Workflow Groupware Systems

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CIS 1051 & CIS 1052 OfficeAutomation

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WorkFlow GroupwareSystems


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WORKFLOW SYSTEMS

AUTOMATING GROUP PROCESSES

Workflow is focussed on process

combining individual achievements into asequence of actions that achieve a goal


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WORKFLOW SYSTEMS Applications which integrate these various activities

across various tools, platforms, data sources. The workflow system gives information on the state ofvarious objects in process, where it is, where who ismeant to do the next task on the object.

Further more it alerts the administrator to anybottlenecks ro problems, provides importantmeasurement statistics on how the business process istaking place e.g. average time to process a claim,

number of claims approved in month.


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MAIN COMPONENTS

Activities People

Tools Data


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ACTIVITIESThe various processes that must be carried out in

sequence in order to achieve a business goal

e.g. to process a sales order the followingactivities are required: Enter order details

Validate using a human expert or an expertsystem

Check price and availability of components Update order status

Confirm availability to customer Confirm order


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PEOPLEThe persons or automated agents instead of

people who perform and control the activitiesrequired to achieve the goals using businessrules and conditions. They may be in differentdepartments, with different skills and

responsibilityes. They will have different roles tofulfill in the process e.g. Sales Clerk Engineer

Store Manager Sales Manager


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TOOLSVarious tools may be used for the process each

particular to the type of activity e.g. Spreadsheetfor modelling,

Wordprocessing for writing letters , filling in

forms, Database System for keeping track of orders,

Database System update financial records

Email system to enable communication betweenpersonnel and with client


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DATA The different tasks may need to source

information or store information in a variety

of data stores e.g. Manual registers to record quotations and orders

placed

Spreadsheet files for order lists, estimatecalculations, budget control

Computer transaction files to update ordering

databases Computer database files with financial data

Image file databases for product profiles used in

quotations


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APPLICATIONS THATINCORPORATE WORKFLOW

MANAGEMENT

A varied number of applications areincluding workflow in their functionality e.g.

Document and Image Management Forms Processing

Mail Rules and Filtering Transaction Based Applications


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DOCUMENT AND IMAGEMANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

Simple systems that route wordprocesseddocuments through an approval cycle

Engineering Design system which routes

specifications through an approval cycle

Images (in the form of bitmap files) treated asdocuments can also be passed through a

routing system along with wordprocessed orspreadsheet files e.g. MEPA applications


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FORMS PROCESSING SYSTEMS

Systems that create forms (not dbms)

which can be routed through anauthorisation and clearance procedurespanning several persons.


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EMAIL SYSTEMS

Workflow based on Email systems

Serial routing of mail messages withattachments

Event-based rules e.g. for filtering,launching external applications


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TRANSACTION BASEDAPPLICATIONS

Sales ordering systems

Financial systems budget processing,end of month report approval cycles

Travel Reservation systems


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APPLICATIONS BUILT FORWORKFLOW MANAGEMENT

There Systems which attempt to

incorporate all these types of processing inone platform.

Some workflow applications allow the

integration of different applications usedfor various tasks. Standards exist topermit interoperability between diverse

applications for the purpose of workflowmanagement.


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IMPORTANT ELEMENTS INDESIGN

Routes

Rules Roles

Processes

Policies Practices


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ROUTES Objects created in the system need to be routed

sequentially or in parrallel with rendezvouspoints

Can be sent in broadcast mode e.g. using emailto inform everyone at once

Or in sequences defined by user at the time ofprocessing

Objects can be of different types wordprocessing documents, spreadsheets,images, executable programs.


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RULES Workflow systems have to look at decisional processing

routing or handling which is subject to conditions e.g. ifOrder price > 10000 pass on for approval to SalesManager, if Order price


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ROLES Humans have a role in the processing of these

objects approval, data input, checking, routing.Instead of specifying individuals, it is better todefine roles.

Specific individuals can fill in a role. If thepersons are not available, another person mayfill the role and the process does not stop.

Sometimes persons may switch roles e.g. order

inputter and checker may be person A andperson B and at another time they may switchroles.


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PROCESSES Processes or procedures are varied and

personal to each organization. Often theyhave developed over time, derived fromthe way various people worked over the

history of the organization.


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POLICIES The formal expression of how the

company should work.

Knowledge of these policies is important todesign a susccessful workflow system


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PRACTICES How policies are actually implemented in

real life. Often several exceptions exist to handle

situations which are not envisaged in the

policies. It is important to know what practices are

in place as they provide insight into the

difficulties encountered and how policiesare modified to complete the processes.


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Date post:	08-Apr-2018
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Workflow Groupware Systems

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