Implementing a business process management system using adept: A real-world case study

Abstract

This article describes how the agent-based design of ADEPT (advanced decision environment for process tasks) and implementation philosophy was used to prototype a business process management system for a real-world application. The application illustrated is based on the British Telecom (BT) business process of providing a quote to a customer for installing a network to deliver a specified type of telecommunications service. Particular emphasis is placed upon the techniques developed for specifying services, allowing agents with heterogeneous information models to interoperate, allowing rich and exible interagent negotiation to occur, and on the issues related to interfacing agent-based systems and humans. This article builds upon the companion article (Applied Artificial Intelligence Vol. 14, no. 2, pgs. 145¨189) that provides details of the rationale and design of the ADEPT technology deployed in this application.