Workflow – which system to pick?

Imagine a company in which every employee always does tasks that he picks by himself, where nobody is controlling his work results. Everybody is choosing not the processes that need to be done, but the ones that are comfortable. Tasks don’t have priorities, deadlines are not existing and nobody knows what has already been finished and what not. No company would be able to stay on the market that way. We need someone who will manage all the tasks, outsource them, make a hierarchy and control which are finished. In a small firm it can be a person, but in the case of bigger companies it is almost impossible to control everything at once. 

In this article we will answer the questions: how to choose the right workflow system and what are the most important criteria of the workflow system choice.

What is a workflow system?

Workflow system, is an informatic solution, which optimizes work inside the company by automating the flow of data and documents. This software gathers various firm processes, taking care of tidiness and data safety. It’s a perfect tool for monitoring work done, communicating with employees and managing information flow. Those platforms are the basis of big and medium size companies, often consisting of functionalities such as: virtual data warehouse, reporting or no-code app development.

If you want to learn more about what the workflow system is, we created a separate article on this topic.

On the market we can also find ERP and ECM systems, which even though are most commonly integrated into one tool with workflow systems, shouldn’t be treated as the same. In this article we will be talking only about workflow apps.

How to choose a workflow system? Key criteria

Choosing the workflow system, no matter if it’s for a medium company or huge enterprise, requires thorough analysis. It will be one of the biggest and most time-consuming operation. It is worth taking the time and doing it correctly, in a way so we can get the most out of it. For that we will need in-depth research, which will show the needs and financial capability of the company. Only after this step we can start looking for a fitting tool.

The most important criteria of the workflow system choice are:

• Fitting the needs
• Implementation time
• Expansion possibilities
• External integration
• Costs

Fitting the needs

As we mentioned in our previous paragraph, awareness of own needs is a necessity. It’s impossible to create an optimal working software environment for a company, when it’s incapable of doing tasks that need to be done.

The process of platform choice should always begin with selecting the tools that will be able to fulfill as many of our needs as possible. What does your company need? Is it just the platform for document workflow, such as cost invoices, or do you care about budgeting and reporting functions? Do you opt for something simple that will be understood by any of your employees or just the software for qualified personnel? How many users will operate inside the system? Decide with your coworkers, which solution will be the most practical for all of you.

Implementation time

There are situations when we can prioritize fast implementation time. It is the most common when we are looking for a simple solution without many requirements. That allows us to choose amongst many ready-to-use platforms. This approach will fail to work, if we are looking for something specific. In this case we should aim for the workflow solution that is “tailor made”. They guarantee greater security and elasticity. Often they are produced by companies that offer whole teams dedicated to system implementation and 24/7 client support. Although it comes with longer implementation time and higher costs.

Expansion possibilities

When choosing the workflow platform it is recommended to spend some more time, to find out if it offers a possibility for further system expansion or reconstruction. The software system that our company will be working on, is not a solution for a year or two. We have to be prepared that our processes may change and new needs arrive at any moment. That’s why it is important to find a tool that is constantly actualized and can be updated according to our indications or lets us make changes independently.

Another aspect of the expansion is automation. As a firm we are striving for a processes standardization and work efficiency improvements. System workflow is made just for this. It takes tasks away from us and partially or completely outsources it to robots. The more tasks available for automation, the bigger the role of the workflow system is. Choose platforms that allow you to edit your processes and gather data about it. That will also help you to automate your actions independently from the software producer.

External integration

Workflow platform even though it has it’s advantages, won’t replace everything. The most common cases are financially-accounting processes, which require special software. It’s not a problem though, since we can connect both platforms, if only they offer data exchange functionality.

Before you make a choice, check if the system is able to integrate or prepare a connection with programs important for us. Even if we are not using any external platforms, it doesn’t mean we will never need one.

Learn more about the most important workflow functions:

–Artificial Intelligence

–Business Intelligence

–No-code

Costs

Let’s make a last stop at costs related to the software. Different companies offer various payment methods, but the most common way is a subscription model, where payments need to be made in regular intervals according to the amount of users.

We can also find instant payments models, where you can buy a workflow system once and own it forever. But keep in mind that any extra operations will cost additionally, which can sum up pretty quickly.

Summary

There are plenty of workflow systems. On the market there are both universal platforms easy to use for small companies and powerful tools with unlimited functionalities suitable for biggest enterprises. The key is to conduct a thorough analysis to set your own needs and financial state. Comparison between softwares should start with choosing those systems that can fulfill the maximum number of our needs. Remember to check if the platform offers possibilities for external connection and further expansion. Keep in mind costs that can come with it, not only subscription price. But most of all focus on those workflow systems that have been in the market for years and have been used by different companies.