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About Integration Workflows in Siebel Energy

A workflow process is a sequence of steps that automates a business function. Some workflow processes (also known as business processes) allow your company to integrate Siebel Energy with back-office applications and databases. You can implement integration with third-party applications by using the following resources and techniques:

• Prebuilt workflows. Some prebuilt workflow processes are included in the sample database distributed with Siebel Energy, along with prebuilt integration objects in the Siebel Tools repository. If a workflow process mentioned in this chapter is not in your Siebel application's sample database, then it might be available on request. For help with requesting a workflow process, contact your Oracle sales representative to request assistance from Oracle's Professional Services.
• Manual integration. Your company can automate the integration between Siebel Energy and other applications manually. To automate the integration between Siebel Energy and other applications manually, you normally use both Oracle's Siebel Business Process Designer and Siebel Enterprise Application Integration (Siebel EAI).

NOTE:  Triggers for some business processes (for example, a button-push or workflow policy) are defined during implementation of the workflow process.

This chapter covers the following subjects:

• Information about how sample integration workflow processes can be used to automate or partially automate a business process.
• Descriptions of sample integration workflow processes that are available in the Siebel Energy sample database.
• Details of sample workflow processes to help you understand how a workflow process is set up. Refer to these samples when you design your own integration workflow processes.

You can automate business processes using workflow processes in combination with Business Process Administration. This chapter does not give detailed information about Business Process Administration or application integration in general. For information about these topics, see Siebel Business Process Framework: Workflow Guide and the Siebel Enterprise Application Integration (Siebel EAI) guides, available on the Siebel Bookshelf.

NOTE:  The integration workflow processes discussed in this chapter are not Application Services Interfaces (ASIs), although they serve a similar function.