Workflow in the 2007 Microsoft Office System

On behalf of the engineers on the Microsoft Office and Windows Workflow Foundation teams who spent over three years building workflow into the 2007 Microsoft Office system, I would like to thank you very much for your interest in Microsoft Office and workflow. I am pleased to recommend this book to you as a roadmap and tutorial for getting started designing and building workflows for Microsoft Office. While we’ve prebuilt the most common review and approval workflows into Microsoft Office, I know well that we did not scratch the surface of all the important processes that or- nizations will need to build as they modernize the way their information workers get their jobs done. That is because a primary goal in building workflow into Windows SharePoint Services and Microsoft Office was to provide a platform for developers to build a wide range of People- Ready Processes. When I say People-Ready Process, I mean to emphasize Microsoft Office’s focus on human-centric workflow scenarios—those business processes that will reduce clutter in your inbox, help you track and correlate information automatically, and hopefully help you get home to your family a bit earlier each day. Speaking of saving time, David Mann has done a heroic job of synthesizing large volumes of information into a well-organized reference for developers and IT administrators alike. I would particularly commend his focus on connecting the topics in this book to real-world scenarios, which makes the technical information even more valuable.