Workflow Management System Software

Workflow Approval software

Workflow management system is standardize and automate any workflow that drives important business processes

DocuWare Workflow Management

DocuWare workflow management system specifies which processes start a workflow; for example, storing an incoming invoice or other document. Certain deadlines or a change in the status of a document in the document management system can also start workflows, the flow of which must be planned, modeled and monitored. This task is performed by workflow management systems that control and monitor workflow management in the enterprise. Other important points:

Workflows can also differ significantly between departments in the same company.
A workflow management system can help model, control, monitor and also optimize the processes and procedures of workflows and their individual work steps.
A good workflow management system performs continuous analysis of the workflows.
Substitution rules can assign certain tasks to groups of people. In this way, tasks can be automatically assigned to the first employee who currently still has free capacity. Workflow management thus enables the assignment of workflows independent of the presence of employees. At the same time, managers can monitor the processing of the workflows.

Workflow management system

A workflow management system helps in planning, managing and monitoring workflows. The workflow management system provides tools and designers for workflows and can also monitor the corresponding workflows. Workflow management systems form an important basis for workflow management in companies:

The system has tools to create and edit workflows.

Mostly graphical user interfaces are used to model and automate even highly complex processes without programming knowledge.

The workflow management system can model and display individual work steps as a flow diagram.

Workflow management systems recognize events and classify them. In this way, individual steps can be derived, which in turn are started and monitored by the system.

The system can also access and use metadata in the document management system. This enables the automatic control of documents within the workflow management system.

Not all products are equal: the selection of the right provider and the right workflow management tool play an important role.

Cloud-based workflow management solutions that are preconfigured for key processes can deploy much faster than solutions that require traditional consultations.

The difference between business process management and workflow management

Workflows represent the coordination of individual processes within a company.
Processes, in turn, are developed through business process management, with a focus on the entire company.

1. Workflow management is intended to enable the coordination of different employees in a workflow, regardless of where they actually sit.

2. Workflow management should ensure that errors and redundancies are avoided.

3. At the same time, the individual work steps are checked and monitored.

4. The status of individual processes is particularly important.

5. Workflow management helps to plan, link, coordinate and monitor practical work steps.

Benefits of workflow management

Invoicing and accounting departments benefit most of all, but also human resource teams are able to experience immediate returns on investment from workflow automation. These are the departments who deal with central business processes. Especially here, workflows are often found that include strategically and technically demanding tasks. If these processes are optimized, the entire company benefits.

Eliminate complicated, broken workarounds for processes that don’t work – and boosts employee collaboration. A task list provides an overview of individual workflow requirements. In addition, there is the connection to the document management system. Together with workflows, documents can be edited much more intuitively. With a workflow management system, individual tasks can be completed in a much more structured, faster and more reliable manner.

With substitution rules and escalation management, tasks are no longer left unfinished because an employee is on leave. The system can automatically forward the task to a predefined substitute. And if a task is overdue, it is possible to specify which person or people are to be informed.

How to get a workflow management solution

Step 1: Find the right workflows
A cloud-based workflow management system is ideal if it is used together with a document management system. Combined, process automation is particularly effective since teams are freed from manual tasks in document-intensive processes. If the documents are already digitized in the document management system, workflows can be created much faster and at the same time increase the benefit of the document management system through interaction with the workflow management system. Simultaneously, users gain an optimized productivity level as the document flow is regulated by the workflow management system. The most important workflows should be identified, which digitalization and automation bring the most benefits. The focus of processes that are to be automated and digitized by workflows is often documents and their distribution, editing and control. The documents are in turn stored in the document management system, which is linked to the workflow management system.

Step 2: Identify interfaces for integration
The stronger the connection between the workflow management system and existing IT solutions, the more effectively it can work. It is important to identify the necessary programs and their interfaces, and to determine how these can be linked to the workflow management system. A good document management and workflow management system must have a high degree of interoperability. Self-developed interfaces in an enterprise application are not recommended under any circumstances, as this can lead to problems with interoperability, access and further development in the long term. This also applies to workflow management systems. Solutions that rely on industry standards are best.

Step 3: Find the right provider and the right solution
The integration of a document management system with a workflow management system offers added value and more effective workflows. Ideally, the provider of the workflow management system should also have expertise in cloud services. Workflow management systems and document management systems are ideal as a cloud solution, as such systems benefit greatly from the advantages of the cloud. In addition, the provider should be able to prove its track record.

DocuWare can help

Invoice processing
Break free from paper and data entry
Digitize every invoice with intelligent indexing to securely store for instant retrieval. Automate approval notifications to expedite payments and keep your team on track.

Employee management
Every employee’s records at your fingertips
Digitize your paper records and get rid of disorganized shared drives. Centralize, organize and secure all employee records and get to critical information within seconds.

Sales and marketing
Modernize sales with instant access to crucial information
With centralized, real-time, cloud-based document management and workflow automation, your entire sales team can capture, access and share prospect and customer information in seconds.

GDPR compliance
Control information access and system security
Digitize paper documents and attach detailed metadata to help in controlling access, finding precise customer information and removing data on-demand.