Plexus Scientific And Handysoft Join Forces To Automate Succession Planning And Institutionalize Organizational Knowledge

HandySoft Global Corp., a leading provider of business process management (BPM) solutions, and Plexus Scientific Corporation, an experience-based consulting firm that delivers outcomes advancing federal business processes, today announced a partnership to help government agencies automate and streamline succession planning while building a repository of organizational knowledge.

With large numbers of baby boomers reaching retirement age, organizations are facing mounting pressures to fill the impending personnel and knowledge void. According to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management’s (OPM) 2006 Federal Human Capital Survey, 60 percent of the federal workforce is eligible to retire over the next 10 years. In a November 2006 report, Aberdeen Group stated that although organizations know that succession planning is essential today, only 7 percent of companies have fully automated and integrated succession planning processes.

According to Dr. Jay Liebowitz, recently cited as one of the top three knowledge management/intellectual capital researchers worldwide, “succession planning, workforce development, and knowledge management should be woven within the fabric of the organization as part of the organization’s human capital strategy. The government, at all levels (federal, state, and local), as well as many industry sectors, are facing knowledge retention and succession planning challenges worldwide.”

Plexus Scientific has worked closely with several large federal agencies, including the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), to develop methodologies and processes crucial to a successful succession planning initiative. These components include assessing current workforce competencies, implementing recruitment and retention programs, linking succession planning to HR processes, extracting knowledge from existing workers, and building a knowledge repository. Plexus has now partnered with HandySoft to leverage HandySoft’s leading BPM platform, BizFlow, to streamline and optimize these processes. Together, the two organizations will deliver a comprehensive succession planning solution that combines Plexus’ proven methodology with HandySoft’s award-winning BPM platform.

“After a thorough evaluation of BPM vendors, we are pleased to be working exclusively with HandySoft to achieve our vision of an automated approach to succession planning,” said Michael Reingruber, group vice president, Plexus Scientific. “HandySoft has all of the attributes of a great partner - a strong product offering, an impressive federal install base, a visionary management team, and a true understanding of the innovative solutions required by the government.”

“We are pleased to be teaming with Plexus to deliver the first process-driven framework to help overcome the ‘brain drain’ challenge in the federal government,” said Jim Worley, chief operating officer at HandySoft. “This is a perfect partnership in terms of synergies: Plexus has the expertise in developing processes crucial to a successful succession planning initiative, and HandySoft offers software for streamlining and automating these processes. A leader in the succession planning arena, Plexus has honed its expertise through close collaboration with government agencies to analyze and define a methodology to retain and maximize knowledge resources.”

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About HandySoft Global Corp.
HandySoft Global Corporation is a leading global provider of Business Process Management (BPM) solutions. By orchestrating people, information and processes, HandySoft delivers innovative enterprise BPM solutions that automate and simplify processes, enforce best practices, improve quality and productivity, and foster collaboration. HandySoft takes a unique approach to BPM by providing a framework for both structured and dynamic work.

BizFlow®, HandySoft's award-winning platform for structured BPM, includes tools for designing, automating and monitoring business processes, presenting and accessing work, integrating existing IT systems and administering the platform itself.

HandySoft also offers OfficeEngine™, the industry's first solution to combine the power of traditional BPM with the flexibility of e-mail. OfficeEngine enables knowledge workers to create, assign, sub-delegate, track and execute mission critical work in real time. By providing executives with increased visibility and control and driving knowledge worker productivity, this dynamic BPM offering allows organizations to benefit from greater accountability and insight into business operations.

As a global solutions provider, HandySoft Global is headquartered in Vienna, VA, USA, with a subsidiary in London, UK, and with strategic partner representation throughout the world. HandySoft has implemented process management solutions at hundreds of sites worldwide. For more information call +1-703-442-5600, email info@handysoft.com or visit http://www.handysoft.com.

HandySoft, the HandySoft logo, OfficeEngine, BizFlow and BizFlow Accelerator Suites are trademarks of HandySoft Global Corp. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

About Plexus Scientific Corporation

Plexus Scientific Corporation is an experience-based consulting firm offering engineers, scientists, technologists and management consultants whose combined efforts deliver outcomes that advance federal business processes. Plexus provides support to both federal managers responsible for execution as well as business impactors responsible for program design and oversight.

Plexus is both CMMI Level 3 and ISO 9001:2000 certified. These certifications position Plexus in the upper echelon of high quality firms in our respective consulting practice areas. Plexus has a demonstrated track record of providing high quality consulting services for its federal clients.

Headquartered in Alexandria, VA, Plexus is comprised of six functional consulting areas. An interwoven service structure combines the resources of the six functional areas to efficiently achieve uncommon service levels and above standard outcomes for our federal clients. For more information call 703-820-3339 or visit http://www.plexsci.com.