Hi all,

This may sounds a little odd but I have a customer asking for a detailed comparison between K2[BlackPearl] and Windows Workflow Foundation (WF). His argument is that nothing that BP does cannot be done if you use WF directly.

I tried to explain to him the basic idea that BP is built on top of WF. And although everything done by BP can be done using WF, you end up reinventing the wheel and redoing most of the work that BP gives you out-of-box.

He is insisting to have a point-to-point comparison between BP and WF. Could you please direct me to any kind of whitepaper or something providing such comparison?

Thank you.

 

That seems pretty interesting.  The question is rather how do you compare a developer's API with a server based product?

It's like saying I want to compare doing something with ASP.NET but achieve the same functionality as Commerce Server or MOSS.

Sure.. you could achieve the same functionality over time but your problem is that you need to custom build every single functional bit that is not available in the API.

Just a simple obvious list of things that are not there in WF (which you have to custom build):

1. State management and data persistence
2. Process and Business data reports.  Wizards to allow creation of custom reports on the fly.  Ability to extend them further in Reporting Services for complex reports.
3. Out of the box wizards integration with MOSS, InfoPath.
4. SmartObject/Service Broker framework which allows you to create business entities and link them to backend data sources without writing code in most cases.
5. Drag and drop design canvases.
6. Powerful MOSS integration with most of the key MOSS features.  e.g. BDC, Worklist Webpart, Search, Records Center, etc.
7. Administrative tools to manage your process instances and servers
8. Scalable architecture using NLB, Windows Clustering (database).
9. ... <The list goes on>

Of course this is not to say that WF isn't good but rather, they operate at different levels.  BP is built completely on top of WF so that pretty much says a lot of how we are using it (I think BP is pretty unique in this sense as no other product ties in to WF the same way).

Your customer *could* probably build something that has sufficient functionality to meet his near term application needs but if he is looking for a functionally advanced platform that he can extend upon and change rapidly accordingly to the business needs of the enterprise, he would probably be better off using BP.

After you do show him the list, remind him of this little equation, which I think was found somewhere in Einstein's special theory of relativity:

Time = Money

I could be mistaken about the Einstein thing, but I saw it on the Internet, so it must be true.  :)

 

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Hi Aboodii

Another consideration your client needs to make is who does he/she want to maintain the business process once it is developed?

If it is built using WF that completely excludes the likes of Business Analysts being involved in the maintenance and optimisation of their own processes. This means your client is completely reliant on .net devs to make these amendments. ($$$'s).

I see one of the real benefits of K2 is that it promotes collaboration between IT and the Business. The Business Analyst models the process and then IT can provide some of the smarts behind the process. (And this will may often involve round tripping between both IT and the business which of course BlackPearl supports).     

I would urge you to talk with your client about their business requirements around workflow/business process management before entering into any comparison between BlackPearl and custom built WF application or anything else for that matter.  

You should get them to consider things like:

Are their processes complex? i.e Will the workflow span multiple business units? Will the workflow involve multiple steps or people? Will there be a number of "If Then Else"scenarios?

Is there likely to be more than one person reviewing/authorising the workflow?
Is there likely to be Parallel conditional actions (The execution of an action based on some condition)
Does Customer require the ability to develop custom actions?
What are their reporting requirements – i.e Do they require full visibility of their processes i.e to view average duration or bottlenecks. And for this information to be easily surfaced to management so they can make informed decisions?
Who do you want to be building and maintaining your business processes(IT only, Business Folk and IT)?
Does your customer require the ability to delegate processes? i.e Assign to another team member 

If they require the functionality from above and have some level of complexity around their processes they would have to have "rocks in their head" to develop this using WF!

Cheers

Robin

 

 

Hi Aboodii

Its not that odd at all, I've seen it at quite a few customers. I think its called DIY :-)

Lots of fun when you are building something in your garage, but not recommended for building business systems for paying customers/business stakeholders.

Regards

H 

 

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Thank you guys.

Your ideas and hints have helped me a lot.

Cheers

Aboodii