Architectural design for internal projects application software

• US 8,321,831 B2
• Filed: 12/30/2005
• Issued: 11/27/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 12/30/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SAP SE
• Original Assignee: SAP AG (SAP SE)
• Inventors: Faisst, Volker, Meyringer, Michael, Klein, Ralf, Krisch, Dieter, Bock, Daniel, Himmelsbach, Edwin, Freund, Jens, Kaetker, Stefan, Moosmann, Gerd, Latocha, Peter, Schmitt, Bernd, von Geisau, Otfried
• Primary Examiner(s): Nahar, Qamrun
• Application Number:
  US11/322,816
• Publication Number:
  US 20070156490A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,524 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 717/104
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 90/02 Total factory control, e.g. smart factories, flexible manufacturing systems [FMS] or integrated manufacturing systems [IMS]

Abstract

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer program products, for implementing a software architecture design for a software application implementing an internal projects application useful for planning and executing internal projects and measures, including network scheduling, resource staffing, cost estimation and management, time confirmation, and progress monitoring. The application is structured as multiple process components interacting with each other through service interfaces, and multiple service interface operations, each being implemented for a respective process component. The process components include a Costing process component that maintains project cost estimates; an Accounting process component that records relevant business transactions; a Project Processing process component that structures, plans and executes simple, short-term measures and complex projects; and a Time and Labor Management process component that supports the definition of employees'"'"' planned working times as well as the recording of the actual working times and absences and their evaluation.

Claims

1. A computer program product comprising instructions encoded on a non-transitory tangible machine readable storage 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 Costing process component that maintains project cost estimates;

an Accounting process component that records relevant business transactions;

a Project Processing process component that structures, plans and executes simple, short-term measures and complex projects; and

a Time and Labor Management process component that supports a definition of employees'"'"' planned working times as well as a recording of actual working times and absences and their evaluation;

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 Project Processing process component and the Accounting process component, where the pair-wise interaction between the Project Processing process component and the Accounting process component includes the transmission of;

a project accounting notification message from the Project Processing process component to the Accounting process component, the project accounting notification message comprising a request to notify accounting that a project element within the Project Processing process component has been created, changed, deleted, or moved;

the Project Processing process component and the Costing process component, where the pair-wise interaction between the Project Processing process component and the Costing process component includes the transmission of;

a project cost estimate simulation request message from the Project Processing process component to the Costing process component, the project cost estimate simulation request message comprising a request to the Costing process component to perform a synchronous costing simulation;

a project cost estimate simulation response message from the Costing process component to the Project Processing process component, the project cost estimate simulation response message comprising a set of project costing information associated with a project cost estimate simulation request message;

a project cost estimate request message from the Project Processing process component to the Costing process component, the project cost estimate request message comprising a set of information from the Project Processing process component to be sent to the Costing process component regarding a creation or change of at least one project snapshot element relevant to the Costing process component; and

the Project Processing process component and the Time and Labor Management process component, where the pair-wise interaction between the Project Processing process component and the Time and Labor Management process component includes the transmission of;

an employee time confirmation view on project notification message from the Project Processing process component to the Time and Labor Management process component, the employee time confirmation view on project notification message comprising a request to notify the Time and Labor Management process component of an employee'"'"'s time on a project; and

a project task confirmation notification message from the Time and Labor Management process component to the Project Processing process component, the project task confirmation notification message comprising a notification to the Project Processing process component of a project task confirmation or a project task status change; and

store the defined process components and service interface in memory.

2. The computer program 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 computer program product of claim 2, wherein the deployment units comprise:

a Financial Accounting deployment unit that includes the Costing process component and the Accounting process component;

a Project Management deployment unit that includes the Project Processing process component; and

a Human Capital Management deployment unit that includes the Time and Labor Management process component.

4. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein:

each of the process components includes at least one business object; 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 computer program product of claim 4, wherein the at least one business object comprises a business process object.

6. The computer program 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 computer program 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 at least one message from an inbound operation, each outbound process agent being operable to cause an outbound operation to send at least one message, each process agent being associated with exactly one process component.

8. The computer program product of claim 7, wherein:

the inbound process agent comprises a first inbound process agent operable to start an execution of a step requested in a first inbound message by creating or updating at least one business object instance.

9. The computer program product of claim 7, wherein:

the outbound process agent comprises a first asynchronous outbound process agent that is called after a business object that is associated with a first outbound process agent changes.

10. The computer program 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;

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 Costing process component that maintains project cost estimates;

an Accounting process component that records relevant business transactions;

a Project Processing process component that structures, plans and executes simple, short-term measures and complex projects; and

a Time and Labor Management process component that supports a definition of employees'"'"' planned working times as well as a recording of actual working times and absences and their evaluation; 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 the inbound and outbound operations defining a message based pair-wise interaction between the respective process components of the respective operations, the pair-wise interaction between pairs of the process components including interactions between;

the Project Processing process component and the Accounting process component, where the pair-wise interaction between the Project Processing process component and the Accounting process component includes the transmission of;

a project accounting notification message from the Project Processing process component to the Accounting process component, the project accounting notification message comprising a request to notify accounting that a project element within the Project Processing process component has been created, changed, deleted, or moved;

the Project Processing process component and the Costing process component, where the pair-wise interaction between the Project Processing process component and the Costing process component includes the transmission of;

a project cost estimate simulation request message from the Project Processing process component to the Costing process component, the project cost estimate simulation request message comprising a request to the Costing process component to perform a synchronous costing simulation;

a project cost estimate simulation response message from the Costing process component to the Project Processing process component, the project cost estimate simulation response message comprising a set of project costing information associated with a project cost estimate simulation request message;

a project cost estimate request message from the Project Processing process component to the Costing process component, the project cost estimate request message comprising a set of information from the Project Processing process component to be sent to the Costing process component regarding a creation or change of at least one project snapshot element relevant to the Costing process component; and

the Project Processing process component and the Time and Labor Management process component, where the pair-wise interaction between the Project Processing process component and the Time and Labor Management process component includes the transmission of;

an employee time confirmation view on project notification message from the Project Processing process component to the Time and Labor Management process component, the employee time confirmation view on project notification message comprising a request to notify the Time and Labor Management process component of an employee'"'"'s time on a project; and

a project task confirmation notification message from the Time and Labor Management process component to the Project Processing process component, the project task confirmation notification message comprising a notification to the Project Processing process component of a project task confirmation or a project task status change.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein:

each of the process components includes at least one business object; 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:

each of the process components includes at least one business object; and

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, wherein:

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 at least one message from an inbound operation, each outbound process agent being operable to cause an outbound operation to send at least one message, and each process agent being associated with exactly one process component.

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

the Costing process component and the Accounting process component are deployed on a first hardware platform;

the Project Processing process component is deployed on a second hardware platform; and

the Time and Labor Management process component is deployed on a third hardware platform.

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

17. A computer-implemented method for developing a computer software application, the method comprising the following steps performed by at least one processor:

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, the design further specifying a set of process component interactions based on messages transmitted between two or more process components, wherein the specified process components include;

a Costing process component that maintains project cost estimates;

an Accounting process component that records relevant business transactions;

a Project Processing process component that structures, plans and executes simple, short-term measures and complex projects; and

a Time and Labor Management process component that supports a definition of employees'"'"' planned working times as well as a recording of actual working times and absences and their evaluation; and

the process component interactions include interactions between

the Project Processing process component and the Accounting process component, where the interactions between the Project Processing process component and the Accounting process component includes the transmission of;

a project accounting notification message from the Project Processing process component to the Accounting process component, the project accounting notification message comprising a request to notify accounting that a project element within the Project Processing process component has been created, changed, deleted, or moved;

the Project Processing process component and the Costing process component, where the interactions between the Project Processing process component and the Costing process component includes the transmission of;

a project cost estimate simulation request message from the Project Processing process component to the Costing process component, the project cost estimate simulation request message comprising a request to the Costing process component to perform a synchronous costing simulation;

a project cost estimate simulation response message from the Costing process component to the Project Processing process component, the project cost estimate simulation response message comprising a set of project costing information associated with a project cost estimate simulation request message;

a project cost estimate request message from the Project Processing process component to the Costing process component, the project cost estimate request message comprising a set of information from the Project Processing process component to be sent to the Costing process component regarding a creation or change of at least one project snapshot element relevant to the Costing process component; and

the Project Processing process component and the Time and Labor Management process component, where the interactions between the Project Processing process component and the Time and Labor Management process component includes the transmission of;

an employee time confirmation view on project notification message from the Project Processing process component to the Time and Labor Management process component, the employee time confirmation view on project notification message comprising a request to notify the Time and Labor Management process component of an employee'"'"'s time on a project; and

a project task confirmation notification message from the Time and Labor Management process component to the Project Processing process component, the project task confirmation notification message comprising a notification to the Project Processing process component of a project task confirmation or a project task status change; and

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.