Method and apparatus for examining workflow processes

A method and apparatus for examining workflow processes can include monitoring system having a definition element that selectively defines one or more workflow process elements of a corresponding workflow, and a monitor element that identifies one or more monitoring parameters for each of the workflow process elements. The system can also include one or more operational aspects of the one or more workflow process elements according to corresponding definitions and monitoring parameters.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure relates generally to workflow technologies, and more specifically to a method and apparatus for examining workflow processes.

BACKGROUND

In a commercial setting, it is often customary and efficient to define repeatable processes in a workflow. There are many software solutions for defining and creating automation workflows that are used by enterprise personnel to manage operations of a specific category. Although workflows have had a significant impact in improving commercial operations, it is often difficult to synthesize or interpret raw information associated with a number of monitored workflow processes.

A need therefore arises for a method and apparatus for examining workflow processes.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments in accordance with the present disclosure provide a method and apparatus for examining workflow processes.

In a first embodiment of the present disclosure, a computer-readable storage medium in a Workflow Monitoring System (WMS) can have computer instructions for selectively defining one or more workflow process elements of a corresponding workflow, identifying one or more monitoring parameters for each of the one or more workflow process elements selected, and monitoring one or more operational aspects of the one or more workflow process elements according to its corresponding one or more definitions and one or more monitoring parameters.

In a second embodiment of the present disclosure, a computer-readable storage medium can have computer instructions for submitting to a WMS information associated with one or more operational aspects of one or more workflow process elements of a workflow, wherein the WMS selectively defines the one or more workflow process elements of the workflow, identifies one or more monitoring parameters for each of the one or more workflow process elements selected, and monitors the one or more operational aspects of the one or more workflow process elements according to its corresponding one or more definitions and one or more monitoring parameters.

In a third embodiment of the present disclosure, a WMS can have a definition element that selectively defines one or more workflow process elements of a corresponding workflow, and a monitor element that identifies one or more monitoring parameters for each of the one or more workflow process elements selected, and monitors one or more operational aspects of the one or more workflow process elements according to its corresponding one or more definitions and monitoring parameters.

In a fourth embodiment of the present disclosure, a method can have the step of presenting a Graphical User Interface (GUI) for selectively defining one or more workflow process elements of a corresponding workflow, identifying one or more monitoring parameters for each of the one or more workflow process elements selected, and monitoring one or more operational aspects of the one or more workflow process elements according to its corresponding one or more definitions and one or more monitoring parameters.

FIG. 1depicts an exemplary embodiment of a communication system100. The communication system100can comprise any number of computing systems102-110interconnected by way of a communications network101. The communications network101can comprise common wired and wireless network elements that transfer data between the aforementioned computing systems102-110. The network elements can utilize any common data protocol such as the Internet Protocol, and/or wireless data protocols such as WiMAX, GPRS, EVDO, and so on. The communications network101can utilized circuit-switched (e.g., Public Switched Telephone Network or PSTN) and/or packet-switched technologies for supporting voice, video and/or data exchanges.

Computing system102can serve as a Workflow Monitoring System (WMS) (herein referred to as WMS102). The WMS102can be a centralized or decentralized set of computing devices as shown inFIG. 1. WMS102serves to monitor one or more operational aspects of workflow process elements defined according to a workflow. Operational aspects of a workflow process element can include without limitation metrics such as timing, performance, and productivity. Other operational metrics suitable to the present disclosure can also be used. A workflow process element can be represented by software, human, or other suitable process composed of one or more tasks that achieve an intended goal or objective with some or no human interaction. Tasks can include, for example, file transfers between workflow process elements, processing of said files by workflow process elements and/or by human agents, receiving a work product from a human agent, modifying/adding/updating said work product and forwarding it to a subsequent agent for further processing, and so on. Such tasks can apply to any discipline or industry (e.g., manufacturing, financial processing, insurance, accounts payable processing, accounts receivable processing, sales management, etc.). The type of tasks possible is innumerable and unlimited in scope in relation to the present disclosure.

Workflow process elements can be sequential, hierarchical, or combinations thereof. Additionally, workflow process elements can be centralized or distributed among a number of the computing systems104-110. In the present illustration, computing systems104-110represent, respectively, a billing system, a sales force management system, a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system, and a brokerage management system. A commercial enterprise can design computing systems104-110to manage portions of a workflow defined by said enterprise. It would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that a workflow associated with other computing systems can be applied to the present disclosure. Accordingly, computing systems104-110are exemplary and are not intended to be limiting to the present disclosure.

FIG. 2depicts an exemplary method200operating in the communication system100. Method200can be applied to workflow process elements operated on by the computing systems104-110depicted inFIG. 1. In practice, a service provider managing WMS102can configure said system to monitor all or a portion of the workflow process elements that make up a particular workflow. Moreover, WMS102can be programmed to execute more than one instance of method200for portions of the same workflow or for a number of workflows.

With these principles in mind, method200begins with step202in which the WMS102presents a Graphical User Interface (GUI) to an end user for defining one or more workflow process elements that can be monitored. In step204the end user selectively defines each workflow process element to be monitored. A workflow process element can be defined by one or more access parameters comprising, for example, a process name (which can be broadly defined by a wildcard character), a functional description of said process, an IP address and port number given to access said process by way of the communication network101, and a Personal Identification Number (PIN) or a user ID and/or password for validation and authentication. It would be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art that any access method can be applied to the present disclosure. A wildcard character can be used to broadly describe a group of related workflow process elements (e.g., abc* can represent all processes having a name that begins with “abc”).

Workflow process elements can be further defined by the end user according to interdependencies in the workflow. These interdependencies can be used by WMS102to correlate workflow process elements and thereby determine effects therebetween when a workflow process element does not operate as expected. The correlated workflow process elements once defined can be presented in step204as a GUI that presents, for example, graphical representations of the workflows process elements being monitored and their interdependencies. It would be appreciated by one of ordinary skilled in the art that the GUI interface of method200can be removed without affecting the scope of operation of the present disclosure. In this alternative embodiment, information relating to workflow process elements to be monitored can be entered or retrieved from the WMS102by way of text files, voice synthesis and recognition operating in the WMS, or any other present or future input and retrieval methods.

With these definitions, one or more workflow process elements can be monitored according to one or more monitoring parameters presented in step206. Monitoring parameters can be given by an end user for each workflow process element defined in step204. Monitoring parameters can include without limitation an expected start time of a select workflow process element, an expected end time of the select workflow process element, an expected duration time of the select workflow process element, a recurrence schedule of the select workflow process element, a concurrence schedule of the select workflow process element, and/or a start schedule tolerance and end schedule tolerance of the select workflow process element. Start, end, and/or duration times are fundamental parameters for defining an expected behavior of a select workflow process element.

The recurrence schedule can be utilized in a complex workflow design in which a select workflow process element occurs more than once a day. A concurrence schedule can be utilized in a similar workflow in which a workflow process element can have several simultaneous operational instances. The start and end schedule tolerances can be utilized to define a range from which to begin and end monitoring of a workflow process element outside of its expected start and end times. These are but a few of the possible metrics by which a select workflow process element can be monitored. It would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that other definable parameters for monitoring a workflow process element can be applied to the present disclosure.

In accordance with the aforementioned one or more definitions and monitoring parameters, the WMS102can be programmed to proceed to step208where it determines when to begin the monitoring process. If an expected start time arrives (or a start tolerance is given) for a select workflow process element, the WMS102begins to monitor said process utilizing the access parameters given in step204. According to the monitoring parameters, the WMS102determines in step210whether said process performs within the operating metrics given in step206(e.g., meets or exceeds expected start time, meets or exceeds expected duration, meets or exceeds expected end time, and so on).

The WMS102can determine the performance of a process by accessing said process by way of the communications network101and by monitoring activities performed by said process. Alternatively, the process may be a human event performed by a human operator. In this instance, if the human operator interacts with an automated process, monitoring of said process can be sufficient to measure the performance of the human operator. If the human operator does not interact with an automated process (e.g., a field technician performing tasks without automation), the performance of said human operator may require the operator to report in his/her start time, duration, and end times to another operator that enters this information in an automated process monitored by the WMS102. Alternatively, the WMS102can monitor a workflow process element by accessing a file which includes operating statistics associated with said workflow process element. Said file can be created by the workflow process element being monitored or some other application associated therewith. An artisan with ordinary skill in the art would appreciate that any configuration (manual and/or automated) can be monitored by the WMS102so long as performance information associated with a particular workflow process element is somehow supplied thereto.

Once the performance information is retrieved by the WMS102, if a variance is detected, the WMS102can proceed to step212where it predicts an effect to on one or more downstream workflow process elements according to the correlation information given in step204. For example, if a workflow process element ends later than expected it can have an effect on downstream workflow process elements. In this instance, the WMS102can proceed to step214where it checks if notice suppression is active. If so, it proceeds to step215where it generates and submits one or more notices to an identified destination according to a notice criterion given by the end user in step206. Otherwise, the WMS102proceeds to step216where it generates and submits notice messages to the destination without suppression.

Notices can include information associated with the predicted effect detected in step212, which in the above example can be a delay in downstream workflow process elements due to a greater than expected ending of the affected workflow process element. In a supplemental embodiment, the WMS102can be programmed to analyze the predicted effect and propose one or more mitigating solutions. For instance, a downstream effect on sequential workflow process elements can be mitigated if one or more downstream workflow process elements are completed sooner than expected by a calculable amount. Alternatively, if it is possible to activate one or more concurrent workflow process elements to alleviate delay downstream, such proposal can also be made. These proposals can also be transmitted as part of the notices referred to above.

The identified destination for said notices can be a human agent, or an automated system that manages the workflow which can dynamically act upon the mitigation proposals. Any number of techniques can be used for transmitting notices such as, for example, email, wireless messages, signaling between computing devices, and so on.

As noted earlier, notices can be suppressed by a given notice criterion. Additionally, a prediction element, notification element or computer instructions can be used for suppressing a portion of the one or more notice messages according to a notice criterion. The notice criterion can specify any number of notice suppression techniques. For example, an end user may only care to receive notice of a detected variance at the front-end of an affected workflow rather than all of the subsequently affected processes. Such a suppression technique can be applied in a sequential design in which as one process performs below expectation other downstream processes are affected (similar to a domino effect). This technique can help to significantly reduce the number of notices submitted by the WMS102when the number of downstream workflow process elements is known to be large.

Alternatively, the end user can define the notice criterion so that all notices generated from a variance that affects downstream workflow process elements are transmitted on a single occurrence (such as a “fire once” technique). This method can be combined with the previous method in which all notices are transmitted once, and thereafter only a notice for only the first affected workflow process element is transmitted. It would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that a notice criterion as utilized in the present disclosure can be defined any number of ways to achieve a desired alerting method.

Referring back to step210, the WMS102can alternatively be programmed to make no predictions and simply generate and transmit in step216notices for variance(s) detected for each workflow process element. Accordingly, in this embodiment steps212-214can be removed. In another embodiment, the WMS102can be programmed to proceed from step210to214and perform notice suppressions (if activated) as previously discussed without predictions. In yet another embodiment, the WMS102can be programmed in step218to analyze statistics from workflow process elements monitored. Utilizing common statistical techniques, the WMS102can be programmed to identify in step220a constriction in one or more workflow process elements monitored. The identification step can represent a detection and/or prediction of a constriction. From an operations management point of view, a constriction can represent a “bottleneck” in processing capacity of one or more workflow process elements. As the rate of flow of processing in a defined workflow increases, one or more workflow process elements of the workflow may not be able to keep up with said rate, thereby creating a “bottleneck” effect can cause the variances described earlier.

Utilizing common principles of operations management, the WMS102can be programmed to utilize statistical information from the workflow process elements to predict or detect when such bottlenecks are about to occur or have occurred. In either case, the WMS102can be programmed in step222to propose a solution that mitigates the constriction. The solution can also be derived from common operations management techniques which propose replacement of a workflow process element with one of higher capacity (this could represent, for example, replacing server hardware, a manufacturing element, a human operator, etc.) or by paralleling workflow process elements to divide the labor and thereby relieve the bottleneck. Such proposals can be transmitted in step224as notices to the identified destination mentioned earlier which can act upon the proposed solution through automation or at a later time by way of a human agent responsible for managing the performance of the workflow. Whether or not a constraint is identified, the WMS102is programmed to continue monitoring the workflow process elements from step208as previously described. If a new monitoring structure is to be defined or an existing one is to be updated, the WMS102can be programmed to proceed to step202as described earlier.

The aforementioned method200provides a flexible means to selectively monitor workflow process elements in a defined workflow. Method200is a substantial improvement over methods which simply collect raw data from workflow process elements and leave it up to an end user to synthesize said data. Moreover, by correlating workflow process elements, method200provides a unique means to interpret operational aspects of workflow process elements in general.

Upon reviewing the aforementioned embodiments of the present disclosure, it would be evident to an artisan with ordinary skill in the art that said embodiments can be modified, reduced, or enhanced without departing from the scope and spirit of the claims described below. For example, the prediction steps can utilize any number of probabilistic and statistical techniques to perform the functions noted above as well as other functions not addressed in this disclosure. Alternatively, all prediction steps described by method200can be removed without affecting the scope of the disclosure. Additionally, method200need not present a GUI interface to an end user for entering or presenting information. These are but a few examples of modifications that can be applied to the present disclosure without departing from the scope of the claims stated below. Accordingly, the reader is directed to the claims section for a fuller understanding of the breadth and scope of the present disclosure.

The computer system300may include a processor302(e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU, or both), a main memory304and a static memory306, which communicate with each other via a bus308. The computer system300may further include a video display unit310(e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD), a flat panel, a solid state display, or a cathode ray tube (CRT)). The computer system300may include an input device312(e.g., a keyboard), a cursor control device314(e.g., a mouse), a disk drive unit316, a signal generation device318(e.g., a speaker or remote control) and a network interface device320.

The disk drive unit316may include a machine-readable medium322on which is stored one or more sets of instructions (e.g., software324) embodying any one or more of the methodologies or functions described herein, including those methods illustrated above. The instructions324may also reside, completely or at least partially, within the main memory304, the static memory306, and/or within the processor302during execution thereof by the computer system300. The main memory304and the processor302also may constitute machine-readable media.

The present disclosure contemplates a machine readable medium containing instructions324, or that which receives and executes instructions324from a propagated signal so that a device connected to a network environment326can send or receive voice, video or data, and to communicate over the network326using the instructions324. The instructions324may further be transmitted or received over a network326via the network interface device320.

The term “machine-readable medium” shall accordingly be taken to include, but not be limited to: solid-state memories such as a memory card or other package that houses one or more read-only (non-volatile) memories, random access memories, or other re-writable (volatile) memories; magneto-optical or optical medium such as a disk or tape; and carrier wave signals such as a signal embodying computer instructions in a transmission medium; and/or a digital file attachment to e-mail or other self-contained information archive or set of archives is considered a distribution medium equivalent to a tangible storage medium. Accordingly, the disclosure is considered to include any one or more of a machine-readable medium or a distribution medium, as listed herein and including art-recognized equivalents and successor media, in which the software implementations herein are stored.