Workflow systems and methods for project management and information management

• US 8,005,910 B2
• Filed: 04/19/2010
• Issued: 08/23/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 07/28/1997
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Juniper Networks Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Juniper Networks Incorporated
• Inventors: Ouchi, Norman Ken
• Primary Examiner(s): Neurauter, Jr.; George C
• Application Number:
  US12/762,969
• Publication Number:
  US 20100198934A1
• Time in Patent Office: 491 Days
• Field of Search: 709/206, 709/238
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management

Abstract

The present invention relates to workflow systems and methods. In one embodiment, the invention relates to integration of a calendar system with a workflow system where a calendar event can initiate a workflow by sending a message to a form route manager. The completion of a workflow or step in the workflow can result in sending a message to a calendar system to generate an event. In another embodiment, the invention relates to the integration of workflow with a project management system that includes project segments, which are processes that can be defined and controlled by workflow routes. The project management system sends a message to the workflow system to initiate workflow and the workflow system sends a message to the project management system, for example, at the completion of the workflow route. The relationship between the workflow routes can maintain the relationship between the project segments. If the relationships between project segments change, the relationship between the workflow routes changes without added effort.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving a message from a form route manager at a first destination address, the message being associated with a workflow process;

receiving data from a user based on the message to produce a populated message; and

sending the populated message to the form route manager such that the form route manager sends the populated message to a first user at a second destination address in response to the populated message, the second destination address being from a plurality of destination addresses in a sequential route associated with the workflow process.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a notification message from the form route manager at the first destination address, the notification message identifying a status of the populated message in the workflow process.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a notification message from the form route manager at the first destination address after the form route manager receives a response from a last destination address from the plurality of destination addresses.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

after the sending, sending an information request related to a status of the workflow process from the form route manager.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

sending a workflow termination request to the form route manager after a modified message is received from the form route manager at the first destination address, the modified message being produced when a last user at a last destination address from the plurality of destination addresses modifies the data of the populated message.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the second destination address is one of an email address, an IP address, or a Web address.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the sending the populated message is performed such that the form route manager sends the populated message to each destination address from the plurality of destination addresses sequentially.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the receiving the message, the receiving data, or the sending is performed automatically by a computing system based on event data stored within the computing system.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the data is associated with a document having a response request.

10. A method, comprising:

sending an access request for a Web page at a first destination address associated with a form route manager, the Web page being associated with a workflow process;

receiving data associated with an empty field of the Web page to produce a populated Web page; and

sending the populated Web page to the form route manager such that the form route manager sends a message containing a second destination address associated with the populated Web page to a first user at a first email address in response to the populated Web page, the first email address being from a plurality of email addresses in a sequential route associated with the workflow process.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

receiving a notification message from the form route manager at a notification address, the notification message identifying a status of the populated Web page in the workflow process.

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

receiving a notification message from the form route manager at a notification address after the form route manager receives a response from a last email address from the plurality of email addresses.

13. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

sending a workflow termination request to the form route manager after a modified Web page is received from the form route manager at a last email address from the plurality of email addresses, the last email address being associated with an initiator of the workflow process, the modified Web page being produced when a second user at a second email address from the plurality of email addresses modifies the data of the populated Web page.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the sending the populated Web page is performed such that the form route manager sends the populated Web page to each email address from the plurality of email addresses sequentially.

15. The method of claim 10, wherein at least one of the sending the access request, the receiving the data, or the sending the populated Web page is performed automatically by a computing system based on event data stored within the computing system.

16. The method of claim 10, wherein the data is associated with a document having a response request.

17. An apparatus, comprising:

a memory; and

a processor, at least a portion of the processor including at least a portion of the memory,

the processor configured to send a first message to a form route manager at a first destination address, the first message identifying a workflow process to be initiated from a plurality of workflow processes,

the processor configured to receive a second message associated with the identified workflow process from the form route manager, the processor configured to update the second message to include a plurality of email addresses to produce a workflow message, the plurality of email addresses defining a sequential route associated with the identified workflow process, and

the processor configured to send the workflow message to the form route manager at the first destination address, the form route manager configured to send the workflow message to each email address from the plurality of email addresses in the route in response to the workflow message.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the processor is configured to update the workflow message with data input by a user such that the workflow message with the data is sent to each destination address in the route via the form route manager in response to the workflow message with the data.

19. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the processor is configured to update the workflow message with data input by the second user such that the processor sends the workflow message with the data to the form route manager at the first destination address.

20. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the processor is configured to send the workflow message to the form route manager at the first destination address to be stored within a memory of the form route manager, the workflow message being accessible to a user via the form route manager.

21. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the second message is generated by the form route manager based on the first message.

22. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the first destination address is one of an email address, an IP address, or a Web address.