Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Beyond rigidity – dynamic process lifecycle support

A Survey on dynamic changes in process-aware information systems

  • Special Issue Paper
  • Published:
Computer Science - Research and Development

Abstract

The economic success of an enterprise increasingly depends on its ability to react to changes in its environment in a quick and flexible way. To cope with emerging business trends, responsiveness to change is a significant competitive advantage. Similar to the lifecycle in conventional information systems development, studies on lifecycle support for business processes are often sweeping the issues of runtime change management under the banner of maintenance. However, the pervasiveness of dynamic changes in business processes warrants targeted attention. This paper presents a detailed review of challenges and techniques that exist for the lifecycle management of dynamic processes. For each of the lifecycle phases we discuss the needs and deliberate on various developments from both academia and industry.

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

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Adams M, ter Hofstede A, Edmond D, van der Aalst W (2006) Worklets: A service-oriented implementation of dynamic flexibility in workflows. In: Proc. Coopis’06, LNCS 4275, pp 291–308

  2. Adams M, ter Hofstede A, Edmond D, van der Aalst W (2007a) Dynamic and extensible exception handling for workflows. Tech. Rep. BPM-07-03, BPMcenter.org

  3. Adams M, ter Hofstede A, van der Aalst W, Edmond D (2007b) Dynamic, extensible and context-aware exception handling for workflows. In: Proc. CoopIS’07, LNCS 4803

  4. Bassil S, Keller R, Kropf P (2004) A workflow-oriented system architecture for the management of container transportation. In: Proc. BPM’04, LNCS 3080, pp 116–131

  5. Bobrik R, Bauer T, Reichert M (2006) Proviado – personalized and configurable visualizations of business processes. In: Proc. EC-WEB’06, LNCS 4082, pp 61–71

  6. Bobrik R, Reichert M, Bauer T (2007) View-based process visualization. In: Proc. BPM’07, LNCS 4714, pp 88–95

  7. Casati F (1998) Models, semantics, and formal methods for the design of workflows and their exceptions. PhD thesis, University of Milano

  8. Casati F, Fugini MG, Mirbel I (1999) An environment for designing exceptions in workflows. Inf Syst 24(3):255–273

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Dadam P, Reichert M, Kuhn K (2000) Clinical workflows – the killer application for process-oriented information systems? In: Proc. BIS’00, Poznan, pp 36–59

  10. Domingos D, Rito-Silva A, Veiga P (2003) Authorization and access control in adaptive workflows. In: Proc. ESORICS’03, pp 23–38

  11. Dumas M, ter Hofstede A, van der Aalst W (eds) (2005) Process Aware Information Systems. Wiley Publ, Hoboken, NJ

    Google Scholar 

  12. Eder J, Liebhart W (1996) Workflow recovery. In: CoopIS’96, pp 124–134

  13. Golani M, Gal A (2006) Optimizing exception handling in workflows using process restructuring. In: Proc. BPM’06, LNCS 4102, pp 407–413

  14. Günther C, Rinderle S, Reichert M, van der Aalst W (2006) Change mining in adaptive process management systems. In: Proc. CoopIS’06, LNCS 4275, pp 309–326

  15. Günther C, Reichert M, van der Aalst W (2008a) Supporting flexible processes with adaptive workflow and case handling. In: Proc. WETICE’08

  16. Günther C, Rinderle-Ma S, Reichert M, van der Aalst W, Recker J (2008b) Using process mining to learn from process changes in evolutionary systems. Int J Bus Proc Integ Manage, Spec Issue Bus Proc Flex 3(1):61–78

    Google Scholar 

  17. Hagen C, Alonso G (2000) Exception handling in workflow management systems. IEEE Trans Softw Eng 26(10):943–958

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Hallerbach A, Bauer T, Reichert M (2008a) Context-based configuration of process variants. In: Prof. TCoB’08, pp 31–40

  19. Hallerbach A, Bauer T, Reichert M (2008b) Managing process variants in the process lifecycle. In: Proc. ICEIS’08, Barcelona, pp 154–161

  20. Harmon P (2003) Business Process Change – A Manager’s guide to Improving, redesigning and Automating Processes. Morgan Kaufmann, San Francisco, CA

    Google Scholar 

  21. Kloppmann M, König D, Leymann F, Pfau G, Roller D (2008) Business process choreography in WebSphere. combining the power of BPEL and J2EE. IBM Syst J 43(2):270–296

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Küster J, Ryndina K, Gall H (2007) Generation of business process models for object life cycle compliance. In: BPM’07, LNCS 4714, pp 165–181

  23. Lenz R, Reichert M (2007) IT support for healthcare processes – premises, challenges, perspectives. Data Knowl Eng 61(1):39–58

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. de Leoni M, Mecella M, de Giacomo G (2007) Highly dynamic adaptation in process management systems through execution monitoring. In: Proc. BPM’07, LNCS 4714, pp 182–197

  25. Li C, Reichert M, Wombacher A (2008a) Discovering reference process models by mining process variants. In: Proc. ICWS’08, Beijing, pp 45–53

  26. Li C, , Reichert M, Wombacher A (2008b) Mining process variants: Goals and issues. In: Proc. SCC’08, Honolulu, Hawaii, pp 573–576

  27. Li C, Reichert M, Wombacher A (2008c) On measuring process model similarity based on high-level change operations. In: Proc. ER’08, Barcelona, LNCS 5231, pp 248–264

  28. Lu R (2008) Constraint based flexible business process management. PhD thesis, School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering. The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia

    Google Scholar 

  29. Lu R, Sadiq S (2006) Managing process variants as an information resource. In: Proc. BPM06, pp 426–431

  30. Lu R, Sadiq S (2007) On the discovery of preferred work practice through business process variants. In: Proc. ER’07

  31. Luo Z, Sheth A, Kochut K, Miller J (2000) Exception handling in workflow systems. Appl Intell 13(2):125–147

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Malone T, Crowston K, Herman G (2003) Organizing Business Knowledge – The MIT Process Handbook. The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA

    Google Scholar 

  33. Mendling J (2007) Detection and prediction of errors in epc business process models. PhD thesis, Vienna Univ. of Economics and Business Administration

  34. Minor M, Schmalen D, Koldehoff A, Bergmann R (2007a) Structural adaptation of workflows supported by a suspension mechanism and by case-based reasoning. In: Proc. WETICE’07, pp 370–375

  35. Minor M, Tartakovski A, Bergmann R (2007b) Representation and structure-based similarity assessment for agile workflows. In: Proc. ICCBR’07, pp 224–238

  36. Minor M, Tartakovski A, Schmalen D, Bergmann R (2008) Agile workflow technology and case-based change reuse for long-term processes. Int J Intell Inform Technol 1(4):80–98

    Google Scholar 

  37. Müller D, Herbst J, Hammori M, Reichert M (2006) IT support for release management processes in the automotive industry. In: Proc. BPM’06, LNCS 4102, pp 368–377

  38. Müller D, Reichert M, Herbst J (2007) Data-driven modeling and coordination of large process structures. In: Proc. CoopIS’07, LNCS 4803, pp 131–149

  39. Müller D, Reichert M, Herbst J (2008) A new paradigm for the enactment and dynamic adaptation of data-driven process structures. In: Proc. CAiSE’08, LNCS 5074, pp 48–63

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

    Article  Google Scholar 

  41. Mutschler B, Reichert M, Bumiller J (2008a) Unleashing the effectiveness of process-oriented information systems: Problem analysis, critical success factors and implications. IEEE Trans Syst Man Cyb (Part C) 38(3):280–291

    Google Scholar 

  42. Mutschler B, Weber B, Reichert M (2008b) Workflow management versus case handling – results from a controlled software experiment. In: Proc. SAC’08, pp 82–89

  43. Netjes M, Mansar S, Reijers H, van der Aalst W (2007) An evolutionary approach for business process redesign – towards an intelligent system. In: Proc. ICEIS (3), pp 47–54

  44. Pande P, Neuman R, Cavanagh R (2000) The Six Sigma Way: How GE, Motorola, and Other Top Companies are Honing Their Performance. Mc-Graw Hill, New York, NY

    Google Scholar 

  45. Pesic M, Schonenberg M, Sidorova N, van der Aalst W (2007) Constraint-based workflow models: Change made easy. In: Proc. CoopIS’07, LNCS 4803, pp 77–94

  46. Porter M (1985) Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance. Free Press, New York, NY

    Google Scholar 

  47. Reichert M (2000) Dynamische Ablaufänderungen in Workflow-Management-Systemen. PhD thesis, Universität Ulm

  48. Reichert M, Dadam P (1998) ADEPTflex – supporting dynamic changes of workflows without losing control. J Intell Inform Syst 10(2):93–129

    Article  Google Scholar 

  49. Reichert M, Dadam P, Bauer T (2003a) Dealing with forward and backward jumps in workflow management systems. Softw Syst Model 2(1):37–58

    Google Scholar 

  50. Reichert M, Rinderle S, Dadam P (2003b) On the common support of workflow type and instance changes under correctness constraints. In: Proc. CoopIS’03, LNCS 2888, pp 407–425

  51. Reichert M, Rinderle S, Kreher U, Dadam P (2005) Adaptive process management with ADEPT2. In: Proceedings ICDE’05, pp 1113–1114

  52. Reijers H, Limam S, van der Aalst W (2003) Product-based workflow design. MIS 20(1):229–262

    Google Scholar 

  53. Reijers H, Mans R, van der Toorn R (2009) Improved model management with aggregated business process models. Data Knowl Eng 68(2):221–243

    Article  Google Scholar 

  54. Rinderle S (2004) Schema evolution in process management systems. PhD thesis, University of Ulm

  55. Rinderle S, Reichert M (2006) Data-driven process control and exception handling in process management systems. In: Proc. CAiSE’06, LNCS 4001, pp 273–287

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

    Google Scholar 

  57. Rinderle S, Reichert M, Dadam P (2004b) Disjoint and overlapping process changes: Challenges, solutions, applications. In: Proc. CoopIS’04, LNCS 3290, pp 101–120

  58. Rinderle S, Reichert M, Dadam P (2004c) Flexible support of team processes by adaptive workflow systems. Distrib Parall Database 16(1):91–116

    Google Scholar 

  59. Rinderle S, Reichert M, Dadam P (2004d) On dealing with structural conflicts between process type and instance changes. In: Proc. BPM’04, LNCS 3080, pp 274–289

  60. Rinderle S, Weber B, Reichert M, Wild W (2005) Integrating process learning and process evolution – a semantics based approach. In: Proc. BPM’05, LNCS 3649, pp 252–267

  61. Rinderle S, Reichert M, Jurisch M, Kreher U (2006a) On representing, purging, and utilizing change logs in process management systems. In: Proc. BPM’06, LNCS 4102, pp 241–256

  62. Rinderle S, Wombacher A, Reichert M (2006b) Evolution of process choreographies in DYCHOR. In: Proc. CoopIS’06, LNCS 4275, pp 273–290

  63. Rinderle S, Jurisch M, Reichert M (2007) On deriving net change information from change logs – the DELTALAYER-algorithm. In: Proc. BTW’07, LNI P-103, pp 364–381

  64. Rinderle-Ma S, Reichert M (2007) A formal framework for adaptive access control models. J Data Semant IX:82–112, LNCS 4601

    Google Scholar 

  65. Rinderle-Ma S, Reichert M (2008) Managing the life cycle of access rules in CEOSIS. In: Proc. EDOC’08, Munich, pp 257–266

  66. Rinderle-Ma S, Reichert M, Weber B (2008a) On the formal semantics of change patterns in process-aware information systems. In: Proc. ER’08, LNCS 5231, pp 279–293

  67. Rinderle-Ma S, Reichert M, Weber B (2008b) Relaxed compliance notions in adaptive process management systems. In: Proc. ER’08, LNCS 5231, pp 232–247

  68. la Rosa M, Lux J, Seidel S, Dumas M, ter Hofstede A (2007) Questionnaire-driven configuration of reference process models. In: Proc. CAiSE’07, LNCS 4495, pp 424–438

  69. Rosemann M, van der Aalst W (2007) A configurable reference modelling language. Inf Syst 32(1):1–23

    Article  Google Scholar 

  70. Rummler GA, Brache AP (Year) Improving Performance: How to Manage the White Space in the Organization Chart. Jossey-Bass Publishers, San Francisco, CA

  71. Russell N, ter Hofstede A, Edmond D, van der Aalst W (2004a) Workflow data patterns. Tech. Rep. FIT-TR-2004-01, Queensland University of Technology

  72. Russell N, ter Hofstede A, Edmond D, van der Aalst W (2004b) Workflow resource patterns. Tech. Rep. WP 127, Eindhoven Univ. of Technology

  73. Russell N, van der Aalst W, ter Hofstede A (2006) Exception handling patterns in process-aware information systems. In: Proc. CAiSE’06, pp 288–302

  74. Sadiq S (2000) Handling dynamic schema changes in workflow processes. In: Proc. 11th Australian Database Conference

  75. Sadiq S, Sadiq W, Orlowska M (2005) A framework for constraint specification and validation in flexible workflows. Inf Syst 30(5):349–378

    Article  Google Scholar 

  76. SAP (2008) Sap solution maps: www.sap.com/solutions (last visited April 15th 2009)

  77. Scheer AW (1994) Business Process Engineering: Models for Industrial Enterprises. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York Tokyo

    Google Scholar 

  78. Schonenberg H, Mans R, Russell N, Mulyar N, van der Aalst W (2008a) Process flexibility: A survey of contemporary approaches. In: CIAO! / EOMAS, pp 16–30

  79. Schonenberg H, Weber B, van Dongen B, van der Aalst W (2008b) Supporting flexible processes through log-based recommendations. In: Proc. BPM’08, LNCS 5240, pp 51–66

  80. SEI (2008) Capability maturity model: www.sei.cmu.edu/cmmi (last visited April 15th 2009)

  81. Subramaniam S, Kalogeraki V, Gunopulos D, Casati F, Castellanos M, Dayal U, Sayal M (2007) Improving process models by discovering decision points. Inf Syst 32(7):1037–1055

    Article  Google Scholar 

  82. Thom L, Reichert M, Iochpe C (2009) Activity patterns in process-aware information systems: Basic concepts and empirical evidence. Int J Bus Proc Integ Manage (IJBPIM), ISSN 1741-8763 (accepted for publication)

  83. van der Aalst W (1998) The application of petri nets to workflow management. J Circ Syst Comput 8(1):21–66

    Article  Google Scholar 

  84. van der Aalst W, Jablonski S (2000) Dealing with workflow change: Identification of issues an solutions. Int J Comput Syst Sci Eng 15(5):267–276

    Google Scholar 

  85. van der Aalst W, ter Hofstede A (2005) YAWL: Yet another workflow language. Inf Syst 30(4):245–275

    Article  Google Scholar 

  86. van der Aalst W, ter Hofstede A, Kiepuszewski B, Barros A (2003) Workflow patterns. Distrib Parall Database 14(1):5–51

    Article  Google Scholar 

  87. van der Aalst W, Weske M, Grünbauer D (2005) Case handling: A new paradigm for business process support. Data Knowl Eng 53(2):129–162

    Article  Google Scholar 

  88. van der Aalst W, Reijers H, Weijters A, van Dongen B, de Medeiros AA, Song M, Verbeek H (2007) Business process mining: An industrial application. Inf Syst 32(1):713–732

    Article  Google Scholar 

  89. van der Aalst W, Dumas M, Gottschalk F, ter Hofstede A, la Rosa M, Mendling J (2008) Correctness-preserving configuration of business process models. Proc. FASE’08, pp 46–61

  90. Vanderfeesten I, Reijers H, van der Aalst W (2008) Product based workflow support: A recommendation service for dynamic workflow execution. Tech. Rep. BPM-08-03, BPMcenter.org

  91. Weber B, Reichert M (2008) Refactoring process models in large process repositories. In: Proc. CAiSE’08, LNCS 5074, pp 124–139

  92. Weber B, Wild W, Breu R (2004) CBRFlow: Enabling adaptive workflow management through conversational CBR. In: Proc. ECCBR’04, LNCS 3155, pp 434–448

  93. Weber B, Reichert M, Wild W, Rinderle S (2005) Balancing flexibility and security in adaptive process management systems. In: CoopIS’05, LNCS 3760, pp 59–76

  94. Weber B, Reichert M, Rinderle S, Wild W (2006a) Towards a framework for the agile mining of business processes. In: BPM’05 Workshop Proceedings, 1st Int’l Workshop on Business Process Intelligence (BPI’05) in conjunction with (BPM ’05), LNCS 3812, pp 191–202

  95. Weber B, Reichert M, Wild W (2006b) Case-base maintenance for CCBR-based process evolution. In: Proc. ECCBR’06, LNCS 4106, pp 106–120

  96. Weber B, Rinderle S, Reichert M (2007) Change patterns and change support features in process-aware information systems. In: Proc. CAiSE’07, LNCS 4495, pp 574–588

  97. Weber B, Reichert M, Rinderle-Ma S (2008) Change patterns and change support features – enhancing flexibility in process-aware information systems. Data Knowl Eng 66(3):438–466

    Article  Google Scholar 

  98. Weber B, Reichert M, Wild W, Rinderle-Ma S (2009) Providing integrated life cycle support in process-aware information systems. Int J Coop Inf Syst 18(1):115–165

    Article  Google Scholar 

  99. Weske M (2000) Workflow management systems: Formal foundation, conceptual design, implementation aspects. University of Münster, Habil Thesis

  100. Weske M (2001) Formal foundation and conceptual design of dynamic adaptations in a workflow management system. In: Proc. HICSS-34

  101. Weske M (2007) Business Process Management: Concepts, Methods, Technology. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York

    Google Scholar 

  102. Xerox (1997) InConcert Technical Product Overview

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Computer Science, Univ. of Innsbruck, Technikerstraße 21a, 6020, Innsbruck, Austria

    Barbara Weber

  2. School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, The University of Queensland, GP South Building, Staff House Road, QLD 4072, St Lucia, Australia

    Shazia Sadiq

  3. Institute of Databases and Inf. Systems, Ulm University, James-Franck-Ring, 89069, Ulm, Germany

    Manfred Reichert

Authors
  1. Barbara Weber
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Shazia Sadiq
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Manfred Reichert
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Barbara Weber.

Additional information

CR subject classification

H.4.1 ; D.2.2 ; D.2.11

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Weber, B., Sadiq, S. & Reichert, M. Beyond rigidity – dynamic process lifecycle support . Comp. Sci. Res. Dev. 23, 47–65 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00450-009-0069-5

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00450-009-0069-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation