2001 · 102 citations · 0 references
BusinessInformation SystemsManagement Information SystemsBusiness Process ManagementEnterprise SystemsSoftware EngineeringBusiness Process TransformationWorkflow AnalysisWorkflow DesignWorkflow ManagementWorkflow OrchestrationFlexibilityWorkflow ExecutionWorkflow FlexibilityWorkflow Management Systems
Workflow technology has become essential for enterprise systems, yet its use is confined to well‑controlled settings and often fails due to limited flexibility. The authors propose shifting from control‑flow‑driven workflows to product‑driven workflows to address these flexibility limitations. They introduce FLOWer, a software package that implements product‑driven workflow management.
In the last decade, workflow technology has become one of the building blocks for realizing enterprise information systems. Unfortunately, the application of contemporary workflow management systems is limited to well-defined and well-controlled environments. In practice, workflow technology often fails because of limited flexibility. We advocate a paradigm shift to overcome this problem: Workflows should not be driven by pre-specified control-flows but by the products they generate. This paper presents the software package FLOWer which fully supports this paradigm shift.