Chronicling for Process Discovery in Model Driven Business Transformation

• US 20080300950A1
• Filed: 05/31/2007
• Published: 12/04/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 05/31/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: GlobalFoundries, Inc.
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Pingali, Gopal Sarma, Vukovic, Maja, Kumaran, Santhosh Babu, Bhaskaran, Kumar
• Granted Patent: US 8,489,444 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/8
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0633 Workflow analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06393 Score-carding, benchmarking or key performance indicator [KPI] analysis

Abstract

An electronic chronicling method and system that automatically captures, stores, and organizes various aspects of business processes in real-time. The system allows different role players to analyze, mine, and share selected performance metrics of business processes in the context of various measures involved, including users, systems, applications, processes, etc. The system enables users to analyze and utilize sortable performance metrics with varying degrees of specificity and detail. This analysis and utilization provides an efficient means for the real-time streamlining and optimization of business processes.

Claims

1. A data processing system for discovering business processes, comprising:

means for chronicling selected activities;

means for bookmarking said activities;

means for organizing said activities into chronicles;

means for accessing and utilizing said chronicles; and

means for analyzing said chronicles to derive statistics and summaries.

2. A data processing system according to claim 1, further comprising:

means for transforming said business processes by utilizing said chronicles.

3. A data processing system according to claim 2, wherein said means for transforming said business processes includes:

means for automatically determining at least one key performance indicator;

means for comparing said at least one key performance indicator with at least one target key performance indicator in order to determine whether said key performance indicator is within an acceptable range;

means for determining changes to be made to a current business process when said key performance indicator is not within an acceptable range; and

updating said current business process with said determined changes.

4. A data processing system according to claim 1, wherein said means for chronicling selected activities executes on end devices and automatically captures said selected activities as they are performed.

5. A data processing system according to claim 4, wherein said end devices include at least one of personal computers, personal digital assistants, telephones, cell phones, GPS devices, audio/video recorders, audio/video players, or cameras.

6. A data processing system according to claim 1, wherein said means for bookmarking activities includes annotation tools.

7. A data processing system according to claim 1, wherein said means for organizing said activities into chronicles includes an electronic chronicle repository.

8. A data processing system according to claim 1, wherein said means for accessing and utilizing said chronicles includes a chronicle navigator.

9. A data processing system according to claim 1, wherein said means for analyzing said chronicles to derive statistics and summaries analysis includes an analysis and mining tool.

10. A method for discovering business processes, comprising:

automatically capturing selected activities as they are performed;

bookmarking said activities;

organizing said activities into chronicles;

accessing and utilizing said chronicles; and

analyzing said chronicles to derive statistics and summaries.

11. A method for discovering business processes according to claim 10, further comprising:

using said chronicles to transform said business processes.

12. A method for discovering business processes according to claim 11, wherein using said chronicles to transform said business processes includes:

automatically determining at least one key performance indicator;

comparing said at least one key performance indicator with at least one target key performance indicator in order to determine whether said key performance indicator is within an acceptable range;

determining changes to be made to a current business process when said key performance indicator is not within an acceptable range; and

updating said current business process with said determined changes.

13. A data processing system for discovering business processes, comprising:

at least one electronic chronicling capture tool;

an electronic chronicle repository in communication with said electronic chronicling capture tool;

a chronicle navigator in communication with said electronic chronicle repository; and

an analysis and mining tool in communication with said electronic chronicle repository.

14. A data processing system according to claim 13, wherein:

said at least one electronic chronicling capture tool automatically captures selected activities as they are performed;

said electronic chronicle repository organizes said activities into chronicles;

said chronicle navigator enables access and utilization of said chronicles; and

said analysis and mining tool analyzes said chronicles to derive statistics and summaries related to activities and artifacts, analytics, and users.

15. A data processing system according to claim 13, further comprising at least one annotation tool in communication with said electronic chronicling capture tool, wherein said annotation tool allows a user to bookmark activities.

16. A computer program product comprising a computer useable medium including a computer readable program, wherein the computer readable program when executed on a computer causes the computer to:

automatically capture selected activities as they are performed using at least one electronic chronicling tool;

organize said captured activities into chronicles in an electronic chronicle repository;

access and utilize said chronicles with a chronicle navigator; and

analyze said chronicles with an analysis and mining tool to derive statistics and summaries.

17. A computer program product according to claim 16, wherein the computer readable program further causes the computer to:

receive instructions to prompt said access and utilization of said chronicles.

18. A computer program product according to claim 16, wherein the computer readable program further causes the computer to:

bookmark said captured activities, wherein said bookmark is executed by an annotation tool.

19. A computer program product according to claim 16, wherein the computer readable program further causes the computer to:

utilize said chronicles to transform said business processes.

20. A computer program product according to claim 16, wherein the computer readable program further causes the computer to:

automatically determine at least one key performance indicator;

compare said at least one key performance indicator with at least one target key performance indicator in order to determine whether said key performance indicator is within an acceptable range;

determine changes to be made to current business process when said key performance indicator is not within an acceptable range; and

update said current business process with said determined changes.