Large-Scale
Federated
BPM / Workflow
Keith Swenson
Technical Committee Chairman
WfMC
Vice President of R&D
Fujitsu Computer Systems
http://kswenson.wordpress.com/
Copyright 2009

Overview
• Concept of Process Linking
– Remote Subprocess Linking
– Dynamic Linking
– Recursive Linking
• Tie to Web 2.0
• Key Standards Required
– Wf-XML
– BPAF
– Workcast
Keith D Swenson http://kswenson.wordpress.com/

Process Linking
• Sales Process (Contract Part)
Legal
Draft Aprove Close
Review
Keith D Swenson http://kswenson.wordpress.com/

Process Linking
• Sales Process on Server A
Legal
Draft Aprove Close
Review
Contract Tort Exec
Specialist Specialist Analyst
Legal Review Process on Server B
Keith D Swenson http://kswenson.wordpress.com/

Process Linking
• Sales Process on Server A
Legal
Draft Aprove Close
Review
Standard Protocol between Remote
process engines allows one Subprocess
process to reuse another Invocation
across technologies.
Contract Tort Exec
Specialist Specialist Analyst
Legal Review Process on Server B
Keith D Swenson http://kswenson.wordpress.com/

Dynamic Process Linking
Process on Server A
Keith D Swenson http://kswenson.wordpress.com/

Dynamic Process Linking
Process on Server A
Sub-Process
Keith D Swenson http://kswenson.wordpress.com/

Dynamic & Recursive Process Linking
Process on Server A
Sub-Process
Sub-Sub-Process Sub-Process
Keith D Swenson http://kswenson.wordpress.com/

Consider BLOG Based Conversations
Keith’s Blog Sandy’s Blog Bruce’s Blog
Individual blog posts
Keith D Swenson http://kswenson.wordpress.com/

Conversation is Thread Through Entries
Keith’s Blog Sandy’s Blog Bruce’s Blog
tion
c onversa
Individual blog posts
threa
d
Keith D Swenson http://kswenson.wordpress.com/

Implications
• Each blog is on a different server
• References are made between server
• Conversation threads knit servers
together.
• No security problem (each person
guards their own servers and their own
posts.)
• Cost of system born by poster
• Style of post controlled by poster
• Scalability: extremely huge!
Keith D Swenson http://kswenson.wordpress.com/

Distributed Federated Workflow / BPM
Accounting Development Management
Server Server Server
subprocess
Process Instances
Keith D Swenson http://kswenson.wordpress.com/

Implications
• Process Fragements on different servers
• Process Linking knits servers together
• No security problem (people start
process fragments only on own server)
• Cost of system born by people wanting
and implementing a process fragment.
• Process definition controlled by owner
• Scalability: extremely huge!
Keith D Swenson http://kswenson.wordpress.com/

Workflow / BPM Reference Model
Keith D Swenson http://kswenson.wordpress.com/

Workflow / BPM Reference Model
BPMN
XPDL
BPAF Wf-XML
BPEL
Workcast
SOAP
REST
Keith D Swenson http://kswenson.wordpress.com/

Workflow / BPM Reference Model
Design &
Deploy BPMN
XPDL
BPEL
Standard
SOAP
Application
Integration
REST
Keith D Swenson http://kswenson.wordpress.com/

Workflow / BPM Reference Model
BPMN
XPDL
Process Distribution & Federation
BPAF Wf-XML
BPEL
Workcast
SOAP
REST
Keith D Swenson http://kswenson.wordpress.com/

Large Scale Federated Workflow
Worklist BPMS Business
Users Servers Process
Intelligence
Warehouse
WorkCast Wf-XML BPAF
Keith D Swenson http://kswenson.wordpress.com/

Wf-XML for Process Linking
BPMS
• Standardized Servers • Operations:
Messages ●
Create Instance
– SOAP or ●
Get Status
●
Update Status
– REST ●
Suspend
• State Model ●
Resume
• Bidirectional ●
Notify
Complete
Context Data
●
●
Terminate
Interchange
• Cross Platform • Collective
• Cross Technology ●
List Processes
●
List Definitions
Wf-XML
Keith D Swenson http://kswenson.wordpress.com/

Business Process Analytics Format
BPMS Business
• Standardized Event Servers Process
Format Intelligence
– XML Syntax Warehouse
– Defined Attribute
Semantics
• Process State Model
• Activity State Model
• Transfer
– As a stream
– On demand
BPAF
Keith D Swenson http://kswenson.wordpress.com/

Workcast Protocol
Worklist BPMS
Users Servers • Based on RSS
& Atom Feed
– Aggregates
– Syndicates
• Extended with
– Due Date
– Priority
– Activity State
– Assignee
– Etc.
WorkCast
Keith D Swenson http://kswenson.wordpress.com/

Consistent Global ID is critical: OpenID
Worklist BPMS Business
Users Servers Process
OpenID Intelligence
Warehouse
OpenID
OpenID OpenID
OpenID
WorkCast Wf-XML BPAF
Keith D Swenson http://kswenson.wordpress.com/

Delegation & Authentication: OAuth
Worklist BPMS
Users Servers • Server1 access
Server2 on
user’s behalf
• OAuth protocol
OpenID
• Secure API
Authentication
OpenID
OpenID
Wf-XML
Keith D Swenson http://kswenson.wordpress.com/

BPM In Practice: A Primer for
BPM & Workflow Standards
• Many of these concepts
covered in this book from
Keith Swenson and
Robert Shapiro available at:
http://www.lulu.com/content/2244958
• See the related blog at:
http://kswenson.wordpress.com/books
Keith D Swenson http://kswenson.wordpress.com/

Large Scale Federated Workflow Summary
• Multiple Servers, Federated Processes
• Process Linking (Wf-XML)
• Collecting WorkItems (Workcast)
• Collecting History (BPAF)
• Consistent Identity (OpenID)
• Security (OAuth)
WorkCast Wf-XML BPAF
• Scalability: Incredibly Huge!
Keith D Swenson http://kswenson.wordpress.com/

Pro c e s s Tho ug ht
Le ade rs hip
Keith D Swenson http://kswenson.wordpress.com/