Workflows
What is Mendix Workflow?
Mendix Workflow is a visual modelling tool integrated into Mendix Studio Pro that allows you to design and automate business processes. The integrated workflow editor allows business and IT to work together on reaching business goals.
When should I use Mendix Workflow?
Workflows are typically used to improve one of the following:
- KPI improvement (e.g. reduce handling time by 15%)
- Compliance (who did what, when and what has been decided)
- Risk mitigation (SLA, penalties, lost work)
Does Mendix support end-to-end process automation?
Mendix provides a complete solution for process automation, enabling organizations to design, deploy, and optimize workflows from start to finish. The platform allows users to model business processes, automate tasks, and integrate with third-party systems seamlessly. With Mendix’s visual modeling tools, both technical and business users can create and modify processes without needing deep coding expertise, resulting in faster development cycles and greater flexibility. This can be done with Mendix Workflow or Mendix Microflows or both.
For more information, see I Wish I’d Started Using Workflows Sooner (blog post).
How can I approach process automation with Mendix Microflows and Mendix Workflow?
Mendix Workflow orchestrates tasks, approvals, and notifications, while Microflows handle backend logic, integrations and data manipulation. Combined, they enable both front-end and back-end automation. This allows for the automation of simple tasks and complex, multi-step workflows with ease.
How does Mendix Workflow differ from Microflows?
Microflows are used for modelling specific logic and are typically executed as single transactions. Workflows, on the other hand, are designed for long-running business processes that may include multiple user interactions and system tasks. Workflows can pause and resume based on conditions or user inputs.
How does Mendix handle complex workflows involving human interaction or approvals?
Mendix supports workflows that include approvals, task assignments, and notifications. Real-time tracking, dynamic user roles, and escalation rules are included to streamline human interactions.
Who can build workflows in Mendix?
Both professional developers and tech-savvy business users can create workflows using the visual editor and Mendix Studio. The low-code nature of the platform ensures accessibility for users with varying technical expertise.
You don’t need specific BPM expertise to optimize processes with Mx Workflow. Maia, Mendix AI assistant, will help you by generating a workflow from a text prompt, or you can upload an image of a workflow created in another tool and Maia will try to migrate it to Mendix workflow.
How easy is it to design and automate processes with Mendix?
Mendix offers a visual drag-and-drop interface, pre-built templates, and reusable components. This makes it quick and intuitive for teams to automate processes, whether simple or complex. For more information, see Mendix Workflow Commons.
How can workflows be triggered within an application?
Workflows can be triggered manually, for example, after completing a form or automatically, e.g. when an API request is received and an event happens.
How are tasks assigned to users in a workflow?
Tasks are assigned by:
- Selecting roles
- Selecting users
- Build you own custom logic how tasks will be assigned
How does Mendix handle process optimization and continuous improvement?
Mendix includes analytics tools for monitoring workflows, identifying bottlenecks, and optimizing performance. It supports integrations with BI tools to ensure informed decision-making for continuous improvement.
How does Mendix ensure alignment of automated processes with business objectives?
Through agile collaboration between business and IT, Mendix enables iterative development and review. The optional Workflow Commons module provides dashboards for real-time analytics and performance tracking. Of course they can be fully extended, customized and as a developer you can build you own analytics capabilities to directly fed into process optimisation or create reports.
How does Mendix ensure security and compliance in workflows?
Mendix leverages role-based access control, encryption, secure authentication, and audit logging. It complies with standards like GDPR, SOC 2, and ISO 27001. Mendix tights and extensive security and permission capabilities allow developers to define customer security models. Every workflow action can be registered in an audit trail (part of Workflow Commons Module) and can be exported to external systems for archiving purposes.
How scalable is Mendix for process automation?
Mendix is cloud-native and supports deployment on public or private clouds. It scales seamlessly from small departmental apps to enterprise-wide solutions. Large processes can be split into multiple smaller workflows and sub-workflows. Mendix workflow is a native part of each application, so no overhead between UI and process execution and no big monoliths that run all your process. With Mendix each application has its own workflow engine allowing applications to be deployed on multiple cloud stacks.
How quickly can Mendix be implemented for automation?
Mendix is a low code platform to build full-stack applications. Compared to many other business process automation tools, Mendix allows developers to build complete applications in a fraction of the time. Maia, Mendix AI assistant, will help you by generating a workflow from a text prompt, or you can upload an image of a workflow created in another tool and Maia will try to migrate it to Mendix workflow.
How can a process administrator handle in-flight workflows?
Workflows can run from seconds up to months. Every action of the workflow engine is validated and registered. Issues are reported by the workflow engine and as a developer you can add you own criteria when a workflow requires attention from a process administrator or process owner. In-flight workflows can be fully monitored, and actions can be defined for the (process) administrator.
How does Mendix manage workflow versioning and updates?
Mendix supports:
- Automatic upgrade of running workflows when possible.
- Conflict handling if the new definition can’t be applied.
- Version cloning to continue existing workflows with the old version.
Can workflow logic and content be reused across applications?
Mendix supports a modular approach. You can build (components) of often used workflow or sub-workflows, UI, data, integrations etc, as part of a Mendix module and distribute this inside your organisation as a reusable component. An example of this is the Workflow Commons module, where developers can reuse dashboards, inboxes, templates.