Speed Business Processes with Workflow Automation

by Anne Sych

Published on this site: October 5th, 2006 - See more articles from this month

Does your business manage routine tasks that follow a prescribed cycle? If so, then you are practicing workflow management. In 1996, the Workflow Management Coalition defined workflow as "The automation of a business process, in whole or part, during which documents, information or tasks are passed from one participant to another for action, according to a set of procedural rules."

The workflow process has been in practice for many years. Employees would be assigned a task, and then after completing their responsibility hand it off to the next in line who wouldperform his/her function and the process would continue until the last task was completed. While manual workflow provided some practical benefits, it was limiting in its ability to effectively manage processes. A breakdown in one part of the process would affect the whole process. Tracking a task was problematic as it was difficult to know the status of a given task in process. And time management was difficult if not impossible to control. These business processes were dependent on people and their own scheduling practices to complete the workflow cycle.

Well times have changed and modern workflow technology is able to provide automation to even the most multifaceted tasks. Today's workflow systems can now handle very complex series of processesinvolving multiple users and events. Within the workflow software, business "rules" are initially created to define prescribed scenarios. If "this" happens, then do "this", when "this" happens do "that". Tasks, events, workers / departments, etc. are scheduled into the process and assigned their respective duty. Task components can be divided and assigned simultaneously to execute the process, and best of all tasks can be tracked so administrative personnel can better manage the tasks.
Sophisticated reporting allows management to not only track tasks, but also to access valuable information like completion times, problem areas, and desired notifications as prescribed in the set up. Not only are workflows performed in a more efficient manner, but the result is a faster workflow completion cycle.

This technology is changing the way many companies manage their workflow providing more efficient and faster workflow processes. Workflow components are often integrated with knowledge base and help desk support software systems.

Workflow: An Introduction, Rob Allen, www.wfmc.org



Anne Sych, Marketing Manager for Novo Solutions, Inc. Novo Solutions, Inc. is an Independent Software Vendor (ISV) in Virginia Beach, Virginia specializing in Customer Support Software. Free trial versions of the Novo Help Desk Software, Knowledge Base Software and suite of web-based Customer Support Solutions are available. Contact: [email protected] for more information. http://www.novosolutions.com/