Business process for ultra transactions

• US 10,453,029 B2
• Filed: 07/31/2007
• Issued: 10/22/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 08/03/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: King, Nigel, Grundfest, Joe
• Primary Examiner(s): Mincarelli, Jan P
• Application Number:
  US11/831,762
• Publication Number:
  US 20080183519A1
• Time in Patent Office: 4,466 Days
• Field of Search: 705 11, 705 7, 705 11
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/12 Accounting

Abstract

An audit system automatically ensures compliance with relevant policy by identifying an entity offering a non-audit service that also provides audit services to the enterprise, and ensuring the service is permissible and proper approval has been obtained. If the non-audit service is prohibited or proper approval from an audit committee has not been obtained, execution of the service is prevented. When a permissible non-audit service is executed, this service can be monitored and execution suspended when circumstances change such that the service is no longer permissible or approval for the service expires. The audit system can forward a message to the audit committee or other authority about any suspended business process. If the audit committee subsequently approves the suspended permissible non-audit service, execution of the instance of the business process resumes. The audit system determines whether the vendor entity was paid demands a refund where necessary.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

storing information in a data store for each respective vendor of a plurality of vendors that provide services to an enterprise including associating with each vendor a respective flag of a plurality of flags, the respective flag indicative of whether the respective vendor providing a first type of service is prohibited from also providing a second type of service;

defining, within a process library of a workflow system, a set of processes for executing a planned series of functions on a processor, the set of processes invokable by a plurality of workflow-enabled applications that are in communication with the workflow system, wherein at least one workflow-enabled application providing a particular function for checking security of at least one software resource;

registering, within a registry of the workflow system, a set of one or more functions that are incompatible with the particular function and defined within the process library, wherein the particular function includes a plurality of sub-functions, wherein the sub-functions inherit incompatibility from the particular function and correspond to menus of the workflow-enabled applications such that a collection of sub-functions that are compatible with the particular function may be activated via a particular menu for the particular function, wherein at least one sub-function in the plurality of sub-functions is a sub-function of another sub-function in the plurality of sub-functions;

monitoring, by the processor, the workflow system while the workflow system is implementing the set of processes to detect that an instance of a particular process in the set of processes is invoked by a particular workflow-enabled application of the plurality of workflow-enabled applications in communication with the workflow system;

recording, by the processor, details of the instance of the particular process invoked by the particular workflow-enabled application, the process including one or more functions registered within the workflow system and executable by the process to implement at least a portion of a non-audit service;

identifying, by the processor, from the recorded details of the instance of the particular process invoked by the particular workflow-enabled application, that a particular user (a) is associated with a first vendor mapped to a first flag, of the plurality of flags, indicating the first vendor offers the first type of service that is incompatible with the non-audit service and is prohibited from causing execution of processes implementing the non-audit service, and (b) is accessing the one or more functions registered within the workflow system, wherein the one or more functions are incompatible with the particular function;

after identifying that the particular user (a) is associated with the first vendor mapped to the first flag, of the plurality of flags, indicating the first vendor offers the first type of service that is incompatible with the non-audit service and is prohibited from causing execution of processes implementing the non-audit service and (b) is accessing the one or more functions registered within the workflow system,

(a) preventing execution, by the processor, of the instance of the particular process invoked by the particular workflow-enabled application; and

(b) preventing, by the workflow system, the particular user from accessing the particular function and the plurality of sub-functions from the menus of the workflow enabled applications after the particular user has accessed the one or more functions that are incompatible with the particular function, wherein a second collection of sub-functions that are compatible with the one or more functions are accessible to the particular user via a menu interface.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising monitoring a set of key performance indicators (KPI) values for the set of processes.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein preventing execution of the instance of the particular process is further performed responsive to determining that pre-approval for the non-audit service has expired.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising automatically forwarding a message to an authority of the enterprise in response to execution being denied.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the message includes one or both of information identifying the instance of the particular process and information on a step to execute the instance of the particular process.

6. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

resuming execution of the instance of the particular process in response to receiving approval for permissible service.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining if the first vendor has been paid in conjunction with the instance of the particular process; and

creating a refund demand in response to a determination that the first vendor has been paid in conjunction with the instance of the particular process.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the refund demand includes a debit memo in an accounting system.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the particular process includes an accounts payable business process.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the instance of the particular process includes an invoice from the first vendor.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the particular process includes a purchasing business process.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the instance of the particular process includes a purchase order directed to the first vendor.

13. A non-transitory information storage medium storing a plurality of instructions adapted to direct an information processing device, the non-transitory information storage medium comprising:

instructions for storing information in a data store for each respective vendor of a plurality of vendors that provide services to an enterprise including associating with each vendor a respective flag of a plurality of flags, the respective flag indicative of whether the respective vendor providing a first type of service is prohibited from also providing a second type of service;

instructions for defining, within a process library of a workflow system, a set of processes for executing a planned series of functions on a processor, the set of processes invokable by a plurality of workflow-enabled applications that are in communication with the workflow system, wherein at least one workflow-enabled application provides a particular function for checking security of at least one software resource;

instructions for registering, within a registry of the workflow system, a set of one or more functions that are incompatible with the particular function and defined within the process library, wherein the particular function includes a plurality of sub-functions, wherein the sub-functions inherit incompatibility from the particular function and correspond to menus of the workflow-enabled applications such that a first collection of sub-functions that are compatible with the particular function may be activated via a particular menu for the particular function, wherein at least one sub-function in the plurality of sub-functions is a sub-function of another sub-function in the plurality of sub-functions;

instructions for monitoring the workflow system while the workflow system is implementing the set of processes to detect that an instance of a particular process in the set of processes is invoked by a particular workflow-enabled application of the plurality of workflow-enabled applications in communication with the workflow system;

instructions for recording details of the instance of the particular process invoked by the particular workflow-enabled application, the particular process including one or more functions registered within the workflow system and executable by the processor to implement at least a portion of a non-audit service;

instructions for identifying from the recorded details of the instance of the particular process invoked by the particular workflow-enabled application, that a particular user (a) is associated with a first vendor mapped to a first flag, of the plurality of flags, indicating the first vendor offers the first type of service that is incompatible with the non-audit service and is prohibited from causing execution of processes implementing the non-audit service, and (b) is accessing the one or more functions registered within the workflow system, wherein the one or more functions are incompatible with the particular function;

instructions for after identifying that the particular user (a) is associated with the first vendor mapped to the first flag, of the plurality of flags, indicating the first vendor offers the first type of service that is incompatible with the non-audit service and is prohibited from causing execution of processes implementing the non-audit service and (b) is accessing the one or more functions registered within the workflow system,

(a) preventing execution, by the processor, of the instance of the particular process invoked by the particular workflow-enabled application; and

(b) preventing, by the workflow system, the particular user from accessing the particular function and the plurality of sub-functions from the menus of the workflow enabled applications after the particular user has accessed the one or more functions that are incompatible with the particular function, wherein a second collection of sub-functions that are compatible with the particular function ii one or more functions are accessible to the particular user via a menu interface.

14. The non-transitory information storage medium of claim 13, further comprising instructions for automatically forwarding a message to an authority of the enterprise in response to a determination that the first vendor is prohibited from providing the non-audit service to the enterprise.

15. The non-transitory information storage medium of claim 14, wherein the message includes information identifying the instance of the particular process.

16. The non-transitory information storage medium of claim 14, wherein the message includes information on a step to continue execution of the instance of the particular process.

17. The non-transitory information storage medium of claim 14, wherein the authority includes an audit committee member of the enterprise.

18. The non-transitory information storage medium of claim 14, further comprising:

instructions for receiving an approval message from the authority;

instructions for storing at least a portion of the approval message; and

instructions for resuming execution of the instance of the particular process in response to the approval message.

19. The non-transitory information storage medium of claim 14, further comprising:

instructions for receiving a denial message from the authority;

instructions for storing at least a portion of the denial message; and

instructions for terminating execution of the instance of the particular process in response to the denial message.

20. The non-transitory information storage medium of claim 13, further comprising:

instructions for determining if the first vendor has been paid in conjunction with the instance of the particular process; and

instructions for creating a refund demand in response to a determination that the first vendor has been paid in conjunction with the instance of the particular process.

21. The non-transitory information storage medium of claim 20, wherein the refund demand includes a debit memo in an accounting system.

22. The non-transitory information storage medium of claim 13, wherein the particular process includes an accounts payable business process.

23. The non-transitory information storage medium of claim 22, wherein the instance of the particular process includes an invoice from the first vendor.

24. The non-transitory information storage medium of claim 13, wherein the particular process includes a purchasing business process.

26. The non-transitory information storage medium of claim 13 further comprising instructions for monitoring a set of key performance indicators (KPI) values for the set of processes.

25. A system for executing business processes in an enterprise;

the system comprising;

a hardware processor; and

a memory storing a set of instructions which when executed by the hardware processor configure the hardware processor to;

store information in a data store for each respective vendor of a plurality of vendors that provide services to an enterprise including associating with each vendor a respective flag of a plurality of flags, the respective flag indicative of whether the respective vendor providing a first type of service is prohibited from also providing a second type of service;

define, within a process library of a workflow system, a set of processes for executing a planned series of functions on a processor, the set of processes invokable by a plurality of workflow-enabled applications that are in communication with the workflow system, wherein at least one workflow-enabled application provides a particular function for checking security of at least one software resource;

register, within a registry of the workflow system, a set of one or more functions that are incompatible with the particular function and defined within the process library, wherein the particular function includes a plurality of sub-functions, wherein the sub-functions inherit incompatibility from the particular function and correspond to menus of the workflow-enabled applications such that a collection of sub-functions that are compatible with the particular function may be activated via a particular menu for the particular function, wherein at least one sub-function in the plurality of sub-functions is a sub-function of another sub-function in the plurality of sub-functions;

monitor the workflow system while the workflow system is implementing the set of processes to detect that an instance of a particular process in the set of processes is invoked by a particular workflow-enabled application of the plurality of workflow-enabled applications in communication with the workflow system;

record details of the instance of the particular process invoked by the particular workflow-enabled application, the process including one or more functions registered within the workflow system and executable by the process to implement at least a portion of a non-audit service;

identify from the recorded details of the instance of the particular process invoked by the particular workflow-enabled application, that a particular user (a) is associated with a first vendor mapped to a first flag, of the plurality of flags, indicating the first vendor offers the first type of service that is incompatible with the non-audit service and is prohibited from causing execution of processes implementing the non-audit service, and (b) is accessing the one or more functions registered within the workflow system, wherein the one or more functions are incompatible with the particular function;

after identifying that the particular user (a) is associated with the first vendor mapped to a first flag, of the plurality of flags, indicating the first vendor offers the first type of service that is incompatible with the non-audit service and is prohibited from causing execution of processes implementing the non-audit service and (b) is accessing the one or more functions registered within the workflow system,

(a) prevent execution, by the hardware processor, of the instance of the particular process invoked by the particular workflow-enabled application; and

(b) prevent the particular user from accessing the particular function and the plurality of sub-functions from the menus of the workflow enabled applications after the particular user has accessed the one or more functions that are incompatible with the particular function, wherein a second collection of sub-functions that are compatible with the one or more functions are accessible to the particular user via a menu interface.