Workflow Strategy Converges

A new workflow platform built into the .NET Framework 3.0 will let developers build workflow automation directly into Windows applications without requiring external services or servers such as BizTalk Server. The Windows Workflow Foundation (WF), a workflow engine, tools, and programming interfaces, will also consolidate Microsoft’s scattered workflow strategy and provide a platform for future versions of many Microsoft business applications and servers.

Software Automates Workflow

WF is Microsoft’s latest attempt at a software platform for automating workflow, a term that typically refers to the activities, interactions, events, and flow of information that make up business processes. (Microsoft sometimes distinguishes between system workflow that does not involve human participants and human workflow that does.) Using software to automate business processes can relieve workers of repetitive and mechanical tasks, ensure that required business procedures are followed, and improve the reliability, tracking, and transparency of those processes.