The FRDC is a co-funded partnership between its two stakeholders, the Australian Government and the fishing industry.
It plays a significant role in the sustainability of Australia’s famous oceans, rich with wildlife. FRDC primarily administers research grants to enable data-driven decisions and strategic management of Australia’s natural resources.
With the majority of its funding being allocated to research studies, FRDC invested in Nintex Automation K2 to streamline its online grant application portal to better manage and track the high number of research funding applications, from submission to final reporting.
Dynamic contract management
Challenge: Rigid, expensive legacy system
A significant portion of FRDC’s funding is directed at research that benefits the three sectors of the fishing industry: commercial (wild catch and aquaculture), recreational and indigenous.
“We were looking for an online portal that could manage the funding application process,” said Kyaw Kyaw Soe Hlaing, IT Consultant at FRDC. “We needed something that was dynamic and easy to change to meet any possible requirements without the need for external developers.”
Previously, the FRDC’s funding application process was led by a bespoke tool built by a local software developer. In addition to being slow, it was prohibitively expensive to make even minor changes.
The stakeholders knew they needed something innovative and dynamic that would allow users to quickly make changes without excessive coding.
Solution: Adaptable processes allow users to self-manage
Before selecting a workflow solution, FRDC had looked at a few options locally and internationally, including InfoPath forms and Microsoft CRM as an xRM Platform. Nintex Automation K2 won out for its built-in forms technology, low-code functionality, and ability to integrate out-of-the-box with existing systems, like SQL, SharePoint and Microsoft CRM.
FRDC used Nintex Automation K2 to build an external user manager — allowing users to sign up, reset their passwords and more — and an online portal that allowed candidates to better manage their own applications, minimizing the responsibility from the corporation.
“We migrated from a simple application process to a management tool online, where applicants can manage their details, manage their application throughout the lifecycle and have that integrated with Microsoft Dynamics CRM, SharePoint and Exchange,” said Kyaw Kyaw.
With Nintex Automation K2, the FRDC easily hit its six-month deadline for the entire process overhaul. An organization similar to FRDC took on the same process, using different software, and was still in the developmental steps of the solution months after FRDC had completed its online portal.
FRDC had 100 users adopt the new process within the first week, an impressive number compared to the 150-200 applications for funding that were previously handled annually.
FRDC’s transformation has significantly improved the user experience, increased productivity, and minimized the time and resources needed from FRDC’s internal staff to oversee grants from the granular level.
Management and administration of the application was streamlined and less effort on integrity checks is now needed from the internal FRDC team. The solution decreases costs significantly: 70% in initial development and 45% of ongoing support and development each year.
As FRDC continues to master all of the Nintex Automation K2’s functionality, there are far more opportunities to allow the internal team to make its own system modifications on its own timeline and at no outside cost. Additionally, employees are freed up from menial, administrative tasks and able to focus on furthering FRDC’s mission with high-value initiatives.
