Workflow decision management with workflow administration capacities

• US 9,594,587 B2
• Filed: 08/13/2013
• Issued: 03/14/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 11/01/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kyndryl Incorporated (Kyndryl Holdings, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Brown, William A., Muirhead, Richard W., Reddington, Francis X.
• Primary Examiner(s): Park, Jeong S
• Application Number:
  US13/965,954
• Publication Number:
  US 20130332929A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,309 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/00 Error detection; Error correction; Monitoring error detection, correction or monitoring in information storage based on relative movement between record carrier and transducer G11B20/18; monitoring, i.e. supervising the progress of recording or reproducing G11B27/36; in static stores G11C29/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/3812 with instruction modification, e.g. store into instruction stream
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/46 Multiprogramming arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0817 by checking functioning
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/60 Scheduling or organising the servicing of application requests, e.g. requests for application data transmissions using the analysis and optimisation of the required network resources admission control or resource allocation H04L47/70

Abstract

Methods, systems, and products are provided for workflow decision management. Embodiments include maintaining a device state history; identifying a plurality of device usage patterns in dependence upon the device state history; identifying a plurality of workflow scenarios in dependence upon the device usage patterns; determining a workflow administration capacity in dependence upon the plurality of workflow scenarios; identifying a plurality of workflows in dependence upon the workflow scenario; executing the plurality of workflows in dependence upon the workflow administration capacity.

Claims

1. A method for workflow decision management, the method comprising the steps of:

identifying workflows that are known to conflict with each other;

determining alternative pairs of workflows for each of the conflicting pairs of workflows that resolve the conflicts from a plurality of workflows;

generating a table, indexed by the pairs of workflows that are known to conflict with each other, that lists the predetermined alternative pairs of workflows to respective conflicting pairs of workflows, the alternative pairs of workflows functional to substitute for the respective conflicting pairs of workflows, the workflows in each alternative pair of workflows not conflicting with each other; and

subsequently;

receiving from a user identification of first and second workflows to be executed in a process; and

determining, by one or more processors, that the first and second workflows are sending conflicting instructions to operate a device, and in response, one or more processors retrieving from the table an identification of third and fourth workflows that are alternative to the first and second workflows to substitute for the first and second workflows, and executing the third and fourth workflows instead of the first and second workflows in the process.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein executing the third and fourth workflows changes one or more settings of the device.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the conflicting instructions to operate the device include a first instruction to set one or more settings of the device to a first value and a second instruction to set one or more settings of the device to a second value that is not equal to the first value.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the conflicting instructions to operate the device include instructions that, if executed, cause the device to set one or more settings of the device to a value that exceeds a predetermined threshold value associated with the one or more settings of the device.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein executing the third and fourth workflows includes sending no instructions to operate the device and sending instructions to operate one or more additional devices.

6. A computer program product for workflow decision management, the computer program product comprising:

one or more computer-readable storage devices, and program instructions stored on the one or more computer-readable storage devices, the program instructions comprising;

program instructions to identify workflows that are known to conflict with each other;

program instructions to determine alternative pairs of workflows from a plurality of workflows for each of the conflicting pairs of workflows that are known to conflict;

program instructions to generate a table, indexed by the pairs of workflows that are known to conflict with each other, that lists the predetermined alternative pairs of workflows to respective conflicting pairs of workflows, the alternative pairs of workflows functional to substitute for the respective conflicting pairs of workflows, the workflows in each alternative pair of workflows not conflicting with each other; and

subsequently;

program instructions to receive from a user identification of first and second workflows to be executed in a process; and

program instructions to determine, by one or more processors, that the first and second workflows are sending conflicting instructions to operate a device, and in response, program instructions to retrieve by one or more processors from the table an identification of third and fourth workflows that are alternative to the first and second workflows to substitute for the first and second workflows, and program instructions to execute the third and fourth workflows instead of the first and second workflows in the process.

7. The computer program product of claim 6 wherein program instructions to execute the third and fourth workflows includes program instructions to change one or more settings of the device.

8. The computer program product of claim 6 wherein the conflicting instructions to operate the device include a first instruction to set one or more settings of the device to a first value and a second instruction to set one or more settings of the device to a second value that is not equal to the first value.

9. The computer program product of claim 6 wherein the conflicting instructions to operate the device include instructions that, if executed, cause the device to set one or more settings of the device to a value that exceeds a predetermined threshold value associated with the one or more settings of the device.

10. The computer program product of claim 6 wherein program instructions to execute the third and fourth workflows includes program instructions to send no instructions to operate the device and program instructions to send instructions to operate one or more additional devices.

11. A computer system for workflow decision management, the computer system comprising:

one or more processors, one or more computer-readable memories, one or more computer-readable storage devices, and program instructions stored on the one or more computer-readable storage devices for execution by the one or more processors via the one or more computer-readable memories, the program instructions comprising;

program instructions to identify workflows that are known to conflict with each other;

program instructions to determine alternative pairs of workflows from a plurality of workflows for each of the conflicting pairs of workflows that are known to conflict;

program instructions to generate a table, indexed by the pairs of workflows that are known to conflict with each other, that lists the predetermined alternative pairs of workflows to respective conflicting pairs of workflows, the alternative pairs of workflows functional to substitute for the respective conflicting pairs of workflows, the workflows in each alternative pair of workflows not conflicting with each other; and

subsequently;

program instructions to receive from a user identification of first and second workflows to be executed in a process; and

program instructions to determine, by one or more processors, that the first and second workflows are sending conflicting instructions to operate a device, and in response, program instructions to retrieve by one or more processors from the table an identification of third and fourth workflows that are alternative to the first and second workflows to substitute for the first and second workflows, and program instructions to execute the third and fourth workflows instead of the first and second workflows in the process.

12. The computer system of claim 11 wherein program instructions to execute the third and fourth workflows includes program instructions to change one or more settings of the device.

13. The computer system of claim 11 wherein the conflicting instructions to operate the device include a first instruction to set one or more settings of the device to a first value and a second instruction to set one or more settings of the device to a second value that is not equal to the first value.

14. The computer system of claim 11 wherein the conflicting instructions to operate the device include instructions that, if executed, cause the device to set one or more settings of the device to a value that exceeds a predetermined threshold value associated with the one or more settings of the device.

15. The computer system of claim 11 wherein program instructions to execute the third and fourth workflows includes program instructions to send no instructions to operate the device and program instructions to send instructions to operate one or more additional devices.