The largest installation, at the Delaware Division of Public Health, has 105 users. The Technology OMS is written in SQLWindows and can use any ODBC compliant database. Each night, the Natural application uploads the transaction information to the mainframe accounting system, which process it as a batch job like any other. The value, lies in the reconciliation process. After the transactions have cleared the mainframe, the Natural application passes information back to OMS, which highlights any discrepancies in cleared transactions.
Users can then decide how to handle the differences.
Doing away with paper in creating OMS, the development team faced several technical challenges, one of which was the state of Delaware's requirement that the electronic forms mimic existing paper forms. At the same time, the state required that the system do away with the paper approval process. The workflow module uses a SQLBase database containing organizational intelligence about all individuals using the system. Based on a user's job description, responsibilities, and authority, the workflow module selects from the SQLBase database only those documents the user needs to see. When one person completes his or her part of a form, the system automatically makes it available to the next person who needs to see it.