Understanding Workflow(From SalesForce)

What is Workflow?
Workflow automates the following types of actions based on your organization's processes:

• Tasks—Assign a new task to a user, role, or record owner.
• Email Alerts—Send an email to one or more recipients you specify.
• Field Updates—Update the value of a field on a record.
• Outbound Messages—Send a secure, configurable API message (in XML format) to a designated listener.

For example, workflow can:

• Assign follow-up tasks to a support rep one week after a case is updated.
• Send sales management an email alert when a sales rep qualifies a large deal.
• Change the Owner field on a contract three days before it expires.
• Trigger an outbound API message to an external HR system to initiate the reimbursement process for an approved expense report.

Each workflow rule consists of:

• Criteria that cause the workflow rule to run.
• Immediate actions that execute when a record matches the criteria. For example, Salesforce can automatically send an email that notifies the account team when a new high-value opportunity is created.
• Time-dependent actions that queue when a record matches the criteria, and execute according to time triggers. For example, Salesforce can automatically send an email reminder to the account team if a high-value opportunity is still open ten days before the close date.