Staffware Bolsters a High-Performance Blue Chip

by Lowell Rapaport

On the surface Staffware Process Suite looks like other leading workflow products on the market. Nontechnical users can create workflows using a graphical user interface. Workflows can be linear or have complex branches and loop structures, subprocesses and decision trees.

Staffware's APIs and development tools, called Process Objects, let users integrate Staffware with applications running on multiple platforms including Java, Windows and Unix. A Process Monitor tracks how long each component of a workflow takes to process a particular piece of data. System administrators can analyze the results and tell which process needs to be simplified, broken up into smaller pieces, or requires more CPU cycles to relieve bottleneck.

When you dig deeper and size up the depth, breadth and, most particularly, the performance of Staffware's technology, you see why the company is a market leader and a frequent partner for vendors seeking an OEM source for workflow technology.

Staffware runs on Windows 2000/NT or on one of several flavors of Unix including AIX, Solaris and HP Unix. (Linux is not yet supported.) Workflow access by users is via a 32-bit Windows thick client or a thin HTML client accessible through Web browsers or handheld computers. Using Process Objects, Staffware has developed a comprehensive array of preprogrammed interfaces for popular enterprise applications such as Oracle, BEA, Siebel, PeopleSoft, MySAP, IBM MQ Series, and Broadvision.

Most recently, Staffware has been concentrating on scalability and performance of Process Suite. The latest product, introduced last November, is the Infinite Process or iProcess Engine. According to Staffware, iProcess can handle roughly 1.4 million transactions per hour, 10 times as many as its standard Process Engine (which will continue to be available).

Staffware Process Suite's XML support permits data to be passed between applications and the Process Engine workflow server in an open, standard format. Because XML is also the underlying protocol for Web services, it will allow Staffware Process Suite to act as a Web services traffic manager, controlling how different software objects invoke each other as part of a larger, distributed application.

Because Staffware can integrate with a variety of applications and platforms through Process Objects and XML, it allows applications to interoperate. "Staffware understands the interoperability issue and addresses it very well," says Steve Weissman, president of Kinetic Information, a consulting firm based in Waltham, MA. "It has done a good job of defining very strong technology in business process terms."

Weissman cautions that Staffware's technology can sometimes overlap with other software. "Some of the components it has put together are not unique to Staffware," he explains. "Software similar to the Process Monitor, for example, is also available from Siebel [the San Mateo, CA-based customer relationship management vendor]. Staffware's technology is well executed, but before buying a complex product suite like Process Object, users should first look at the software they already own to see if they have similar functionality. Then you can decide if it is sufficient for your needs or whether it should be enhanced or replaced." For a company with little preexisting process infrastructure, a product such as Staffware Process Suite can be just the ticket. This was the case at The Thomas Register, the manufacturing industry buyers' guide published by Thomas Publishing of New York. The Register lists more than 170,000 manufacturers under at least 70,000 product headings and has some 150,000 advertisements. Adding complication to sheer volume, the publication is available in print, on CD-ROM and online. According to systems integration architect Louis Silverblank, the company has accumulated too many discreet workflows through its years of growth.

"We have 80 discreet tracking systems, each for different products like advertisements and the CAD system," Silverblank explains. "Some workflows were carefully planned out while others are totally ad hoc. Few were integrated with each other. The result is a system that had no single point of access telling the status of an account and its work in process."

The publisher was looking for tools that would consolidate and streamline its business processes. "We needed software that would allow us to quickly modify workflows, provide a common tool for all departments and uncover and fix production bottlenecks," Silverblank says.

In an implementation linking 1,100 workers in 50 offices that began in March 2002, Thomas Publishing is developing a robust Staffware Process Suite system. While many Web-based workflows built on NT have trouble scaling beyond 100 users with performance, The Thomas Register system will be running on Sun Sparq servers running Solaris. The first workflows are expected to go live this summer.

"Staffware will let us automate communication and movement of materials and information between departments," says Silverblank. Process Monitor, he adds, will keep staff abreast of bottlenecks while integration features will let workers find information without having to consult several different systems.

Other features that attracted Thomas Publishing were the system's ability to integrate with legacy systems, standards compliance, ease of use for nontechnical users and support for Web clients. "We don't yet have workers using handheld computers, but we do use a mix of PCs and Macintoshes," Silverblank explains.

Staffware offers an array of choices and options for business process automation. If your automation needs are modest or if viable elements of this technology show up in other parts of your enterprise stack, you might consider simpler products. But if hard-core workflow and state-of-the-art performance are a must, this comprehensive suite offers flexibility and sophistication in spades.