Recent studies have confirmed that while many organizations have found a place for SharePoint in their net­works, they are not utilizing it fully. Most people are familiar with the sharing and collaboration capabilities in SharePoint, but few take advantage of features that can simplify and enforce business rules. These capabilities are normally implemented through the use of workflows and, while they can be complex, most workflow solu­tions are quite simple. Even when customized workflow features are needed, the skills of developers might not be necessary because of the simplified tools and wizards available in SharePoint Designer.

Think of some of the processes that might be necessary because of document change or archiving rules within an organization. These events might start business processes where file changes need to be approved, important documents must be moved, or users need to be notified of status changes. Even when existing processes work well, automating and enforcing them through SharePoint workflows can be faster and more efficient.