Workflow integration system for enterprise wide electronic collaboration
First Claim
1. A workflow integration system that allows for sharing of workflow information among a plurality of collaboration participants, comprising:
- a plurality of collaboration participants;
a workflow server on each collaboration participant, and having stored thereon a participant workflow that specifies process information for a project that is local to that collaboration participant, wherein a project is a group of related tasks; and
a collaboration server having stored thereon an enterprise workflow that defines combined process information for the participant workflows, and that includes tasks to be executed across the plurality of collaboration participants to achieve a combined result, said collaboration server further comprisinga conversation initiation logic that initiates a conversation among the collaboration participants, wherein said conversation includes a collective set of messages exchanged accordinq to an extensible protocol, wherein said extensible protocol allows a collaboration participant to specify both a routing information and a business protocol, and wherein the routing information is specified by a collaboration participant in a header of the extensible protocol; and
an integration logic that allows one of said participant workflows to interact with and affect another participant workflow by sending messages between collaboration participants via the conversation on the collaboration server and in accordance with the enterprise workflow, wherein each participant may choose to use any of a plurality of business protocols that are supported by the system for conversation.
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Abstract
An enterprise wide electronic commerce system allows trading partners to act as participants in a complex trading process. Participants communicate with one another by joining conversations that are hosted in a collaboration space and managed by a collaboration hub. In this manner, the enterprise workflow may have an effect on, or be affected by, local workflows. The invention provides a workflow integration system for enterprise wide electronic collaboration. An embodiment of the invention includes a workflow integration system for a collaboration system that allows for sharing of workflow information between collaboration participants, comprising a collaboration server having stored thereon an enterprise workflow, a workflow server having stored thereon a participant workflow and an integration mechanism for allowing said enterprise workflow and said participant workflow to interact with one another.
274 Citations
24 Claims
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1. A workflow integration system that allows for sharing of workflow information among a plurality of collaboration participants, comprising:
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a plurality of collaboration participants; a workflow server on each collaboration participant, and having stored thereon a participant workflow that specifies process information for a project that is local to that collaboration participant, wherein a project is a group of related tasks; and a collaboration server having stored thereon an enterprise workflow that defines combined process information for the participant workflows, and that includes tasks to be executed across the plurality of collaboration participants to achieve a combined result, said collaboration server further comprising a conversation initiation logic that initiates a conversation among the collaboration participants, wherein said conversation includes a collective set of messages exchanged accordinq to an extensible protocol, wherein said extensible protocol allows a collaboration participant to specify both a routing information and a business protocol, and wherein the routing information is specified by a collaboration participant in a header of the extensible protocol; and an integration logic that allows one of said participant workflows to interact with and affect another participant workflow by sending messages between collaboration participants via the conversation on the collaboration server and in accordance with the enterprise workflow, wherein each participant may choose to use any of a plurality of business protocols that are supported by the system for conversation. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method for integrating workflows comprising the steps of:
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storing an enterprise workflow on a collaboration server, wherein said enterprise workflow includes process information for a plurality of participant workflows, and wherein said enterprise workflow includes a group of tasks executed by the collaboration server across the plurality of collaboration participants, to achieve a combined result; storing a participant workflow on each collaboration participant server, wherein said participant workflow specifies process information for a project local to that collaboration participant, wherein a project is a group of related tasks; initiating a conversation among the collaboration participants, wherein said conversation includes a collective set of messages exchanged according to an extensible protocol, wherein said extensible protocol allows a collaboration participant to specify both a routing information and a business protocol, and wherein the routing information is specified by a collaboration participant in a header of the extensible protocol; and providing an integration logic that allows one of said participant workflows to interact with and affect another participant workflow by sending messages between collaboration participants via the conversation on the collaboration server and in accordance with the enterprise workflow, wherein each participant may choose to use any of a plurality of business protocols that are supported by the system for conversation. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A workflow integration system that allows for sharing of workflow information among a plurality of collaboration participants, comprising:
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a plurality of collaboration participants; a workflow server on each collaboration participant, and having stored thereon a participant workflow that specifies process information for a project local to that collaboration participant; a collaboration server having stored thereon an enterprise workflow that defines combined process information for the participant workflows, said collaboration server further comprising a collaboration space that stores a conversation among the collaboration participants, wherein said conversation includes a collective set of messages exchanged according to an extensible protocol, wherein said extensible protocol allows a collaboration participant to specify both a routing information and a business protocol, and wherein the routing information is specified by a collaboration participant in a header of the extensible protocol; a plurality of business protocol handlers, each of which are configured to use a different business protocol; a transport that accepts messages from the collaboration participants using any of the different business protocols, identifies the business protocol being used, and invokes one or more of said plurality of business protocol handlers; and wherein one of said participant workflows can interact with and affect another participant workflow by sending messages between collaboration participants via the conversation on the collaboration server using any of the plurality of business protocols supported by the system. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A method for integrating workflows, comprising the steps of:
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storing an enterprise workflow on a collaboration server, wherein said enterprise workflow includes process information for a plurality of participant workflows; storing a participant workflow on each collaboration participant server, wherein said participant workflow specifies process information for a project local to that collaboration participant; initiating a conversation among the collaboration participants, wherein said conversation includes a collective set of messages exchanged according to an extensible protocol, wherein said extensible protocol allows a collaboration participant to specify both a routing information and a business protocol, and wherein the routing information is specified by a collaboration participant in a header of the extensible protocol; providing a plurality of business protocol handlers, each of which are configured to use a different business protocol; accepting messages from the collaboration participants using any of the different business protocols, identifying the business protocol being used, and invoking one or more of said plurality of business protocol handlers; and allowing one of said participant workflows to interact with and affect another participant workflow by sending messages between collaboration participants via the conversation on the collaboration server and in accordance with the enterprise workflow. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24)
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Specification