SharePoint Workflow:
Taking the Manual Out of Your
Process
Donald Donais
Donald Donais
Avtex IT Pro Consultant
ddonais@avtex.com
Blog – Tales from IT Side
http://talesfromitside.wordpress.com
Twitter
@dondonais
Overview
• Business Process Management
• Crawl, Walk, Run Approach
• Crawl
 OOB SharePoint Workflows
• Walk
 SharePoint Designer 2010
 3rd Party Vendor Workflow Products
Business Process Management
What is a
Process?
A series of
Actions, directed
toward a specific
aim or goal
What is
Business
Process?
Activities or set
of Activities that
accomplish
Business Goals
What is
Business
Process
Mgt?
Systematic
approach looking
at org workflow
more effectively,
by reducing
human error
BPM Survey
• June 20th, 2011 Assoc. for Information and
Image Management (AIIM)
• SharePoint Survey – Expectation for future
users
• #1 – “Lack of strategic plans on what to use it
for” with to SharePoint
** https://www.nothingbutsharepoint.com/sites/eusp/Pages/SharePoint-and-BPMWhats-your-Strategy.aspx
Survey Continued
Secure
&
Rights
Mgt
#3
Search
/Analytics
#2
Workflow
/BPM
#1
Which of the following types of add-on packages
planning to use with SharePoint?
Survey Continued
Other
LOB
Processes
#3
Internal
IT
Support
#2
Project
Mgt
#1
Which of the following process have you
automated with SharePoint
Tips when Automating Business
Process
•
•
•
•
•
Make sure to define the process
Define reasons for automation
Necessary to define initial investment and maintenance costs
Do not automate every step in the process
Take the time to analyze potential ROI from process
automation
• Make sure to consider the human element within process
Approaching SharePoint Workflows
Crawl, Walk, Run…
Crawl
• Out of the Box Workflows
Walk
• Introduce SharePoint Designer 2007/2010
Workflows
 CodePlex Actions

• Introduce 3rd Party Workflow Tools
2007/2010
• Use Visio Services to Visualize Business
Processes 2010
Run
•
•
•
•
Develop more robust workflows
.NET workflows
Integrated systems
Custom .NET Actions and Conditions for
SharePoint Designer
• Advanced 3rd Party Workflow Tools
Why Workflow?
• One version of the truth
• Flexibility
• Auditability
Basic Workflow Capabilities
• Start Workflow Manually or Automatically
• Visibility into Running Workflows
• Collection of Historical Workflow Data
– Status of approval, errors,…
• Stop (or Terminate) a Running Workflow
• Tight Integration with Office
Understanding The Workflow Lifecycle
Association
•



When the workflow is first started on a list item
Data can be associated with the instance of the workflow
Status page reflects state of the workflow
User primarily interacts via Tasks
Termination

•
When a workflow is associated with a list
Data can be associated with the workflow
Running

•
Termination
Initiation

•
Running
Association

•
Initiation
End an instance of a workflow
Remove Association
Remove
Association
Workflows 2007
Out of the
Box
SharePoint
Designer
2007
Visual
Studio
2005 &
2008
Workflows 2010
• Out of the Box
 New Site Level Workflows
 Customizable with SharePoint Designer
 Visualization with Visio 2010
• SharePoint Designer




Parallel Execution Paths
Reusable Workflow
Visualization/Design with Visio
Exportable to Visual Studio
• Visual Studio Workflow
 Built-in Deployment/Debugging Tools
 Workflow Events
 Pluggable Workflow Services
Out Of the Box SharePoint 2007
Site Content Types
•Approval
•Collect Feedback
•Collect Signatures
•Disposition Approval
Lists and Libraries
•Approval
•Collect Feedback
•Collect Signatures
•Disposition Approval
Lists
Publishing
•Three State*
•Translation Management
•Publishing Approval
*WSS 3.0
Out Of the Box SharePoint 2010
Site Content Types
Lists and Libraries
Lists
Publishing
•Three State*
•Approval – SharePoint 2010
•Collect Feedback – SharePoint 2010
•Collect Signatures – SharePoint 2010
•Disposition Approval
•Three State*
•Approval – SharePoint 2010
•Collect Feedback – SharePoint 2010
•Collect Signatures – SharePoint 2010
•Disposition Approval
•Three State
•Translation Management
•Publishing Approval
* SharePoint Foundation
Out of the Box Workflows
SharePoint Designer 2007
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Next version of FrontPage!
UI comprised of multiple panels
Only Compatible with SharePoint 2007 (all versions)
Allow Users to Create Workflows
Associate Workflow to List or Library
Workflow Designer
Conditions & Actions – Augmented by
CodePlex
SharePoint Designer 2010
•
•
•
•
•
Redesigned for SharePoint 2010
New UI
Only Compatible with SharePoint 2010
Allow Users to Create New Workflows
Associate Workflow to List, Library or
Reusable (Content Types)
• Import/Export to Visio
• New Workflow Designer Wizard
SharePoint Designer and Visio Workflows
Let’s set it up!
•
•
•
•
Sales Documents Process
If Estimate is >$100000 then . . .
Automatically approved if less
Manager Approved and email Sales and VP of
Sales
Custom .NET Workflow
• Bring in the Reinforcements!
• You are here because:






Missing Specific Feature
SharePoint Designer Missing Action
Custom Data or Actions Needed
Existing Windows Workflow Investment
State Machine Workflow Requirement
Expose the Full Power of .NET
• Word of Warning – There is a steep learning
curve
Custom .NET Workflow – The Platform
• Windows Workflow Foundation
• Its not just a SharePoint Platform
 Built into .NET 3.0
Workflow – Platform Implications
• Workflow a Core .NET Feature
 Workflow can be ‘hosted’ anywhere
 SharePoint was Microsoft’s first host (CRM 4 uses
it now too)
Custom applications can host it as well
• Standardized Format
•
 XML based file format (XOML)
• Widespread Availability
3rd Party SharePoint Workflows
• Nintex
 Workflow 2007 & 2010
 Forms 2007 & 2010
• K2
 Blackpearl
 Blackpoint
 K2 Forms
K2
• Visual Designer
based in SharePoint
• Implement workflow
logic without code
 Also has Visual
Studio integration
• Rich visual designer
from SharePoint
• Connect to AD or
LOB data sources
Nintex
• Expand workflows
beyond SharePoint
Designer
• Implement workflow
logic without code
• Rich visual designer
from SharePoint
• Connect to AD or LOB
data sources
Nintex
•
•
•
•
•
•
Small Installation Footprint
Start in SharePoint, stay in SharePoint
Document Assembly and Conversion
User Defined Actions (UDA)
Lazy Approval
Workflow Change Approval
Nintex Workflow 2010
Resources
SharePoint Workflow:
• Workflow Resource Center | SharePoint 2010 (Dev):
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/hh295805
• Workflows in SharePoint Server 2010: http://technet.microsoft.com/enus/sharepoint/ff819861
SharePoint 2010:
• SharePoint 2010: http://sharepoint2010.microsoft.com
• SharePoint MSDN: http://msdn.microsoft.com/enus/sharepoint/default.aspx
Questions?
Donald Donais
ddonais@avtex.com
Blog – Tales from IT Side
http://talesfromitside.wordpress.com
Twitter
@dondonais