1. Enterprise Integration: Workflow
B.Ramamurthy
Chapter 7
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B.Ramamurthy

2. Integration and Workflow
Data integration: capturing the data from various sources and dispensing them appropriately for consumption by application and human users.
Application integration: connecting the various applications so that collaborate to accomplish the enterprise-level tasks efficiently, consistently and without redundancy.
Workflow: Provides the automation of business processes to coordinate the activities of people and applications, at all levels.
Many workflow products are available in the market. (You will typically be a user of one. If you are working for workflow company that makes these products you will design and build one.)
11/12/2018
B.Ramamurthy

3. Workflow Topics General Workflow Model Processes in workflow
Process design considerations
Integration elements
Assessing scalability
Product requirements
Standards (OMG’s Workflow management Coalition (WfMC)
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B.Ramamurthy

4. Resource Assignment Facilities
The Model
Process A Definition
Requester
Process A instance
Process Manager
Process B instance
Resource Assignment Facilities
Personal worklist
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B.Ramamurthy

5. Workflow Management
Definition of processes, ex: login process, order process, purchase process, shipping process, approval process.
Process definition is installed for runtime execution.
Requester of processor provides values to the variables of the process, and parameters for execution. (ex: completion date)
When the process code is executed, an instance of the process is created. It performs the component activities.
Activities perform a variety of operations.
Operations may request resources and interaction of people. (ex: approval, printer for printing)
11/12/2018
B.Ramamurthy

6. Process Deign Consideration
Process scope
Process closure
Process state versus subject matter (context)
User roles and security
Accountability and control
Process back-out
Long-running transactions
Ancillary actions (Ex: exceptions)
11/12/2018
B.Ramamurthy

7. Design consideration (contd)
Process is closed loop
Scope should be limited to the BSD
Activities depend on the context
Number of different people may be involved.
Roles relate to the manner in which each user participates in the process and user’s authority in the process of the context.
See the diagram given next:
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B.Ramamurthy

8. User Roles Process Defn Requester Responsible Process Party Instance
Observer
Activity
instance
Reviewer
Work
product
Performer
Subject
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B.Ramamurthy

9. Integration Elements
Process initiation (by programmed request, by a user, by an event)
Workflow context (standards use XML)
Application adapters
Event detection
Asynchronous process invocation
Shared work products
Security
11/12/2018
B.Ramamurthy

10. Workflow context Expressed as name-value pair
OMG’s workflow standard recommends XML
XML features:
Provides complex parameters in a well defined structure
The structures can be accessed and managed with well-defined operations
XML document type definition (DTD) can define the content of the structure for editing.
The same structure can be used to create associated user displays using XSLT.
11/12/2018
B.Ramamurthy

11. Accessing Scalability
Process definitions (may spawn many other supporting processes)
Active processes (use of activate /passivate)
Number of users (activate/passivate)
Threading model
Execution distribution model (Ex; multiple j2ee servers connected through a queue)
Workload balancing (multiple beans in a container and their management for efficient operation)
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B.Ramamurthy

12. Product Requirements Process definition elements
Process definition tools
Workflow execution infrastructure
Ad hoc changes
Runtime user interface
Compute environment
Security
Analysis tools
11/12/2018
B.Ramamurthy