Adaptable workflow and communications system

Abstract

A data driven workflow solution that normalizes business communications by systematically recording related business communications from disparate communications channels in a common format such that the related business communications are automatically integrated into the associated business processes and which flow solution is flexible for capturing additional data elements or to adapt to changing tasks associated with the business processes is disclosed.

1 . A method for managing projects, requests, tasks, approvals and associated communications regardless of source of said projects, said requests, said tasks, said approvals, the method comprising the computer-implemented act of:
 automatically building a flexible dynamically changeable business process tracking system for tracking said projects, said requests, said tasks, said approvals and said associated communications from disparate sources based on implementing logical relationships between data associated with said projects, said requests, said tasks, said approvals and said associated communications, wherein the logical relationships are associated with one or more business rules, wherein one or more workflow processes associated with the business process tracking system are automatically generated in response to generation of at least a subset of the data, and wherein the flexible dynamically changeable business process tracking system dynamically adapts to changes in control data.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said data comprises:
 a first plurality of sets of data associated with user defined services;   a second plurality of sets of data that manages relationships between at least a subset of the first plurality of sets of data; and   communications data.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein respective records associated with said first plurality of sets of data and said communications data are instantiated by any combination of communications channels, including at least one of email, instant messaging, voice, and workflow application entries. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising the act of:
 using an automation facility that is associated with said services and said data;   wherein said automation facility develops an application logic that is implemented by using a form-driven administration interface; and   wherein said automation facility automatically creates said one or more business rules based on said application logic.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising the act of:
 using a common user interface that is associated with said data, wherein said common user interface is adapted for presenting a unified view of at least a subset of said projects, said requests, said tasks, said approvals using a GUI window with associated sub-windows.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein said common user interface is HTML web-based. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the act of
 using a data-driven mechanism for describing and instantiating said projects, said requests, said tasks, said approvals and associated data elements.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein said data-driven mechanism is adapted for one or more of:
 collecting a first information based on said requests;   creating said tasks and related dependencies based on said requests;   collecting a second information based on each of said tasks;   driving one or more automation functions based on said tasks;   validating said associated data elements; and   sending notifications based on one or more events.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein said first plurality of sets of data is of any type based on business objectives. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein said any type includes at least one of:
 a ticket type;   a group type;   a user-defined type;   an assets type;   a documents type; and   a people type;   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein said first plurality of sets of data is associated with a plurality of related data of any type based on business objectives. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein said any type includes at least one of:
 a request type;   a project type;   a task type;   an approvals type;   a human resources system type;   an LDAP type;   a users type;   a group type;   an SLA agreements type;   a contracts type;   a maintenance agreement type;   a main asset type;   a purchasing system asset type;   a scanning system type;   an inventory system type;   a files type;   an images type;   a fax type;   a employee type;   a customer type;   a vendor type; and   a skills type.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the act of:
 using an integration mechanism for integrating input and output from integrating tools, work assist tools and terminal emulators into said data.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the act of integrating includes:
 capturing input commands associated with using said work assist tools and terminal emulators;   capturing output associated with said input commands;   storing said captured input commands and said captured output in associated communications data.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the act of:
 using a subscription mechanism for allowing end-users to subscribe to at least a subset of said communications data.   
     
     
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