PowerShell…

is an extensible automation engine from Microsoft. PowerShell has several key features that make it the perfect choice for automation. Users can accomplish in a few lines of PowerShell, what used to take 100’s of lines of traditional script.

PowerShell provides access to all .NET facilities and has extensive industry support to automate systems, both from Microsoft and third party vendors like VMware.

PowerShell has a very active community that provides an excellent resource of sample scripts and helpful suggestions.

However…

Scripts tend to be static, and can be cumbersome to modify to meet changing needs and when developing a script users tend to think granularly, not at the business process level. Plus, PowerShell requires .NET programming knowledge to truly excel at it.

Workflows…

are visual representations of a business processes, similar to a flow-charts.

Workflow are self-documenting, since they represent your business process in a visual manner. They are constructed using simple drag & drop operations, and are easy to modify to reflect changes in operations or environment. Building workflows, the user tends to think of the problem at a “higher” level, or at the process-level verses lines of code in a traditional scripting. Therefore, you tend to about *WHAT* you want verses *HOW* to do it.

However…

traditional workflows do have their pitfalls. The Higher level of abstraction can make low-level operations, such as string manipulation somewhat cumbersome. In addition, workflow technology is still emerging and lacks the robust vendor & community support found in PowerShell.

By combining PowerShell…

with Workflow Technologies you get the best of both worlds. PowerWF gives you all the strengths of PowerShell with an easy to use drag and drop interface. PowerWF has a large breadth of coverage: If you can automate it in PowerShell, you can use it within PowerWF.

PowerWF provides a low barrier to entry for the non-programmer. Drag and Drop interface, coupled with integrated help and examples help users get going quickly.

Domain Admins are able to Visualize their Business Practices, allowing them to think of WHAT they want, not HOW to accomplish.

PowerWF scripts are dynamic. With a few mouse clicks, you can change your workflow to meet your changing needs. Your developers can continue to use PowerShell, but your Domain Experts can now interact with them, allowing you to leverage the entire organization.

The key PowerWF is to leverage the skill sets of the Developer & Domain Expert to implement Best Practices that the entire organization can benefit from. And it’s a two way street. Scripter’s and Administrators can each leverage the others skills.