Workflow software is commonly used by businesses to help automate their business processes. Workflow takes a business’ processes and breaks them down step by step so that these processes can be broken up and done by different parts of the company while keeping the workflow consistent and steps do not get missed. The workflow software knows all the procedures within the company, the steps for each procedure and it also knows each step’s rules. The software manages when the process is sufficient to move to the next step. It organizes the input and output information and provides the tools a company needs for each step of the business’ process. The workflow software usually focuses more on the company processes than the data or documents. Online forms create a consistent way of handling the process of a company’s workflow model. Some of the most common industries that use workflow software for automation are banking and insurance. Because workflow software helps with the workflow modeling and task analysis, it improves business operations.

Businesses like an insurance company could use workflow software to make sure that their claims were handled in a consistent manner from the very first client phone call to the final insurance settlement. Each employee of the insurance company who handles the claim would need to use the correct online form and successfully complete their part of the process in the workflow process before the next person could start their part of the process. This way no steps get missed and important details do not get missed. This creates a more professional presence in the eyes of their customers because they see an organized handling of their claim.

Open source software or community developed software is usually developed in a collaborative manner. The source code is available and the license is open. Most often, open source software is produced by a network of volunteer programmers. One of the biggest examples of open source software would be Apache which is a web server. They did so well, that IBM decided to join Apache showing that it was trustworthy and valuable, rather than continuing to build their own version which was not as good as what the open source Apache was. Other examples of successful open source software are the internet browser Mozilla Firefox and the operating system Linux. Open source software is important because it is often led by the brain power of the academic and scientific communities. They are self organized and create a peer reviewed science to discover new things and increase the store of knowledge in the world. The peer review is the open-source where all weaknesses or problems can be caught by one another. Once the source code is shared, it can be downloaded and changed by the public. There are certain strings attached such as always giving credit back to the original source. The beauty of the open source community is what can happen when many individuals work with the open-source software as a base and then build upon it creating something bigger and better and then they in turn share it back