Question

I have a problem report system that needs to

1. Send out an email to a configured group
2. Call a webservice & pass on the problem report to another team

There is no Human interaction or waiting involved.

To me it looks like using a Workflow for something this simple is an overkill.

My architect thinks Workflow is the best choice here.

Thoughts?

Answer 1

The days of avoiding workflow foundation because it is too heavy to do simple things are gone. Workflow Foundation 4.0 and now 4.5 are both very lightweight compared to 3.5 and prior. Creating simple workflows like what you described are simple to both create and execute, and you can execute from anywhere.

The calling of a web service is an out of the box activity and the send email is an activity you can get from the samples. Throw them both in a custom workflow activity using the FlowChart activity and use the WorkflowInvoker class in a method somewhere to fire and forget about it. Not only is your job done, but you have a bit of documentation in the form of a workflow diagram to show what is happening.

WorkflowInvoker class

The Workflow Way – Article by David Chappell to help describe the advantages of WF 4.0+