Determining costs for workflows
First Claim
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1. A computer program product to provide workflow process models having step-specific cost attributes based on transaction and environment properties, the computer program product comprising:
- a computer-readable storage device including hardware and having computer-readable program code embodied therewith, the computer-readable program code comprising;
computer-readable program code configured to permit editing of a workflow process model, the workflow process model comprising;
(i) a plurality of workflow process steps and (ii) branching logic comprising a precondition for traversing at least one workflow process step of the plurality of workflow process steps;
computer-readable program code configured to receive a request to assign a step-specific cost attribute to the at least a first workflow process step, wherein the step-specific cost attribute is a predefined function of a plurality of distinct properties including a transaction property and an environment property; and
computer-readable program code configured to, when executed by one or more computer processors, assign the step-specific cost attribute to the at least one workflow process step responsive to the request, such that traversal of the first workflow process step by a first transaction invoking the workflow process model results in the step-specific cost attribute being included in a total cost to be charged for executing the first transaction;
wherein the workflow process model is executed by an application configured to abort execution of the first workflow process step to comply with a step-specific cost threshold, and to abort execution of the workflow process model to comply with a model-specific cost threshold, wherein at least one of the step-specific cost threshold and the models-specific cost threshold is specified in a service level agreement (SLA).
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Abstract
Techniques are disclosed for modeling costs when editing a workflow process model. A request may be received to assign a cost factor to a workflow process step of the workflow process model. Responsive to the request, the cost factor may be assigned to the workflow process step, such that a traversal of the workflow process step by a transaction invoking the workflow process model results in the cost factor being included in a total cost to be charged for executing the transaction.
14 Citations
22 Claims
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1. A computer program product to provide workflow process models having step-specific cost attributes based on transaction and environment properties, the computer program product comprising:
a computer-readable storage device including hardware and having computer-readable program code embodied therewith, the computer-readable program code comprising; computer-readable program code configured to permit editing of a workflow process model, the workflow process model comprising;
(i) a plurality of workflow process steps and (ii) branching logic comprising a precondition for traversing at least one workflow process step of the plurality of workflow process steps;computer-readable program code configured to receive a request to assign a step-specific cost attribute to the at least a first workflow process step, wherein the step-specific cost attribute is a predefined function of a plurality of distinct properties including a transaction property and an environment property; and computer-readable program code configured to, when executed by one or more computer processors, assign the step-specific cost attribute to the at least one workflow process step responsive to the request, such that traversal of the first workflow process step by a first transaction invoking the workflow process model results in the step-specific cost attribute being included in a total cost to be charged for executing the first transaction; wherein the workflow process model is executed by an application configured to abort execution of the first workflow process step to comply with a step-specific cost threshold, and to abort execution of the workflow process model to comply with a model-specific cost threshold, wherein at least one of the step-specific cost threshold and the models-specific cost threshold is specified in a service level agreement (SLA). - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A system to provide workflow process models having step-specific cost attributes based on transaction and environment properties, the system comprising:
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one or more computer processors; and a memory containing a program, which when executed by the one or more computer processors is configured to perform an operation comprising; permit editing of a workflow process model, the workflow process model comprising;
(i) a plurality of workflow process steps and (ii) branching logic comprising a precondition for traversing at least a first workflow process step of the plurality of workflow process steps;receiving a request to assign a step-specific cost attribute to the at least one workflow process step, wherein the step-specific cost attribute is a predefined function of a plurality of distinct properties including a transaction property and an environment property; and assigning the step-specific cost attribute to the first workflow process step responsive to the request, such that traversal of the first workflow process step by a first transaction invoking the workflow process model results in the step-specific cost attribute being included in a total cost to be charged for executing the first transaction; wherein the workflow process model is executed by an application configured to abort execution of the first workflow process step to comply with a step-specific cost threshold, and to abort execution of the workflow process model to comply with a model-specific cost threshold, wherein at least one of the step-specific cost threshold and the models-specific cost threshold is specified in a service level agreement (SLA). - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A system to provide workflow process models having step-specific cost attributes based on transaction and environment properties, the system comprising:
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one or more computer processors; and a memory containing a program, which when executed by the one or more computer processors is configured to perform an operation comprising; permit editing of a workflow process model, the workflow process model comprising;
(i) a plurality of workflow process steps and (ii) branching logic comprising a precondition for traversing at least a first workflow process step of the plurality of workflow process steps;receiving a request to assign a step-specific cost attribute to the at least one workflow process step, wherein the step-specific cost attribute is a predefined function of a plurality of distinct properties including a transaction property and an environment property; and assigning the step-specific cost attribute to the first workflow process step responsive to the request, such that traversal of the first workflow process step by a first transaction invoking the workflow process model results in the step-specific cost attribute being included in a total cost to be charged for executing the first transaction, wherein the total cost is determined based on which specific one or more workflow process steps of the workflow process model are traversed in executing the first transaction; wherein the transaction property specifies a resource amount of a first resource type used by the first transaction in traversing the first workflow process step, wherein the environment property specifies an overall degree of utilization of the first resource type in the processing environment at the time of the first transaction traversing the first workflow process step.
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Specification