HP Labs Technical Reports

Distributed Workflow Management: The TEAM Model

Piccinelli, Giacomo

HPL-98-56

Keyword(s): workflow; process management; distributed systems

Abstract: In recent years, workflow systems have been the basis for business-process re-engineering (BPR) but the characteristics of processes are changing and new types of problems need to be addressed. Different organizations dynamically group together to support complex projects requiring different competencies: coordination is fundamental. Focusing on the interaction among distinct distributed PCEs (process- centered environments), we present a network-based system for the definition and enactment of federated (distributed) processes. The distribution and multi- organization problems are transparent to the process designer, who is provided with a CSP-like process- definition language, while the enactment infrastructure exploits the interconnection capability offered by network technology in order to support the cooperation among possibly-distributed execution engines (workflow servers). The interface between a local PCE (workflow client) and the related execution engine depends on both the characteristics of the PCE itself and the autonomy requirements of each organization: fault tolerance and privacy are some of the main issues we tackle.

17 Pages

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