1. A system for communicating between an apparatus hosting a workflow application and a device, the system comprising: a processor, at the apparatus, configured to extract information from a first device output, received from the device, send, via a communication unit, the extracted information to an external apparatus, the external apparatus, the device, and the apparatus being different from and external to one another, and transition to a workflow step in response to receiving a response from the external apparatus, a workflow translator, at the apparatus, configured to translate the workflow step into a device instruction, the device instruction being based on device specifications and instructing the device to modify configuration parameters previously set in the device and to perform a function with the modified configuration parameters at the device, and configured to send the device instruction from a workflow engine that contains the workflow step to the device; and the workflow engine, which is at the apparatus and is configured to directly receive a second device output from the device, the second device output corresponding to the function instructed by the device instruction and being different from the first device output.