Understanding Workflow Capabilities in SharePoint 2007

September, 2006

Perhaps the most exciting set of functionality that is available with SharePoint 2007 is the capability to build workflow into business processes. Of all of the new features, workflow has captured the most interest and attention from executives, managers, and IT personnel alike. Workflow in SharePoint 2007 is a complicated subject that can be thought of in many ways. While a lot of information is available describing many of the new workflow capabilities, the descriptions and distinctions can be very confusing, especially when trying to understand the varying level of complexity involved.

It is best to understand SharePoint 2007 workflow by describing three levels of workflow capability and complexity:

Level 1- Workflows that are pre-built and ready to use.

At this time it is understood that SharePoint 2007 will ship with a few pre-built, ready to use workflow components for document management approval and feedback workflows. Document-based workflow provides enhancements that streamline the collaboration component of document management. In a nutshell, it establishes a series of tasks and assignments that can be tied to documents as they go through their typical life cycles. Following are some of the out-of-the-box workflows available with SharePoint 2007, along with practical business scenarios where they could be applied:

• A Marketing Communications Specialist writes a press release, which gets routed to the Director of Marketing to approve. Once the Director of Marketing approves the press release, it is then forwarded to the Vice President of Sales and Marketing for approval.
• A graphic designer produces a series of designs, which can automatically be routed to the other members of the creative team for their input and feedback.
• A mid-level manager completes an employee’s performance appraisal. The appraisal is then distributed to a senior manager and to a Human Resources representative for their respective signatures.

Level 2- Workflows that are built by non-programmers..

Workflows that are built by non-programmer using SharePoint Designer’s graphical design tool Using the point-and-click interface of SharePoint Designer – the new name for Microsoft’s FrontPage – SharePoint site owners can build their own custom workflow solutions without writing a single line of custom code. SharePoint Designer allows workflow processes to be defined by building in actions when various conditions are met. Following are a few sample business scenarios that describe some of the workflow actions that can be created by SharePoint Designer:

• When an employee submits an expense report whose total value is less than $500, the report is routed to his supervisor for approval, and then to accounting for payment. However, when another report’s total amount is over $500, the report is instead routed to a senior-level manager for approval, and then to accounting.
• When the accounting department develops a quarterly report, they can route it throughout the department and eventually to the CFO for approval. Once it is approved by the CFO and designated ready to be released to the shareholders, the workflow could further be defined to submit it and all related documents to a permanent records repository, thus automating the company’s compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

Level 3 - Workflows that are designed and built by programmers, using custom programming code

• An Employee Onboarding System is an excellent example of a Level 3 custom workflow. When a new employee is hired, appropriate tasks can be assigned to Facilities – arrange for desk space, voice mail, etc.; Payroll – collect direct deposit form and tax forms; and IT – create email account and install all required software on the new employee’s computer. The custom workflow would include a form that an administrator would use to check off the non-standard onboarding needs for each employee. The workflow would route the tasks in a parallel fashion and enable approvals where applicable.
• A manufacturing company uses SharePoint sites to manage customer orders, as well as their production and shipping process. A custom workflow would not only be able to manage the process, but it would also be able to notify all parties in each step of the manufacturing process. A custom-programmed workflow will have the ability to adapt on-the-fly on the rare occasion when the production needs to deviate from the traditional process. For example, if a part that was installed early in the process turns out later to be defective, the workflow would be able to adapt and return to the earlier stage in the process.
• An online retailer uses SharePoint as an order fulfillment system. The state management capabilities of custom-developed workflows would allow multiple workflow processes to be spawned when parts of an order are shipped while other parts of the order are waiting to be fulfilled.

Custom programmed workflows (Level 3) are installed into the SharePoint environment and available for use throughout the portal. As this technology matures and takes hold in the marketplace, many third party developers will begin to publish and distribute a wide range of these Level 3 workflow solutions. But the fact that they will be distributed as pre-built, ready to use workflows essentially means they will appear to the SharePoint customer as part of a proliferating set of Level 1 workflows, thus greatly enhancing the value and out-of-the-box capability of their SharePoint investment.

*Information concerning features of the new SharePoint 2007 discussed above is based on our best understanding of what will be included in the product release. It is possible that some of the features discussed herein might not be part of the released product