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Force.com includes a powerful set of tools to add workflow and business process orchestration to your applications. These include simple workflow rules, multi-person approval processes, and sophisticated business processes that can span multiple objects and backend systems.

• Workflow - A workflow is an action that is triggered when inserting or changing a data record. You specify the criteria which determine if a workflow is triggered and the action that is performed -- create a task, send an email alert, update a data field or send an outbound SOAP message to an external system.
• Approval process - A specialized type of workflow called an 'approval process' can route information to a series of people, each of whom can approve the information, sending it on to the next recipient, or decline the approval.
• Visual Process Manager (VPM) - VPM is a new addition to the force.com platform that allows you to string together one or more UI screens, business rules, and calls to backend APIs to implement a complete business process without writing code.

Workflow & Approvals

Workflows are a simple way to extend the logical operations of your Force.com applications. A workflow is an action which is triggered by inserting or changing a data record. A workflow can trigger a task, email alert, update a data field or send a message.

Workflow rules specify the criteria which determine if a workflow is triggered. A workflow can be triggered immediately, or set to operate at a subsequent interval after the triggering event. These outbound messages are one of the ways you can send information from your Force.com environment to external data stores and applications.

A specialized type of workflow called an 'approval' can route information to a series of people, each of whom can approve the information, sending it on to the next recipient, or decline the approval.

Articles and Presentations

Building Smarter Apps Using Formulas and Workflow: a great webinar showing how to use formulas to improve applications

PTODemo: This screencast provides an overview of using approvals and other platform features to create a complete Time Off request and management app.

Official Documentation

• Workflow: Automating the Process PDF
• Getting Started with Approval Processes PDF
• Email Approval Response FAQ PDF
• Useful Workflow Rules PDF Over a dozen examples of how to use workflow in a Force.com app.
• Useful Approval Processes PDF Four detailed examples of how to use approval processes in a Force.com app.
  
  

Visual Workflow

Visual process tools and wizards make it second nature to add complex business logic to your apps, and to make changes as your business evolves. Based on technology acquired from Informavores in 2009, Visual Workflow lets you visually string together one or more forms, business rules, and calls to backend APIs to implement a complete business process without writing code.

Visual Workflow enables you to automate business processes across your organization. For example,

• Call scripting for inbound or outbound call centers
• Diagnostics & troubleshooting guides
• Guided data entry processes to reduce errors & training costs
• Product configuration
• Sales quotations
• Guided selling with sales methodologies
• Employee on-boarding.

You can deploy flow processes to users in your org, as well as to external users through Customer Portal or Force.com Sites.

Official Documentation

Visual Workflow Documentation View the PDF

Visual Workflow reference documentation

Tutorials

This workbook contains a series of tutorials that cover the fundamentals of the Visual Workflow Designer. They progress from creating the simplest business process to more complex designs.

Visual Workflow Workbook PDF | HTML

Migration Documentation

Use these documents to help you migrate your old flows into the latest Flow Designer.

Visual Workflow Self Migration Overview View the PDF

High level process for migrating from version 5.5 to version 7.x of the Visual Workflow Designer

Video of a Sample Migration View the Video

High level process for migrating your flows.

Visual Workflow Migration Matrix View the PDF

Comparison between the 5.5 version and 7.x version of the Visual Workflow Designer.

If you are an existing Informavores customer click here to access the original Informavores resources.