Over the last seven years, something has happened that did not occur for the first eight in my experience with using and administering the Encompass® platform. The proliferation of plug-ins and third-party technology is 100% overheated and overused. It is important to remember that the Encompass® platform is the same for everyone out of the box, and not every company needs the same things to leverage it to be the best it can be. You do not always need technology to make magic happen, but you always need to have a master of Encompass® (like Larry Bailey) to know what is truly possible. (Read Why)

Every time I enter a new Encompass® environment, I ask about workflow first and then technology. Many times there are plug-ins or 3rd party technology just sitting in the Encompass® platform, which could contribute to unnecessary latency, load, and user confusion. Once I find the technology, I typically ask the accounting team to tell me how much is being paid and to whom. It is common for me to discover that the executive team had yet to learn that the company was still paying for technology that is unneeded, unused, or both.

This is a call to action if you are reading this. Please go into your Encompass® Input Form Builder and then to "Tools" then "Manage Customizations" and then the "Plugins" tab. If you can identify what each plug-in is doing, why you are using it, and how much you are paying to access that technology, congratulations, as you are in the 1% club that can do that. Typically, one or more than one or possibly all of those questions cannot be answered when I ask the Encompass® administrator to perform that action.

If you have plug-ins in your environment, and they are doing what you need them to do for the right return on investment, there’s probably little to do. However, that is rarely the case. I can usually display consistent examples of why companies do not need the plug-ins they either purchased in the past or are currently using.

Right now you should be scouring your existing technology platform for every penny you can save or exploit. And if you contact Mortgage Workflow Partners Inc., our first answer to your question is always looking at your workflow as well as the native functionality of the Encompass® platform. This is because we are masters of the Encompass® platform and understand what is 100% possible, even though you may have never heard of it before.

If you contact anyone with a problem in Encompass® and their first answer to your situation is to buy a plug-in, tell them "No, Thank You." Then ask them why they can’t accomplish what you need through workflow first or native functionality. If you ever want ways to make your workflow, teams, and Encompass® run optimally, click my calendar link and set up a call for us to discuss it further. I guarantee it will be worth your time! www.MeetLarryB.com

#MasteringEncompass #Workflowology