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Windows Workflow Foundation 




What is it?
Windows Workflow Foundation (WF), part of Microsoft .NET 3.0, is the programming model, engine and tools for quickly building workflow enabled applications. WF radically enhances a developer's ability to model and support business processes.

• Build next-generation applications that are process driven, instead of data-oriented. With dynamic features such as tasks, goals, deadlines, escalation, compliance and status tracking, as opposed to static data, process-based applications align themselves much closer to the way you do your business.
  
  
• Get notified about tasks instead of having to check for them, get a warning about an imminent deadline rather than finding out that you just missed it and experience the benefit of real-time compliance as opposed to a monthly report that shows where you breached an SLA or violated a regulation.
  
  
  
  
• Easily add workflow to existing applications to achieve many of the benefits mentioned above, without sacrificing your investment in existing software.
  
• Build loosely coupled systems using orchestrated web services that integrate internal applications as well as external services.
  

The Industry Challenge?
Windows Workflow Foundation is a low-level programming model for building workflow into applications, very similar to how ADO.NET is a low-level model for accessing databases from within applications.

The industry challenge rests in the fact that using ADO.NET in and of itself does not necessarily guarantee a production-worthy application, and this dilemma also haunts Workflow Foundation-based solutions. Even though WF does an excellent job storing and executing workflow definitions, it does not provide in-built support for creating a comprehensive, and process-pro-active end-user solution around the workflow definition.

In other words, it does not enable business line managers to interact with the business process in terms of viewing and completing tasks, status tracking, pro-active management, escalation, exception handling, metrics and reporting.

For data-driven applications this issue is moot, because developers have been building and deploying this technology since the 70s -there are well-known techniques and standards for it, not to speak of countless real-world applications to model new solutions on.

However, process management and workflow automation solutions represent a whole new ball-game. In comparison to data-driven apps, not many solutions with this level of process sophistication have been built and few engineers have experience in developing, deploying and supporting them. This is especially true where human interaction comes into play. Automating human-intensive business processes is a far greater investment in dollars, time and talent, compared to machine-centric workflows that integrate legacy applications or web-services in a serial fashion. The fact that Workflow Foundation has no in-built abstractions for people or roles only adds to the complexity.

The Procedian Solution
Procedian has the answer, now, and is ready to help.

Given that vendor experience is crucial to any software development project. Only a vendor who has experience in translating your specific needs into business, user, functional, systems and application requirements, will deliver a solution that truly fits the bill. 

While most other vendors lack specific workflow and process automation expertise, at Procedian, it's our core business and way of life. Our architects, product managers and software developers have delivered .NET solutions that automate human-intensive busines processes for many years, in a wide-variety of domains.

Accurate and complete Requirements Engineering and Requirements Management are another key to success. To help you formulate adequate requirements, we have developed a Requirements Gathering Methodology called PeopleProcess, which focuses specifically on human-oriented process management. In addition our Reference Architecture for building cutting-edge end-user solutions around automated and managed business processes, guarantees solutions that have been time-tested with proven effectiveness in production environments.

At Procedian, we have been an active participant in the Windows Workflow Foundation (R)Evolution since the first beta was publicly released. We also have a strong track record in .NET development, coupled with the highest standards for our technical staff recruitment. On the Microsoft-side, we require a minimum of 5 years of .NET experience for any of our developers.

If you are ready to implement true process management solutions that integrate both people and systems, then we are ready to rock your world.

By combining our human process management expertise with this exciting new technology from Microsoft, we can deliver you world-class process-driven applications that truly deliver on the promise of business process management and automation.

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