What's new in workflow at AIIM?

Every year at the AIIM show, vendors promote the new capabilities of their workflow products, and it takes a discerning eye to separate feature updates from true innovation. Based on our previews of soon-to-be-released workflow products from multiple vendors, we have identified a select few that are demonstrating creative approaches within the workflow marketplace.

This year there was a distinct trend away from workflow as an application--the presentation of accounts payable, claims processing or customer service applications--and toward the workflow enablement of existing line-of-business applications. This is not a new development; it was discussed widely last year at AIIM. What is new is that vendors are making it a reality.

Workflow vendors have shifted their focus from adding new features to simplify workflow development, to addressing the requirements for managing large distributed enterprise workflows. Products with an enterprise focus must address the challenges of workflow-enabling widely disparate applications, including structured and unstructured processes, and making those applications accessible from any desktop.

From the large group of workflow vendors attempting to address those challenges, Staffware (www.staffware.com), Plexus (www.plx.com) and JetForm (www.jetform.com) have taken the most inventive approaches.