The simplest example is e-mail. What is often called the father of groupware is Lotus Notes. It allows several people to work on a document across a distributed enterprise. Virtually any application that enables sharing and synchronizing data among multiple users can be called workgroup computing or groupware. Workflow, on the other hand, deals with the processes that have to be done to complete an operation.
Workflow software keeps track of who does what next.
When documents have to be reviewed by several people in order, workflow software ensures that the documents flow to the respective users in a timely manner. The workgroup model is information-centered. The workflow model is process-centered. Inc. All Rights Reserved.