I’m sure we’ve all been in a situation where we wish our current software solution would do something slightly differently, or go that extra mile. How many times have you thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be great if it did this’, or ‘If only it could just do that’. These may be small changes that we are willing to look past. Or if they are changes that are desperately needed, perhaps management might shell out a few thousand dollars for some extra software development work to incorporate them.
But what if your software had the power to let you make some of these changes yourself? Impossible, you say. Well that’s where the power of Microsoft Dynamics CRM workflows comes in. Workflows are simple sets of rules that can automate your processes and use of the software and, if you have the appropriate security, can be created by you, the end user.
As IPM is built on the Microsoft Dynamics CRM platform, these workflows can also be applied throughout the use of IPM. If you’re a user with system administrator rights you can create any type of workflow you like and it can be used on IPM records created by all users in your organisation. And even if you don’t have system administrator rights, you can still create your own workflows to use on the documents you create yourself. So workflows effectively become a great tool for streamlining the processes of the organisation as a whole, as well as individual users.
But how do they work exactly? Workflows are a simple set of rules that can be created by users and set up to run either on demand, when a document is created or changed, or as part of another workflow. For example, you may wish to set up a workflow to automatically create a Variation (Change Order) from a Variation Request (Change Request) once the request is approved. Or you may like a workflow to generate an email reminder when the due date for a Meeting Minute Item is approaching. Basically you can set a workflow up to do almost anything, you just set the rules and tell it what you want it to do.
Workflows are also great for increasing the productivity of your staff as they automate your processes and eliminate employees spending time entering excess data. And they are free and easy to create.
IPM is one of the few project management solutions that has access to these smart features, as other solutions just don’t have this kind of functionality. And as I mentioned before, to get a simple workflow process incorporated into other solutions could cost you thousands in development costs.
If you want to find out more about the power of workflows, don’t hesitate to contact us for a free demo.