Technologies that Siebel CRM Uses to Automate Business Processes

The following table describes some of the technologies that Siebel CRM uses to automate a business process. Siebel Workflow coordinates Workflow Processes and other repository objects, such as Workflow Policies, to implement a complete Workflow Process. Each of these technologies helps to automate a business process. To coordinate the services that these technologies provide, a Workflow Process calls each technology directly or interacts with them through the Siebel event model.

Automation Technology	Description
Siebel Workflow Process Designer	Uses a familiar flowcharting interface that allows you to define business processes for your company. Includes one or more process steps, such as a start step, sub process step, decision step, or task step.
Workflow Policy	Allows you to define the Workflow Policy conditions and actions that can start a Workflow Process. If Workflow Policy conditions are met, then the policy action runs the relevant Workflow Process. A Workflow Policy creates an event that references a database operation. A Workflow Policy can perform a simple action, such as sending an email message, or creating an activity or assignment.
Siebel Workflow Process Task	Allows you to define a user interface that is similar to a wizard, with multiple steps and interactive operations that can include branching and decision logic, which guides the user through a task. It allows the user to navigate backward or forward, and to pause or resume a task. For more information, see Siebel Business Process Framework: Task UI Guide.
Assignment Manager	Allows you to define rules that can assign a record to a user according to skill, workload, and availability. Allows you to reassign a Workflow Process. For more information, see Siebel Assignment Manager Administration Guide.
SmartScript	Guides the user through data entry work. Supports call scripting and basic support for transaction level commits. For more information, see Siebel SmartScript Administration Guide.
Activity Template	Allows you to define a series of steps that the user performs. Effective for handling asynchronous and offline work. For more information on Activity Template, see Siebel Applications Administration Guide.
State Model	Manages how and when the user can change the status of a record according to a current value and the user position. Can also enforce directional progression of status. For example, to force an opportunity to move forward but not backward through a pipeline. For more information on the State Model, see Siebel Applications Administration Guide.
Personalization Engine	Handles runtime events, such as application events, applet events, and business component events. A Workflow Process uses the Personalization engine to handle these events. A Workflow Process that a runtime event starts or resumes registers itself with the Personalization engine when Siebel CRM activates the Workflow Process. If a runtime event occurs in a user session, then the Personalization engine calls the Workflow Process in the local object manager.