Model-Driven Approach to Workflow Execution

Abstract

Workflow execution is usually accomplished by a central enactment engine that interprets a process definition and dispatches activities as specified in the definition. In practice, this type of workflow execution is successfully automated for such processes that involve routine activities. However, today's business processes don't seem to be manageable, compared to the traditional workflows. Particularly, with explosion of e-business, the processes sometimes span multiple companies, and interoperability among distributed processcentric systems has become an important issue. Therefore, the conventional execution framework may not effectively handle the complicated business processes for collaboration any more. In this article, we deliberate on realizing the vision of Model-Driven Architecture (MDA) for workflow systems and make an effort to build up a concrete process model reflecting on whole life cycle of workflow processes. The process model will improve interchangeability and portability of workflow processes, which requires that the executable components be generated from the model regardless of the variety of run-time architecture. © Springer-Verlag 2004.