Which workflow software is good?

Workflow is mainly used to simplify workflows and is an indispensable basic information platform for companies of a certain scale. The concept of workflow originated from the production organization and office automation fields, it is a concept proposed for activities with fixed procedures in daily work. At present, workflow systems at home and abroad are emerging one after another, and there are various industry standards, although the main functions of workflows are basically available in well-known workflow software in China, their focus varies, making it more difficult for enterprises to select workflows or bpm, I have selected mainstream professional workflow software in the Chinese market, analyzes and compares concepts, workflow engines, workflow process modeling tools, process operations, workflow client architecture, process monitoring, Form Designer, and integration with applications, helps enterprises select workflows or BPM products.

I. Overview:

The idea of workflow originated first in Western countries. The initial goal was to simplify the workflow and provide a basis for tedious work. With the continuous expansion of demand and the popularization of Enterprise Informatization ideas, workflows are increasingly being used and promoted within the enterprise. Of course, the demands that can be met by workflows are constantly optimized.

The concept of workflow originated from the field of production organization and office automation. It is a concept proposed for activities with fixed procedures in daily work. It aims to break down work into well-defined tasks or roles, execute and monitor these tasks according to certain rules and procedures to improve work efficiency, better control the process, enhance customer services, and effectively manage business processes. Although the workflow has made considerable achievements, the definition of the workflow has not yet been uniform and clear. Different scholars have made different definitions of the workflow from different perspectives.
The workflow defined by georgakopoulos is: a workflow organizes a group of tasks to complete a Business Process: defines the trigger sequence and trigger conditions of tasks, each task can be completed by one or more software systems, one or more people, and one or more people can collaborate with the software system.
IBM Almaden Research Center defines a workflow as a computer-based representation of a business process and defines all the parameters required to complete the entire process; these parameters include the definition of each step in the process, the sequence and conditions of the steps, who is responsible for the steps, and the applications required for each activity.
In 1993, the workflow management consortium (WfMC) was established as a Standardization Organization for workflow management, marking the gradual maturity of workflow technology. WfMC defines a workflow as a type of business process that can be fully automatically executed. According to a series of process rules, documents, information, or tasks are transmitted and executed among different executors.
A workflow is a combination of work flow and Flow flow. It is a computer-based model that can be interpreted and executed by computers to reflect business flow in the business process.

Ii. Differences between BPM and workflow

Simply put, BPM focuses on business flows and workflows focus on approval flows. Their differences are as follows:

1. Business flows often span multiple business systems, while approval flows usually involve one system.

2. Business flows often involve multiple business functions and multiple business objects, while approval flows often only involve one key business object.

3. The business flow involves the transfer of different business documents, while the approval flow is usually a change in the status of the same business document.

4. Activities in the business flow include both manual and automatic business activities. The approval flow is generally manual.

For process modeling, BPM focuses on Business Process Modeling, while workflow focuses on approval flow modeling. BPM modeling requires business personnel to consider the modeling requirements and availability, but it is inevitable that the modeling content cannot be properly implemented. Workflow modeling itself has been refined to the approval flow in a functional module, which is much simpler and easier to implement.

BPM business processes often span business systems and across multiple business documents. Different business rules and logic need to be processed. Workflow activity nodes often only process approval and signing tasks, but have less interaction with the outside world.

Business Rules appear in BPM Business Process Modeling, while conventional workflow processing methods generally support script code for simple business rules. To ensure the reusability and independent maintainability of rules, BPM, the rule engine is introduced to form a unified rule creation and maintenance database. BPM is no longer responsible for rule creation and maintenance, but only for on-demand consumption.

BPM focuses on Process Integration, and process integration is the collaboration between multiple business function modules in multiple business systems. If you want to use bpm to implement these business functions at the beginning, it is often counterproductive, the first step of BPM integration is to integrate processes across business systems, and process integration focuses on data transmission between processes. Once this focus is known, BPM focuses on process collaboration and monitoring, while sub-processes or an independent business module are still implemented in the original business system, through end-to-end process integration, the system between business modules is realized. On the one hand, the existing IT assets are used to the maximum extent, and the process integration needs are realized.

Iii. hierarchical classification of workflow platforms and vendors

A workflow platform can be divided into two types: A quick development platform and a business platform (or related business suites ).

The quick development platform mainly includes electronic forms, a set of development frameworks, and the ESB and SOA facilities required for publicity.

The business platform includes file management, online editing, instant messaging, electronic seals, portals, content management, human resources, customer services, administrative management, and other suites/modules. Compared with the simple rapid development platform, the business platform is clearly at a higher level. In software development, the biggest waste is not the technology itself, but the unfamiliar business and the frequent changes of models in the core domain. For users, selecting an appropriate business platform and related services as needed will undoubtedly produce the greatest value.

Why do some vendors provide a rapid development platform while others provide a business platform? This depends on two aspects. One is the years for the manufacturer to switch into the workflow market. The longer the period is, the more project experience is accumulated. These experiences can be easily converted into business suites; second, the customer positioning of the manufacturer.

According to the above discussion, it is not difficult to classify workflow vendors into three categories:

1. Only workflow products are provided. This type of manufacturer has a single product. Although the product quality can be guaranteed, it is the most difficult to develop.

2. Provides workflow products and quick development platforms. Such vendors provide development frameworks based on workflows to further simplify programming, which is more competitive than the first type of manufacturers, but its development is limited by system integrators. At the same time, it should be noted that some vendors focus on the development platform, and the workflow product level is very general or even preliminary.

3. Provide workflow products and Business Kits/platforms, and connect to projects by yourself. This is a well-established manufacturer, mostly a veteran or with sufficient funds. The business kit/platform can provide users with the greatest value. It is king to directly face end users at any time.

Vendors that provide workflow-related business suites (such as those that provide portals and collaborative OA products at the same time) have relatively low implementation risks!

Iv. Analysis and Comparison of mainstream workflow vendors

I have selected mainstream workflow software vendors in the Chinese market: bohui digital, Shanghai chuangxin software, Dongfang Yiwei, Xi'an collaboration, yanhuang power, and Beijing bohao Technology for comparative analysis, from the seven dimensions of compliance with workflow standards, rapid development capabilities, integration capabilities, automated testing capabilities, openness, Server Load balancer capabilities, and support for mobile approval for comparative analysis, it helps enterprises to provide reference for workflow or BPM product selection.

Vendor name	Compliant with workflow standards	Rapid development capability	Integration Capability	Automated Testing	Openness	Server Load balancer	Support mobile approval
Bo Hui digital	Yes	Good	Weak	Not Supported	Average	Not Supported	Not Supported
Shanghai chuangxin Software	Yes	Average	Weak	Not Supported	Average	Supported	Not Supported
Dongfang Yiwei	Yes	Good	Good	Not Supported	Average	Not Supported	Supported
Xi'an cooperation	Yes	Excellent	Weak	Not Supported	Average	Supported	Not Supported
Yanhuang power	Yes	Good	Good	Not Supported	Good	Not Supported	Supported
Beijing Bo Hao Technology	Yes	Excellent	Excellent	Supported	Good	Supported	Supported

Summary:

1. Through the above analysis, domestic workflow products basically follow the WfMC standard or other workflow standards, but the functional focus of each vendor is different.

2. quick development capabilities are compared and analyzed in terms of Visual Process Model Design, visual form design, Form Control richness, logical encapsulation capability, and user operation convenience, in this dimension, Xi'an collaboration and Beijing Bo Hao technology are outstanding. They encapsulate process elements in depth, support multiple forms, and have a high degree of control richness.

3. The integration capability is mainly compared with the integration capability of business systems such as OA system, SAP system, ERP system, and CRM system, as well as the integration architecture, Business Object combination, high availability and high reusability. analysis. General integration capabilities of Chinese manufacturers are weak. Beijing bohao technology is outstanding in terms of integration capabilities. It encapsulates business integration for SAP, Sharepoint, and other services, and supports re-combination of business objects, it performs well in terms of high availability and high reusability. Most other vendors are still at the WebService calling level.

4. Automated Testing: It is time-consuming and labor-consuming to manually test the process, and once the process is changed, it must be done again from the beginning, with a huge workload, whether the process simulation function is available is an important criterion for workflow software selection. in this dimension, only Beijing Bo Hao technology can meet the requirements.

5. In terms of openness, whether rich and friendly secondary development interfaces, databases, and Web applications are provided will directly affect users' future IT investment returns, otherwise, a change must be highly dependent on the vendor, which is an important criterion for workflow software selection. In this regard, yanhuang power and Beijing Bo Hao technology have performed well.

6. the system performance is undoubtedly an important factor affecting the system's successful implementation, I have compared and analyzed whether Server Load balancer is supported, whether Server Load balancer can be archived, business data that has been stripped for a long time, and the clarity of the architecture.

7. Mobile Office is a general trend in the future. Whether to support mobile approval not only shows the technology foresight of the manufacturer, but also shows the technical strength of the manufacturer. Even if the user does not use mobile approval for the moment, however, it is also an implicit dimension for considering workflow vendors.

V. Workflow Application Scope

Workflow management software is widely used in practical work, specifically:

• Responsible for order processing, quotation processing, procurement processing, Contract Review, Customer Hotline processing, and supply chain management in key business processes;
• In terms of administration, You can provide administrative forms for manual circulation, such as travel application, overtime application, leave application, vehicle use application, various office supplies application, purchase application, daily report and weekly report;
• Personnel management can effectively handle employee training arrangements, performance evaluation, job change handling, and employee archive information;
• In financial-related aspects, it can handle payment requests, receivables, daily reimbursement, travel reimbursement, budget and planning applications;
• In terms of customer service, it provides management of customer information management, customer complaints, request processing, and after-sales service management;
• In terms of Special Services, you can implement various tasks that are completed by hand through forms, such as ISO series, quality management, product data information management, customs clearance of trading companies, and cargo tracking and handling of logistics companies.