SharePoint Saturday

Bend, OR

“Workflows that Work!”

Technology Presentation – Oct 1, 2011

INTRODUCTION

Your Presenter:

Larry TenisonSr. Information ArchitectMarquam Grouplarry.tenison@marquam.com

DEMONSTRATION SCENARIO 1

• The first workflow demo is built around a “multi-stage” Invoice Approval process

• Business rules:– If invoice amount < $1,000 --> Manager

approves– If >= $1,000 but < $5,000 --> Manager and

CFO must approve– If >= $5,000 --> Manager, CFO and CEO

must approve

DEMONSTRATION SCENARIO 2

• The second workflow demo is built around a real-life QA “spec review” process

• Business rules:– InfoPath form filled out to start process– Form is submitted to “spec review” process,

which involves multiple reviewers and roles across the Org

– Once “approved”, process is “closed” and new product set-up phase is started (hint: additional workflows!)

RUN THE DEMOS

DEMO “TAKE-AWAYS”

• Scenario 2 is a “real-world” example that will go into production this fall

• What have we learned through this process?

LESSON 1 – LEVERAGE VISIO• A detailed, approved diagram of the business process is required for

successful implementation• Visio “swim-lane” diagrams translate well into the Nintex design

paradigm

LESSON 2 – WORKFLOWS = SYSTEM• When developing “a workflow” (e.g. Specification Review) there will be

other supporting functions within the overall process that define a “system” or “constellation” of workflows– Example: Spec Review process includes 1 main process flow and 7 “support” workflows

– Overall, there will be 5 “main” process flows and 23 “support” workflows at the client once the entire scope is completed

LESSON 3 – LEVERAGE INFOPATH• When using InfoPath to drive “forms-based” workflows, consider

these techniques to drive productivity:

– Get the forms designed, tested and in place FIRST; this will minimize re-work

– Promote frequently-used form fields to make them visible to SharePoint and Nintex (item properties)

– Re-use common column names (e.g. “CustomerName”) across similar forms and content types; these will be retained (most of the time) whenever an existing workflow is exported and imported to a new form library

– Within the form designer, arrange sub-sets of form fields using common headers (e.g. CustomerDetail, ProductDetail, etc.) which will create similar form XML structure and XPATH queries

OTHER QUESTIONS THAT COME TO MIND

• What does a 3rd party product offer over and above SharePoint Designer?

• Why not just crack open Visual Studio for building complex workflows?

• It’s expensive -- Why buy a 3rd party product at all?

QUICK FACTS

• Nintex offers 103 configurable actions, 70 more than Designer (33)

• Nintex offers actions that do not exist in Designer, including:– State machine configuration– External Queries (LDAP, Excel services, CRM, BizTalk, Web

Services and more)– List Queries with Collection Operations– Loops– Rich User Provisioning (AD, Exchange, SharePoint)– Flexible, Multi-branch Decisions– Lazy Approval via Email

• Nintex is a full web UI, not client software; all design and management is within SharePoint

ACTIONS COMPARISON -- SUMMARY

• Bottom Line: Nintex offers more actions in every area as compared to Designer. Plus, Nintex offers other “freebies” including 10 built-in Workflow Reports and extensions of other services (e.g. Excel Services).

• SP Designer actions were mapped against 6 functional areas of Nintex Workflow actions palette

WHAT THAT MEANS TO YOU

• With a rich, web-based UI workflow design product, you will not need to invest in the time and effort needed to:1. Learn Visual Studio2. Learn how to build workflow projects using VS3. Create your own workflow actions4. Test, debug, implement custom workflow code

• And, most importantly, you will not need to:5. Support, patch, promote, and maintain custom

workflow code

THANKS FOR YOUR TIME TODAY!

Please feel free to contact one of us or visit our sponsor booth if you have any questions:

Brad ParisAccount ExecutiveMarquam Groupbrad.paris@marquam.com

Larry TenisonSr. Information ArchitectMarquam Grouplarry.tenison@marquam.com

QUESTIONS ??