Process Portal for SharePoint Online
Make your integrated management system (IMS) available to all employees in Microsoft 365. Through the interactive process map, employees find process descriptions as well as valid directives, templates and checklists. Process owners maintain their workflows in draft and publish them after approval — for efficient quality and process management.
SharePoint OnlineYour management system — alive instead of scattered.
The process map, process descriptions and directives are the backbone of your management system. The Process Portal brings them to SharePoint in a form your employees can find and understand, and process owners can maintain with ease.
Scattered process diagrams
Processes exist as Visio drawings, images, PDFs or in third-party systems — scattered, inconsistent and with links that break.
Search does not work
Whoever looks for a directive or a process only finds it if they know where it is stored.
Hardly usable on mobile
Large graphics cannot be read or operated on a smartphone.
Every change means redrawing
A new or renamed process means: adjust the graphic, export it, link it again.
Set up
The built-in setup creates lists, term sets, pages and navigation — productive within days.
- Setup wizard
- Templates
Map
The process map is generated from your process data, not from a drawing.
- Bands & groups
- Features & legend
Describe
Process sheet, flow diagram, roles and documents for each process on one page.
- Process sheet
- Flow diagram
Control
Descriptions and documents are approved, versioned and found through search.
- Approval
- Versions
- Search
Every feature in detail
From the process map to the process page and flow diagram, through to approval and search — jump straight to the topic that interests you.
Rendered, not drawn
The interactive process map from data
You maintain your processes in a list — the map is generated from it automatically.
- From process list to map
- New, renamed or renumbered processes appear on the map automatically. Set a process to “Active” — done, without drawing and without a graphics tool.
- Bands, shapes and features
- Three-band layouts, house models or value chains with arrows, houses and shields. Features such as the company become visible as colour or badge, the legend is created automatically and filters dim what does not match. Templates help you get started.
- Usable on mobile too
- On narrow screens the map switches to a linear view with collapsible sections. Text stays text — searchable and accessible.
Process list
Flip the switch at 3.5Everything about one process
The process page with process sheet
Every process has a page with header, process sheet, flow and documents — from the same template, with the same structure.
- Process sheet at a glance
- Purpose, input and output, responsibility, risks and key figures are shown together in a structured way. The header shows number, status, version, approval and next review.
- Context and sub-processes
- Breadcrumbs and the process chain show where the process sits in the hierarchy. Main processes link to their sub-processes, which have their own page.
- Responsibility with a face
- Role, process owner and deputy appear as person cards. The portal explains abbreviations from the abbreviation list as a tooltip.
Win orders
Approved · Version 3- Process owner
- CEO
- Approved
- 12.10.2026 · Q. Muster
- Next review
- October 2027
- Effort for quotes misjudged
- Customer requirements incomplete
- Quote success rate
- Lead time to decision
Step by step
The flow diagram from process steps
The diagram is generated from the list of process steps — the list remains the single source.
- Diagram or table
- Decisions, loops, parallel paths and references to other processes can be modelled. If you prefer a tabular view, switch to the step table with one click.
- Step detail with tools
- Clicking a step shows key points, role, timing and the related documents, systems and tools — all in one place.
- My role highlighted
- The role filter highlights the steps relevant for a function — in the diagram and in the table.
2.1 Win orders
- Clarify customer needs
- Roughly estimate effort
Controlled and traceable
Process approval and document control
In the portal’s reader view, employees see the approved version — process owners work in draft.
- Process approval with version history
- A process description goes through Draft, In review and Approved. On approval the portal stores the approved version, earlier versions remain available, and a comparison shows what has changed.
- Document control in SharePoint
- Directives, templates and checklists live once in a library — with SharePoint versioning, content approval, validity and review date. Mandatory fields prevent incomplete documents.
- Assignment instead of links
- Documents are assigned to processes and process steps via metadata, also several at once. There are no links that can break.
2.1 Win orders
Approved · Version 3- ✓ Draft
- 2 In review
- 3 Approved
In review · Version 4 — readers still see Version 3.
CompareFind instead of search
Process navigator and search
The way to the right process or document is short — via the tree or via search.
- Process navigator
- The process tree with quick search by number and title shows the feature colours of the map and leads straight to the process page.
- Search with refiners
- Process search uses Microsoft Search on your site. Refine by type, process, document type or feature, including by process number.
- Easy to find, for Copilot too
- Process steps and process sheet are structured text on pages and in lists, documents carry metadata. What Microsoft 365 Copilot finds depends on your permissions and search configuration; processes without their own page do not appear as a separate search result.
- 1Management
- 2Service delivery
- 2.1Win orders
- 2.2Plan projects
- 3Support
- 2.1 Win ordersProcess
From the customer enquiry to handing the project order over to planning.
- Quote template.docxDocument
Template · Process 2.1 · Step S20
- Directive quotations.pdfDocument
Directive · Process 2.1 · Step S30
Use in the integrated management system
For quality management and information security
Use the Process Portal to provide the workflows and controlled documents of your management system in SharePoint Online.
Quality management
In quality management according to ISO 9001, employees find, for example, the valid work instruction, template or checklist right at the process and the process step.
Information security
In information security management according to ISO/IEC 27001, you can, for example, document the reporting path for security incidents with responsibilities and provide the related directive at the process.
The standards serve as context of use. The Process Portal provides process descriptions, responsibilities, approvals and controlled documents — it makes no statement about conformity with a standard or certification.
Your data never leaves your tenant.
SoftForge Process Portal runs entirely within your Microsoft 365 environment — following your policies, in your SharePoint, and developed in Switzerland.
- Everything stays in your tenant
- No information leaves your Microsoft 365 tenant. All data stays entirely within your own environment.
- Your policies apply
- SoftForge Process Portal follows your tenant’s policies and compliance rules — no special exceptions, no shadow IT.
- Data in SharePoint
- Documents and content are stored in your SharePoint libraries — with the permissions you already manage.
- Completely Swiss Made
- Developed entirely in Switzerland — by SoftForge, your Swiss software partner.
Because all data stays in your tenant, your own governance, compliance and data protection requirements apply automatically.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
- What is the SoftForge Process Portal and who is it for?
- The Process Portal maps your organisation’s management system (IMS) in SharePoint Online: process map, process pages with process sheet and flow diagram, controlled documents, navigator and search. It is aimed at quality, process and compliance managers who want to make their management system findable for all employees and easy to maintain for process owners.
- Do we have to draw our process map and flow diagrams?
- No. You maintain your processes in a list and their steps in a step list — the process map and flow diagrams are rendered from them. This also applies if your process diagrams currently exist as Visio drawings, images or in another system. New or renamed processes and changed steps appear without changing any graphic. For the map, bundled templates (three-band model, house model, value chain) and an editor with consistency check help you build it; changes are made as a draft first and published separately.
- How quickly is the Process Portal up and running?
- The built-in setup creates the term group, lists, library, views, permission groups, pages, page template and navigation by itself — additive and repeatable as often as needed. Sample content is optional for trying it out. With a template, a new portal is ready within days, without code changes.
- Where is the data stored and how is it protected?
- Everything is in your Microsoft 365 tenant: lists, library and term store. The portal needs no Azure resources, no API permissions and no external services; the web parts work with the permissions of the signed-in user. In the portal’s reader view, employees see the approved version, and drafts of pages are visible to editors only. Important to know: there are no item-level permissions — anyone who opens a list directly in SharePoint also sees items that are not yet approved. The Processes and Process steps lists are therefore excluded from search.
- Which management systems is the Process Portal suited for?
- It is typically used in quality management according to ISO 9001 and in information security management according to ISO/IEC 27001: workflows and responsibilities are documented, directives, templates and checklists are provided under control, and approvals are stored traceably. The Process Portal provides this content; it does not assure conformity with a standard or certification. Audit management, risk treatment and the statement of applicability (SoA) are not part of its scope.
- What are the requirements, and does it work with SharePoint On-Premises?
- The Process Portal is built for SharePoint Online (Microsoft 365) and is deployed as an app in the tenant app catalog. A communication site is recommended for the portal. SharePoint Server (on-premises) is not supported in the current version. The interface is available in German and English, in light and dark theme.
- Can the Process Portal be combined with other SoftForge products?
- In the current version, documents are controlled with the SharePoint standard features for versioning and content approval. Integration with the SoftForge solution for extended document control with an approval workflow and with Read Confirmation is planned as an extension. Talk to us if you are planning this combination.
Request a demo of the Process Portal
Using the example “Win orders”, we show you how the map emerges from your process list, how employees find the valid template and how a process description is approved.
- Address
- Spittel 5
3953 Leuk-Stadt - Phone
- +41 76 393 79 00
- info@softforge.ch