We are in the process of rewriting a large legacy system that makes extensive (mis)use of a workflow engine. Going forward, I’d like to consider alternatives to a workflow engine for the new application. One very interesting possibility is a Space-based architecture + Rules Engine. What other paradigms exist?
I’ll mention that this application orchestrates complex document publishing workflows with many different tweaks depending on country/region/etc, but I’d like to keep the answers more general if possible.
Edit: I added a bounty to this question to get more feedback. I would like to hear from somebody who has actually implemented a workflow alternative. If nothing is produced, I will accept the BPEL answer, though I’m completely unenthusiatic about the technology itself.
It seems like such an obvious response but nobody else has raised it, so here goes: have you considered Document (or Content) Management Software?