Workflow commonly refers to the automated routing of tasks and documents, and it's a powerful tool that can quickly help a well-managed business run more efficiently, streamlining and speeding up fundamental business processes. 

There are several ways to implement workflow in WorkflowFirst: 

 • Process workflow, using the workflow designer (this section) 
 Enables you to graphically design the routing and stages of tasks, known as process workflow or business process modeling. An example of this type of workflow is a support ticket. This starts with a form where the customer enters the details of the problem. Once submitted it is screened by the general support technician where it is either answered immediately or escalated to an expert. The expert may request for more information, to which the customer will respond, and finally the support ticket will be resolved. 

 • Security Approval workflow (see Security Approval Workflow ) 
Lets you specify areas of the database that cannot be entered or modified without approval by a specific user group, optionally with conditions. An example of this type of workflow would be a purchase request. The request cannot be entered without approval by the supervisor. If the purchase is for more than $5k, for example, it would also have to be approved by the department manager. 

 • Custom actions and event handlers (see Business Logic ) 
A highly extensible framework for adding custom actions and event handlers using programming languages. For workflow that involves complex decisions involving advanced calculations and data aggregation, this type of scripting can be employed. 

 • Integration with external systems (see Connectivity )
The ability to interact and integrate with external systems using the XML API. For example, workflow may be started by an event in a separate system. Or some stage in a workflow may involve triggering an action in an external system.

This section will detail the workflow designer features of WorkflowFirst.