Administrative processes that stay auditable

In the large-scale ePM.SAX project (Electronic HR Management Saxony), there was previously no digital representation of application processes across Saxony’s state government. The application process is a complex one that also varied between individual authorities — the central task was to translate heterogeneous as-is processes into standardized to-be processes while involving every stakeholder: HR department, specialist departments, and staff councils across all pilot authorities.

Since 2023, the Free State has been developing the Applicant Management System (BMS) as a sub-project of ePM.SAX — delivered in an agile Scrum process using Pega’s low-code approach. Implementation was carried out jointly by Greenfield and T-Systems; Pega provides the platform. In a structured approach, as-is processes were first captured through stakeholder interviews and workshops, from which model processes (standard applications and applications for senior civil-service roles) were defined together with department representatives, and finally the to-be processes were developed in the Scrum team together with four pilot authorities.

Implementation proceeds across several releases: the main process (release 1), extension to subordinate authorities (release 2), and ongoing development (release 3 onward) expanding reporting and linking to the Federal Employment Agency. The guiding principle was to deliver usable results early and involve users from the very start. Through the application, authorities now handle every step digitally — from job posting through applicant review and assessment to interview scheduling and hiring.

A state-wide low-code initiative risked splintering into one-off solutions per authority instead of systematically reusing components that had already been built.

A clearly defined, Pega-based low-code approach with governance structures and a central overview of reusable components — from the planning phase through sustained delivery, established as the central point of contact for all low-code matters.

In spring 2020, the federal government had to provide a digital application and approval process for businesses in the COVID-19 crisis at extremely short notice — nationwide, under intense political time pressure, with continuously new programs and state-specific special rules.

Built on the Pega platform, a fully digitalized end-to-end process emerged — from application through approval to payout. Instead of 16 separate state-level solutions, a shared core architecture carries every program: each federal state operates its own specialist procedures and review processes as its own layer on a shared foundation. This let states roll out programs with their own special rules within a few weeks, because the core was already in place and proven.

As a specialized Pega partner, Greenfield was involved as a subcontractor in development and delivery — providing specialist Pega consulting, leading business-architecture and development teams, and building fraud detection along with the highest possible level of straight-through processing. The general contractor was ]init[ AG, on behalf of the federal government.