1. 1 Workflow Systems at APNIC How they help everyone Robert Loomans February 2, 2007

2. 2 Contents What is a “workflow”? What is a “workflow system”? Why care? Workflows at APNIC Workflow systems at APNIC Where to from here? Summary Resources

3. 3 What is a “workflow”? Data State or Context Process …or Business Process

4. 4 Process

5. 5 What is a “workflow system”? Workflow model –Data store –Workflow definition –Programming API Workflow engine –Execution –Remote API? Modeling and analysis tools

6. 6 Why care? Structured development –Decouple different layers –More modular, reusable code –More definition and declaration More manageable operations –Less random cronjobs –Less scary direct poking in databases or files –Potential for better logging, stats and audit trails –Privileged code running in one place –Access control

7. 7 Really, why care? Faster responses from APNIC and much better worst case Quicker fixes to broken processes More automation of common tasks

8. 8 Hype Source: The State of Workflow by Tom Baeyens

9. 9 Workflows at APNIC External –New membership –Resource application –Help! –Membership renewal –Lame DNS delegations –Policy drafting Internal –Travel and leave requests –Expense claims –Purchasing –Software feature requests and bugs

10. 10 Workflow systems at APNIC Web forms  Email –No structure Request Tracker Ad-hoc applications Workflow.pm

11. 11 Email Trail of email messages Spam Little or no metadata

12. 12 Request Tracker Email gateway Spam Limited metadata Difficult to impose business processes

13. 13 Ad-hoc applications Slow development cycle Duplicated bugs Proliferation of cronjobs on multiple servers Difficult to change

14. 14 Workflow.pm Simple Perl module on CPAN Not a separate WFE XML workflow definition –States –Actions –Conditions Works but immature

15. 15 Billing renewal notifications Notices to members asking them to pay up Were done manually from an Excel spreadsheet

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18. 18 How successful? Very –Happy finance staff –Happy software staff –Happy ops staff Found problems with existing data and processes

19. 19 Where to from here? Extend member workflow More workflows Workflow engine –Java,.NET or PHP –jBPM http://www.jboss.com/products/jbpmhttp://www.jboss.com/products/jbpm –OpenWFE http://www.openwfe.org/http://www.openwfe.org/ –con:cern http://con-cern.org/http://con-cern.org/

20. 20 Resources The State of Workflow - Tom Baeyens http://www.jboss.com/products/jbpm/stateofworkfl ow http://www.jboss.com/products/jbpm/stateofworkfl ow Process Management Standards Overview - Michael zur Muehlen http://www.wfmc.org/standards/docs/Process_Ma nagement_Standards_files/frame.htm http://www.wfmc.org/standards/docs/Process_Ma nagement_Standards_files/frame.htm Open Source Workflow Engines in Java http://www.java-source.net/open-source/workflow- engines http://www.java-source.net/open-source/workflow- engines

21. 21 Summary Useful? Yes! Lots more to do, but definitely worthwhile even in a simple form

22. 22 Questions?