Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Encyclopedia of Database Systems pp 3540–3544Cite as

Workflow Evolution

  • Reference work entry

Synonyms

Process evolution; Schema evolution in workflow management systems; Schema evolution in process management systems; Adaptive workflow/process management; Workflow/process instance changes

Definition

The term evolution has been originally used in biology and means the progressive development of a species over time, i.e., the adaptation to changing environmental requirements. Business processes (which are often called workflows when implemented and thus automated within a workflow management system) also “live” within an environment (e.g., the enterprise or the market). This environment is typically highly dynamic and thus the running workflows have to adapt to these changing requirements – i.e., to evolve – in order to keep up with the ever-changing business environment and provide their users with the competitive edge.

Workflow evolution implies two basic challenges: change realization and change discovery. Change realization means that it must be technicallypossible to...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   2,500.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Recommended Reading

  1. Adams M., ter Hofstede A.H.M., Edmond D., and van der Aalst W.M.P. A service-oriented implementation of dynamic flexibility in workflows. In Proc. Int. Conf. on Cooperative Inf. Syst., 2006.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Casati F., Ceri S., Pernici B., and Pozzi G. Workflow evolution. Data Knowl. Eng., 24(3):211–238, 1998.

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  3. Heimann P., Joeris G., Krapp C., and Westfechtel B. DYNAMITE: dynamic task nets for software process management. In Proc. 18th Int. Conf. on Software Eng., 1996, pp. 331–341.

    Google Scholar 

  4. Kochut K., Arnold J., Sheth A., Miller J., Kraemer E., Arpinar B., and Cardoso J. IntelliGEN: a distributed workflow system for discovering protein-protein interactions. Distr. Parallel Databases, 13(1):43–72, 2003.

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  5. Ly L.T., Rinderle S., and Dadam P. Semantic correctness in adaptive process management systems. In Proc. Int. Conf. Business Process Management, 2006, pp. 193–208.

    Google Scholar 

  6. Müller R., Greiner U., and Rahm E. AgentWork: a workflow system supporting rule-based workflow adaptation. Data Knowl. Eng., 51(2):223–256, 2004.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Reichert M. and Dadam P. ADEPTflex – supporting dynamic changes of workflows with-out losing control. J. Intell. Inform. Syst., 10(2):93–129, 1998.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Rinderle S., Reichert M., and Dadam P. Correctness criteria for dynamic changes in workflow systems – a survey. Data Knowl. Eng., 50(1):9–34, 2004.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Rinderle S., Reichert M., and Dadam P. Disjoint and overlapping process changes: challenges, solutions, applications. In Proc. Int. Conf. on Cooperative Inf. Syst., 2004, pp. 101–120.

    Google Scholar 

  10. Rinderle S., Weber B., Reichert M., and Wild W. Integrating process learning and process evolution – a semantics based approach. In Int. Conf. Business Process Management, 2005, pp. 252–267.

    Google Scholar 

  11. Sadiq S., Marjanovic O., and Orlowska M. Managing change and time in dynamic workflow processes. Int. J. Cooper. Inform. Syst., 9(1, 2):93–116, 2000.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Sadiq S., Sadiq W., and Orlowska M. Pockets of flexibility in workflow specifications. In Proc. 20th Int. Conf. on Conceptual Modeling, 2001, pp. 513–526.

    Google Scholar 

  13. van der Aalst W.M.P. Exterminating the dynamic change bug: a concrete approach to support workflow change. Inform. Syst. Front., 3(3):297–317, 2001.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Weske M. Formal foundation and conceptual design of dynamic adaptations in a workflow management system. In Proc. Hawaii Int. Conf. System Sciences, 2001.

    Google Scholar 

  15. Weber B., Rinderle S., and Reichert M. Change patterns and change support features in process-aware information systems. In Proc. Int. Conf. Advanced Information Systems Engineering, 2007, pp. 574–588.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany

    Peter Dadam & Stefanie Rinderle

Authors
  1. Peter Dadam
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Stefanie Rinderle
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. College of Computing, Georgia Institute of Technology, 266 Ferst Drive, 30332-0765, Atlanta, GA, USA

    LING LIU (Professor) (Professor)

  2. Database Research Group David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, N2L 3G1, Waterloo, ON, Canada

    M. TAMER ÖZSU (Professor and Director, University Research Chair) (Professor and Director, University Research Chair)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2009 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

About this entry

Cite this entry

Dadam, P., Rinderle, S. (2009). Workflow Evolution. In: LIU, L., ÖZSU, M.T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Database Systems. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-39940-9_470

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation