Patent ID: 7890962

Claim:
A method for modifying a business process, comprising: sending definition metadata from a backend application of a backend enterprise server to a groupware client to enable one or more conditions associated with a business process rule of the backend application to be defined from within a context of the groupware client, the groupware client being a collaborative application of an office suite of applications having an associated groupware server that provides services to associated collaborative applications, wherein the backend application of the backend enterprise server interacts directly with the groupware client via an enterprise groupware interface, bypassing the groupware server, to allow access to the groupware client to enterprise data associated with execution of a workflow from within the context of the groupware client; receiving response metadata from the groupware client, wherein the response metadata indicates the defined one or more conditions associated with the business process rule; and applying the defined conditions for the business process rule to the backend application of the backend enterprise server, including triggering the business process rule in the backend application when one or more of the defined conditions are met; and sending workflow object creation metadata to the groupware client to create a workflow object from within the context of the groupware client in response to the triggered business process rule.