The mainframe provides a specialized environment that is ideal for secure transaction processing. It is particularly suited for application workloads that require the highest levels of security, reliability, and scalability. Such workloads include financial transactions, healthcare records, and government services, which demand absolute trust. By utilizing mainframes for these tasks, organizations can leverage optimized hybrid environments to achieve exceptional performance and efficiency, all while reducing costs and risks.
This case study explores how a government office in Israel leveraged the power of Sapiens eMerge on the IBM z/OS platform to digitize manual operations, enhance citizen access, and streamline internal processes. By automating tasks and improving data validation, the office successfully modernized its back-office systems, ensuring compliance with regulations while offering citizens a secure, digital self-service experience. This transformation not only improved efficiency but also delivered a unified, accessible platform for both internal users and the public.
Transforming Government Services with eMerge on IBM z/OS: Automating Tasks, Enhancing Citizen Access, and Driving Digitalization
The Client
The client is a government office based in Israel, which plays a crucial role in serving the needs of its citizens. It manages a wide range of back-office applications, including all eMerge applications, on an IBM z/OS mainframe.
These applications are essential for the efficient functioning of various government services, and some of them are accessible to citizens through the government's private website, enabling them to inquire about personal data or make updates securely via login.
The Challenge
The government office’s mission was to digitize the manual operations that were performed by various departments, create digitized interfaces between departments, improve service to the citizenry and enable self-service for their users.
Another challenge was the expected compliance with regulations that may require the development of a new application or the enhancement of an existing application. Other challenges faced include legacy unfractured, security concerns, efficiency and citizen satisfaction.
The Solution
The client chose Sapiens eMerge platform to develop its new application in addition to improving the existing eMerge© applications, a tool that can support any kind of required information system.
The new application is oriented to the challenges for both internal users and citizens with an emphasis on the use of interfaces, automations, validations, email correspondence and text messages sent from the eMerge© application on the z/OS using web services, and the creation of PDF files, if necessary.
A digital request that is submitted by a citizen is validated by the application system based on the business rules defined by the customer and/or regulations and then transferred to a government official for approval or refusal.
The digital request may contain personal details, the request itself and uploaded documents. The citizen receives a PDF application confirmation that contains the request details and can also log in to the application from the government private website to his account.
All communication between the front end and back-office system on z/OS is done by web services. The new application interfaces with other government offices, enforcement authorities and other entities.
The Benefits
· Compliance with regulations – the new application is regulations oriented.
· Consistency – the new back-office applications have a unified look and feel, with the reuse of WebSphere across the various applications.
· Repository System – all data from the applications are centralized in z/OS. This can save unnecessary web services[HG1] when an application needs data from a second application.
· Digital services – no more paperwork, hand files and file cabinets, no duplicate data, no business errors, everything is validated by the application.
· Accessibility – the new eMerge applications on z/OS are accessible for internal users (with the right permissions) or external users (citizens) after logging in.
The Results
The use of the eMerge platform on z/OS creates a significant change in the current work of the client. No more manual work, no more wrong data, more efficiency, more digital reports and more information available. Citizens can see their own personal details, make digital requests and follow the status of their request which they were not able to do before eMerge.
eMerge took manual processes and turned them into automated, easy to access digital data and increased efficiency for the government office workers and citizens.