Workflow System
Perspectives

Workflow Systems

There are four major groupings of workflow systems, each of which meets specific organizational needs. These need to interoperate to build a corporate workflow solution.

1. Process-based Systems.

Designed to support well-defined business processes where each new workitem represents an instance of a pre-defined workflow. Workitems may follow somewhat varying routes within their process. Examples, IBM's FlowMark and FileNet's Visual Workflow.

 

2. Transaction-based Systems.

Well suited for high-volume installations where the workitems follow a general workflow route, but may vary widely in their processing needs. Example, Eastman Software's Open Image/Workflow, provides a state-based routing model whereby workitems follow a route defined by their current processing state, rather than a specific process flow.

 

3. Collaborative Systems.

Targeted for highly-skilled workgroups, where the worksteps and resources required for a specific item will be customized and often collaboratively derived. Example: Action Technologies.

 

4. Ad hoc Systems.

Utilized to route workitems to a specific destination, or through a simple list of destinations, often with minimal system-supported routing logic. Examples: Most corporate email systems and Internet mail.

Workflow Base Technologies

There are two base technologies used for workflow systems: relational table systems and email systems.

Relational Table Technology

Relational table systems typically use SQL relational tables to hold information about each workitem, its workflow attributes, and its current workstep. By using standard SQL queries, the workitems awaiting processing for a specific destination can be enumerated and modified. This technology provides excellent management control over the current status and state of work in process, but necessitates a degree of centralized support from one or more workflow database engines.

Alternative implementations have been build using object servers, rather than relational tables. However, the proprietary nature of the current crop of object servers make relational tables a more useful scheme to support inter-application data sharing and reporting.

Email System Technology

Email systems (now Internet mail) traditionally provided great scope by supporting a wide organizational and geographical context of users -- virtually anyone reachable by email. The key issues have been (1) the loss of knowledge of the current status of a particular workitem, since it is often difficult to interrogate remote email systems as to the state of a particular mail item, and (2) the difficulty of automating routing rules and process definitions because of the variety of email server and client software.

Recent developments have improved on this situation by incorporating standardized email server extensions to automatically send notifications to a central repository of information when mail items are opened and subsequently routed, and permit routing rules to be evaluated in the server to direct the workitem to its next destination.

Vendor Product Features

To understand the facilities provided by workflow systems, see the outline of Workflow System Capabilities.

[Home] [What's New] [Links] [Services][Site Table of Contents]

Copyright © 1997-2000 by Gary M. Gershon. All rights reserved.

Last Changed: 08/19/00

Comments to: Gary Gershon (Gershon@Celsus.Net)