Overview
The Self-Service business pattern, also known as the User-to-Business or U2B pattern, captures the essence of direct interactions between interested parties and a business. Interested parties include customers, business partners, stakeholders, employees, and all other individuals with whom the business intends to interact. For simplicity, these interested parties are referred to as users. In this definition business represents various types of organizations including large enterprises, small and medium businesses, government agencies, and so on.
Self-Service Examples
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Insurance Industry
- Locate a nearby office
- Locate brokers or agents
- Financial planner and insurance needs analysis tool
- Portfolio summary
- Policy summary and details
- Claims submission and tracking
- Online billing
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Discount Brokerage
- Portfolio summary
- Detailed holdings
- Buy and sell stocks
- Transaction history
- Quotes and news
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Convenience Banking
- View account balances
- View recent transactions
- Pay bills/ transfer funds
- Stop payments
- Manage bank card
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Telecommunications and Wireless Industry
- Review account statements
- Paying bills online
- Change personal profile
- Add/change/ remove services (e.g. call waiting or caller ID)
- Submitting service requests
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Government
- Submit tax returns
- Renew automobile licenses
- Download forms/ applications
- Submit forms/ applications
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Manufacturing
- Review required parts/ services
- Locate service centers
- Register for training classes
- Submit/ track orders
What's Next
If you're not yet sure that your business problem can be solved by the functionality enabled through a Self-Service solution design, the Self-Service general guidelines page provides additional information on choosing this Business pattern. Business and IT drivers, the e-business context appropriate for this solution type, and additional solution details are discussed here.
If you've determined that the Self-Service business pattern can provide an appropriate solution design for your business need, the next step is to select an Application pattern. The Self-Service business pattern can be implemented using any one of seven different Application patterns, providing solution flexibility so that the determined Business pattern can address the specific needs of the business process being automated.
