Federal Government of Mexico

Government Agencies Deploy DPM Solution, Expedite Approval Processes by 90 Percent, Reduce Paper Use by 70 Percent

The federal government of Mexico is committed to making processes and communications more transparent and efficient. To help reach these goals, several cabinet-level agencies have deployed a dynamic process management (DPM) solution based entirely on Microsoft technologies. As a result, the agencies are completing some approval processes 90 percent faster, using 70 percent less paper, and providing employees more reliable, transparent, and accessible communications. In turn, those employees can respond faster to citizens’ requests and provide them more comprehensive service.

Summary To comply with laws that are among the world’s most comprehensive in terms of mandating transparency and efficiency, executives within the federal government of Mexico have transformed processes and deployed advanced tools and technologies over the past decade. Most recently, a number of governmental organizations have deployed a single, comprehensive tool designed to streamline collaboration and communication internally, with other governmental organizations, and with private citizens. That tool is Peg@sus, which is developed and licensed by Microsoft Partner Network member Pegaso Tecnología, based entirely on Microsoft technologies and designed to interoperate with Microsoft Office and Microsoft Outlook.

Since these organizations deployed Peg@sus, at least three of them are reporting dramatic improvements in their ability to make processes and communications more efficient internally and more transparent to citizens. At the Secretariat of Finance and Public Credit, for example, employees struggled with multiple, incompatible tools for collaboration and document management. But with Peg@sus, they have a fully centralized repository. As a result, correspondence with internal and external organizations is far more open and trackable, and employees find it easier to comply with a new mandate requiring electronic signatures. At the Secretariat of Public Security, employees are moving paper-based processes to an increasingly electronic environment, for easier access of information and savings in time and resources. So far, they have reduced paper usage by nearly 70 percent and shortened the typical process for purchasing new equipment from four days down to just one. At the Secretariat of Communications and Transport, approval of a major road-improvement project could sometimes take longer than the construction itself, but today the office has reduced the time for such approvals by more than 90 percent.

The Full Story A Mandate for Change The federal government of Mexico has worked hard over the past decade to deliver greater transparency and efficiency to citizens. In the early 2000s, it implemented a far-reaching freedom-of-information law, laid the groundwork for a new international standard for independent oversight of such laws, and deployed a portal for processing citizen requests for information that, at the time, was one of the world’s most advanced. Since then, the government has implemented further laws and practices to promote an increasingly electronic environment, including mandating electronic signatures, for more traceable, auditable, and effective processing and transfer of information.

Complying with these laws has required executives at the 220 separate organizations that constitute the federal government to make significant changes in the way their staff members manage processes, correspondence, and documents—internally, between and among the different organizations, and between their respective organizations and private citizens. To address the challenge, a growing number of those executives have decided to deploy tools designed specifically to enhance transparency and efficiency without imposing additional layers of bureaucracy.

One such tool is Peg@sus, a dynamic process management (DPM) solution from Pegaso Tecnología, a Microsoft Partner Network member with multiple Gold competencies that is based in Mexico City. Peg@sus runs on a platform based entirely on Microsoft products and technologies, including Microsoft Office 2010, Windows Server 2008, Windows 7, Microsoft Internet Information Services, Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010, and Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Enterprise, including Analysis Services, Integration Services, and Reporting Services. Through its tight integration with Microsoft Office and Microsoft Outlook, Peg@sus can be accessed directly through those products for rapid adoption and reduced training costs.

To date, Peg@sus has been deployed by at least six separate organizations in the federal government, among them the Secretariat of Finance and Public Credit, the Secretariat of Public Security, and the Secretariat of Communications and Transport. These secretariats are using the technology to streamline processes and communications in response to a federal initiative to fully digitalize operations and communications, and whose goal is a savings of nearly MXN$1.7 billion (US$130 million) each year.

Three Organizations, Multiple Challenges The Secretariat of Finance and Public Credit is responsible for the federal budget, including tax collection and enforcement, and the monetary policy of the federal government, including its interactions with the World Bank and other international entities. To address issues of transparency and efficiency surrounding the complex communications conducted internally, with other governmental agencies, and with international bodies, the secretariat implemented 25 separate systems over the years—with predictable compatibility challenges.

The Secretariat of Public Security oversees the federal policing agencies, implements security policies of the executive branch, proposes criminal policies, and manages the federal prison system. In recent years, the secretariat struggled with a document environment that was based largely on paper and with inefficient processes for purchasing capital equipment and supplies and coordinating the work of its more than 35,000 employees.

The Secretariat of Communications and Transport oversees two very broad sectors of the Mexican economy, with activities that include issuing licenses for the public airwaves, maintaining the country’s interstate-highway system, and controlling air traffic at nearly 1,900 airports. On the communications side, there are multiyear-long legal disputes that involve telecommunications contracts that can generate mountains of paper documents and gigabytes of email correspondence. On the transport side, communications and planning among citizens, state governments, and the secretariat can be so cumbersome that, in the past, winning approval for a road-improvement project could take longer than the improvement itself.

The Efficiency of a Single, Centralized Solution In 2010, information executives at these secretariats began looking at Peg@sus as a way to make internal and external processes and communications more transparent, efficient, and collaborative in their respective organizations. Over the next few years, each of them oversaw a deployment of Peg@sus, and by 2012, more than 2,500 employees at each of the three secretariats were using the solution.

Alfonso Octavio García de León Olvera, Chief Information Officer at the Secretariat of Finance and Public Credit, directed a replacement of the organization’s 25 separate systems with Peg@sus. Today, the organization is one of the most automated secretariats in Mexico, giving employees a uniform and consistent environment for sharing and processing documents and correspondence.

“We have enabled a single, comprehensive way to receive, process, and dispatch internal and external communications, dramatically reducing the overhead involved with manual controls and the time required for delivering written communications,” García de León says. “We are also finding it easier to comply with and benefit from the new mandate regarding electronic signatures, and we are saving money on paper and messenger delivery.”

Paper Use Down by 70 Percent Paper reduction and process efficiency are the primary benefits at the Secretariat of Public Security, where Chief Information Officer Víctor Manuel Mompala Luna and his team are using Peg@sus as a central repository for documents and other records. “Since the deployment, we have reduced our paper consumption by nearly 70 percent, helping us comply with guidelines and saving money and natural resources,” Mompala reports. “We also have reduced the time required for ordering and delivery of office equipment, typically from four days down to just one.”

At the Secretariat of Communications and Transport, Chief Information Officer Eikar Meyer Murguia explains that he and his colleagues selected Peg@sus over Documentum, another DPM solution, because of compatibility issues. “With its solid foundation in the Microsoft platform, we saw that Peg@sus would be a far better fit with our existing systems,” Meyer says. “Moreover, because it is easily accessed through Microsoft Office and Microsoft Outlook, which are very familiar to users, it helps us to minimize training costs.”

With the help of Peg@sus, Meyer and his staff have been able to reduce the use of paper for process documentation by one million sheets per year, for a savings of MXN$6.4 million (US$500,000). The department also is dramatically streamlining processes for greater accountability, tracking, and efficiency. “Approval for a road project that in the past might take a year now takes just 30 days,” Meyer points out. “This helps bring citizens the benefits of better roads—more social mobility, easier access to jobs, greater potential for economic growth—that much sooner.”

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