Deriving process models for workflow management systems from audit trails

• US 6,278,977 B1
• Filed: 07/31/1998
• Issued: 08/21/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 08/01/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Agrawal, Rakesh, Leymann, Frank, Roller, Dieter
• Primary Examiner(s): Hafiz, Tariq R.
• Assistant Examiner(s): NGUYEN, LESLIE
• Application Number:
  US09/127,448
• Time in Patent Office: 1,117 Days
• Field of Search: 707/1, 707/10, 707/100, 707/103, 707/104, 705/1, 705/7, 705/8, 700/95, 700/100, 700/99, 700/104, 706/925, 706/926
• US Class Current: 705/7.27
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0633 Workflow analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management

Abstract

The present invention relates to the area of workflow management systems (WFMS). More particularly the invention is related to a methodology of automatically deriving and steadily improving a process model executed by the WFMS. The current invention dramatically simplifies and automates the process of model a business model of a business process. The invention allows to start just with set of unrelated activities and discover the real world relations between them at a later point in time; data mining and OLAP technologies are exploited for this discovery. The current invention thus proposes a posteriori methodology. For that purpose the precise underlying process model is derived at a later point in time based on audit data collected by the WFMS during the early deployment of a process model.

Claims

1. A computerized method of automatically adapting a process-model of a business-process,

said process-model comprising a multitude of activities being part of said business-process;

said process-model defining all possible allowed sequences of activities of said business-process;

said method of adapting comprising

a pattern-collection-step, wherein said pattern-collection-step is based on a current-process-mode, and during said pattern-collection-step each activity being executed is recorded with an audit-trail by audit-trail-records,

said audit-trail-records encompassing a process-model-instance-identification of a process-model-instance within said activity being executed;

said audit-trail-records encompassing an activity-identification of said activity being executed; and

said audit-trail-records encompassing an execution-interval of said activity being executed comprising a starting-time and a termination-time of said activity being executed;

said method of adapting further comprising

a pattern-analysis-step analyzing, after a predefined sampling period, said audit-trail-records and generating a next-process-model

by determining, in a first step based on the current-process-model from the audit-trail-records with identical process-model-instance-identifications, activities, which are processed sequentially being recorded with non-overlapping execution-intervals, and activities, which are in processed in parallel being recorded with overlapping execution-intervals; and

by adapting in a second step said current-process-model to generate a next-process-model by re-ordering those activities, allowed to be processed in parallel according to the current-process-model but actually having been executed sequentially only, as determined in said first step, into sequential execution order based on the time order of said execution-intervals.

2. A computerized method automatically adapting a process-model according to claim 1 being characterized by repeated application of said method of adapting in using said next-process-model as said current-process-model.

3. A computerized method automatically adapting a process-model according to claim 1 wherein said pattern-analysis-step never re-orders two activities in a sequential execution order if said two activities have been determined at least once as being processed in parallel.

4. A computerized method automatically adapting a process-model according to claim 1 wherein said current-process-model and said next-process-model are managed and executed by a Workflow-Management-System (WFMS).

5. A computerized method automatically adapting a process-model according to claim 4 wherein said pattern-collection-step is executed by said WFMS.

6. A computerized method automatically adapting a process-model according to claim 2 wherein said repeated application starts with an initialcurrent-process-model which allows for parallel execution of all activities within said initialcurrent-process-model.

7. A computerized method automatically adapting a process-model according to claim 3 wherein said repeated application starts with an initialcurrent-process-model which allows for parallel execution of all activities within said initial-current-process-model.

8. A computerized method automatically adapting a process-model according to claim 4 wherein said repeated application starts with an initial-current-process-model which allows for parallel execution of all activities within said initial-current-process-model.