Ask not what you can do for your workflow solution...

A solution should, really, live up to its name. Like the myriad of technology and products making their way into the local market, there are just as many solutions being banded about. Business intelligence and enterprise workflow specialist Ovations Technologies suggests companies evaluate solutions according to definite criteria.

There are various workflow tools available, often with a composite of solutions. The basic attribute of an effective workflow solution is complemented by a powerful document and imaging management system with a security layer and a framework by which the data can be stored and retrieved.

A good product will also have the flexibility to adapt as the business grows or changes. "A rigid product may do the job well, but it may not meet the changing demands," says Rainer Gaier, MD of Ovations Technologies.

"Quite often a rigid product involves more configuration and more effort to set up, and a more flexible product requires intensive configuration, but less development. We are trying to move to a one-to-one ratio - one part product, and an equal part effort to get it up and running.

"Another attribute of a good product is Web-enablement on both an intranet and extranet basis," Rainer continues. "In the past, getting a workflow application rolled out to all the divisions in a company was a painstaking effort because it often interacted with various channels like fax, paper, e-mails and human intervention, requiring a lot of integration to external systems. Workflow is not just about the workflow itself, it`s about linking to all of those other systems."

Web-enablement can also aid clients in tracking the progress online, by logging on and submitting a request with a reference number and getting a real-time view of the situation.

"A critical part of workflow is that when things start going wrong, companies need to know it is happening and the impact it is going to have on their business. Critical to this is a workflow alert engine that can highlight problems before they become critical."

A workflow engine is the component in a workflow automation framework that knows all the procedures, steps, and rules for each step. The workflow engine determines whether the process is ready to move to the next step.

Rainer sums up workflow as "the assembly and the integration of the various system components and services that allow a business process to manage each task effectively. It is the introduction of work through one of many channels, managing the work throughout those channels and also the dissemination, storage, or retrieval of information throughout the process".