Architectural design for time recording application software

• US 8,352,338 B2
• Filed: 09/18/2008
• Issued: 01/08/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 09/18/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SAP SE
• Original Assignee: SAP AG (SAP SE)
• Inventors: Duparc, Jacques, Guenther, Fabian, Moser, Thomas, Sieber, Peter, Thorleifsson, Helgi, Biehler, Markus, Fitz, Peter, Freund, Jens, Von Geisau, Otfried, Kenntner, Joachim, Klein, Ralf, Krisch, Dieter, Latocha, Peter, Neumayer, Peter J., Roesner, Kai-Michael, Tebbe, Matthias, Beisel, Gertrud, Moosmann, Gerd, Jungkind, Christoph, Kaetker, Stefan
• Primary Examiner(s): Gart, Matthew
• Assistant Examiner(s): Goyea, Olusegun
• Application Number:
  US12/233,289
• Publication Number:
  US 20100070555A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,573 Days
• Field of Search: 705/30, 705/32, 705/28, 705/29, 705/34, 705/33, 705/7.11, 705/7.17, 705/301, 705/7.23, 705/7.26
• US Class Current: 705/30
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling

Abstract

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer program products, for implementing a software architecture design for a software application implementing time recording. The application is structured as multiple process components interacting with each other through service interfaces, and multiple service operations, each being implemented for a respective process component. The process components include a Project Processing process component that supports the management of projects, a Time and Labor Management process component that supports the management of employees timekeeping and work planning, an Accounting process component that records relevant business transactions, a payroll processing process component that supports the execution and monitoring of payroll processes, and a Goods and Service Acknowledgement process component that receives a confirmation from an employee of goods received or services rendered.

Claims

1. A computer program product comprising instructions encoded on a non-transitory, computer-readable medium, the instructions being structured as process components interacting with each other through service interfaces, the instructions operable when executed by at least one processor to:

define a plurality of process components, each of the process components comprising a modular and application-independent package of reusable, granular software implementing a respective and distinct business process, the business process comprising functionality exposed by the process component via a corresponding service interface, the plurality of process components including;

a project processing process component that supports the management of projects;

a time and labor management process component that supports the management of employee timekeeping and work planning;

a payroll processing process component that supports the execution and monitoring of payroll processes;

an accounting process component that records relevant business transactions for valuation and profitability analysis; and

a goods and service acknowledgement process component that represents a confirmation by an employee of goods received or services rendered; and

define a plurality of service interfaces, each service interface associated with exactly one process component and comprising at least one operation, each operation being implemented for exactly one process component, the operations comprising inbound and outbound operations, the outbound operation for a first process component being operable to send a message to a second process component of the plurality of process components, the second process component having an inbound operation for receiving the message, the sending and receiving of messages between an inbound and an outbound operation defining a message-based pair-wise interaction between the respective process components of the respective operations, the pair-wise interactions between pairs of the process components including interactions between;

the time and labor management process component and the goods and service acknowledgement process component, where the pair-wise interaction between the time and labor management process component and the goods and service acknowledgement process component includes the transmission of;

a goods and service acknowledgement request message from the time and labor management process component to the goods and service acknowledgement process component, where the goods and service acknowledgement request message comprises a notification of when an active employee time item with goods and service acknowledgement relevant information is created, changed or cancelled; and

a goods and service acknowledgment cancellation request message from the time and labor management process component to the goods and service acknowledgement process component, where the goods and service acknowledgement cancellation request message comprises a notification of cancellation of a prior goods and services acknowledgment;

the time and labor management process component and the project processing process component, where the pair-wise interaction between the time and labor management process component and the project processing process component includes the transmission of;

a project task confirmation notification message from the time and labor management process component to the project processing process component, where the project task confirmation notification message comprises a notification of when an active employee time item with project relevant information is created, changed or cancelled;

the time and labor management process component and the accounting process component, where the pair-wise interaction between the time and labor management process component and the accounting process component includes the transmission of;

a service provision accounting notification message from the time and labor management process component to the accounting process component, where the service provision accounting notification comprises a notification to accounting of actual services provided and actual time spent on performing the services; and

a service provision cancellation accounting notification message from the time and labor management process component to the accounting process component, where the service provision accounting cancellation notification message comprises a notification to accounting of a confirmation of a provided service has been cancelled; and

the time and labor management process component and the payroll processing process component, where the pair-wise interaction between the time and labor management process component and the payroll processing process component includes the transmission of;

an employee time calendar payroll notification message from the time and labor management process component to the payroll processing process component, where the employee time calendar payroll notification message comprises a notification of modifications to a read-only calendar representation of the evaluation results determined by time evaluation from recorded time documents for an employee; and

a work agreement employee time accounts payroll notification message from the time and labor management process component to the payroll processing process component, where the work agreement employee time accounts payroll notification message comprises a notification of modifications to a summary of valuated employee times and of periodic valuations administered by employee time valuation; and

store the defined process components and service interfaces in memory.

2. The product of claim 1, wherein:

each of the plurality of process components is assigned to exactly one deployment unit among multiple deployment units, and each deployment unit is deployable on a separate computer hardware platform independent of every other deployment unit; and

all interaction between a process component in one deployment unit and any other process component in any other deployment unit takes place through the respective service interfaces of the two process components.

3. The product of claim 2, wherein the multiple deployment units comprise:

a project management deployment unit that includes the project processing component;

a human capital management deployment unit that includes the time and labor management process component;

a payroll deployment unit that includes the payroll processing process component;

a financial accounting deployment unit that includes the accounting process component; and

a purchasing deployment unit that includes the goods and service acknowledgement process component.

4. The product of claim 1, wherein:

each of the process components includes one or more business objects; and

none of the business objects of any one of the process components interacts directly with any of the business objects included in any of the other process components.

5. The product of claim 4, wherein the business objects comprise a business process object.

6. The product of claim 4, wherein none of the business objects included in any one of the process components is included in any of the other process components.

7. The product of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of process agents, each process agent being either an inbound process agent or an outbound process agent, each inbound process agent being operable to receive a message from a corresponding inbound operation, each outbound process agent being operable to cause a corresponding outbound operation to send a message, each process agent being associated with exactly one process component.

8. The product of claim 7, wherein each inbound process agent comprises a first inbound process agent operable to start an execution of a business process step requested in a first inbound message by creating or updating at least one business object instance.

9. The product of claim 7, wherein the outbound process agents comprise a first asynchronous outbound process agent that is called after a business object that is associated with the first outbound process agent changes.

10. The product of claim 1, wherein the operations comprise synchronous and asynchronous operations.

11. A system, comprising:

a computer system comprising at least one hardware platform for executing computer instructions, the computer instructions structured as a plurality of process components interacting with each other through service interfaces, each hardware platform including at least one processor for executing the computer instructions;

at least one memory storing a plurality of process components executable by the respective processor of the particular hardware platform, each of the process components comprising a modular and application-independent package of reusable granular software implementing a respective and distinct business process, the business process comprising functionality exposed by the process component via at least one service interface, the plurality of process components including;

a project processing process component that supports the management of projects;

a time and labor management process component that supports the management of employee timekeeping and work planning;

a payroll processing process component that supports the execution and monitoring of payroll processes;

an accounting process component that records relevant business transactions for valuation and profitability analysis; and

a goods and service acknowledgement process component that represents a confirmation by an employee of goods received or services rendered; and

the memory further storing a plurality of service interfaces, each service interface associated with exactly one process component and comprising at least one operation, each operation being implemented for exactly one process component, the operations comprising inbound and outbound operations, the outbound operation for a first process component being operable to send a message to a second process component of the plurality of process components, the second process component having an inbound operation for receiving the message, the sending and receiving of messages between an inbound and an outbound operation defining a message-based pair-wise interaction between the respective process components of the respective operations, the pair-wise interactions between pairs of the process components including interactions between;

the time and labor management process component and the goods and service acknowledgement process component, where the pair-wise interaction between the time and labor management process component and the goods and service acknowledgement process component includes the transmission of;

a goods and service acknowledgement request message from the time and labor management process component to the goods and service acknowledgement process component, where the goods and service acknowledgement request message comprises a notification of when an active employee time item with goods and service acknowledgement relevant information is created, changed or cancelled; and

a goods and service acknowledgment cancellation request message from the time and labor management process component to the goods and service acknowledgement process component, where the goods and service acknowledgement cancellation request message comprises a notification of cancellation of a prior goods and services acknowledgment;

the time and labor management process component and the project processing process component, where the pair-wise interaction between the time and labor management process component and the project processing process component includes the transmission of;

a project task confirmation notification message from the time and labor management process component to the project processing process component, where the project task confirmation notification message comprises a notification of when an active employee time item with project relevant information is created, changed or cancelled;

the time and labor management process component and the accounting process component, where the pair-wise interaction between the time and labor management process component and the accounting process component includes the transmission of;

a service provision accounting notification message from the time and labor management process component to the accounting process component, where the service provision accounting notification comprises a notification to accounting of actual services provided and actual time spent on performing the services; and

a service provision cancellation accounting notification message from the time and labor management process component to the accounting process component, where the service provision accounting cancellation notification message comprises a notification to accounting of a confirmation of a provided service has been cancelled; and

the time and labor management process component and the payroll processing process component, where the pair-wise interaction between the time and labor management process component and the payroll processing process component includes the transmission of;

an employee time calendar payroll notification message from the time and labor management process component to the payroll processing process component, where the employee time calendar payroll notification message comprises a notification of modifications to a read-only calendar representation of the evaluation results determined by time evaluation from recorded time documents for an employee; and

a work agreement employee time accounts payroll notification message from the time and labor management process component to the payroll processing process component, where the work agreement employee time accounts payroll notification message comprises a notification of modifications to a summary of valuated employee times and of periodic valuations administered by employee time valuation.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein:

each of the process components includes one or more business objects; and

none of the business objects of any one of the process components interacts directly with any of the business objects included in any of the other process components.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein none of the business objects included in any one of the process components is included in any of the other process components.

14. The system of claim 11, further comprising a plurality of process agents, each process agent being either an inbound process agent or an outbound process agent, each inbound process agent being operable to receive a message from a corresponding inbound operation, each outbound process agent being operable to cause a corresponding outbound operation to send a message, each process agent being associated with exactly one process component.

15. The system of claim 11, the system comprising multiple hardware platforms, wherein:

the project processing process component is deployed on a first hardware platform;

the time and labor management process component is deployed on a second hardware platform;

the accounting process component is deployed on a third hardware platform;

the goods and service acknowledgement process component is deployed on a fourth hardware platform; and

the payroll processing process component is deployed on a fifth hardware platform.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein each of the first through the fifth hardware platforms are distinct and separate from each other.

17. A method for developing a computer software application, comprising:

obtaining, in a programmable computer system having at least one processor, a storage medium, and an interface, digital data representing an architectural design for a set of processes implementing an end-to-end application process, the design specifying a process component for each process in the set of processes, each of the process components comprising a modular and application-independent package of reusable granular software implementing a respective and distinct business process, the business process comprising functionality exposed by the process component, and the design further specifying a set of process component interactions based on messages transmitted between two or more of the process components, wherein;

the specified process components include;

a project processing process component that supports the management of projects;

a time and labor management process component that supports the management of employee timekeeping and work planning;

a payroll processing process component that supports the execution and monitoring of payroll processes;

an accounting process component that records relevant business transactions for valuation and profitability analysis; and

a goods and service acknowledgement process component that represents a confirmation by an employee of goods received or services rendered; and

the process component interactions include interactions between;

the time and labor management process component and the goods and service acknowledgement process component, where the pair-wise interaction between the time and labor management process component and the goods and service acknowledgement process component includes the transmission of;

a goods and service acknowledgement request message from the time and labor management process component to the goods and service acknowledgement process component, where the goods and service acknowledgement request message comprises a notification of when an active employee time item with goods and service acknowledgement relevant information is created, changed or cancelled; and

a goods and service acknowledgment cancellation request message from the time and labor management process component to the goods and service acknowledgement process component, where the goods and service acknowledgement cancellation request message comprises a notification of cancellation of a prior goods and services acknowledgment;

the time and labor management process component and the project processing process component, where the pair-wise interaction between the time and labor management process component and the project processing process component includes the transmission of;

a project task confirmation notification message from the time and labor management process component to the project processing process component, where the project task confirmation notification message comprises a notification of when an active employee time item with project relevant information is created, changed or cancelled;

the time and labor management process component and the accounting process component, where the pair-wise interaction between the time and labor management process component and the accounting process component includes the transmission of;

a service provision accounting notification message from the time and labor management process component to the accounting process component, where the service provision accounting notification comprises a notification to accounting of actual services provided and actual time spent on performing the services; and

a service provision cancellation accounting notification message from the time and labor management process component to the accounting process component, where the service provision accounting cancellation notification message comprises a notification to accounting of a confirmation of a provided service has been cancelled; and

the time and labor management process component and the payroll processing process component, where the pair-wise interaction between the time and labor management process component and the payroll processing process component includes the transmission of;

an employee time calendar payroll notification message from the time and labor management process component to the payroll processing process component, where the employee time calendar payroll notification message comprises a notification of modifications to a read-only calendar representation of the evaluation results determined by time evaluation from recorded time documents for an employee; and

a work agreement employee time accounts payroll notification message from the time and labor management process component to the payroll processing process component, where the work agreement employee time accounts payroll notification message comprises a notification of modifications to a summary of valuated employee times and of periodic valuations administered by employee time valuation

generating, using the at least one processor on the computer system, a computer software application to perform the set of processes based on the obtained design including the specified process components and the specified process component interactions.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein each process in the set of processes is a business process transforming a defined business input into a defined business outcome.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein obtaining digital data representing the architectural design further comprises editing the design before using the design.