System for enterprise-wide work flow automation

• US 7,603,649 B2
• Filed: 12/23/2002
• Issued: 10/13/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 07/23/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: ServiceNow Incorporated
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Waddington, Bruce A., Poindexter, Luen Kimball, Timm, Stephen R., Seidman, Glenn R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Vo; Ted T.
• Application Number:
  US10/328,072
• Publication Number:
  US 20030093458A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,486 Days
• Field of Search: 717101-105
• US Class Current: 717/102
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management

Abstract

Methods and apparatus are provided for a enterprise-wide work flow system that may encompass multiple geographically separate sites. The sites may be either permanently or transiently linked. A single computer network may accommodate multiple work flow systems and a single work flow system may be distributed over multiple local area networks. The system maintains the paradigm of one global queue per service and provides for individual work flow systems to export services to one another in an enterprise.

Claims

1. Computer readable storage that stores a program for processing documents, said program capable of being executed by a computer to cause the computer to:

create an instance of a first work flow class representing a first work flow system corresponding to a first organizational entity, wherein the first work flow system provides a first plurality of services;

create an instance of a second work flow class representing a second work flow system, the second work flow system including a work performer class that acts as a proxy for at least one of the first plurality of services offered by the first work flow system;

on the second work flow system, create an instance of a first exporting class that acts as a proxy and is used to provide access to one or more other work flow systems to at least a portion of the first plurality of services that process at least one of documents or business procedures, wherein the first exporting class appears to the other work flow systems to be a local document or business procedure processing work performer class, wherein at least a first of the other work flow systems corresponds to a second organizational entity; and

under control of the instance of the first exporting class that acts as a proxy on the second work flow system,

determine that a service from among the first plurality of services offered by the first work flow system is being requested; and

cause creation of an agent work object at the first work flow system, wherein the agent work object executes work orders at the first work flow system and returns data to the instance of the first exporting class.

2. The computer readable storage as defined in claim 1, wherein said program is capable of being executed by a computer to cause the computer to create instances of work object classes corresponding to document work objects that need to be processed using both at least a portion of the first plurality of services offered by the first work flow system and services offered by the first of the other work flow systems.

3. The computer readable storage as defined in claim 1, wherein the first work flow system corresponds to an accounting entity and a second work flow system corresponds to a research entity.

4. The computer readable storage as defined in claim 1, wherein the computer is a first computer, wherein the instance of the first work flow class is created at the first computer, wherein the first computer is coupled to a second computer, and wherein the instance of the second work flow class is created at the second computer.

5. A work flow apparatus, comprising;

a first work flow system, including computer readable storage and a first plurality of work performer classes corresponding to one or more document or business procedure processing services offered by the first work flow system;

a second work flow system, including computer readable storage and at least a second work flow system work performer class that acts as a proxy and that is used by the second work flow system to access work performer services for processing documents or business procedures offered by the first work flow system to process one or more documents or business procedures;

wherein the second work flow system is configured to create an instance of the work performer class that acts as a proxy; and

wherein the instance of the work performer class that acts as a proxy at the second work flow system is configured to,

determine that a service from among the first plurality of services offered by the first work flow system is being reciuested; and

cause creation of an agent work object at the first work flow system, wherein the agent work object executes work orders at the first work flow system and returns data to the second work flow system.

6. The work flow apparatus as defined in claim 5, wherein services corresponding to the first plurality of work performer classes are hosted by the first work flow system.

7. The work flow apparatus as defined in claim 5, wherein the at least second work flow system work performer class corresponds to service not offered by the second work flow system.

8. The work flow apparatus as defined in claim 5, wherein the first work flow system correpsonds to a research entity and the second work flow system corresponds to an accounting entity.

9. The work flow apparatus as defined in claim 5, wherein the first work flow system corresponds to a first accounting entity.

10. The work flow apparatus as defined in claim 5, wherein an instance of the at least second work flow system work performer class acts as a proxy for a plurality of instances of the first plurality of work performer classes.

11. The work flow apparatus as defined in claim 5, wherein the first work flow system includes a third plurality of work performer classes that are not available to the second work flow system.

12. The work flow apparatus as defined in claim 5, wherein the second work flow system includes a second plurality of work performer classes corresponding to services offered by the second work flow system.

13. A first work flow system, comprising:

a first plusrality of work service classes in computer readable storage corresponding to one or more document processing or business procedure services offered by the first work flow system;

at least one work service class in the computer readable storage corresponding to one or more document or business procedure processing service offered by a second work flow system to at least the first work flow system so that the first work flow system can process at least one document or business procedure using at least one document or business procedure processing service offered by the second work flow system;

wherein the first work flow system is configured to create an instance of the at least one work service class; and

wherein the instance of the at least one work service class is configured to,

determine that a service from the one or more document or business procedure processing services offered by the second work flow system is being requested; and

cause creation of an agent work object at the second work flow system, wherein the agent work object executes work orders at the second work flow system and returns data to the first work flow system.

14. The first work flow sytem as defined in claim 13, wherein the services offered by the second work flow system include accounting services.

15. The first work flow system as defined in claim 13, further comprising work object classes corresponding to work objects that need to be processed using the services offered by the first work flow system and the second work flow system.

16. The first work flow system as defined in claim 13, further comprising a run-time engine that determines when a first work object needs to be processed using the services offered by the second work flow system.

17. A method of providing work flow services, comprising:

storing in a computer a first work flow class definition for a first work flow system;

storing in a computer a first work performer class definition corresponding to a work performer class that processes, at least in part, a first work object via a first work system service available to at least a second work flow system, wherein the first work object corresponds to a document or a business procedure;

storing in a computer a sceond work flow class definition for the second work flow system;

storing in a computer a first proxy work performer class definition for the second work flow system, wherein the first proxy work performer class corresponds to at least the first work flow system service;

creating a first proxy work performer at the second work flow system corresponding to the first proxy work performer class, wherein the first proxy work performer causes the creation of a first agent work object corresponding to the first work object, wherein the first agent work object is processed by the first workflow system service, and wherein, when the processing of the first agent work object is complete, data is returned from the first workflow system service to the first proxy work performer at the second workflow system;

wherein the first work object is locked while the first agent work object is being processed by the first work flow system service; and

causing, at least in part, the first work object agent to be routed for processing to at least one work performer local to the first work flow system.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the first work flow class definition for the first work flow system is stored in a first computer and wherein the second work flow class definition for the second work flow system is stored in a second computer.

19. Computer storage storing a program, said program capable of being executed by a computer to cause the computer to:

create an instance of a first work flow class for a first work flow system;

create an instance of a first work service class for processing a document or business procedure corresponding to a first work flow system document or business procedure processing service available to at least a second work flow system;

create an instance of a second work flow class for processing at least one of a document or business procedure for the second work flow system;

create an instance of a first proxy work service class for the second work flow system, wherein the first proxy work service class corresponds to at least the first work flow system document or business procedure processing service, wherein the instance of the first proxy work service class causes the creation of an agent work object, wherein the agent work object is processed by the instance of the first work flow class, and wherein, when the processing of the agent work object is complete, data is returned from the instance of the first work flow class to the instance of the second work flow class; and

cause, at least in part, at least one document or business procedure to be processed using the first work flow document or business procedure processing system service.

20. The computer storage as defined in claim 19, wherein said program is capable of being executed by a computer to cause the computer to create instances of work object classes corresponding to work objects that need to be processed using both first work flow system service and services offered by the second work flow system.