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Show HN: Document and automate your operations playbooks and business processes

workflow86.com

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Re: Show HN: Document and automate your operations playbooks and business processes

#13

Post by taaron »

gotstad wrote: post #6

It has been claimed for years that some day in the future "everyone will have to learn how to code". While I don't really disagree with that statement, I am much more inclined to believe that it will be tools like these that regular folks will adopt, rather than using conventional IDEs and writing scripts. My company just started using Power Automate and Power Apps, and after getting over the initial learnings, we ha…

Thank you! 100% agree. The amount of operational expertise and knowledge held by non-technical people is massive. Empower the individual to unlock, capture and scale their expertise as software and you really do get true digital transformation.

Re: Show HN: Document and automate your operations playbooks and business processes

#15

Post by jimmygrapes »

I couldn't tell from an initial review of the feature set, but does this product incorporate any sort of digital signature / approval process? And I don't mean integration with DocuSign or similar, but something built in (and legally compliant). This feature alone has been a pain point for me for years when it comes to document flow and approvals, usually because of exorbitant pricing for per-user signing. Contract draft developed by a paralegal or similar, goes to legal for initial approval, then goes to safety dept and finance dept for their review and approval, then to maintenance for feedback and approval, then back to the legal department for adjustment, then to the other party (without access to your internal system) to edit and/or approve "as to form" (vs approve as complete), back to your legal dept and then again to the various VPs/directors, etc.

The other, semi-related feature I crave is the ability to generate entire documents from piecemeal templates. For example, drafting a new service contract where there are boilerplate paragraphs that must be included, with certain aspects replaceable (i.e. "Party 1" in the template can be replaced with "Bill's Plumbing, Inc."). Probably need to throw a force majeure clause in there, and an arbitration clause, and a bunch of other standard things, but maybe this particular document needs to have a clause about compliance with FAA regulations because they use drones to inspect piping.

For those purposes, some nice haves are: Automatic renumbering of sections and subsections, and automatic reference updating ("In accordance with section 5(f)(i) documented herein" or whatever) if paragraphs or sections are reordered for any reason. Multiple columns and sections, recognition of the occasional need to print hard copies. Version control and diffing.

Not sure if any of that makes sense or is doable already, but just a few thoughts on how I would personally use such a system as I understand it. Might not apply to the use case here, in which case sorry for wasting your time!

Re: Show HN: Document and automate your operations playbooks and business processes

#16

Post by taaron »

jimmygrapes wrote: post #15

I couldn't tell from an initial review of the feature set, but does this product incorporate any sort of digital signature / approval process? And I don't mean integration with DocuSign or similar, but something built in (and legally compliant). This feature alone has been a pain point for me for years when it comes to document flow and approvals, usually because of exorbitant pricing for per-user signing. Contract d…

It absolutely does make sense, I was actually in corporate law before consulting!

"does this product incorporate any sort of digital signature / approval process?"

We have a component dedicated to building out approval steps and plan to integrate a way for users to "digitally sign off" that they completed it. Happy to chat through this use case, and we can build it out for you?

"generate entire documents from piecemeal templates"

You can indeed generate documents from templates using our Document Editor component with logic to select certain clauses etc. We've actually got a playbook for generating Non-Disclosure Agreements you can try out to see it in action: https://app.workflow86.com/template/dba33e59-e4a2-422f-9460-...

Re: Show HN: Document and automate your operations playbooks and business processes

#18

Post by bottled_poe »

jimmygrapes wrote: post #15

I couldn't tell from an initial review of the feature set, but does this product incorporate any sort of digital signature / approval process? And I don't mean integration with DocuSign or similar, but something built in (and legally compliant). This feature alone has been a pain point for me for years when it comes to document flow and approvals, usually because of exorbitant pricing for per-user signing. Contract d…

I agree, the first thing I looked for in the docs was authorisation controls/checkpoints. I need a trail of approvals and review checkpoints. This is far more important than integrations, etc.

Also, Business processes are not static. I would like to understand how changes in process are managed.

Re: Show HN: Document and automate your operations playbooks and business processes

#19

Post by taaron »

peer2pay wrote: post #17

Looks great! Out of curiosity, how do you plan to compete with & distinguish yourself from well-funded players in the space like Integromat[1] etc? [1] https://www.integromat.com

Right now our main point of difference is consolidation. We allow users to build and manage more of their workflow with just one platform vs duct-taping together 6 different SaaS tools like you would in Integromat. Our thesis is that it is easier to build, run and maintain more complex workflows when as much of its functionality as possible is managed natively in one place.
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