Bamboo Releases Latest Version of Workflow Conductor; Improved Automation & Management of Business Processes with Microsoft SharePoint

Over 100 new and improved features provide revolutionary enhancements to business process automation using SharePoint.

Bamboo SolutionsWorkflow ConductorTM, Bamboo's application suite designed to extend business process automation in SharePoint. With its expanded functionality, including features unavailable in competing products, Workflow Conductor 1.5 represents the next step in an evolving product line built to simplify process automation for businesses of every shape and size. With Workflow Conductor, Bamboo continues to challenge traditional barriers to broader adoption of business process automation, including ease of use, cost of ownership, and integration with existing IT infrastructure.

Workflow Conductor features an easy-to-use drag-and-drop interface that enables automation of everyday business processes without coding or IT intervention, and includes advanced workflow management features not otherwise available in SharePoint. Some of the features in the latest release provide the ability to:

  • Perform cross-site updates, such as readingand editing SharePoint data, triggering external workflows, and more. Workflows are no longer bound exclusively to items in the originating site, as Workflow Conductor widgets can now update items in different sites and site collections.
  • Set a workflow step toimpersonate the workflow initiator, designer, or any other account. The ability to apply alternate SharePoint credentials to individual workflow steps frees workflows from the restricted capabilities of any single user.
  • Create a miniature workflow-within-a-workflow that runs a sequence of steps for each item in a list using the new "Repeat For Each Item" widget. This process of repeating a series of actions will be automatically and sequentially applied to every item in a list or library.
  • Manage users, groups, and profiles in Active Directory and SharePoint with a new selection of user management widgets. These new Active Directory and User Profile widgets allow administrators to easily automate tasks related to user account creation and management.
  • Allow all designers to create workflows, or designate specific users or groups as approved workflow designers. With this new feature for administrators, workflow creation can now be easily restricted to specific users or groups.
  • Limit workflow deployments to scheduled days and times. Published workflows will wait until specified windows to deploy, allowing administrators to enforce change management rules.

Bamboo seeks to make business process automation using SharePoint easier and more affordable for the small to medium enterprise, where cost of ownership has been a barrier to adoption. Priced at only $4,500 per server, including annual support, Workflow Conductor provides an innovative feature set at a fraction of the cost of other workflow solutions.

Workflow Conductor is built on Microsoft's Windows Workflow Foundation, ensuring long term compatibility with key Microsoft technologies, including SharePoint, Microsoft Office®, and the .NET platform. Workflow Conductor will leverage Microsoft's ongoing investments in Windows Workflow Foundation to provide new features and capabilities in future versions.

"Offering a complete set of tools for creating and managing custom workflows in SharePoint is representative of Bamboo's approach to the development of revolutionary SharePoint applications," says Mike Tanner, CEO of Bamboo Solutions. "Extending the native functionality of SharePoint for administrators and end users, and providing a flexible, easy-to-use interface for creating and managing reusable workflows provides our signature balance between ease of use and robust applications."

Workflow Conductor is available now for download, trial, and purchase on the Bamboo Web site (http://www.bamboosolutions.com/). An optional premium support package is also available.