Abstract
Over the last decade there has been a shift from “data-aware” information systems to “process-aware” information systems. To support business processes an enterprise information system needs to be aware of these processes and their organizational context. Business Process Management (BPM) includes methods, techniques, and tools to support the design, enactment, management, and analysis of such operational business processes. BPM can be considered as an extension of classical Workflow Management (WFM) systems and approaches. This tutorial introduces models, systems, and standards for the design, analysis, and enactment of workflow processes. Petri nets are used for the modeling and analysis of workflows. Using Petri nets as a formal basis, contemporary systems, languages, and standards for BPM and WFM are discussed. Although it is clear that Petri nets can serve as a solid foundation for BPM/WFM technology, in reality systems, languages, and standards are developed in an ad-hoc fashion. To illustrate this XPDL, the “Lingua Franca” proposed by the Workflow Management Coalition (WfMC), is analyzed using a set of 20 basic workflow patterns. This analysis exposes some of the typical semantic problems restricting the application of BPM/WFM technology.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
van der Aalst, W.M.P.: Verification of Workflow Nets. In: Azéma, P., Balbo, G. (eds.) ICATPN 1997. LNCS, vol. 1248, Springer, Heidelberg (1997)
van der Aalst, W.M.P.: Three Good reasons for Using a Petri-net-basedWorkflow Management System. In: Wakayama, T., Kannapan, S., Khoong, C.M., Navathe, S., Yates, J. (eds.) Information and Process Integration in Enterprises: Rethinking Documents. The Kluwer International Series in Engineering and Computer Science, vol. 428, pp. 161–182. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Boston (1998)
van der Aalst, W.M.P.: The Application of Petri Nets toWorkflow Management. The Journal of Circuits, Systems and Computers 8(1), 21–66 (1998)
van der Aalst, W.M.P.: Workflow Verification: Finding Control-Flow Errors using Petri-netbased Techniques. In: van der Aalst, W.M.P., Desel, J., Oberweis, A. (eds.) Business Process Management. LNCS, vol. 1806, pp. 161–183. Springer, Heidelberg (2000)
van der Aalst, W.M.P.: Making Work Flow: On the Application of Petri nets to Business Process Management. In: Esparza, J., Lakos, C.A. (eds.) ICATPN 2002. LNCS, vol. 2360, pp. 1–22. Springer, Heidelberg (2002)
van der Aalst, W.M.P.: Don’t go with the flow:Web services composition standards exposed. IEEE Intelligent Systems 18(1), 72–76 (2003)
van der Aalst, W.M.P., Basten, T.: Inheritance of Workflows: An Approach to Tackling Problems Related to Change. Theoretical Computer Science 270(1-2), 125–203 (2002)
van der Aalst, W.M.P., Berens, P.J.S.: Beyond Workflow Management: Product-Driven Case Handling. In: Ellis, S., Rodden, T., Zigurs, I. (eds.) International ACM SIGGROUP Conference on Supporting Group Work (GROUP 2001), pp. 42–51. ACM Press, New York (2001)
van der Aalst, W.M.P., Desel, J., Kindler, E.: On the Semantics of EPCs: A Vicious Circle. In: Nüttgens, M., Rump, F.J. (eds.) Proceedings of the EPK 2002: Business Process Management using EPCs, Trier, Germany, November 2002, pp. 71–80. Gesellschaft für Informatik, Bonn (2002)
van der Aalst, W.M.P., Desel, J., Oberweis, A. (eds.): Business Process Management. LNCS, vol. 1806. Springer, Heidelberg (2000)
van der Aalst, W.M.P., Dumas, M., ter Hofstede, A.H.M., Wohed, P.: Pattern-Based Analysis of BPML (and WSCI). QUT Technical report, FIT-TR-2002-05, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane (2002)
van der Aalst, W.M.P., van Hee, K.M.: Workflow Management: Models, Methods, and Systems. MIT press, Cambridge (2002)
van der Aalst, W.M.P., ter Hofstede, A.H.M.: Workflow Patterns: On the Expressive Power of (Petri-net-based) Workflow Languages. In: Jensen, K. (ed.) Proceedings of the Fourth Workshop on the Practical Use of Coloured Petri Nets and CPN Tools (CPN 2002), Aarhus, Denmark, August 2002. DAIMI, vol. 560, pp. 1–20. University of Aarhus,
van der Aalst, W.M.P., ter Hofstede, A.H.M.: YAWL: Yet Another Workflow Language. QUT Technical report, FIT-TR-2002-06, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane (2002)
van der Aalst, W.M.P., ter Hofstede, A.H.M., Kiepuszewski, B., Barros, A.P.: Workflow Patterns. Distributed and Parallel Databases 14(1), 5–51 (2003)
van der Aalst, W.M.P., ter Hofstede, A.H.M., Weske, M. (eds.): BPM 2003. LNCS, vol. 2678, pp. 1–12. Springer, Heidelberg (2003)
van der Aalst, W.M.P., van Dongen, B.F., Herbst, J., Maruster, L., Schimm, G., Weijters, A.J.M.M.: Workflow Mining: A Survey of Issues and Approaches. Data and Knowledge Engineering 47(2), 237–267 (2003)
van der Aalst, W.M.P., van Hee, K.M., van der Toorn, R.A.: Component-Based Software Architectures: A Framework Based on Inheritance of Behavior. Science of Computer Programming 42(2-3), 129–171 (2002)
van der Aalst, W.M.P., Weijters, A.J.M.M. (eds.): Process Mining, Special Issue of Computers in Industry, vol. 53(3). Elsevier Science Publishers, Amsterdam (2004)
Arkin, A., Askary, S., Fordin, S., Jekel, W., et al.: Web Service Choreography Interface (WSCI) 1.0. Standards propsal by BEA Systems, Intalio, SAP, and Sun Microsystems (2002)
Arkin, A., et al.: Business Process Modeling Language (BPML), Version 1.0 (2002)
Athena, P.: Case Handling with FLOWer: Beyond workflow. Pallas Athena BV, Apeldoorn, The Netherlands (2002)
Barkaoui, K., Couvreur, J.M., Dutheillet, C.: On liveness in Extended Non Self- Controlling Nets. In: DeMichelis, G., Díaz, M. (eds.) ICATPN 1995. LNCS, vol. 935, pp. 25–44. Springer, Heidelberg (1995)
Billington, J., et al.: The Petri Net Markup Language: Concepts, Technology, and Tools. In: van der Aalst, W.M.P., Best, E. (eds.) ICATPN 2003. LNCS, vol. 2679, pp. 483–506. Springer, Heidelberg (2003)
Casonato, R.: Gartner Group Research Note 00057684, Production-Class Workflow: A View of the Market (1998), http://www.gartner.com
Cheng, A., Esparza, J., Palsberg, J.: Complexity results for 1-safe nets. In: Shyamasundar, R.K. (ed.) FSTTCS 1993. LNCS, vol. 761, pp. 326–337. Springer, Heidelberg (1993)
Curbera, F., Goland, Y., Klein, J., Leymann, F., Roller, D., Thatte, S., Weerawarana, S.: Business Process Execution Language for Web Services, Version 1.0. Standards propsal by BEA Systems, International Business Machines Corporation, and Microsoft Corporation (2002)
Dehnert, J.: A Methodology for Workflow Modeling: From Business Process Modeling Towards Sound Workflow Specification. PhD thesis, TU Berlin, Berlin, Germany (2003)
Desel, J.: A proof of the Rank theorem for extended free-choice nets. In: Jensen, K. (ed.) ICATPN 1992. LNCS, vol. 616, pp. 134–153. Springer, Heidelberg (1992)
J. Desel and J. Esparza. Free Choice Petri Nets, volume 40 of Cambridge Tracts in Theoretical Computer Science. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 1995.
Dumas, M., ter Hofstede, A.H.M.: UML activity diagrams as a workflow specification language. In: Gogolla, M., Kobryn, C. (eds.) UML 2001. LNCS, vol. 2185, pp. 76–90. Springer, Heidelberg (2001)
Ellis, C.A.: Information Control Nets: A Mathematical Model of Office Information Flow. In: Proceedings of the Conference on Simulation, Measurement and Modeling of Computer Systems, Boulder, Colorado, pp. 225–240. ACM Press, New York (1979)
Ellis, C.A., Nutt, G.: Workflow: The Process Spectrum. In: Sheth, A. (ed.) Proceedings of the NSF Workshop on Workflow and Process Automation in Information Systems, Athens, Georgia, May 1996, pp. 140–145 (1996)
Eshuis, R., Dehnert, J.: Reactive Petri nets for Workflow Modeling. In: van der Aalst, W.M.P., Best, E. (eds.) ICATPN 2003. LNCS, vol. 2679, pp. 295–314. Springer, Heidelberg (2003)
Esparza, J.: Synthesis rules for Petri nets, and how they can lead to new results. In: Baeten, J.C.M., Klop, J.W. (eds.) CONCUR 1990. LNCS, vol. 458, pp. 182–198. Springer, Heidelberg (1990)
Esparza, J., Silva, M.: Circuits, Handles, Bridges and Nets. In: Rozenberg, G. (ed.) APN 1990. LNCS, vol. 483, pp. 210–242. Springer, Heidelberg (1991)
Fischer, L. (ed.): Workflow Handbook 2001, Workflow Management Coalition. Future Strategies, Lighthouse Point, Florida (2001)
Fischer, L. (ed.): Workflow Handbook, Workflow Management Coalition. Future Strategies, Lighthouse Point, Florida (2003)
Gartner. Gartner’s Application Development and Maintenance Research Note M-16-8153, The BPA Market Cathes another Major Updraft (2002), http://www.gartner.com
Georgakopoulos, D., Hornick, M., Sheth, A.: An Overview of Workflow Management: From Process Modeling to Workflow Automation Infrastructure. Distributed and Parallel Databases 3, 119–153 (1995)
van Glabbeek, R.J., Stork, D.G.: Query Nets: Interacting Workflow Modules that Ensure Global Termination. In: van der Aalst, W.M.P., ter Hofstede, A.H.M., Weske, M. (eds.) BPM 2003. LNCS, vol. 2678, pp. 184–199. Springer, Heidelberg (2003)
Object Management Group. OMG Unified Modeling Language 2.0 Proposal, Revised submission to OMG RFPs ad/00-09-01 and ad/00-09-02, Version 0.671. OMG (2002), http://www.omg.com/uml/
Hack, M.H.T.: Analysis production schemata by Petri nets. Master’s thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass (1972)
van Hee, K., Sidorova, N., Voorhoeve, M.: Soundness and Separability ofWorkflow Nets in the Stepwise Refinement Approach. In: van der Aalst, W.M.P., Best, E. (eds.) ICATPN 2003. LNCS, vol. 2679, pp. 335–354. Springer, Heidelberg (2003)
Holt, W.: Coordination Technology and Petri Nets. In: Rozenberg, G. (ed.) APN 1985. LNCS, vol. 222, Springer, Heidelberg (1986)
IBM. IBM MQSeries Workflow - Getting Started With Buildtime. IBM Deutschland Entwicklung GmbH, Boeblingen, Germany (1999)
IDS Scheer. ARIS Process Performance Manager (ARIS PPM) (2002) http://www.ids-scheer.com
Jablonski, S., Bussler, C.: Workflow Management: Modeling Concepts, Architecture, and Implementation. International Thomson Computer Press, London (1996)
Jensen, K.: Coloured Petri Nets: A High Level Language for System Design and Analysis. In: Rozenberg, G. (ed.) APN 1990. LNCS, vol. 483, pp. 342–416. Springer, Heidelberg (1991)
Jensen, K.: Coloured Petri Nets. Basic Concepts, Analysis Methods and Practical Use. EATCS monographs on Theoretical Computer Science, vol. 1. Springer, Heidelberg (1997)
Kiepuszewski, B.: Expressiveness and Suitability of Languages for Control Flow Modelling in Workflows. PhD thesis, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia (2003), Available via http://www.tm.tue.nl/it/research/patterns
Kiepuszewski, B., ter Hofstede, A.H.M., van der Aalst, W.M.P.: Fundamentals of Control Flow in Workflows. Acta Informatica 39(3), 143–209 (2003)
Kindler, E., van der Aalst, W.M.P.: Liveness, Fairness, and Recurrence. Information Processing Letters 70(6), 269–274 (1999)
Kindler, E., Martens, A., Reisig, W.: Inter-Operability of Workflow Applications: Local Criteria for Global Soundness. In: van der Aalst, W.M.P., Desel, J., Oberweis, A. (eds.) Business Process Management. LNCS, vol. 1806, pp. 235–253. Springer, Heidelberg (2000)
Lawrence, P. (ed.): Workflow Handbook, Workflow Management Coalition. JohnWiley and Sons, New York (1997)
Leymann, F.: Web Services Flow Language, Version 1.0 (2001)
Leymann, F., Roller, D.: Production Workflow: Concepts and Techniques. Prentice-Hall PTR, Upper Saddle River (1999)
Marinescu, D.C.: Internet-Based Workflow Management: Towards a Semantic Web. Wiley Series on Parallel and Distributed Computing, vol. 40. Wiley-Interscience, New York (2002)
Ajmone Marsan, M., Balbo, G., Conte, G., et al.: Modelling with Generalized Stochastic Petri Nets. Wiley series in parallel computing. Wiley, New York (1995)
Martens, A.: On Compatibility of Web Services. Petri Net Newsletter 65, 12–20 (2003)
Zur Muehlen, M.: Workflow-based Process Controlling: Foundation, Design and Application of workflow-driven Process Information Systems, Logos, Berlin (2004)
Reisig, W.: Petri Nets: An Introduction, volume 4 of EATCSMonographs in Theoretical Computer Science. Springer, Berlin (1985)
Reisig, W., Rozenberg, G. (eds.): APN 1998. LNCS, vol. 1491. Springer, Heidelberg (1998)
Sadiq, W., Orlowska, M.E.: Analyzing Process Models using Graph Reduction Techniques. Information Systems 25(2), 117–134 (2000)
Shapiro, R.: A Comparison of XPDL, BPML and BPEL4WS, Version 1.4 (2002), http://xml.coverpages.org/Shapiro-XPDL.pdf
Software-Ley. COSA User Manual. Software-Ley GmbH. Pullheim, Germany (1998)
Software-Ley. COSA 3.0 User Manual. Software-Ley GmbH, Pullheim, Germany (1999)
Staab, S., van der Aalst, W., Benjamins, V.R., Sheth, A., Miller, J., Bussler, C., Maedche, A., Fensel, D., Gannon, D.: Web Services: Been There, Done That (Trends and Controversies). IEEE Intelligent Systems 18(1), 72–85 (2003)
Staffware. Staffware 2000 / GWD User Manual. Staffware plc, Berkshire, United Kingdom (2000)
Thatte, S.: XLANG Web Services for Business Process Design (2001)
van der Toorn, R.: Component-Based Software Design with Petri nets: An Approach Based on Inheritance of Behavior. PhD thesis, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands (2004)
Verbeek, H.M.W.: Verification and Enactment of Workflow Management Systems (submitted). PhD thesis, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands (2004)
Verbeek, H.M.W., Basten, T., van der Aalst, W.M.P.: Diagnosing Workflow Processes using Woflan. The Computer Journal 44(4), 246–279 (2001)
WFMC. Workflow Management Coalition Workflow Standard: Interface 1 – Process Definition Interchange Process Model (WFMC-TC-1016). Technical report, Workflow Management Coalition, Lighthouse Point, Florida, USA (1999)
WFMC.WorkflowManagement CoalitionWorkflow Standard:Workflow Process Definition Interface – XML Process Definition Language (XPDL) (WFMC-TC-1025). Technical report, Workflow Management Coalition, Lighthouse Point, Florida, USA (2002)
Wohed, P., van der Aalst, W.M.P., Dumas, M., ter Hofstede, A.H.M.: Pattern-Based Analysis of BPEL4WS. QUT Technical report, FIT-TR-2002-04, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane (2002)
Wohed, P., van der Aalst, W.M.P., Dumas, M., ter Hofstede, A.H.M.: Analysis of Web Services Composition Languages: The Case of BPEL4WS. In: Song, I.-Y., Liddle, S.W., Ling, T.-W., Scheuermann, P. (eds.) ER 2003. LNCS, vol. 2813, pp. 200–215. Springer, Heidelberg (2003)
Zisman, M.D.: Representation, Specification and Automation of Office Procedures. PhD thesis, University of Pennsylvania, Warton School of Business (1977)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2004 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
van der Aalst, W.M.P. (2004). Business Process Management Demystified: A Tutorial on Models, Systems and Standards for Workflow Management. In: Desel, J., Reisig, W., Rozenberg, G. (eds) Lectures on Concurrency and Petri Nets. ACPN 2003. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 3098. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-27755-2_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-27755-2_1
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-540-22261-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-540-27755-2
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive