INSTANT MESSAGED FORMS BASED BUSINESS PROCESS DECISION POINT FACILITATION

• US 20080103862A1
• Filed: 10/27/2006
• Published: 05/01/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 10/27/2006
• Status: Active Application

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Wesley, Ajamu, Moss, Harold
• Application Number:
  US11/553,671
• Publication Number:
  US 20080103862A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/8
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/103 Workflow collaboration or project management

Abstract

Embodiments of the present invention address deficiencies of the art in respect to decision point management for a business process and provide a method, system and computer program product for instant messaging forms based business process decision point facilitation. In one embodiment of the invention, a method for instant messaged forms based business process decision point facilitation can be provided. The method can include detecting a decision point in a business process, identifying a target collaborator for the detected decision point, applying instant messaging presence awareness for the target collaborator, and forwarding a form within an instant message to the target collaborator only when the target collaborator is determined to be present for instant messaging.

Claims

1. A method for instant messaged forms based business process decision point facilitation, the method comprising:

detecting a decision point in a business process;

identifying a target collaborator for the detected decision point;

applying instant messaging presence awareness for the target collaborator; and

,

forwarding a form within an instant message to the target collaborator only when the target collaborator is determined to be present for instant messaging.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving from the target collaborator a reply instant message;

determining from the reply instant message whether the decision point has been resolved; and

,

driving the business process towards closure if the reply instant message is determined to have satisfied the decision point.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein forwarding a form within an instant message to the target collaborator only when the target collaborator is determined to be present for instant messaging, comprises:

encapsulating a request for information in a form for an instant message; and

,

instant messaging the instant message to the target collaborator.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein applying instant messaging presence awareness for the target collaborator, comprises applying the extensible messaging and presence protocol (XMPP) to detect presence for the target collaborator

5. The method of claim 4, wherein encapsulating a request for information in a form for an instant message, comprises applying the XMPP to create the form within the instant message.

6. An instant messaged forms based business process decision point facilitation data processing system comprising:

an instant messaging server;

a business process host platform supporting a business process through a process manager and a process data store;

an instant messaging bot configured to apply instant messaging presence awareness to a plurality of collaborators associated with the business process; and

,

decision point closure facilitation logic coupled to the business process host platform, the logic comprising program code enabled to, in response to encountering a decision point in the business process for a target collaborator, forwarding a form for the decision point within an instant message to the target collaborator only when presence is detected by the instant messaging bot for the target collaborator.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the form is a form constructed according to the extensible messaging and presence protocol (XMPP).

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the instant messaging bot implements XMPP.

9. A computer program product comprising a computer usable medium having computer usable program code for instant messaged forms based business process decision point facilitation, the computer program product including:

computer usable program code for detecting a decision point in a business process;

computer usable program code for identifying a target collaborator for the detected decision point;

computer usable program code for applying instant messaging presence awareness for the target collaborator; and

,

computer usable program code for forwarding a form within an instant message to the target collaborator only when the target collaborator is determined to be present for instant messaging.

10. The computer program product of claim 9, further comprising:

computer usable program code for receiving from the target collaborator a reply instant message;

computer usable program code for determining from the reply instant message whether the decision point has been resolved; and

,

computer usable program code for driving the business process towards closure if the reply instant message is determined to have satisfied the decision point.

11. The computer program product of claim 9, wherein the computer usable program code for forwarding a form within an instant message to the target collaborator only when the target collaborator is determined to be present for instant messaging, comprises:

computer usable program code for encapsulating a request for information in a form for an instant message; and

,

computer usable program code for instant messaging the instant message to the target collaborator.

12. The computer program product of claim 9, wherein the computer usable program code for applying instant messaging presence awareness for the target collaborator, comprises computer usable program code for applying the extensible messaging and presence protocol (XMPP) to detect presence for the target collaborator

13. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein the computer usable program code for encapsulating a request for information in a form for an instant message, comprises computer usable program code for applying the XMPP to create the form within the instant message.