Workflow via WebFeeds: Syndicating Enterprise Processes

WebFeed technology is growing in popularity and has the potential to dramatically change that way that users interact with their Enterprise systems.

What are WebFeeds?  They are (usually) XML documents that describe frequently updated data.  WebFeed readers can efficiently check many WebFeed data sources and alert users when content changes and identify what content has updated.  Most blogs, like this one, provide WebFeeds available via subscription.  WebFeed readers scan for and quickly find which of your subscribed feeds/blogs have changed so that you don’t need to manually visit each site and check for updated entries.

Webfeeds are enabled by two popular protocols: Really Simple Syndication (RSS), Atom, and sometimes even by raw XML.

How can WebFeeds be useful in an enterprise environment? 

 WebFeeds deliver content-specific streams of data directly to subscribers.  Once subscribed, the user is quickly notified to updates that occur on the WebFeed.  WebFeed technology is attractive because it:
    – is very simple to set up
    – provides each feed as a targeted non-polluted channel of data, and
    – can be set to display and update at frequent intervals.

Within the enterprise, WebFeeds can be used to provide very targeted sources for publishing information.  WebFeeds can act as a substitute to emails, providing a stream of topic-specific clean non-spammed discussion and information.

In the world of BPM/Workflow and ECM, WebFeeds have great potential as a method to disseminate workflow notifications and task assignments to users.  Some users may not spend extended periods of time within the Workflow system, and when they do need to access the system, the user usually needs to bring up the Workflow system, log into it and then locate a particular task or work item, usually after having received an email notification.

Either via a standard WebFeed Reader or else a specialized web-aware widget, workflow users can get frequent updates on workflow assignments.  Yahoo! widgets or Google gadgets are perfect technology tool candidates for creating small desktop widgets that can act as nonobtrusive agents that are always within view and keep users up to date on workflow activities.

As an example, this CIO Insight article describes how a legal office adopted RSS feed technology with great success.  Using RSS in combination with their Document Management system, attorneys at Goldman and Carr were able to create targeted document feeds for the lawyers to scan.  In the past when someone had found a pertinent document, they would send an email blast to everyone — using RSS eliminated that practice and helped them clean up their email inboxes.

In the Goldman and Carr study, they found that items were often missed when people had been alerted via emails or when items were simply posted somewhere on their company portal.  They also found that once they started using RSS that their lawyers could tie into RSS feeds coming directly from government agencies — a information source very relevant to their business.

WebFeeds have great potential for use in the Enterprise.  They’re not new, but their application within the business environment has been under-utilized.  As a trend, I expect to see more and more business applications picking up on their use as important components of enterprise systems.