Subsequently, I discuss some of the recent developments affecting the transaction management area and what these mean for the future. A paper which forms the basis for the talk and the talk's slides themselves are available on the web. In the last few years, workflow management has become a hot topic in the research community and in the commercial arena. Workflow systems hold the promise of facilitating the efficient everyday operation of many enterprises and work environments. Many academic and industrial research projects have been underway for a while.
Numerous products are currently in use.
The capabilities of these products are being enhanced in significant ways. I will also elaborate on various directions for research and potential future extensions to the design and modelling of workflow management systems. This talk aims to introduce those developments and put them in perspective. While most computer professionals would be aware of these influencing factors in a general sense, mostly they tend to be unaware of their significance on transaction processing in general and electronic commerce in particular. I will analyze the topics that the industrial and academic research communities have focussed on, and the gaps between their work and the developments in the commercial world.