Products and Research WfMSs

Workflow Products (Partial List)

Action Workflow System Action Technologies Inc. http://www.actiontech.com/

CSE/Workflow ( CSE Systems Corporation ) http://www.csesystems.com/

Delrina FormFlow(Delrina) DM/Workflow(Intergraph) EPIC/WF( Computron) FlowLogic (FlowLogic

Corporation ) http://www.flowlogic.com/

FlowMaker ( Workflow)

FlowMan(Logical Software Solutions)

FlowMark ( IBM) http://www.software.ibm.com/ad/flowmark/

InConcert (InConcert Inc.) http://www.inconcertsw.com/

FloWare (BancTec Inc.) http://www.plx.com/floware/

GroupFlow(Pavone) InConcert(InConcert) JetForm(Jetform)

Workflow Products (Partial List)

Keyflow(Keyfile) KI Shell(UES) Livelink Workflow(Odesta) LinkWorks(DEC)

http://www.digital.com/info/linkworks/

Lotus Notes(IBM/Lotus) METEOR (Infocosm, Inc.)

http://www.infocosm.com

Office.IQ workflow and document management software (Portfolio Technologies Inc.) http://www.officeiq.com/

OmniDesk RouteBuilder(SIGMA/Wang)

OPEN/workflow (Eastman Software, Wang) http://www.eastmansoftware.com

Optix Workflow (Blueridge) Plexus FloWare

(Recognition/BancTec)

Workflow Products (partial list)

ViewStar System( ViewStar) ProcessIT(NCR)-Plexus

FloWare OEM Staffware (Staffware)

http://www.staffware.com/ TeamWARE Flow

(ICL/TeamWare) Ultimus (Ultimus)

http://www.ultimus1.com/ Visual WorkFlow (FileNet)

http://www.filenet.com/ WorkMAN (Reach Software)

WorkVision(IA) WorkFlow (CSE Systems, Computer & Software Engineering) http://www.csesys.co.at/

WorkParty (Siemens Nixdorf) http://www.sni.de/public/sni.htm

WebFlow (Workflow Management on the WWW, Cap Gemini Innovation ) http://webflow.cginn.cgs.fr:4747/

Generic Workflow Product Structure

ProcessDefinition

Workflow Enactment

Service

Applications

WFMEngine

Worklist

Definitiontool

Generates

WFMEngine

Org. data

Applications

WorkflowRelevant data

WorkflowControldata

Worklist Handler

Manipulate

app data

updateuse

invokes

interact via

invokesinterpreted by

User Interface

SOURCE: WFMC

FlowMark Execution Model (schematic)

StSt Act.Act. EndEnd

OCOC

C++ ProgramC++ Program

ICIC OCOC

OCOCICIC

APIAPI

ICIC

xx

x < 100x < 100

FlowMark System Architecture

System Components FlowMark OODB server (ObjectStore-OS)* FlowMark (FM) Server (OS Client, process navigation

engine, worklist mgmt.) FlowMark Buildtime Client (workflow process definition and

animation) FlowMark Runtime Client (process execution facility,

worklist mgr., process control and container (C, REXX) API support), Administrative Utilities (Import/Export from flies, Audit trail)

* being replaced by DB2 (main driver -> performance)

FlowMark System Architecture

Configurations: stand alone, client/server

(server: OS server+ OS client+ FM server), multiple FlowMark servers on different machines (single: OS server; multiple: OS client+ FM Server, OS Client+ FM B/T, FM R/T)

Platforms: OS/2, AIX; Communications: OS/2 IPC, APPC, TCP/IP or NetBIOS

Support for Notes, NT, replacing ObjectStore by DB2

FlowMark Runtime System

Network

OSS

DB

RTC

PEC APP

RTC

PEC APP

PEC APP

FMS

RTC

OSS- Object Store ServerFMS- Flow Mark ServerRTC - Runtime Client

PEC - Program Execution ClientAPP - Application Program

Tool types (dimensions)• concepts

(forms, documents, tasks/activities/procedures)

approach/market focus

(e-mail, collaborative, imaging, document,…)

• modeling and specification

(coordination: graphical, petri-net, routing rules, declarative rules;model components: map, data, task; details: branching,parallel routing; designer: user, developer; toolset: support for BPM)

Tool Selection

Tool Selection (continued)

• architecture (message vs. repository) • system function/components

(design, simulation, monitoring- user/admin, tracking/mgmt. reports,

recovery, admin. tools, ... reengineering)

• features (roles, work-list, dynamic work distribution/assignments,authorization, security, data handling, dynamic workflows/change management, exceptions, deadlines, rapid development/library/reusability, external applications…)

Tool Selection (continued)

• messaging/communication infrastructure technology (e-mail, TCP/IP, Web,……)

• platform (client : Unix/MS-Windows/X-open,…; server : Unix/NT/MS-Windows, database, Notes,….;

DBMS: …)

• interfaces to other tools (open/published file formats/interfaces?)

• interoperatibility (applications, data access/sharing standard, workflow standards )

• current client references, case studies• pricing (per seat, services/software)

Limitations of today’s commercial workflow products

Limitations in dealing with heterogeneity and existing infrastructure

Significant demands on computing infrastructures for providers and organizers

Significant effort from design to implementation

Little support for error handling and recovery ...

Research Systems (partial list)

ADEPT - Next Generation Workflow Management System ( University of Ulm, DBIS Department) http://www.informatik.uni-ulm.de/dbis/f&l/forschung/workflow/ftext-adept_e.html

ConTracts/APRICOTS http://www.informatik.uni-stuttgart.de/ipvr/as/projekte/apricots/apricots.html

CRISTAL (CERN, W. England)

Exotica (IBM) http://www.almaden.ibm.com/cs/exotica/exotica_home_page.html

Income/Star http://www.aifb.uni-karlsruhe.de:80/InfoSys/income-star.html

MENTOR (Middleware for Enterprise-wide Workflow Management) http://www-dbs.cs.uni-sb.de/ ~mentor/Welcome.html

METEOR(Multiparadigm Transactional Workflow Management System ) http://lsdis.cs.uga.edu/workflow

Bold => known to be active

Research Systems(partial list)

METUFlow (Software Research and Development Center, Metu, Turkey http://www.srdc.metu.edu.tr/metuflow/

Mobile http://www6.informatik.uni-erlangen.de/research/wfm.html

Panta Rhei (Uni-Klu, Austria) SWORDIES (Swiss Workflow in

a Distributed Environment) http://www.ifi.unizh.ch/groups/dbtg/SWORDIES/index.html

TRAMs http://www.ifi.unizh.ch/groups/dbtg/trams.html

TriGSflow http://www.ifs.uni-linz.ac.at/ifs/research/areas/areas.html

WASA (Muenster, G) WIDE (Workflow on Intelligent

Distributed database Environments) http://wwwis.cs.utwente.nl:8080/~wide/wide.html

WorCOS, CodAlf (TU-Dresden,G)

Earlier Projects INCA (MITL) ASSET (BellLabs), ObjectFlow (DEC) Process Manager (HPLabs)

Other Projects Migrating Workflows (MCC) Opera (ETH Switzerland) VORTEL (Berkom, G) DartFlow

Process Management Oz+, OzWeb (Columbia) ICNets (Czech) U of Aachen Endeavor

Database/ATM oriented APRICOT (G) TSME/DOM (GTE Lab) Carnot (MCC) CoACT (GMD-IPSI)

Research Systems (a partial list)

WWWCORBA

TaskTask

TM

Task

TM

Task

TM

RecoveryMonitor

RepositoryData

Data

Data

LegacyAppdb Graphical

Designer

METEOR

Comprehensive Design/Build Env. Automatic Code generation of Runtime

System CORBA/WWW based communication

infrastructures Predefined Task Structures with

execution semantics, incl. transactional tasks

Comprehensive inter-task dependencies Meteor’s Workflow Repository and

Reuse Error handling (Meteor’s Error model)

and recovery Standards support Applications, research system and

product

CODALF

Petri-net based execution model Translation of execution graph

to runtime Syntactic and Semantic tests of

execution graph CORBA and DCE/DC++ based

communication Dynamic Mapping of Tasks and

Roles via Trading Services Predefined Structural primitives Error Recovery at

synchronization nodes

Error Recovery

DirectoryService

Trader DTMM

Control module

Application server

Exitmodule

Entrancemodule

Executiongraph

Data

Control Information

Executiongraph

Data

Control Information

WorkflowObject

Runtime System

System Services DCE/DC++

DTMM

MENTORUniversity of Saarland & Union Bank of Switzerland

Large scale WFMS in failure prone environments State and activity charts Transformation of design to run-time components Distributed run-time environment TP-monitor (Tuxedo) for reliable messaging Workflow logs: status information & recovery GUI based workflow monitoring

contd..

MENTOR Architecture

ExoticaIBM, Almaden Research Center

Based on FlowMark (IBM) Focus on:

» availability and scalability of large scale WFMS» support for mobile clients» failure handling » integration of production (FlowMark) and ad-hoc (Notes)

workflows» agent-based and OO workflow» desktop integration: OLE2, VisualBasic, LotusScript

contd..

ExoticaOverview of Architecture

DB2

MQSeries

ObjectStore

ObjectStore

Notes Server DB2

FlowMarkBuildtime Client

FlowMarkRuntime Client

Mobile ClientFlowMark

Notes Client

HighlyAvailable Client

FlowMarkServer

BackupServer

ProductResearch

OLE2

events

agents

ACID Transaction

A comparison of ResearchWFMS features

TERMINOLOGY

METEOR: workflow, task, processing entities

Exotica/FloMark: process, activity, user/resource

ObjectFlow: flow, step, agents representing resources

GRAPH TYPES IN MODEL

METEOR and ObjectFlow allow cyclic flows. Exotica/FloMark allows only DAGs. Nesting of processes: Compound Task in METEOR, Nested Processes in Exotica and ObjectFlow.

A comparison of Research WFMS features (contd..)

WORKLIST CONCEPT

Supported in METEOR*, Exotica and ObjectFlow.

CONTROL FLOW and DATA FLOW CONCEPTS

Supported by METEOR (intertask dependency), Exotica (control & data connectors, conditions) and ObjectFlow.

SPECIFICATION LANGUAGE

METEOR1: two intermediate languages: WFSL, TSL

Exotica/FloMark: graphical process modeler

ObjectFlow: FDL for describing flows, FML for manipulating flows

A comparison of Research WFMS features (contd..)

DYNAMIC FLOWS and EXCEPTION HANDLING

METEOR1: Array of task instances and control modifiers.

ObjectFlow: Iteration (multiple instances of subflow spawned until it succeeds) and fan-out; FML primitives for modifying flow procedures.

EXPLICIT MODELING OF HETEROGENEOUS TASKS

METEOR: task structures

A comparison of ResearchWFMS features (contd..)

SUPPORT FOR TRANSACTIONAL AND NONTRANSACTIONAL TASKS

DOM, METEOR HOW TASKS ARE EXECUTED

METEOR1 performs tasks at the Processing Entity level, which communicates with Flow Controller through an Interface. Exotica/FloMark executes tasks through a Program Execution Client. ObjectFlow performs tasks through Flow Agents.

A comparison of Research WFMS features (contd..)

INPUT/OUTPUT

METEOR: Each task has typed input and output objects. Filters perform data reformatting/translation.

Exotica/FloMark: Activities map input parameters in input containers to output parameters in output containers.

ObjectFlow: Each step requires a set of data elements on which it operates - a set of data elements has a valid domain.

Transactional workflows (try to) address application specific and user-defined correctness, reliability, and

Transactional workflows share the objectives of some extended/relaxed transaction models about selective relaxation of transactional properties based on (multi-) application semantics.

.... however, the term is likely to evolve, as it has significant appeal - see DOM and EXOTICA projects

Transactional Workflow - What it is and what it is not

Capabilities of Research Prototypes:

Example of METEOR

Supports a variety of task types: Application and User

Use of single paradigm for human involvement (WWW, Web-browser based GUI, HTML documents)

Graphical workflow design and semi-automated translation to run-time code for coordination component

Support for variety of computing infrastructures: WWW, Distributed Object Management (CORBA), Notes (Groupware)

Integrated access to (or use of) multiple web servers, various DBMSs/databases, Internet resources and capabilities (incl. Java) ((contdcontd...)...)

Capabilities of Research Prototypes

(contd...)

Variety of C/S and distributed environments; different scheduling/control strategies

Support for and use of transactions of different types: database (ACID/2-PC) transactions, DTP (transactional RPC, DE-Light), EDI, and domain-specific (e.g., HL7); customizable transactions

Ability to monitor/track/report workflows/tasks

Support for recovery and error handling

Some support for dynamic workflows (e.g., handling of task outputs)

A Comparison of (mostly) Research Workflow Management Systems (from CodAlf DSEJ

paper)

CodAlf BPAFrame Exotica METEOR2 FlowMark MOBILE MENTOR PromiandDecentralizd control yes yes yes both no yes yes noDecentralizd data-flow external yes yes both no no no noWorkflow type/instance separation yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yesIntegration of legacy application no yes yes yes yes yes yes yesTime-out control yes no no no no yes noAccess control no no no going on yes no yesTransactions no no no yes yes yes yes yesObject-oriented Architecture yes yes yes yes no yes yes noStandard middle-ware platform yes yes no yes no yes yes no