sp saturday bendworkflow
DESCRIPTION
Larry Tenison's SharePoint Saturday Workflow Presentation.TRANSCRIPT
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SharePoint Saturday
Bend, OR
“Workflows that Work!”
Technology Presentation – Oct 1, 2011
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DEMONSTRATION SCENARIO 1
• The first workflow demo is built around a “multi-stage” Invoice Approval process
• Business rules:– If invoice amount < $1,000 --> Manager
approves– If >= $1,000 but < $5,000 --> Manager and
CFO must approve– If >= $5,000 --> Manager, CFO and CEO
must approve
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DEMONSTRATION SCENARIO 2
• The second workflow demo is built around a real-life QA “spec review” process
• Business rules:– InfoPath form filled out to start process– Form is submitted to “spec review” process,
which involves multiple reviewers and roles across the Org
– Once “approved”, process is “closed” and new product set-up phase is started (hint: additional workflows!)
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RUN THE DEMOS
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DEMO “TAKE-AWAYS”
• Scenario 2 is a “real-world” example that will go into production this fall
• What have we learned through this process?
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LESSON 1 – LEVERAGE VISIO• A detailed, approved diagram of the business process is required for
successful implementation• Visio “swim-lane” diagrams translate well into the Nintex design
paradigm
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LESSON 2 – WORKFLOWS = SYSTEM• When developing “a workflow” (e.g. Specification Review) there will be
other supporting functions within the overall process that define a “system” or “constellation” of workflows– Example: Spec Review process includes 1 main process flow and 7 “support” workflows
– Overall, there will be 5 “main” process flows and 23 “support” workflows at the client once the entire scope is completed
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LESSON 3 – LEVERAGE INFOPATH• When using InfoPath to drive “forms-based” workflows, consider
these techniques to drive productivity:
– Get the forms designed, tested and in place FIRST; this will minimize re-work
– Promote frequently-used form fields to make them visible to SharePoint and Nintex (item properties)
– Re-use common column names (e.g. “CustomerName”) across similar forms and content types; these will be retained (most of the time) whenever an existing workflow is exported and imported to a new form library
– Within the form designer, arrange sub-sets of form fields using common headers (e.g. CustomerDetail, ProductDetail, etc.) which will create similar form XML structure and XPATH queries
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OTHER QUESTIONS THAT COME TO MIND
• What does a 3rd party product offer over and above SharePoint Designer?
• Why not just crack open Visual Studio for building complex workflows?
• It’s expensive -- Why buy a 3rd party product at all?
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QUICK FACTS
• Nintex offers 103 configurable actions, 70 more than Designer (33)
• Nintex offers actions that do not exist in Designer, including:– State machine configuration– External Queries (LDAP, Excel services, CRM, BizTalk, Web
Services and more)– List Queries with Collection Operations– Loops– Rich User Provisioning (AD, Exchange, SharePoint)– Flexible, Multi-branch Decisions– Lazy Approval via Email
• Nintex is a full web UI, not client software; all design and management is within SharePoint
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ACTIONS COMPARISON -- SUMMARY
• Bottom Line: Nintex offers more actions in every area as compared to Designer. Plus, Nintex offers other “freebies” including 10 built-in Workflow Reports and extensions of other services (e.g. Excel Services).
• SP Designer actions were mapped against 6 functional areas of Nintex Workflow actions palette
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WHAT THAT MEANS TO YOU
• With a rich, web-based UI workflow design product, you will not need to invest in the time and effort needed to:1. Learn Visual Studio2. Learn how to build workflow projects using VS3. Create your own workflow actions4. Test, debug, implement custom workflow code
• And, most importantly, you will not need to:5. Support, patch, promote, and maintain custom
workflow code
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THANKS FOR YOUR TIME TODAY!
Please feel free to contact one of us or visit our sponsor booth if you have any questions:
Brad ParisAccount ExecutiveMarquam [email protected]
Larry TenisonSr. Information ArchitectMarquam [email protected]
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QUESTIONS ??