Question

We have an ordering system that is currently quite hard coded. We would like to make this flexible, and allow our Business Analyst to create workflows himself. The application will be installed for separate clients so there will be separate workflows for each client.
We are a bit uncertain about the correct technology here. One option may be WF but this seems to be directed more towards developer use.
We were thinking to create ‘activities’ and through a screen the business analyst can arrange these accordingly in a workflow. This information would be saved in some XML format and then we would load the info and execute the activities.
What is the correct technology here please? perhaps a third party tool or is WF ok?

Answer 1

I’m not sure I can give you the correct technology for your situation, but give you a few pointers if you want to go down the WF4 route. It will require investing some time in learning WF4 in general and some of the complex features of Re-hosting a Workflow. To put it simply Re-hosting the Workflow in an application will let you provide an environment where your BA can work that does not force him/her to work in Visual Studio.

Take some time and invest in learning Wf4 and Re-hosting:

• http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc835242.aspx
• http://blogs.msdn.com/b/asgisv/archive/2010/02/06/rehosting-the-workflow-designer-is-so-much-easier-in-net4-a-boon-for-the-isv-community.aspx