Sugar 7.6 includes a new process management tool, Process Author, for Enterprise and Ultimate subscribers. At a basic level, you can think of Process Author as an advanced workflow tool — not a replacement for the workflow engine already available in SugarCRM, but another option in your toolkit. Process Author delivers certain functions that Sugar workflows lack, such as the ability to dynamically update field values and establish wait periods between actions. However, at least in this initial release, workflow capabilities exceed Process Author for tasks such as monitoring a change to, or from, a specific value in a field. Sugar Support has a great knowledge base article on the differences between the two tools and when one or the other is going to be the best fit.

Besides new workflow options, Process Author adds value with more robust process management in SugarCRM. For example, Process Author enables the creation of multi-step processes for sales, quoting, or customer service, to name just a few. Plus, the visual nature of Process Author makes it intuitive to learn. The quote approval process below is a great example of a multi-step process with branching logic.

Process Author is used primarily by system administrators who can set up and monitor processes. Any users, however, can be assigned to complete processes, such as an approval process.

Process Author is a great reason to consider moving to Sugar Enterprise. Contact sales@techadv.com for more information about the differences between Professional and Enterprise editions and to discuss whether Enterprise might be right for you.