result, agencies typically don’t have any easy way to provide information that constituents and citizens need regarding the status of licensing.
Another challenge to the licensing process occurs when minor adjustments need to be made. Something as simple as adding new license types, changing qualification requirements or even changing the renewal frequency from one year to two can create major obstacles for legacy systems. It’s more complicated than just deleting a field or inserting a line item. These design flaws unnecessarily tie up IT teams, taking them away from valuable innovation and business-driving efforts.
From the agency standpoint, delays and potential errors result in lost time and revenue. From the applicants’ standpoint, the whole licensure process can seem frustrating and mysterious. With little procedural transparency, professionals have no straightforward method to track their application status.
Reducing Friction
Making it easier to qualify and approve applicants doesn’t just reduce friction for the stakeholders involved, it also helps local economies, enabling businesses to get up and running sooner. This is where digitization and design thinking come into play.Some forward-thinking licensing agencies have already undergone digital transformations to streamline their internal systems by migrating to cloud-based solutions or opting for hybrid-designed applications that allow for deeper integration with existing legacy systems. Whichever route is taken, the key is to design a system that is scalable and adaptable to ever-changing agency needs and regulatory influences.
Out of the box, most software, like customer relationship management (CRM) systems, won’t hit the mark. Taking a platform approach, such as CRM, is a necessary first step and the initial layer of creating a solution that is foundational to the licensing industry, but it also must be customized to the agency’s needs. Because every agency is so nuanced, successfully designing a new licensing system requires some level of configuration to not only meet the needs, but also ensure adoption by its staff and customers.
Develop Inside-Out Thinking
The most successful agencies have come to realize that the internal experience (or employee experience) is a direct reflection on the customer experience. Start on the inside with an evaluation of your organization’s systems and processes. Where are you currently and where do you want to be?At this point, you’ll want to involve your stakeholders to help identify any current constraints and pain points of the existing infrastructure. Be open to feedback about what needs to be updated, maintained or phased out with the launch of a new system. Understanding where you currently are will help you bridge the gap to your ideal “to-be” state.
Through this process, also consider the integrations and touchpoints you have with other state agencies or private companies, such as requesting and obtaining school transcripts, criminal background checks, and other applicant credentials. Can these processes be automated or integrated through an API-based solution?
Develop a Road Map
Next, consider your organization’s culture and tolerance to change. Is the team open to change, or are they more conservative? This step is critical to the success of any transformation. There must be a process in place for change management. Some organizations choose to develop this internally, others budget for a consulting agency to help design and implement the transition. Navigating the change is always easier if you’ve integrated your stakeholders early in the process and maintained their involvement through feedback loops.Data Analysis
Another critical step to preparing for a digital transformation is data analysis. The quality of your data is a barometer for digital readiness. Data loaded with duplicates and inaccuracies can pose a big problem. If your data is unreliable, determine whether it’s beneficial to carry it over to the new system or if you need to start from a clean slate.Governance
Whoever is orchestrating this digital transformation, whether an internal IT team or an external partner, they should have a keen understanding of how the licensing industry operates and is governed. This expertise will help avoid risk and ensure thoughtful and scalable design, as well as regulatory or legislative compliance.Time spent planning for the transformation –– integrating stakeholder feedback, examining your data, and understanding your current state –– will help avoid downtime and support a more seamless transition. More importantly, it will help future-proof your organization and streamline the process for sustaining current licensing operations and getting professionals and local businesses up and running sooner.
Ryan Smith is director of public sector at MST Solutions, where he drives the implementations across the public sector vertical and helps government organizations modernize through customer- and employee experience-based transformations using a “cloud first” strategy. He has been with the company for about five years.
