Purpose
With SAP Business Workflow, SAP AG provides an efficient cross-application tool enabling integrated electronic management of business processes. SAP Business Workflow is a solution which has been integrated fully in the R/3 System and which enables customer-specific business process flows to be coordinated and controlled on a cross-application and cross-work center basis. SAP Business Workflow therefore enhances "ready-made" application software. The SAP Business Workflow definition environment can represent business processes simply and can respond to changing external conditions quickly, even in a live system, by adapting the existing business processes.
Workflow Scenarios
Many SAP applications use SAP Business Workflow enabling preconfigured workflow scenarios to be reused in various situations. The scenarios can either be implemented without any changes or configured for your business processes by making minor adjustments. These workflow scenarios reduce implementation time significantly and have been optimally configured for the respective application functions.
Many workflow scenarios are integrated in IDES (International Demonstration and Education System). It is possible to simulate the business processes of a model company in this fully-configured system.
Features
The workflow scenarios can be divided into three categories:
Creating events
Events are created to report status changes for an application object and to allow a reaction to the changes.
Document 4711/98 posted
Material XYZ created
These events can be used as triggering events for your own tasks or workflows. The events are therefore "connected" in a flexible and customer-specific way to application events, without having to modify the standard part of the application.
In some cases, the triggering of these events is not activated in the standard version, but depends on the Customizing settings. You can find further information in the application scenario documentation.
Providing SAP tasks
A task contains a task description and the connection to the application logic via the method for a business object. Before you can use a task productively, you must assign the tasks to its possible agents.
The tasks provided by SAP are generally used as steps in SAP workflows, but you can use them for your own developments as well.
Release change request
Change purchase order
If a workflow scenario only involves one task, the scenario can usually be regarded as a minimal solution for showing the connection between application functionality and SAP Business Workflow. For differentiated control, this SAP task should be replaced by a customer-specific task.
You can find further information in the application scenario documentation.
Providing SAP workflows
A workflow contains a complete workflow definition covering several steps. An SAP workflow has a complete workflow definition, but must still be adapted to the organizational environment of the customer.
Release a purchase requisition
Recruitment
In cases in which SAP workflows describe business processes which also occur in your company, or in cases in which changes should not be made to the SAP workflow for technical reasons, the SAP workflows supplied can be used without any changes or adapted using workflow configuration.
In all other cases, the SAP workflows can be used as templates for your own developments. The existing process structures of the business application components, which are often represented within a transaction, are generally not replaced. SAP Business Workflow is seen as an integration level "above" the standard business functions and uses the existing transactions, function modules, and reports.