Maximizing Efficiency with OutSystems Workflows
Imagine a world where your team no longer juggles multiple spreadsheets, manual approvals, and disjointed custom-built tools. Instead, they operate in one automated ecosystem that facilitates collaboration and drives your organization’s success.
The demand for these kinds of workflow automation solutions is skyrocketing. Currently, the market size is an estimated $21.70 billion, and various market watch organizations expect it to grow by as much as 10% in the next 5 years. This growth is driven by the need for effective collaboration across different functions of the workforce.
Enter OutSystems Workflows, a groundbreaking capability designed to revolutionize business process management. This blog explores how OutSystems Workflows can transform your business, delving into its unique features, technical details, and real-world applications.
A day in the life without OutSystems workflows
Meet Sarah, a project manager at a mid-sized tech company. Her daily routine is a whirlwind of tracking approvals, managing project timelines, and ensuring her team has everything they need to get their work done. Despite her best efforts, emails get lost, approvals are delayed, and data is scattered across various tools.
Sarah's manager, Michael, the company's digital transformation leader, is equally frustrated. He envisions a seamless, efficient workflow system that can support the company's strategic goals. Michael spends hours each week trying to integrate various systems and tools, only to find that they don't communicate well with each other. He knows that for true digital transformation, the company needs a unified platform that bridges these gaps.
Robert, the application development manager, feels the strain, too. His team is overwhelmed with requests for custom-built tools and integrations. Every new project adds to their backlog, and he worries about the impact on their ability to address mission-critical projects. Robert dreams of a solution that empowers business users to create and manage their workflows, freeing up his team to focus on more complex development tasks.
What is OutSystems Workflows?
OutSystems Workflows is an advanced platform capability that enables businesses to automate and streamline their processes with unparalleled flexibility and customization. Using principles from various areas of business process management (BPM), your teams can design, execute, and monitor automation that drives efficiency and innovation.
Let’s take a look under the hood.
Core capabilities and features
What does OutSystems Workflows deliver? Here are some of its capabilities, features, and benefits:
User-friendly process modeling
Designed for both business users and professional developers, OutSystems Workflows offers intuitive process modeling tools. A web-based approach eliminates the need for users to jump into an integrated development environment (IDE). Business users like Sarah can easily model processes, while developers like Robert focus on more complex tasks.
Event-driven architecture
Built on a state-of-the-art event-driven architecture, OutSystems Workflows ensures that processes are responsive, scalable, and easy to manage. This architecture is pivotal for automating workflows triggered by specific events, ensuring seamless operation and integration.
Extensive customization options
Unlike many competitor tools that offer limited customization, with OutSystems Workflows, developers and designers can create pixel-perfect, fully branded user interfaces that enhance the end-user experience. This ensures that workflow-based applications do not suffer from the sluggish look typical of form-reliant automation tools.
Seamless integration capabilities
Streamlined integration with external databases and systems supports connected and data-driven workflows. This OutSystems Workflows integration capability supports the correlation of processes and business data, creating a unified view and enhancing compliance and data integrity.
Where does OutSystems Workflows fit in the BPM landscape?
The realm of BPM is rich with concepts, acronyms, and sometimes overlapping areas. Understanding where Workflows fits requires a brief overview of these key terms:
- BPMN (business process model and notation): This is the visual standard that OutSystems Workflows is based on. It uses graphical notation with interconnected boxes and activity nodes to model processes.
- Business process modeling: This involves creating a graphical representation of a business process and its related sub-processes. With Workflows, users can model these processes intuitively.
- BPM: A structured approach to improving an organization’s processes, BPM encompasses both the methodology and the software used to manage and improve business processes. With OutSystems Workflows, BPM is handled by the people with the more profound business knowledge–business stakeholders. This is a major advantage because they have the right domain expertise.
- Workflow automation: This automates business processes, tasks, and workflows with minimal to no human intervention. OutSystems Workflows excels in this area by providing robust automation capabilities.
Because it incorporates elements from each of these areas, OutSystems Workflows is a versatile and comprehensive tool for process management.
A day in the life with OutSystem Workflows
The applications of OutSystems Workflows are vast and varied. From managing daily approval flows to handling complex, cross-departmental processes, it is well-suited for use across numerous industries and functions. For instance, digital transformation leaders like Michael can use it to automate departmental processes, while application development managers like Robert can alleviate their team's backlog by enabling business users to participate in workflow creation.
Sarah can now manage her project workflows effortlessly. Approvals are no longer lost in email threads; instead, they flow seamlessly through an automated system. Michael sees his vision come to life as different departments collaborate more effectively, using unified tools that communicate seamlessly. Robert's team is no longer bogged down by constant requests for minor changes. Instead, they focus on strategic projects, knowing that the business users have the tools they need to manage their workflows.
OutSystems Workflows stands out
In a market saturated with BPM solutions, OutSystems Workflows stands out because it provides a complete ecosystem for building high-performance, pixel-perfect applications. This includes extensive customization options, user-friendly process modeling, seamless integration capabilities, and a state-of-the-art event-driven architecture. These features collectively make OutSystems a transformative tool for businesses seeking to innovate and excel.
Join the BPM revolution
OutSystems Workflows is set to revolutionize BPM by providing a comprehensive, flexible, and user-friendly automation and optimization. Whether you are a digital transformation leader like Michael, a project manager like Sarah, or an application development manager like Robert, this capability offers the tools and insights needed to drive efficiency, collaboration, and growth.
To learn more, watch the OutSystems Workflows demo, and visit the OutSystems Workflows web page.
