Resource Modeling in Workflow Applications

Collaborative applications such as workflow management systems separate between a process model and an organizational model. While the process modeling capabilities of current workflow management systems are at a high level, the organizational meta models provided by these systems are very often at a very elementary level. Moreover, most systems fail to provide means to integrate non-human actors in workflow applications such as intelligent agents or technical resources, such as PPC systems or CNC machines. We provide a generic framework for the representation of resources that can be addressed by a workflow activity. In addition to a generic meta model we discuss dynamic issues that occur during the assignment process. A proposal for the realization of feedback evolution in order to enable organizational learning and security considerations conclude this paper. Resource Modeling in Workflow Applications Abstract. Collaborative applications such as workflow management systems separate between a process model and an organizational model. While the Collaborative applications such as workflow management systems separate between a process model and an organizational model. While the process modeling capabilities of current workflow management systems are at a high level, the organizational meta models provided by these systems are very often at a very elementary level. Moreover, most systems fail to provide means to integrate non-human actors in workflow applications such as intelligent agents or technical resources, such as production planning and control systems or computerized numerical control machines. We provide a generic framework for the representation of resources that can be addressed by a workflow activity. In addition to a generic meta model we discuss dynamic issues that occur during the assignment process. A proposal for the realization of feedback evolution in order to enable organizational learning and security considerations conclude this paper. 1 Resource Modeling for Collaborative Work The representation of organizational structures has become an increasingly important part of information system design. Beyond the traditional functions of accounting or human resources management, collaborative application systems such as groupware or workflow management systems rely on a division between the business processes, i. e. the temporal and logical order of those activities that are necessary to process a business object [1], and the structure of the resources that perform these activities. The resource model itself can be separated into the static resource meta model, i. e. the entity and relationship types provided by the resource model, the dynamic assignment rules (policy resolution, cf. e.g. [2,3]) and the synchronization mechanisms that coordinate the resource access to workflow activities. In this paper we present a resource meta model and discuss several dynamic issues relevant to a unified resource model. The terminology used within this paper follows the reference model of the Workflow Management Coalition, the relevant definitions can be found in [4]. We distinguish a buildtime, during which the model of a workflow process is created by a workflow designer, and a runtime, during which workflow instances are derived from the workflow model and executed under the control of one or more workflow management systems. During the enactment of a workflow instance, workflow activities are executed by workflow participants that use invoked application systems eventually. A resource is an entity that is assigned to a workflow activity and is requested at runtime to perform work in order to complete the objective of this activity. A resource model contains the definition of human and technical resources that are involved in the execution of a workflow model as workflow participants. We use the term resource model in order not to focus solely on workflow in administrative environments. Workflow management systems may also be used in industrial applications, interfacing with production planning and control (PPC) systems, computerized numerical control (CNC) machines and software agents among others, which have to be defined for use in the workflow management system through the resource model. The division between a process model on the one side and a resource model on the other side fosters the separate evolution of both models. We assume that the life-cycle of human resources within an enterprise varies from the life cycles of the enterprise’s processes. Therefore, this separation enables workflow designers to create workflow models that are independent of changes in the organizational structure of the enterprise, adding to their robustness. On the other hand, a separate resource model may be shared by several workflow engines that are used within one enterprise, reducing administrative overhead and preventing possible redundancies, thus increasing the quality of the data maintained. Within the reference model of the Workflow Management Coalition the management of resource information lies within the responsibility of the workflow engine [4]. Therefore, most workflow vendors have implemented proprietary resource management facilities for their workflow management systems. This can lead to problems in larger organizations, if several workflow management systems are involved in the execution of a complex process. These systems cannot share common information about the resources of the enterprise, leading to data redundancies. In addition to this, information such as the workload of single resources can only be determined if the distributed information of the single workflow management systems is consolidated. This information may not be easily accessible, therefore, the efficient use of the enterprise’s resources can only be realized locally.