April 6, 1999 Web posted at: 4:27 p.m. EDT (2027 GMT) by Lynda Radosevich

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(IDG) -- Integration with Web technologies and better ties to back-end enterprise resource planning (ERP) applications are quickly pulling workflow into the mainstream.

Rather than constructing stand-alone systems, users can now tap into embedded workflow technology in packaged applications to automate business processes.

Workflow split off from its document imaging parent in the early 1990s, and has since found its way into critical business applications such as electronic commerce. Among the vendors building workflow technologies into their core offerings are IBM, Microsoft, PeopleSoft, and SAP.

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"Three years ago, you wouldn't have seen these kinds of names in workflow. It has grown beyond a niche technology," said Connie Moore, an analyst at the Giga Information Group, at the company's recent Business Process and Workflow Conference '99 in Orlando, Fla.

Workflow technology automates the time-consuming administrative tasks associated with paper flow, freeing people to do more important things and sometimes reducing costs. A classic application is routing forms to claims-processing people at insurance companies, but the new entrants are taking a broader approach to workflow.

IBM, for instance, is treating workflow as an application integration tool by positioning its main product, MQSeries Workflow, as a part of the MQSeries middleware line. IBM recently shipped workflow connectors to its 390 mainframes, so now MQSeries Workflow can exchange data with applications on platforms ranging from mainframe (such as CICS and IMS) to Microsoft NT, according to Guenther Werner, an IBM product manager, in Stuttgart, Germany.

And in June, IBM will enhance the product's Web connectors. This will make it easier to build workflow applications that start on the Web and tap into both legacy and newer data sources, Werner said.

For instance, a customer with an insurance claim could go to an insurer's Web site, fill out a form, and initiate a process that accesses several of the insurer's back-end systems, according to Werner.

SAP and PeopleSoft, meanwhile, are extending the workflow capabilities in their ERP applications to embrace new data types and third-party systems. These developments are meant to help users incorporate workflow into vertical, electronic-commerce applications such as customer self-service and procurement.

PeopleSoft, for instance, plans to ship in the second half of the year new applications for procurement, travel, expenses, and benefits enrollment. The new applications can incorporate external and unstructured information such as Lotus Notes documents and Web pages. Also, the applications will integrate content from third-party service providers, such as Aetna and Fidelity for the benefits enrollment applications, said Rick Bergquist, chief technology officer at PeopleSoft, in Pleasanton, Calif.

SAP is building its workflow technology into its business components software. Last week, the company made generally available its Business-to-Business Procurement component, which incorporates workflow and Web clients to let customers browse an online catalog, create purchase orders, and have workflow route the orders through the proper approval and fulfillment channels, said Steven Smith, product marketing manager for SAP's Atlanta division.

The procurement component's workflow also works with non-SAP systems. For instance, if a task requires human approval, the component can route the task to specific people's e-mail in-boxes, as long as the e-mail systems are Messaging API-compliant, Smith said.

Microsoft steps up

Perhaps the most compelling evidence that workflow is going mainstream is Microsoft's impending involvement. Microsoft's forthcoming product, code-named Tahoe, is an upgrade to Site Server 3.0 that is expected to feature document management, workflow, Extensible Markup Language (XML) support, document version control, and template-based publishing.

The accompanying Polar Server, which includes some of the core technologies of Microsoft's SQL and Exchange Server, is expected to deliver collaboration, workflow, and document tracking.

Neither Tahoe nor Polar is expected to ship until at least six months after Windows 2000 is released -- probably in mid-2000. Also, the products may be more apt in workgroup functions such as routing travel requests, not enterprise applications.

"We think when Microsoft starts shipping workflow, they will dominate office automation ... but the application integration environment is not Microsoft's area," Moore said.

Platform or package?

For IT managers, the central question is whether to buy packaged applications with built-in workflow, or to use stand-alone workflow as an integration platform.

The benefits of packaged application workflow include the fact that it is there already, and the ERP supplier already supports it.

"For some customers, R/3 is the preponderance of their transaction systems, and we know more about R/3 than anyone so using our workflow makes sense," Smith said.

The reasons to use separate workflow technology are if the business processes are too complex to adapt to packaged software's rules or if the company has many kinds of applications involved.

Chase Manhattan Bank in New York is one company that chose to use stand-alone workflow for application integration. The bank is rolling out a facilities management application called Picasso to help the bank manage construction projects, such as renovating a floor or building a new branch. Chase uses MQSeries Workflow to deliver tasks to people involved in creating budgets and schedules, allocating costs, creating commitments, and paying invoices. Each task is supported by an application program, databases, and clients, including Lotus Notes, Web browsers, and an MQSeries run-time client.

"We didn't see any package that met our needs," said John Dudasko, senior technology officer at Chase.

Whether the workflow engine comes with an ERP system or on its own, XML support is next on the horizon. XML is the syntax that will allow diverse workflow applications to exchange information. For instance, an online store could use XML tags and workflow triggers to take a customer's order, notify suppliers of the order, and use the shippers' tracking system to follow progress of the delivery.

"We see XML as a common language that will allow our applications to interact with themselves or with external applications. It can be an Internet replacement for EDI [electronic data interchange], enable interaction with desktop systems like Office, or display information in a browser," said PeopleSoft's Bergquist.

With standard data exchange syntax emerging and workflow engines being added to mainstream software packages, automating business processes will become the norm, not the exception.

Lynda Radosevich is an editor at large for InfoWorld.