[podtech content=http://media1.podtech.net/media/2007/11/PID_013050/Podtech_LongJump.flv&postURL=http://www.podtech.net/home/4581/longjump-into-a-new-kind-of-business-workflow&totalTime=1800000&breadcrumb=05103048bc7d47e885c4a33e4789ac30]
Longjump recently won a DemoGod award so I wanted to see what caught Chris Shipley’s eye (she’s the one who organizes the excellent Demo Conference). Here Longjump’s CEO, Pankaj Malviya shows me Longjump, which is aimed at small businesses.
Pankaj gives a compelling demo. I can see why he won DemoGod. But, I’m wondering if any of you are using this in your business? If not, what are you using instead? Have you even thought of building a workflow system like this for your business?
UPDATE: Mike Gunderloy, over on Web Worker Daily, writes a lot more about Long Jump and says that it wants to be your online office.
Scobleizer 
Erm, minor but *very* important detail – Microsoft’s Workflow Foundation is free (as in beer). Its part of the .NET framework and hence you don’t need to pay anything to use it for development.
This is a very irritating mistake as the conclusion isn’t actually invalid – the Microsoft stuff, though free, sits at a relatively low level i.e. its principally a tool for developers and those (developers – or at least their time) tend not to be free in a commercial context.
Of course at a higher level there’s sharepoint and there’s “workflow” in that – but I can never grasp where the free/paid for split is with that (being a developer and therefore able to play at a lower level).
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Erm, minor but *very* important detail – Microsoft’s Workflow Foundation is free (as in beer). Its part of the .NET framework and hence you don’t need to pay anything to use it for development.
This is a very irritating mistake as the conclusion isn’t actually invalid – the Microsoft stuff, though free, sits at a relatively low level i.e. its principally a tool for developers and those (developers – or at least their time) tend not to be free in a commercial context.
Of course at a higher level there’s sharepoint and there’s “workflow” in that – but I can never grasp where the free/paid for split is with that (being a developer and therefore able to play at a lower level).
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Good point, but I seem to remember that a lot of the workflow stuff required Office and/or some server stuff. I guess I need to look into Microsoft’s solution as well and see how it compares.
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Good point, but I seem to remember that a lot of the workflow stuff required Office and/or some server stuff. I guess I need to look into Microsoft’s solution as well and see how it compares.
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I think you’re confusing two different sets of technologies:
1) There’s the workflow foundation libraries in .NET which do pretty much what they say i.e. provide a set of tools (primitives) which form the foundations for workflow applications developed using .NET
2) There’s workflow stuff in sharepoint and for the latter its a fairly safe bet that – even if the support is included in the free version – to get the real benefits you’ll need to buy (into) Microsoft Office and yes, that costs.
As I said the conclusion may well be valid – but you need to base it on accurate facts…
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I think you’re confusing two different sets of technologies:
1) There’s the workflow foundation libraries in .NET which do pretty much what they say i.e. provide a set of tools (primitives) which form the foundations for workflow applications developed using .NET
2) There’s workflow stuff in sharepoint and for the latter its a fairly safe bet that – even if the support is included in the free version – to get the real benefits you’ll need to buy (into) Microsoft Office and yes, that costs.
As I said the conclusion may well be valid – but you need to base it on accurate facts…
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murph: I agree. I just pulled that part of my post out.
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murph: I agree. I just pulled that part of my post out.
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Robert-I prefer WinWeb.com for my online office needs.
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Robert-I prefer WinWeb.com for my online office needs.
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I have been building a number of work flows using LongJump in my coaching business. I will be launching a new service using LongJump integrated into my Wiki content that will allow small business owners to “work on” their business and get specific tasks completed.
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I have been building a number of work flows using LongJump in my coaching business. I will be launching a new service using LongJump integrated into my Wiki content that will allow small business owners to “work on” their business and get specific tasks completed.
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To me LongJump is not just about Workflow. I have been using their CRM application as well as OfficeSpace which is really helping us coordinate our team’s sales efforts.
I would love to see Graphical Workflow from them though.
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To me LongJump is not just about Workflow. I have been using their CRM application as well as OfficeSpace which is really helping us coordinate our team’s sales efforts.
I would love to see Graphical Workflow from them though.
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I wonder why all these tools have no macro language built-in? So far the iMacros Firefox/IE add-on is the only effective way to automate an online application.
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I wonder why all these tools have no macro language built-in? So far the iMacros Firefox/IE add-on is the only effective way to automate an online application.
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Clarizen offers the graphical workflow Rajesh is looking for, but is a lot more project-managey, less CRM-focused than LongJump. Chris Shipley’s also a fan: “The SMB market is wide open for Clarizen right now, as they’re one of only a few companies offering a powerful and practical solution to the segment.”
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Clarizen offers the graphical workflow Rajesh is looking for, but is a lot more project-managey, less CRM-focused than LongJump. Chris Shipley’s also a fan: “The SMB market is wide open for Clarizen right now, as they’re one of only a few companies offering a powerful and practical solution to the segment.”
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As someone that advises computer consultants working with small businesses to use technology to better manage their businesses, I know that there are often a lack of tech products out there designed specifically for the small business owner. Workflow systems can be really useful to make doing business more efficient. And because small business owners are often not tech experts (they have more important things to worry about, which is why they very often rely on hiring a professional computer consulting firm to provide them with on-going support), they need products that are going to be easy to use and not have incredibly huge learning curves that will take away from their benefits. I’d be interested in finding out how this is working for a typical small business owner!
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As someone that advises computer consultants working with small businesses to use technology to better manage their businesses, I know that there are often a lack of tech products out there designed specifically for the small business owner. Workflow systems can be really useful to make doing business more efficient. And because small business owners are often not tech experts (they have more important things to worry about, which is why they very often rely on hiring a professional computer consulting firm to provide them with on-going support), they need products that are going to be easy to use and not have incredibly huge learning curves that will take away from their benefits. I’d be interested in finding out how this is working for a typical small business owner!
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The right workflow systems implemented in the right can have major benefits to any business of any size. Although business that involve a lot of moving information and information moving between more than one person stand to gain greater benefit.
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The right workflow systems implemented in the right can have major benefits to any business of any size. Although business that involve a lot of moving information and information moving between more than one person stand to gain greater benefit.
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