Workflow Components Features and Functions

• Separate, private copies of the process map for each work-item created in the workflow system


• Integrated scripting


• Attaches word processors (such as Word) and spreadsheet (such as Excel) applications to related points for reference from within workflow


• Interfaces with other workflow applications such as e-mail, e-forms, and scheduling packages


• Raises activity or work-item priority dynamically at run-time, according to certain process conditions (e.g., deadlines, completion of related activities)


• Alters the workload balancing mechanism during execution


• Defines escalation procedures by reassigning or reprioritizing work at run-time.


• Security measures and access at the levels of workflow definitions, including access to development and modification of the workflow component definitions


• Security measures and access at the levels of system administrator access (special access for maintaining and administering the workflow system)


• Security measures and access at the levels of queue access (controls participants’ access to the authorized queues)


• Security measures and access at the levels of process instance and activity access, which allows certain business cases or activities to be viewed and handled by certain participants only


• Security measures and access at the levels of form, view, and field access, which allows only certain forms, views, or fields to be seen by certain participants


• Security measures and access at the levels of work item and access control to specific work-items depending on the participants’ roles and the assigned activity definitions


• Security measures and access at the levels of external application access


• Addresses unstructured-type collaboration among participants through project management


• Addresses unstructured-type collaboration among participants through knowledge sharing; includes the ability to allow several participants to share information in centralized knowledge repositories


• Ensures process integrity and robustness through run-time exception handling; deals with unexpected run-time system errors gracefully


• Ensures process integrity and robustness through process and activity checkpoint capabilities; secures specific points from where the process can be restarted if necessary


• Undo activities to get back to a previous, consistent process state


• Ensures process integrity and robustness via two-phase commits by synchronizing internal workflow data commits with an external business and transactional DBMS, which ensures consistency


• Reassigns work during execution, including itemized support where specific work-items assigned to one participant can be reassigned to another


• Reassigns work during execution, including comprehensive support where all the work assigned to a participant can be reassigned to another in one step


• Reassigns work during execution including dynamic support, where the workflow engine automatically assigns or reassigns work among participants based on process conditions and workload (thresholds), also in the itemized or comprehensive modes