Konventionelles Workflow Management beschränkt sich auf die Verbesserung der Effizienz von Geschäftsprozessen innerhalb einer Organisation. Jedoch sollten Prozesse auch dann elektronisch unterstützt werden können, wenn sie organisationale Grenzen überschreiten, wie z.B. in virtuellen Unternehmen.
Wegen der speziellen Eigenschaften von interorganisationalen Workflows kann konventionelle Workflow Technologie nicht direkt angewendet werden. Die wichtigste Anforderung an interorganisationale Workflow Systeme ist klarerweise, Interoperabilität zwischen heterogenen Systemen zu erreichen. Sehr wichtig sind auch Vertraulichkeit der internen Prozesse und Sicherheit.
Die vorliegende Diplomarbeit gibt eine Einführung in interorganisationales Workflow Management, seine Aspekte und Konzepte. Anforderungen an interorganisationale Workflow Systeme werden ausgearbeitet und die wichtigsten Ansätze, Projekte und Initiativen werden beschrieben: XML-basierte Ansätze, die Standards der WfMC, elektronische Marktplätze und elektronische Verträge.
Eine Evaluierung dieser Ansätze anhand eines Kriterienkatalogs, der aus den Anforderungen und anderen Eigenschaften der Ansätze abgeleitet wird, zeigt die verschiedenen Stärken und Schwächen. Die XML-basierten Ansätze bieten Standards für die Schnittstellen der Prozesse und eine gute Lösung bzgl. Heterogenität. Manche von ihnen ermöglichen sogar die spontane Zusammenarbeit mit neuen Geschäftspartnern ohne vorherige Absprache. Traditioneller elektronischer Datenaustausch (EDI) ist vom Prinzip her ähnlich, hat aber viele Nachteile. Die Standards der WfMC ermöglichen einen sehr geringen Aufwand bei der Systemintegration, wenn sich die Anbieter daran halten. Aber Vertraulichkeit und Sicherheit sind potentielle Problemfelder und nur einfache Kooperationsmodelle werden unterstützt. Elektronische Marktplätze und elektronische Verträge sind ideal, wenn die Anzahl der Geschäftspartner hoch ist oder die Geschäftspartner abhängig von der jeweiligen Situation dynamisch gewählt werden sollen. Dazu müssen deren Services aber leicht vergleichbar sein und einfache Schnittstellen haben.
Table of Contents
1 Introduction
2 Workflow Management
2.1. Requirements on WfMSs
2.2. Workflow Modeling
2.2.1. The Functional Aspect: Workflows and Activities
2.2.2 The Operational Aspect: Applications
2.2.3. The Behavioral Aspect: Control Flow
2.2.4. The Informational Aspect: Data Structures and Data Flow
2.2.5. The Organizational Aspect: Structure and Population
2.2.6. The Causal Aspect: Regulations and Dependencies
2.2.7. The Historical Aspect: Logging
2.2.8 The Transactional Aspect: Workflow Consistency
2.3. Workflow Analysis
2.4. Workflow Enactment
2.5. Architecture of WfMSs
2.5.1. Generic Workflow Product Structure of the WfMC
2.6. Limitations
3 Introduction to Interorganizational Workflows
3.1. Concepts for Interorganizational Workflows derived from Conventional Workflow Management
3.1.1. Task Assignment
3.1.2. Interorganizational Control Flow
3.1.3. Interorganizational Data Flow
3.2. Business Scenario
3.3. Partitioning of Workflows
3.4. Models of Workflow Interoperability
3.4.1. Centralized Process Management or Capacity Sharing
3.4.2. Chained Subprocesses or Chained Execution
3.4.3. Nested Subprocesses, Subcontracting or Service Outsourcing
3.4.4. Transaction Group
3.4.5. Parallel Synchronized Model or Multi-Processes Interoperation / Federation
3.4.6. Case Transfer
3.4.7. Extended Case Transfer
3.4.8. Loosely Coupled Processes
3.4.9. Peer-to-Peer Collaborative Process Management
3.4.10. Summary
4 Standardization for Interorganizational Workflows
4.1. Open-edi Reference Model
4.2. Levels of Standardization
5 Requirements for Interorganizational Workflow Management
5.1. Relevance of Requirements for Conventional Workflow Systems
5.2. Requirements Catalog
5.2.1. Build-Time
5.2.2. Run-Time
5.2.3. Requirements Independent of the Phases
6 Approaches, Projects and Initiatives
6.1. Traditional EDI
6.2. Workflow Management Coalition (WfMC)
6.3. OO-edi
6.4. Electronic Workflow Trading
6.4.1. Electronic Marketplace, ACE-Flow
6.4.2. Electronic Contracts, Cross Flow Project
6.4.3. Event-Services, EVE
6.4.4. Process Model Fragments
6.5. XML-based Commerce Languages
6.5.1. RosettaNet
6.5.2. BizTalk
6.5.3. eCo
6.5.4. ebXML
7 Evaluation
7.1. Supported Models of Interoperability
7.2. BOV or FSV?
7.3. Build-Time
7.3.1. Automation
7.3.2. Support for Collaborative Process Definition
7.3.3. Privacy of Internal Processes
7.3.4. Being able to cope with Heterogeneous Workflow Environments
7.3.5. Integration Effort and Integration Know-How
7.3.6. Support for a High Number of Partners
7.4. Run-Time
7.4.1. Automated Selection of Optimal Service
7.4.2. Ensure Quality of the Outsourced Operation
7.4.3. Security
7.4.4. Flexibility
7.4.5. Document Management
7.5. Autonomy of Partners
7.5.1. Design Autonomy
7.5.2. Communication Autonomy
7.5.3. Execution Autonomy
7.5.4. Association Autonomy
7.6. Transparency
7.7. Distribution
7.8. Summary of Evaluation
8 Summary, Contribution and Outlook
Objectives and Topics
The primary objective of this diploma thesis is to provide a comprehensive description and evaluation of current approaches to interorganizational workflow management. The work addresses the challenges of crossing organizational boundaries, where conventional workflow technologies are insufficient due to requirements like system heterogeneity, distributed control, and the need for privacy and security.
- Fundamentals of conventional and interorganizational workflow management.
- Models of workflow interoperability and their applicability in e-commerce scenarios.
- Standardization initiatives (e.g., WfMC, Open-edi, ebXML) and their role in facilitating interorganizational collaboration.
- Requirements for interorganizational workflows, categorized by build-time and run-time phases.
- Evaluation of approaches such as electronic marketplaces, electronic contracts, and XML-based commerce languages based on a defined criteria catalog.
Excerpt from the Book
3.2. Business Scenario
The Logis – Telco scenario described in [DDDE00] is derived from the real life cooperation between a logistics and a telecom company. Part of the delivery of equipment from Telco Telecom to customers is carried out by Logis Logistics. This involves purchases by telephone or by Internet.
The most interesting part of the scenario deals with the handling of cellular phone orders. Logis takes care of the warehousing, distribution, delivery and payment, based on orders from Telco. Therefore, Telco acts as the service consumer whereas Logis is the service provider. The details of the scenario will be described with the help of Figure 3-2.
The flow diagram is divided into two sides, a Telco and a Logis side. It represents a single order for telecom equipment. The control flow starts, when a Telco customer requests a service, be it either a telecom connection or equipment. On order entry, customer and order data are checked for completeness. After that the order data is checked at Logis. If it is not ok, Logis refuses the order and Telco has one more chance of completing the data. If this succeeds, Logis will accept the order after all, otherwise the order is cancelled.
If the requested equipment concerns a GSM (cellular) phone, the left branch at Logis will be taken, otherwise the right branch will be chosen. This right branch is straightforward, no more interactions with Telco are necessary before the product can be delivered.
Summary of Chapters
1 Introduction: This chapter introduces the motivation, problem definition, and goals of the thesis regarding the necessity of cross-organizational business process support.
2 Workflow Management: This chapter provides an introduction to conventional workflow management, covering modeling aspects, enactment, architecture, and basic limitations.
3 Introduction to Interorganizational Workflows: This chapter defines interorganizational workflows and presents various models of workflow interoperability, illustrated by a concrete business scenario.
4 Standardization for Interorganizational Workflows: This chapter discusses reference models and the necessity of standardization activities for enabling interoperability between different organizations.
5 Requirements for Interorganizational Workflow Management: This chapter elaborates on the specific requirements for interorganizational systems, organized into build-time, run-time, and independent categories.
6 Approaches, Projects and Initiatives: This chapter describes the most important standardization initiatives, research prototypes, and concepts like EDI, WfMC, electronic trading, and XML-based commerce languages.
7 Evaluation: This chapter evaluates the previously described approaches based on the requirements catalog, ranking them according to various criteria like build-time automation, privacy, and flexibility.
8 Summary, Contribution and Outlook: This final chapter synthesizes the findings of the thesis and offers a concluding outlook on the field.
Key Words
Interorganizational Workflow, Workflow Management System, Interoperability, Business Process, Electronic Commerce, XML, EDI, Workflow Modeling, WfMC, ebXML, RosettaNet, BizTalk, CrossFlow, Service Outsourcing, Process Model Fragments
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core focus of this diploma thesis?
The thesis focuses on the field of interorganizational workflow management, exploring concepts, requirements, and existing approaches to support business processes that span across multiple organizational boundaries.
What are the central thematic areas covered?
The work covers workflow modeling, interoperability models, standardization efforts (such as EDI and XML-based languages), and specific requirements for distributed business systems.
What is the primary research goal?
The goal is to describe and evaluate the most important approaches to interorganizational workflow management, using a defined catalog of criteria to assess their strengths and weaknesses.
Which scientific methods are employed?
The thesis utilizes a literature-based analysis and an evaluation approach, deriving specific criteria from general workflow management requirements to compare diverse research prototypes and standardization initiatives.
What is treated in the main body of the work?
The main body treats the fundamental concepts of workflow management, introduces specific interorganizational models, discusses relevant standardization efforts, and provides a detailed evaluation of various practical approaches and research projects.
Which keywords characterize this work?
Key concepts include interorganizational workflows, business process reengineering, interoperability, service outsourcing, and standardization languages like XML and EDI.
How does the author define an interorganizational workflow?
An interorganizational workflow is defined as a workflow that crosses organizational boundaries, which may involve different enterprises or even just different divisions within the same organization.
Why are standard conventional workflow systems limited in this context?
Conventional systems are typically designed for intra-enterprise use and struggle with heterogeneity, security, and privacy issues inherent when workflows span multiple organizations or autonomous partners.
- Arbeit zitieren
- Karin Pargfrieder (Autor:in), 2002, Interorganizational Workflow Management - Concepts, Requirements and Approaches, München, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/185756
