Workflow Sample: April 2012

Wireless LAN is convenient, though the initial configurations are troublesome.

" WEP is Dead and WPA implementation", 'MAC addresses limit', 'Multiple SSID operation', 'WLAN access control'... They all sounds complicated, and they comes one after another. Yet, BYOD is "Trend of the times".

* BYOD / Bring Your Own Device.

In this Cloud computing era, it is as a matter of course that 'Information System' is available from anywhere at any time. You cannot take advantage of Cloud Technology with the idea of only protecting your 'Information System' in closed communication network.

Android, iPhone, iPad, Nintendo(?), PSP(!?)...

# Just to mention for a precaution, for an "Information system which requires advanced security", there should be a policy such as can be accessed only from particular room (Security Zone).

To begin with, we would like to establish a application flow for 'MAC addresses* limit'.
Who and when requested connecting from which terminal device? Who and when has approved it? Who and when has configured the connection?
As a matter of course, it is ridiculous that accepting the application in 'papers' or 'email'. Lack of searchability, possibilities of mistakes, and extra labor for inputting. We are going to construct a business process which let the applicant enter the 'terminal device information' into Workflow, and enable to remand if necessary.

* Media Access Control address

[WLAN Connection request [2. Approval] screen]

When it comes to duties such as 'Facebook marketing', for example, I don't want spare any time to make Operating rules separately. The time I finish making the Operating Manual, the spec of Facebook might have been changed. Just give up Business rules or Manuals filled with words, you'd rather regard a Workflow diagram (BPMN) as business rule. You can bring it running right now. (That will also reduce the time for Boards meeting.)

By the way, posting to 'Official Facebook Page' can be done by email. With a setting of automatic email sending in the middle of the Workflow, the article through the "necessary procedures" will be automatically posted without misses. (Can attach Images as well!)

[Facebook Page Posting flow]

Monthly tasks to do.
For general employee, it will be submitting Attendance record, applying for Reimbursement of expenses, etc.
In other hand, for the managers of general administration department or sales department, maybe it will be to and so on.

The motivation is high for developing a Workflow on usual monthly processing of Accounting Department or Labor - Personnel Department, because many employees use it.
But, Workflow development on tasks for only few employees such as creating monthly trial balance and updating sales forecast, tend to be put off.

However, the meaning of designing those into Workflow, which make sales management operations into official records is very large. For example, new coming "Data Viewer" such as new coming executive can browse recorded data of business process of the past at any time.

[Sales Prospect Monthly Report flow]

Digitalization on office documents has been spreading nowadays, but when it comes to 'bills', many companies still are sending them by postal service. It is true that there are some clients who require to be sent by postal, but we believe number of companies want to digitalized also on bills.

(Well, 10 years later? I say 5 years (!) to paper bills to be extinct.)

In the following Workflow sample, only from 'bill issuance' to 'Payment confirmation' are defined to Workflow. It is a Hybrid type of "postal send" and "Email send" so that you can choose according to the bill.

Anyone can check the progress and the result at anytime.

[Bills to Payment flow]

A 'Workflow system' and the 'Work Manual' are like two sides of the same coin. Both of them are closely related, and never can be separated. In other words, we may say 'Workflow system' is a realization of the 'Work manual'.

Sometimes people who planning to develop a workflow system ask us, 'which should I design first, the Work manual or the Workflow?'. Our answer is 'simultaneously'.

A Status that Work Manual will be prepared only by printing out "Flow Diagram" and "Input Form"
That is ideal.

But, some ingenuity will be needed when engaging workers speak in diverse languages. 'Translation' is the one of typical Workflow.
In the following 'Translation flow', the Work procedure is expressed only by ' Screen composition of the Input form' and 'simple English word'. To create separate Manual will be nonsense anymore.

[Translation Flow (+Website Update)]