SPSBoise - SharePoint and Workflows: And Introduction and Overview
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This document provides an introduction and overview of SharePoint workflows. It defines workflows as a series of tasks that produce an outcome. The document discusses the benefits of workflows in automating processes and improving organizational efficiency. It also covers the different workflow options in SharePoint, including the 5 pre-programmed workflows, using SharePoint Designer, and third party tools. Challenges with the different options are presented. Resources for learning more about SharePoint workflows are provided.
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SPSBoise - SharePoint and Workflows: And Introduction and Overview
- 1. SHAREPOINT & WORKFLOWS: AN INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW Welcome to SharePoint Saturday Boise! #SPSBoise
- 2. #SPSBoise WHO AM I? Steve Dark Twitter: @SPDarque Email: steve.dark@marquam.com Linked In: Steve Dark
- 3. #SPSBoise INTENDED AUDIENCE Information Workers p.s. If you like Visual Studio you’ll probably be bored.
- 4. #SPSBoise WHAT IS A WORKFLOW? • A series of tasks that produce an outcome. • A SharePoint workflow is like an automated flowchart that takes a lot of the labor, guesswork, and randomness out of your standard work processes.
- 5. #SPSBoise BENEFITS • Help organizations adhere to consistent business processes • Improve organizational efficiency and productivity • “Processes are central to any organization and workflow is the orchestrator of processes.” (Technet)
- 6. #SPSBoise WORKFLOW QUESTIONS • Is this the right workflow type? • One list or library, or the whole site collection? and One content type, or all content types? • What’s a good name? • How (and by whom) can this workflow be started? • Do content types that inherit from this one also get this workflow? • Participants: Which people, in which order? • What additional information do participants need? • When are tasks due? • When does this workflow end? • Who needs to be notified? • Will this workflow control content approval?
- 7. #SPSBoise WORKFLOW IN SHAREPOINT 2013 • The 1 techy slide… http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj227177
- 8. #SPSBoise WORKFLOW OPTIONS VS 3rd Party Tools SharePoint Designer 5 Pre-Programmed in SharePoint List and Library Settings
- 9. DELIVERING WORKFLOWS IN SHAREPOINT Empowerment and Agility Use out-of-the-box capabilities with configuration and customization. Rapidly build and deploy business solutions without having to write code. Sophistication and Control Build or buy tailored solutions to address strategic requirements.
- 10. #SPSBoise DOCUMENT APPROVAL WORKFLOW Start Send email to notify approvers Approvers review document Notify author of approval Publish Notify author or rejection End
- 11. #SPSBoise INFORMATION WORKER SOLUTIONS What options? • Alerts • Content Approval Settings
- 12. #SPSBoise 5 PRE-PROGRAMMED IN SHAREPOINT • Approval – route a document or item for approval or rejection – http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint-help/all-about-approval-workflows- HA102771433.aspx?CTT=5&origin=HA102771434 • Collect Feedback – route a document or item for feedback, consolidates and provides a record of the review process • Collect Signatures – routes a Microsoft Office document to designated people for their digital signatures (Word, Excel, InfoPath) • Three-State – track the status of a list item through three states (phases). It can be used to manage business processes that require organizations to track a high volume of issues or items — customer support issues, sales leads, or project tasks, for example. • Publishing Approval – automate content routing for review and approval. Designed specifically for publishing sites where the publishing of new and updated web pages is tightly controlled.
- 14. #SPSBoise INFORMATION WORKER SOLUTIONS Pros Cons Any user can use Not intuitive Not flexible Cannot start a workflow using “conditions” Governance (users who start workflows can change workflow) Vague email notifications Rejection = completed
- 15. #SPSBoise SHAREPOINT DESIGNER • Information Worker or Power User? • Risk: Exposes all site information to user. Many of these items your IT group do not want exposed, therefore many IT groups have not deployed SharePoint Designer. • Risk: Be sure to add a “Stop Workflow” (from personal experience).
- 16. #SPSBoise SHAREPOINT DESIGNER AWARENESS • Difficult to code in exception handling and error trapping. • If something does go wrong, difficult to determine exactly where/why, and what needs to be done to clean things up and get things going again. • Cannot insert inline comments to better document logic. • Cannot assign the same task more than once (to more than one person, or to the same person twice). • Workflow runs using initiator’s credentials. • Cannot make changes to a workflow that is already in progress. • Cannot promote workflows from dev to test to production. • Workflow task dialogs do not allow assignee to reassign to someone else. • Cannot revert to an earlier version of a workflow (i.e. version control). • Not easy to programmatically manage the permissions of an item throughout the lifecycle of a workflow. • Need to use InfoPath (with Form Library) if request form is anything but very simple. • No Lazy Approval • Hard to fully clean out a reference to an old workflow task name. • Being able to easily display info from request in task and vice-versa. • Cannot build complex logical conditions using parenthesis.
- 18. #SPSBoise 3RD PARTY TOOL COMPANIES
- 19. #SPSBoise WORKFLOW ISSUES Issues Out of Box SP Designer 3rd Party Custom Intuitive / X X Flexible X X X Conditional start X X X Governance X X Detailed Email X X X Make changes while running X X Error Handling X X Promote from Dev-Test-Prod X X Version History X X Allow workflow loop logic X X X Logs X X
- 20. #SPSBoise CUSTOM • Developers love this
- 21. #SPSBoise RESOURCES • Getting started with SharePoint 2013 workflow: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj227177 • About Workflows included in SharePoint: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint-help/about-the- workflows-included-with-sharepoint-HA102771434.aspx • Setup and Configure SharePoint 2013 Workflow Manager: (techy link) http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj163276 • Workflow development in SharePoint Designer 2013 and Visio 2013: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj163272 • Workflow Actions in SharePoint Designer 2013: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en- us/library/jj164026.aspx#bkm_WorkflowActions • Nintex: http://www.nintex.com/en- US/Products/Pages/NintexWorkflow.aspx
Editor's Notes
- SharePoint workflows are pre-programmed mini-applications that streamline and automate a wide variety of business processes — from collecting signatures, feedback, or approvals for a plan or document, to tracking the current status of a routine procedure. Think of a workflow as a process template…. You define it (or use OOB) and it is repeated consistently – automatically. Example of manual process in dire need of help from a workflow: -new product launch: packaging review process -product manager receives mockups from design firm -sends out copy of package mockups to 5 reviewers requesting their feedback (via email) -each participant takes a look and sends back their comments, along with suggestions which need to be tracked, summarized, and sent back to design firm -design firm updates design and sends updated copy to product manager. -process starts over… (nightmare for the product manager to keep track of A LOT OF MOVING PIECES TO KEEP TRACK OF – THIS IS WHAT WORKLOW IS REALLY GOOD AT!
- Ask for audience feedback, what other benefits can audience think of?
- SharePoint Server 2013 brings a major advancement to workflow. Can use SharePoint 2010 Workflow Platform (included in SPS 2010 and SPS2013 install and same functionality as Workflow Foundation 2010) or Workflow Manager (can scale separately from SP) Video link: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj227177 (Video start at 1:30 to 1:51) Talking points: -SharePoint Server 2013 (as well as SharePoint Online) offer 2 workflow platforms: -SharePoint 2010 workflow platform (installed as part of base SharePoint 2013): runs as part of your SharePoint environment -SharePoint 2013 workflow platform: runs separately from your SharePoint environment (does require additional installation and configuration…) -2013 workflows only available when workflow manager has been installed/configured -workflow manager lacks deep integration with SP object model (like 2010 model offers)… ->(special “coordination actions”) can be used when actions aren’t available in 2013 workflow model (start site and list workflow actions)
- List and library options: ie. Content approval and major minor versioning (draft/publishing), alerts for notifications
- Information worker: use out of the box SP workflow templates Power user: build workflows using SharePoint Designer (also incl. many 3rd party workflow tools) IT Managed solutions: custom developed workflows with visual studio or purchase 3rd party tools
- Look at our document approval-process in the illustration. Running this process manually can mean a lot of checking up and keeping track, forwarding documents and sending reminders — and each of those tasks has to be performed by you or by one or more of your colleagues. That means a lot of extra work and (maybe even worse) a constant stream of interruptions.
- Three-State With each transition between states, the workflow assigns a task to a person and sends that person an e-mail alert about the task. When this task is completed, the workflow updates the status of the item and progresses to the next state. The Three-state workflow is designed to work with the Issue Tracking list template, but it can be used with any list that contains a Choice column that has three or more values. Publishing Approval In publishing sites, no new content can be published until it has been approved by every approver in the workflow.
- Show SOW Approval workflow in SP OoB: -start manually on a doc -show emails with link to document (document includes banner to take participant to workflow task) -workflow status column (gets “approved”) – can see history…
- Show ‘Contract Approval’ (SPD) workflow: http://dark.marquamgroup.local/Demo/SPS/ contracts library
- Shameless Nintex and ShareGate plug….
- An option for on premises SharePoint farms…. There are options for SharePoint online (limited to declarative (ie. No server side custom code”) – custom code for sandboxed solutions is deprecated in SP 2013