Workflow Manager: Features

Workflow Manager integrates with AdminStudio, the premier software packaging solution.

When software packagers are assigned tasks via Workflow Manager, they can use AdminStudio's software packaging tools to complete them quickly and correctly. Progress made with AdminStudio is reflected in the Workflow Manager interface.

Both solutions share the same Application Catalog, so all package metadata and data generated during packaging via AdminStudio is automatically captured along with application request and workflow information from Workflow Manager. All this data is accessible anytime using Workflow Manager's powerful reporting tools and can feed into your CMDB to simplify ITIL or Microsoft MOF and BDD implementations.

Additional integration enhancements include:

• Workflow Manager now shares a tabbed interface with AdminStudio's Job Manager, Report Center, and SMS Web Console, making it easy to jump back and forth from different functional areas.
• You can now associate an application request in with a package from either the AdminStudio or Workflow Manager UI, so you can quickly move from an application request progress report to a report on how that package was prepared for deployment.
• All security settings (users, roles, and permissions) for AdminStudio and Workflow Manager are managed from the same UI.
• When defining a Workflow Manager workflow template, you can choose to define a workflow phase as an AdminStudio workflow project, and you will receive progress notification from AdminStudio as the project steps are completed.

As IT uses AdminStudio to complete tasks, the percentage of work completed for each step is indicated by Workflow Manager. In addition, rollback of a workflow with an AdminStudio step is reflected in the associated Workflow Manager project.

For most software packaging teams and third-party service providers, ensuring packaging activities stay in compliance with Service Level Agreements (SLAs) is critical. That's why Workflow Manager has added significant enhancements to its SLA management functionality, making it even easier to for you to ensure your team stays compliant — and to prove it.

You can use Workflow Manager to generate reports about time spent working on a particular application or an entire packaging project, including  the begin time and end time for any workflow event, as well as how each application or project is tracking according to its defined SLA due date. There is also a new Activity Report which exclusively lists information on every event that occurs during the packaging process. This increased level of reporting detail and visibility into projects enables more robust audit trails, troubleshooting, and compliance management.

Workflow Manager can proactively notify you via email whenever applications or projects are approaching their SLA due date, so you can take action to ensure SLA compliance. You can also configure Workflow Manager to notify you when applications or projects have past their SLA due date.

For greater SLA reporting accuracy, you can define how many hours make up a work day, specify whether to include weekend days as part of the work week, and define which holidays to exclude from SLA calculations. If work on a software packaging project is interrupted, you can temporarily or permanently stop Workflow Manager's SLA clock so that time isn't counted against you.

You can also optionally exclude any workflow steps and the time needed to complete them from overall SLA calculations.

Workflow Manager's Web-based templates ensure your organization follows a standardize software packaging process from start to finish, ensuring all tasks are completed correctly and in the right order. They are easily customized to fit the changing needs of your enterprise - and you don't have to hire a Web designer to do it.

Workflow Manager templates provide application owners with an easy way to submit application requests to IT. They automatically prompt the application owner for a complete list of installation instructions, so IT always gets the data it needs to properly package the application the first time.

Workflow Manager's templates also enable software packagers to drill down into each of their assignments to see the entire packaging process in a linear, easy-to-follow graphical format. Check boxes and color coding make it easy to see at a glance what steps have been completed, which ones are in progress, and which ones still remain.

To modify the packaging process, IT Management can easily edit or create their own workflow templates, ensuring the tasks performed always follow the company's current business processes as well as industry guidelines such as ITIL or Microsoft's Solution Accelerator for Business Desktop Deployment. Now once a template is updated, it is automatically applied to all application requests that follow.

Workflow Manager offers the ability to automatically send dynamic, template-based notification emails to users after certain events based on their role in the packaging process. You decide which users (any individual, group, or role) should receive these emails, as well as which events in the packaging process should trigger them. These emails increase workflow efficiency while alerting the right people of the current status of the application.

 

Whenever packaging issues arise, Workflow Manager provides tools to facilitate their resolution, including giving IT the ability to send queries to the application owner requesting the application. All data and communications are permanently logged in Workflow Manager for later reference, creating a valuable audit trail.

All comments associated with an issue are grouped together in a hierarchy, so that the order of responses is clear. Serious issues can also be labeled as critical, immediately freezing work on that project by placing the workflow into a read-only mode until the issue has been resolved.

Authorized IT members can access Workflow Manager's data at any time using powerful reporting functionality. You can design, store, and rerun detailed data reports, giving you complete visibility into your organization's environment, including packaging data generated in geographically dispersed offices.

Workflow Manager shares the same Application Catalog with AdminStudio, so all package metadata and data generated during packaging via AdminStudio is automatically captured along with application request and workflow information from Workflow Manager. All this data is accessible anytime using Workflow Manager's powerful reporting tools and can feed into your CMDB to simplify ITIL or Microsoft MOF and BDD implementations.

Workflow Manager comes with many standard report types, or you can create your own custom reports, which now includes the ability to customize SQL queries to generate reports on all data on a given package stored in the Application Catalog.

Workflow Manager can generate project-level and application-level reports that help IT Managers monitor and track all projects across the organization. Plus, Workflow Manager can create reports that help you stay compliant with the Service Level Agreements for your applications.
Reports can be exported into different formats and are easy to share with team members. You decide which roles are eligible to view each report, so unauthorized users are never able to access confidential data.

The Workflow Manager home page includes a dashboard that provides summary information about relevant work assignments, issues, reports, and any links and company-specific data you wish. The information is unique to each user, based on their role and specific permissions.

To help maintain the security of your enterprise's packaging process, you can easily define each user's access rights to Workflow Manager, ensuring personnel never perform unauthorized tasks.

You can assign rights to individuals on a feature-by-feature basis. You can also group users into different roles — such as administrator, packager, or guest — with specific access rights based on job function. Creating your own custom roles is easy.

Plus, thanks to Workflow Manager's enhanced integration with AdminStudio, all security settings — users, roles, permissions — for AdminStudio client tools and AdminStudio Web tools are managed on from the same Workflow Manager UI, saving you time and effort.

To further simplify the management of access rights, you can use your LDAP database — such as Microsoft Active Directory and Novell eDirectory — to establish user privileges for both Workflow Manager and AdminStudio. Authentication is dynamic, so any changes made to the LDAP database are automatically reflected during login.

To meet more advanced workflow requirements, you can also schedule Web pages to launch in a new browser any time during the workflow process.

Workflow Manager provides application owners with an easy way to notify IT that they need a new application deployed to their desktops.
Workflow Manager's customizable templates automatically prompt the application owner for a complete list of installation instructions, so IT always gets upfront the data it needs to properly package the application the first time.

The application request submission process can be tailored to the specific needs of your organization. It has new features that make it even easier for application owners to follow - including more customizable data fields, optional default values for fields, and optional help links for any field - resulting in the submission of more complete and accurate requests to IT. Application owners can also use Workflow Manager to check the real-time status of their requests at any time, so IT doesn't have to waste time repeatedly answering calls from curious end users.

For those organizations that also use Flexera Software’s AdminStudio, Workflow Manager now provides unprecedented support for managing virtual applications, making it as easy as managing MSIs.

Workflow Manager now stores virtual application files and related metadata in the same location as the binaries and information on your non-virtual packages. Now you can always know who is touching an application before and after deployment, who initially requested it, which groups was it requested for, what are its contents, and who tested it.

Packagers can also see at-a-glance which applications in their environment are MSIs and which ones are in virtual formats.

Workflow Manager collects information on each software packaging project in real time—as IT works on them—and automatically routes the applications to the correct step in your workflow process based on that data, significantly decreasing time to deployment. Workflow Manager can be easily configured to follow steps based on your unique business processes, so your current best practices are always enforced.

Workflow Manager provides a complete list of every IT team member and the projects they are currently assigned, enabling IT Management to assign new application requests to the most available packager.

This helps enterprises avoid overloading individual packagers while ensuring projects don't suffer lengthy delays.

The Workflow Manager home page includes a dashboard that provides summary information about relevant work assignments, issues, reports, and any links and company-specific data you wish. The information is unique to each user, based on their role and specific permissions.

Workflow Manager offers the ability to automatically send dynamic, template-based notification emails to users after certain events based on their role in the packaging process. You decide which users (any individual, group, or role) should receive these emails, as well as which events in the packaging process should trigger them. These emails increase workflow efficiency while alerting the right people of the current status of the application.

 

Prepare, publish, and distribute applications through Microsoft’s System Center Configuration Manager without ever touching the Configuration Manager console.

Workflow Manager provides a Web-based Configuration Manager interface that simplifies your Configuration Manager requirements and cuts down software rollout times. All your Configuration Manager administration needs—including targeting, publishing, advertising, and uninstallation—are met from this interface.

 

Define and select the deployment sites for any application. When the packaging process for an application is complete, Workflow Manager begins special deployment workflows that guide the staging, testing, and distribution of the application to your defined sites, ensuring more rapid and error-free software rollouts.

You can now associate an application request in with a package from either the AdminStudio or Workflow Manager UI, making it easy to jump from an application request progress report to a report on how that package was prepared for deployment.

 

Whenever packaging issues arise, Workflow Manager provides tools to facilitate their resolution, including giving IT the ability to send queries to the application owner requesting the application. All data and communications are permanently logged in Workflow Manager for later reference, creating a valuable audit trail.

All comments associated with an issue are grouped together in a hierarchy, so that the order of responses is clear. Serious issues can also be labeled as critical, immediately freezing work on that project by placing the workflow into a read-only mode until the issue has been resolved.

Workflow Manager's issue notification has been enhanced to allow you to assign an owner and due date to an issue when you create it. This ensures that the right person addresses the right issue in a time-sensitive manner.

Issues can be labeled as critical, immediately placing the workflow into a read-only mode until the issue has been resolved. Also, all comments associated with an issue are grouped together in a hierarchy, so that the order of responses is clear.

Workflow Manager enables you to proactively access and share data anytime with anyone in your enterprise who needs it, enabling more efficient and effective software repair, updating, and management.

Standard and customized application reports and template reports can be generated at any time, from anywhere using the Web-based interface.

Authorized IT members can access Workflow Manager's data at any time using powerful reporting functionality. You can design, store, and rerun detailed data reports, giving you complete visibility into your organization's environment, including packaging data generated in geographically dispersed offices.

Workflow Manager shares the same Application Catalog with AdminStudio, so all package metadata and data generated during packaging via AdminStudio is automatically captured along with application request and workflow information from Workflow Manager. All this data is accessible anytime using Workflow Manager's powerful reporting tools and can feed into your CMDB to simplify ITIL or Microsoft MOF and BDD implementations.

Workflow Manager comes with many standard report types, or you can create your own custom reports, which now includes the ability to customize SQL queries to generate reports on all data on a given package stored in the Application Catalog.

Workflow Manager can generate project-level and application-level reports that help IT Managers monitor and track all projects across the organization. Plus, Workflow Manager can create reports that help you stay compliant with the Service Level Agreements for your applications.
Reports can be exported into different formats and are easy to share with team members. You decide which roles are eligible to view each report, so unauthorized users are never able to access confidential data.

For most software packaging teams and third-party service providers, ensuring packaging activities stay in compliance with Service Level Agreements (SLAs) is critical. That's why Workflow Manager has added significant enhancements to its SLA management functionality, making it even easier to for you to ensure your team stays compliant — and to prove it.

You can use Workflow Manager to generate reports about time spent working on a particular application or an entire packaging project, including  the begin time and end time for any workflow event, as well as how each application or project is tracking according to its defined SLA due date. There is also a new Activity Report which exclusively lists information on every event that occurs during the packaging process. This increased level of reporting detail and visibility into projects enables more robust audit trails, troubleshooting, and compliance management.

Workflow Manager can proactively notify you via email whenever applications or projects are approaching their SLA due date, so you can take action to ensure SLA compliance. You can also configure Workflow Manager to notify you when applications or projects have past their SLA due date.

For greater SLA reporting accuracy, you can define how many hours make up a work day, specify whether to include weekend days as part of the work week, and define which holidays to exclude from SLA calculations. If work on a software packaging project is interrupted, you can temporarily or permanently stop Workflow Manager's SLA clock so that time isn't counted against you.

You can also optionally exclude any workflow steps and the time needed to complete them from overall SLA calculations.

SLAs put IT in a race against the clock to ensure projects are completed by the promised time. It can be tough enough without getting penalized by short work weeks, weekends, holidays, and other events that are outside your control.

Workflow Manager now gives you the ability to accurately align the SLA clock with your specific business practices and work schedules, so work stoppages aren't counted against you. You can define how many hours make up a work day, specify whether to include weekend days as part of the work week, and define which holidays to exclude from SLA calculations. If work on a software packaging project is interrupted, you can temporarily or permanently stop Workflow Manager's SLA clock so that time isn't counted against you.

For greater accuracy, you can also optionally exclude any workflow steps and the time needed to complete them from overall SLA calculations.

Workflow Manager has been enhanced so that the SLAs of individual applications requiring special packaging timelines can be managed more efficiently.

You can now modify the SLA due date and the "at-risk" period for every application in a packaging project, giving you greater precision and accuracy when managing SLAs. Also, SLA due dates can optionally be set or reset based on any number of conditions, data items, or values, so due dates more accurately reflect your organization's business processes.

Workflow Manager integrates with AdminStudio, the premier software packaging solution.

When software packagers are assigned tasks via Workflow Manager, they can use AdminStudio's software packaging tools to complete them quickly and correctly. Progress made with AdminStudio is reflected in the Workflow Manager interface.

Both solutions share the same Application Catalog, so all package metadata and data generated during packaging via AdminStudio is automatically captured along with application request and workflow information from Workflow Manager. All this data is accessible anytime using Workflow Manager's powerful reporting tools and can feed into your CMDB to simplify ITIL or Microsoft MOF and BDD implementations.

Additional integration enhancements include:

• Workflow Manager now shares a tabbed interface with AdminStudio's Job Manager, Report Center, and SMS Web Console, making it easy to jump back and forth from different functional areas.
• You can now associate an application request in with a package from either the AdminStudio or Workflow Manager UI, so you can quickly move from an application request progress report to a report on how that package was prepared for deployment.
• All security settings (users, roles, and permissions) for AdminStudio and Workflow Manager are managed from the same UI.
• When defining a Workflow Manager workflow template, you can choose to define a workflow phase as an AdminStudio workflow project, and you will receive progress notification from AdminStudio as the project steps are completed.

As IT uses AdminStudio to complete tasks, the percentage of work completed for each step is indicated by Workflow Manager. In addition, rollback of a workflow with an AdminStudio step is reflected in the associated Workflow Manager project.

Workflow Manager now shares a tabbed interface with AdminStudio's Job Manager, Report Center, and Configuration Manager Web Console. This common UI saves you time and effort by making it easy to jump back and forth from different functional areas.

Workflow Manager and AdminStudio share the same Application Catalog, so all package metadata and data generated during packaging via AdminStudio is automatically captured along with application request and workflow information from Workflow Manager. All this data is accessible anytime via Workflow Manager reports and can feed into your CMDB to simplify the implementation of ITIL or Microsoft's MOF and BDD.

For those organizations that also use Flexera Software’s AdminStudio, Workflow Manager now provides unprecedented support for managing virtual applications, making it as easy as managing MSIs.

Workflow Manager now stores virtual application files and related metadata in the same location as the binaries and information on your non-virtual packages. Now you can always know who is touching an application before and after deployment, who initially requested it, which groups was it requested for, what are its contents, and who tested it.

Packagers can also see at-a-glance which applications in their environment are MSIs and which ones are in virtual formats.

All security settings—users, roles, permissions—for AdminStudio client tools, AdminStudio Web tools, and Workflow Manager are managed on the Administration tab, saving you time and effort.

When defining a Workflow Manager workflow template, you can choose to define a Workflow Phase as an AdminStudio Workflow Project, and you will receive progress notification from AdminStudio as the Project Steps are completed.

Integrate Workflow Manager processes with your CMDB and other data sources, including Remedy® and Peregrine®.

Create templates in Workflow Manager that populate with real-time data obtained from SQL Server or Oracle databases, ensuring templates are always populated with up-to-date information.

Managing Workflow Manager access rights and keeping your packaging process secure is easy. You can save time by using your LDAP database - including Microsoft® Active Directory® and Novell® eDirectory® databases - to establish individual or group access rights for Workflow Manager users.

Authentication involves dynamically communication with the database, so any changes are automatically reflected during the Workflow Manager login.

To meet more advanced workflow requirements, you can also schedule Web pages to launch in a new browser any time during the workflow process.

Workflow Manager now makes it even easier to create workflow templates, saving you time and effort. You now can create templates using a smoother, more complete interface.

In the Template Details View, you can view a visual representation of the current template workflow exactly as it will appear on the Application Progress Page. You can test the template by marking steps complete, rolling back to previous steps, and making branching decisions.

Easily establish guest accounts that permit people without a system account to access Workflow Manager with limited permissions (which you can specify). With guest accounts, you don't have to waste time creating unique accounts for every potential Workflow Manager user.

Workflow Manager can call an executable file or script from any step in the process, significantly extending Workflow Manager's ability to meet your more advanced requirements.

Workflow Manager provides a set of Web services that can be integrated with your other business systems to share application management events and data.

You can create custom, searchable labels for depicting the status of your applications that better fit your enterprise's terminology, making it easier to understand where each application is in its lifecycle.

Workflow Manager provides application owners with an easy way to notify IT that they need a new application deployed to their desktops.
Workflow Manager's customizable templates automatically prompt the application owner for a complete list of installation instructions, so IT always gets upfront the data it needs to properly package the application the first time.

The application request submission process can be tailored to the specific needs of your organization. It has new features that make it even easier for application owners to follow - including more customizable data fields, optional default values for fields, and optional help links for any field - resulting in the submission of more complete and accurate requests to IT. Application owners can also use Workflow Manager to check the real-time status of their requests at any time, so IT doesn't have to waste time repeatedly answering calls from curious end users.

To help maintain the security of your enterprise's packaging process, you can easily define each user's access rights to Workflow Manager, ensuring personnel never perform unauthorized tasks.

You can assign rights to individuals on a feature-by-feature basis. You can also group users into different roles — such as administrator, packager, or guest — with specific access rights based on job function. Creating your own custom roles is easy.

Plus, thanks to Workflow Manager's enhanced integration with AdminStudio, all security settings — users, roles, permissions — for AdminStudio client tools and AdminStudio Web tools are managed on from the same Workflow Manager UI, saving you time and effort.

To further simplify the management of access rights, you can use your LDAP database — such as Microsoft Active Directory and Novell eDirectory — to establish user privileges for both Workflow Manager and AdminStudio. Authentication is dynamic, so any changes made to the LDAP database are automatically reflected during login.

Workflow Manager's Web-based templates ensure your organization follows a standardize software packaging process from start to finish, ensuring all tasks are completed correctly and in the right order. They are easily customized to fit the changing needs of your enterprise - and you don't have to hire a Web designer to do it.

Workflow Manager templates provide application owners with an easy way to submit application requests to IT. They automatically prompt the application owner for a complete list of installation instructions, so IT always gets the data it needs to properly package the application the first time.

Workflow Manager's templates also enable software packagers to drill down into each of their assignments to see the entire packaging process in a linear, easy-to-follow graphical format. Check boxes and color coding make it easy to see at a glance what steps have been completed, which ones are in progress, and which ones still remain.

To modify the packaging process, IT Management can easily edit or create their own workflow templates, ensuring the tasks performed always follow the company's current business processes as well as industry guidelines such as ITIL or Microsoft's Solution Accelerator for Business Desktop Deployment. Now once a template is updated, it is automatically applied to all application requests that follow.

The Workflow Manager interface can be updated to reflect your company name and imagery. Workflow Manager's terminology and fields can be customized to match your existing terminology or practices, furthering consistency throughout your organization.

For those organizations that also use Flexera Software’s AdminStudio, Workflow Manager now provides unprecedented support for managing virtual applications, making it as easy as managing MSIs.

Workflow Manager now stores virtual application files and related metadata in the same location as the binaries and information on your non-virtual packages. Now you can always know who is touching an application before and after deployment, who initially requested it, which groups was it requested for, what are its contents, and who tested it.

Packagers can also see at-a-glance which applications in their environment are MSIs and which ones are in virtual formats.

Workflow Manager now makes it even easier to create workflow templates, saving you time and effort. You now can create templates using a smoother, more complete interface.

You can create custom reports that include package data from both Workflow Manager and AdminStudio.

Using the Report Wizard, you can customize SQL queries to generate reports on all of the information stored for a given package in the Application Catalog. You can also select a package in AdminStudio's Application Manager and associate it with a Workflow Manager application request.

System reports providing detailed progress and SLA status information on projects and application requests can now be generated in seconds with a few mouse clicks.

Workflow Manager now shares a tabbed interface with AdminStudio's Job Manager, Report Center, and Configuration Manager Web Console. This common UI saves you time and effort by making it easy to jump back and forth from different functional areas.

Workflow Manager and AdminStudio share the same Application Catalog, so all package metadata and data generated during packaging via AdminStudio is automatically captured along with application request and workflow information from Workflow Manager. All this data is accessible anytime via Workflow Manager reports and can feed into your CMDB to simplify the implementation of ITIL or Microsoft's MOF and BDD.

You can now associate an application request in with a package from either the AdminStudio or Workflow Manager UI, making it easy to jump from an application request progress report to a report on how that package was prepared for deployment.

 

All security settings—users, roles, permissions—for AdminStudio client tools, AdminStudio Web tools, and Workflow Manager are managed on the Administration tab, saving you time and effort.

When defining a Workflow Manager workflow template, you can choose to define a Workflow Phase as an AdminStudio Workflow Project, and you will receive progress notification from AdminStudio as the Project Steps are completed.

Integrate Workflow Manager processes with your CMDB and other data sources, including Remedy® and Peregrine®.

Create templates in Workflow Manager that populate with real-time data obtained from SQL Server or Oracle databases, ensuring templates are always populated with up-to-date information.

Workflow Manager's issue notification has been enhanced to allow you to assign an owner and due date to an issue when you create it. This ensures that the right person addresses the right issue in a time-sensitive manner.

Workflow Manager's enhanced report generation and email notification functionality make it easy to monitor SLAs to ensure software packaging stays in compliance.

SLA Reporting
You can use Workflow Manager to generate reports about time spent working on a particular application or an entire packaging project. Workflow Manager now tracks the begin time and end time for any workflow event, and can display that information in the reports you generate.
Reports can now display how each application or packaging project is tracking according to its defined SLA due date. These reports include not only the elapsed time to complete a workflow step, but also the SLA time (which could be different than the elapsed time if the SLA clock was stopped) and the user-entered time (the time that a user enters when completing a workflow step). There is also a new Activity Report which exclusively lists information on every event that occurs during the packaging process. This increased level of reporting detail and visibility into projects enables more robust audit trails, troubleshooting, and compliance management.

Email Notification
Workflow Manager can proactively notify you via email whenever applications or projects are approaching their SLA due date, so you can take action to ensure SLA compliance. You can also configure Workflow Manager to notify you when applications or projects have past their SLA due date.

SLAs put IT in a race against the clock to ensure projects are completed by the promised time. It can be tough enough without getting penalized by short work weeks, weekends, holidays, and other events that are outside your control.

Workflow Manager now gives you the ability to accurately align the SLA clock with your specific business practices and work schedules, so work stoppages aren't counted against you. You can define how many hours make up a work day, specify whether to include weekend days as part of the work week, and define which holidays to exclude from SLA calculations. If work on a software packaging project is interrupted, you can temporarily or permanently stop Workflow Manager's SLA clock so that time isn't counted against you.

For greater accuracy, you can also optionally exclude any workflow steps and the time needed to complete them from overall SLA calculations.

Workflow Manager has been enhanced so that the SLAs of individual applications requiring special packaging timelines can be managed more efficiently.

You can now modify the SLA due date and the "at-risk" period for every application in a packaging project, giving you greater precision and accuracy when managing SLAs. Also, SLA due dates can optionally be set or reset based on any number of conditions, data items, or values, so due dates more accurately reflect your organization's business processes.