Controllability of time-aware processes at run time

Abstract

Companies increasingly adopt process-aware information systems (PAISs) to analyze, coordinate, and monitor their business processes. Although the proper handling of temporal constraints (e.g., deadlines, minimum time lags between activities) is crucial for many applications, contemporary PAISs lack a sophisticated support of the temporal perspective of business processes. In previous work, we introduced Conditional Simple Temporal Networks with Uncertainty (CSTNU) for checking controllability of time constraint networks with decision points. In particular, controllability refers to the ability of executing a time constraint network independent of the actual duration of its activities, while satisfying all temporal constraints. In this paper, we demonstrate how CSTNUs can be applied to time-aware business processes in order verify their controllability at design as well as at run time. In particular, we present an algorithm for ensuring the controllability of time-aware process instances during run time. Overall, proper run-time support of time-aware business processes will broaden the use of PAIS significantly. © 2013 Springer-Verlag.