Kevin Hudson Oracle Corporation October 2001

Evolution of Oracle from Application to Infrastructure

Brief History of Oracle  1993 – Oracle Applications Release 10 – Financials – Manufacturing – Human Resources  Not Workflow as we would know it. – Order Entry – Order Cycle and Approvals – Purchasing – PO Approval – All “Workflow” capabilities built directly into the application

Workflow Emerges  1994 – Oracle Workflow – Traditional Applications based Workflow – Complete API access to all services  PL/SQL,  C  Java API  Requirements driven by Oracle Applications – The move to Self Service Applications – Common rules engine for Oracle Applications – Common Worklist for Oracle Applications – Common configuration model for Oracle Applications

1995 Workflow Takes Hold  New Applications see the light – Engineering Approval – Self Service Requisition – Self Service Expense Reports – Self Service Human Resource  Predominately driven by the need for: – Worklist Approvals – Self Service Configuration

Expense Report Processing AP Standard Expense Report Process

Expense Report Processing

Workflow Marches On  Established Applications make the move to Workflow – Order Management – Purchasing – General Ledger – Account Receivable  Workflow becomes a component of the Applications development platform

Non- Production Requests Procurement Workflow Approval Workflow Receive ASN Pay on Receipt AP MRP/DRP Generated Requirements Create Requisitions AutoRelease Approved Supplier Lists Standard POs Supplier Schedules Payment Approved Suppliers EDI / Fax Web Internet Procurement 100% Lifecycle Automation Search Catalog (Local or TPN Register) Content Loads/Updates Workflow is much more than approvals

Release 11i Order Management Workflow Order Cycles Workflow Processes Cycle Actions Workflow Functions Cycle Approvals Workflow Notifications Workflow enforces business rules

Release 11i Order Management Workflow Order Flow - Generic with Header Level Invoicing Line Flow - Generic with Header Level Invoicing

Workflow Enabled e-Business Suite  ERP – Order Management – Internet Procurement – Self Service Financials – Advanced Planning System – Projects  HRMS – Candidate Offer – Career Management Reviews Release 11i highlights  CRM – Call Center – Service – Contacts – Support – Marketing – iStore And many more...

RolesUsers Directory Services Notification Services Send Respond Forward Cancel Query Oracle Workflow Enabled Application Oracle 9i server Engine Execution Definition Administration Monitoring Query Workflow Builder Workflow Loader Workflow Definition Files Workflow Development Client Oracle IAS Notification Mailer Application Server Web Notification Worklist Web Monitor Web Analysis Tools Browser Client Mail Applications Workflow Components

Workflow Engine  Heavily based on Oracle database technology – Database Queues (Used internally by the Workflow Engine ) – 100% audit trail in relational tables – Two Phase commit – Transactional Integrity – Scalability, Performance … o7 Oracle Applications Oracle Workflow Oracle 9i Server Side Architecture Ensures Optimal Performance

So What’s Wrong with all that?  Nothing! – But… There’s a lot more to Workflow – But… The Oracle Platform has a lot more to offer.  Workflow was too tightly bound to the applications – Great for Control but… what about collaboration? – What is at the center Workflow or the Applications – We needed to move with the technology – “We needed Business Events”

The Real Break through  Applications Workflow meets Platform Workflow OR  Oracle Applications meets Server Technology OR  Kevin Hudson meets Dieter Gawlick

The Story Continues  1998 Workflow Business Event System – Manage Internal and External business processes that span information system – Workflow process can be started or progressed by a business event – Workflow activities can initiate a business event  Workflow loosely bound to the application – Respond to and initiate Business Events

Business Event Driven Workflow  Business Events System – EVENTs are things which have occurred that might be significant to other objects in a system, or to external systems. The set of possible events is pre-determined by the applications. – Business Event != Message  Producing the event message may be costly and should be avoided unless an active subscription requires it. – Business Event != IT Event  Event Based Subscriptions is a super set of Publish/ Subscribe – Publish Subscribe is necessary but not complete – Event Based Subscription is an extension over publish/subscribe

From Control To Collaboration  The evolution from classical API driven Workflow towards business events driven Workflow – Applications raise business events – Workflow consumes business events – Workflow raise business events  Workflow that can react and respond to Business Events that occur outside their domain – A whole new type of Workflow  Essential for Application Integration (EAI)

Workflow Moving Down the Technology Stack  Component of Oracle database technology – Database Queues (Used internally by the Workflow Engine ) – Database Queues ( Used for External Communication ) – Security, Performance, Scalability ( Only truly achievable as part of the platform ) – Database features become more tightly integrated and consistent with Workflow  e.g LDAP o7 Oracle Applications Oracle Workflow Oracle 9i Server Side Architecture Ensures Optimal Performance Oracle 9i With Workflow

Workflow as a component of the Infrastructure  Provider and Consumer/driver of platform technology, – Consumes database platform (performance, scalability,security ) – Consumes messaging, queuing and pushes the platform – Provides business events ( drives the requirements into the platform )  Cooperates on Composite Events  Shows the need for LDAP integration

22 Model Driven Integration  Extends message broker model  Flexible  Provides process view  Simple  Requires a model of the business process Order Entry Warehouse Web Store Workflow Credit Management Accounting Human Resources Shipping Data Warehouse

Inter-Enterprise Business Processes Logistics Bank Supplier A Supplier B Internet Integration Hub Integration Hub Integration Hub Integration Hub

Business Events System Workflow Engine Oracle Applications AQ Business Events (XML) Workflow Business Event System Event driven Workflow processes Business Events New Order Update Order Cancel Order

RolesUsers Directory Services Notification Services Send Respond Forward Cancel Query Oracle Workflow Enabled Application Oracle server Workflow Engine Execution Definition Administration Monitoring Query Workflow Builder Workflow Loader Workflow Definition Files Workflow Development Client IAS Notification Mailer Application Server Web Notification Worklist Web Monitor Web Analysis Tools Browser Client Mail Applications AQ Business Event System Send Receive Raise Listen Query Workflow Components

Business Event Manager Raise Local Events Listen External Events Event Dispatcher Rule Function Workflow Process Send Business Event Matching Event Subscription Application AQ

Event Manager Workflow Engine AQ WF_OUT WF_IN AQ Propagation Event Manager Workflow Agent Ping/Acknowledge Business Event System Listen AQ PropagationListen

Key Messages  One Oracle Workflow product – Traditional applications based Workflow  Still needed – e-business integration workflow  Business Events a welcome addition  Leverages the Oracle technology stack – 9i – Database Queuing… – …