This document discusses process-aware information systems (PAIS) and their importance in managing operational processes involving people, applications, and information sources based on process models. It provides an overview of PAIS definitions, history and tools, and the contents of the book, which includes concepts, modeling languages, techniques, standards and tools related to PAIS. It focuses on using the Unified Modeling Language (UML) to model workflow and processes, covering actions and control flow, data and object flow, organizational structure, and business partner interactions.

1. 1
Process-Aware
Information Systems
Dumas, van der Aalst, ter Hofstede
UC San Diego
CSE 294
December 3, 2009
Barry Demchak

2. 2
Agenda
 What is a PAIS?
 … and why are they important
 What is in this book?
 Process Modeling using UML
 Actions and control flow
 Data and object flow
 Organizational structure
 Interaction-centric views on business process
 System-specific models
 Looking aside at ORC

3. 3
PAIS Definition
 A software system that manages and
executes operational processes involving
people, applications, and/or information
sources on the basis of process models
 Advantages of models over tasks
 Models invite input from multiple stakeholders
 Changing a system may not involve recoding
 Workflow verification and simulation
 Management support at control level
 Process element reuse
 P2P, P2A, A2A, A2P
Organization of work and
resources to accomplish an
aim – a workflow is an
operating instance of a
process

4. 4
History and status of PAIS
 Early work in ’70s and ’80s use Petri Nets
 Poor technology support
 Organizations focused on tasks, not processes
 Lack of unified modeling
 Business Process Reengineering (BPR) in ’90s
 Factoring overspecialized tasks into coherent and
globally visible processes
 Maturation of tools: modeling & workflow management
 Enterprise process architecture in ’00s
 Missing standards for BPM
 Constrained tools emphasize serial processing
Still about people, processes, and systems

5. 5
Tool Support for PAIS
 Process-aware collaboration (P2P)
 Project management
 Incident tracking
 Enterprise resource planning (ERP)
 Customer relationship management (CRM)
 Case handling
 Business process design/engineering
 Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) suites
 Web integration servers

6. 6
PAIS Types vs Development Tools

7. 7
Book Contents – Essays & Cites
 Concepts
 Modeling Languages
 Techniques
 Standards and Tools
P2A: Workflow Management
P2P: Collaborative Work
A2A: Enterprise Application Integration
Process Modeling (UML)
Process Modeling (EPC)
Process Modeling (Petri)
Process Modeling Patterns
Process Redesign
Process Mining
Transactional Processes
Standards: Workflow Definition & Execution
BPL4WS
Workflow Management (Staffware)
FLOWer Case-handling

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Workflow Modeling Perspectives (ch2)
 Resources and resource management
 Organizational units
 Tasks and task management
 Data and data flow
 Temporal aspects
 Applications
 Business rules
 Exception handling
 Interorganizational cooperation

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Focus: UML Workflow Expression
 Chapter 5: Process Modeling Using UML
 Engels, Förster, Heckel, Thöne (Paderborn)
 Observation:
 UML metamodel contributes to consistency
between UML diagram types
 Actions and control flow
 Data and object flow
 Organizational structure
 Interaction-centric views on business process
 System-specific models
Focus

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Actions and Control Flow
Action Node
Sequence
Control Node
(Decision)
 Focus on sequencing an abstract token along control edges
 ORC: o > CO > o > (let(o,r) < o < SO < (GP > p > (GP > p >
((if(p=C) > p > TC) | (if(p=M) > p > TM) > r > let(r)))) > (o,p,r) >
AB > b
Control
(Merge)
Guard
(OCL…)
Control Node
(Fork)
Initial
Final

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 <<Precondition>> and <<postcondition>>
 Edge weights {weight=10}
 Hierarchical process composition
 Connectors
 Process interaction/signaling
 Exception handling
Actions and Control Flow Addons
A A
send signal A
await
signal A
[…]

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Data and Object Flows
 Models
 Data structures, object types, & relationships
 Individual objects & concrete properties
 Dependencies between objects & actions

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Data and Object Flows – Class
Association
Name
Aggregation
Name

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Data and Object Flows - Object
Composite
Object Name Object TypeAttributes

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Data and Object Flows - Object
 Object-enriched Activity Diagrams
 Object node w/attribute
 Object node w/constraints
 Object pins
 Object node in sequence

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Data and Object Flows - Enriched
Activity
parameter
node
Exception Order duplicated
Stream pin
Single pinBuffer weighting

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Organizational Structure
 Individuals – Object diagram
 Structure – Class diagram
 Connect organizational and activity models –
activity partitions & swim lanes
Annotated
Nodes
Partitions
& Swim Lanes
Hierachical
Partitioning
Matrix
Partitioning

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Organizational Structure - Object

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Organizational Structure - Class
 Matrix organization: change Department and
CompanyMember multiplicities

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Organizational Structure - Activity
Instance Class

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Modeling Business Partner Interactions
 Sequence diagram focuses on role
interactions
 Roles need not be bound to instances
 Intra-role interactions need not be
represented
 Must be consistent with (but not identical to)
other models

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Modeling Business Partner Interactions
Parameter Class
Action
Interaction
operator
Guard
expression

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System-specific Models
 Focus on fine grained implementation
 Structure diagram
 Interface specifications
 System-specific Activity diagram
Service
Interface

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System-specific Models - Services
Function
signatures

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System-specific Models - Activity
API calls
Activity
parameter
node
Activity
parameter
node
API parameters
Interruptable

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Summary
 But …
 There are gaps
 How to verify completeness and correctness?
 Activity diagrams ↔ ORC is unclear
o > CO > o > (let(o,r) < o < SO < (GP > p > (GP > p > ((if(p=C) > p >
TC) | (if(p=M) > p > TM) > r > let(r)))) > (o,p,r) > AB > b

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Future Topics
 Compare WebLogic, WebSphere, BizTalk, Office
Integration regarding system integration support for
EAI & B2B p77
 Present DAML-S, WSMO, WSML, and WSMX
(semantic service execution) p77
 Patterns of process modeling vs ORC p181
 Process mining p237
 Transactional business processes p257
 Standard workflow definition and execution vs ORC
p281
 Workflow Management Coalition standards p30

28. 28
References
 Orc: Orchestrating services.
http://orc.csres.utexas.edu/userguide/html/ch
01s03.html