I’ve just had my first opportunity to dive into the recently released by Microsoft Project 2010 Solution Starters (see Jan’s blog post), what first caught my eye was the Demand Management Dynamic Workflow solution which aims to allow you to: “Dynamically create a linear workflow based on stages”.

My first impression is WOW!

This is a very simple way to create basic workflows using a simple Infopath form in PWA, the amazing thing is it handles the approvals so well with options that should cover most requirements, here’s a screenshot:

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Using the tool is dead easy, just the following simple steps are required to create a new workflow in no time at all:

  1. Once installed go to http://server_name/pwa_name/_layouts/WrkSetng.aspx on your server
  2. Click “Add a workflow”
  3. Create a new workflow based on the “DM DynamicWorkflow” template
  4. Configure each of your phases/stages using all your pre-created stages with your approval requirements, then submit to finish
  5. Now return to PWA and in Server Settings create or assign the newly created workflow to your Enterprise Project Type

There are some limitations of course, this really only does cover linear approval / rejection scenarios, if you need anything more complex like a return to previous stage on rejection from my testing it looks like you’ll still be needing your Visual Studio skills. But still I can see the majority of workflow requirements being met by this little gem!

 

Check out the CodePlex home here for downloads and installation details: http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/P2010SolutionStarter/Release/ProjectReleases.aspx?ReleaseId=4631

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