sharepoint workflows - sharepoint saturday twin cities april 2012
DESCRIPTION
This was my presentation for SPSTC April 2012.TRANSCRIPT
SharePoint Workflow:
Taking the Manual Out of Your Process
Donald Donais
Avtex IT Pro [email protected]
Blog – Tales from IT Sidehttp://talesfromitside.wordpress.com
Twitter@dondonais
Donald Donais
• Business Process Management• Crawl, Walk, Run Approach• Crawl
OOB SharePoint Workflows• Walk
SharePoint Designer 2010 3rd Party Vendor Workflow Products
Overview
Business Process Management
A series of Actions, directed toward a specific
aim or goal
What is a Process?
Activities or set of Activities that
accomplish Business Goals
What is Business Process?
Systematic approach looking at org workflow more effectively,
by reducing human error
What is Business Process
Mgt?
• 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-BPM-Whats-your-Strategy.aspx
BPM Survey
Which of the following types of add-on packages planning to use with SharePoint?
Survey Continued
#3
#2
#1Workflow/BPM Search
/Analytics Secure & Rights Mgt
Which of the following process have you automated with SharePoint
Survey Continued
#3
#2
#1Project Mgt Internal
IT Support
Other LOB Processes
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 WorkflowsCrawl, 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 a workflow is associated with a list Data can be associated with the workflow
• Initiation When the workflow is first started on a list item Data can be associated with the instance of the workflow
• Running Status page reflects state of the workflow User primarily interacts via Tasks
• Termination End an instance of a workflow
• Remove Association
Association Initiation Running Termination 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
Site Content Types
Lists and Libraries
Lists
Publishing
•Approval•Collect Feedback•Collect Signatures•Disposition Approval
•Approval•Collect Feedback•Collect Signatures•Disposition Approval
•Three State*•Translation Management
•Publishing Approval
*WSS 3.0
Out Of the Box SharePoint 2007
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 SharePoint 2010
Out of the Box Workflows
DEMO
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
DEMO
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
• 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
• Windows Workflow Foundation• Its not just a SharePoint Platform
Built into .NET 3.0
Custom .NET Workflow – The Platform
• 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
Workflow – Platform Implications
• Nintex Workflow 2007 & 2010 Forms 2007 & 2010
• K2 Blackpearl Blackpoint K2 Forms
3rd Party SharePoint Workflows
• 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
K2
• 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
Nintex Workflow 2010
DEMO
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/en-us/sharepoint/ff819861
SharePoint 2010:• SharePoint 2010: http://sharepoint2010.microsoft.com• SharePoint MSDN:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/default.aspx
Resources
Questions?
THANK YOU
Donald [email protected]
Blog – Tales from IT Sidehttp://talesfromitside.wordpress.com
Twitter@dondonais