Chronicling for process discovery in model driven business transformation

• US 8,489,444 B2
• Filed: 05/31/2007
• Issued: 07/16/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 05/31/2007
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: GlobalFoundries, Inc.
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Bhaskaran, Kumar, Kumaran, Santhosh Babu, Pingali, Gopal S., Vukovic, Maja
• Primary Examiner(s): Singh, Gurkanwaljit
• Application Number:
  US11/756,482
• Publication Number:
  US 20080300950A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,238 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 705/7.31
• 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 method for discovering business processes, comprising:

utilizing at least one electronic chronicling capture tool on a device to automatically capture selected activities as they are performed;

storing said captured selected activities in an electronic database;

utilizing at least one annotation tool to bookmark said captured activities;

utilizing the electronic database to organize said activities into chronicles;

utilizing a chronicle navigator to access and utilize said chronicles;

utilizing an analysis and mining tool to analyze said chronicles to derive statistics and summaries;

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,

wherein said device comprises at least one of personal computers, personal digital assistants, telephones, cell phones, GPS devices, audio/video recorders, audio/video players, or cameras.

4. A method according to claim 1, wherein device comprises a personal digital assistant, cell phone, or GPS device.

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

at least one electronic chronicling capture tool for automatically capturing selected activities as they are performed on a device comprising at least one of personal computers, personal digital assistants, telephones, cell phones, GPS devices, audio/video recorders, audio/video players, or cameras;

an electronic database in communication with said electronic chronicling capture tool for organizing said activities into chronicles;

a chronicle navigator in communication with said electronic database for enabling access and utilization of said chronicles; and

an analysis and mining tool in communication with said electronic database for analyzing said chronicles to derive statistics and summaries related to activities and artifacts, analytics, and users; and

an annotation tool for allowing a user to bookmark activities.

3. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer useable storage 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;

analyze said chronicles with an analysis and mining tool to derive statistics and summaries that can be viewed at varying levels of granularity;

bookmark said captured activities;

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.

5. A method for organizing a business process, comprising:

automatically capturing selected activities of a business process on devices used by different role players in the business process, said devices comprising at least one of a personal computer, personal digital assistant, telephone, cell phone, GPS device, audio/video recorder, audio/video player, or camera;

storing said captured selected activities in a database;

bookmarking moments during the business process and providing annotation on the bookmarks to capture a context of said activities in real-time;

organizing activity information based on location and type of activity across role players;

analyzing said organized activity information to derive key performance indicators;

comparing said key performance indicators to target key performance indicators;

if the key performance indicators are not within an acceptable range, determining changes to the business process; and

automatically updating said business process with newly defined parameters to comply with defined goals or criteria.

6. A method according to claim 5, wherein device comprises a personal digital assistant, cell phone, or GPS device.

7. A method according to claim 5, further comprising validating the captured selected activities to ensure compliance with process or system requirements.

8. A method according to claim 5, wherein said annotation comprises audio/voice clips or text notes/messages.

9. A method according to claim 5, wherein said selected activities comprise type of application, state of application, users involved, and email sent and received.

10. A method according to claim 5, wherein said database is in communication with a second database comprising reports, records, logs, or diagnostics generated by users.