Workflow Handbook 2005

Features

• Cover Type: Hard Cover with 200 pages
• Published by: Layna Fischer April 15, 2005
• ISBN 10 Number: 0970350988
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0970350985
• Book Dimensions: 10.1 x 7 x 0.9 inches
• Weighs: 1.6 pounds

Book Description
Welcome to the Workflow Handbook 2005. This edition offers you three sections:


SECTION 1: The World of Workflow covers a wide spectrum of viewpoints and discussions by experts in their respective fields. Papers range from an examination of the real Management of Business Process through to metrics and Web Services workflow architectures.


SECTION 2: Workflow Standards: The section on Workflow Standards deals with the importance of standards, with an updated Wf-XML 2.0 cook book with new schemas and examples . A detailed example of using BPMN to Model a BPEL Process is provided together with comprehensive comparison of XML Interchange Formats for Business Process Modeling


SECTION 3: Directory and Appendices-an explanation of the structure of the Workflow Management Coalition and references comprise the last section including a membership directory.

From the Inside Flap
Foreword

Jon Pyke, WfMC Chair, United Kingdom


Thank you for supporting the work of the Workflow Management Coalition. It never ceases to amaze me just how much progress can be made in a 12-month period.


My concerns during 2004 were that the ever-increasing numbers of stan-dards bodies in my industry were doing a great job in confusing the market place, holding back growth and putting us in danger of becoming just an-other over-hyped trendy sector. Well, things have certainly changed, and changed for the better. I am no longer concerned for the future of Workflow and Business Process Management technology. Over the past year the dis-cussions over which standard fits where has abated, and we now have a clear understanding of direction.


The increase in the term BPM is however causing confusion in the minds of many-does it mean Business Process Measurement? Business Process Modeling? or Business Process Measurement? It is clear that all of these terms are valid so the challenge now is to ensure that those responsible for the development of products, associated standards and the promotion of three-letter acronyms articulate the message crisply and clearly and ensure they say what they mean-and thats part of the job of this publication.
The development of standards is now moving at some considerable pace, and this is especially true with the XPDL standard also known by WfMC as Inter-face 2. Soon to see its second major version released, XPDL is recognized as a key component of the standards landscape. The working group responsible for the standard, led by Robert Shapiro, has made some significant advances especially in mapping the specification into the works of other standards groups such as the BPMI. The growing list of XPDL supporters and imple-mentations from both the vendor and user community can be found on our website.
Led by Keith Swenson, WfMC TC Chair, several times during 2004 the WfMC assembled a live demonstration of products that implemented the Wf-XML 2.0 web commerce protocol. Wf-XML is a protocol for process engines that makes it easy to link engines together for interoperability. Wf-XML is built upon OASIS ASAP, so it was simultaneously a demonstration of ASAP inter-operability.


The demonstration showed six different implementations of the new web ser-vices protocol and the exchange of data across the Internet. These demos were both in front of the live audience and online with observers around the world via a webcast, each time with sold-out capacity.


A live demonstration led by Keith Swenson took place in Pisa, Italy in Octo-ber 2004 at which we hosted a local BPM Workshop open to the first 100 attendees, as well as another 600 on line. Participants who implemented the protocol included ADVANTYS, Fujitsu, HandySoft and TIBCO who demon-strated the scenarios of Customer, Retailer and Manufacturer.


ASAP and Wf-XML are designed to be used by non-programmers. This is the key.


More details on the demonstrations are available elsewhere in this book in the chapter: ASAP/Wf-XML 2.0 Cookbook-Updated by Keith Swenson.


Significant milestones for WfMC in 2004 have been the continuing adoption of our standards and specifications by government and big business world-wide. Notably, the United Kingdom e-Gov National Workflow project issued a workflow official standards guide assisted greatly by David Hollingsworth, TC Chair from the Workflow Management Coalition.

The WfMC Standards Reference Model has proved its importance in other areas of technology, most notably the ISO Seven Layer reference model for computer communications.


The members of the Workflow Management Coalition hope you enjoy our Workflow Handbook 2005 and find it useful as you explore workflow and business process management and their many diverse benefits. Our thanks go to everybody who contributed to this important body of work and to Layna Fischer, WfMC General Manager for her role as chief editor and publisher.


Jon Pyke, Chair WfMC

Reader Reviews
The Workflow Management Coalition (WfMC) was founded in August of 1993. It is a non-profit, international organization of workflow vendors, users, analysts and university/research groups. The Coalition's stated mission is "to promote and develop the use of workflow through the establishment of standards for software terminology, interoperability and connectivity between workflow products." The WfMC currently consisting of some 300 members, worldwide. Each year, for the past several years, Layna Fischer, the general manager of the WfMC has edited a handbook that brings together the best articles on the current state of the workflow market. Each of these volumes consists of a section on the workflow market and new technologies, a section on workflow related standards work, and a directory of the membership of the WfMC. This volume follows that pattern. Jon Pyke, the Chair of the WfMC, kicks off the volume by providing a Foreword and surveys the development of the workflow market in 2004. He notes that in the previoius year there was quite a bit of conflict between the meaning of workflow and BPM and a proliferation of new standards. This past year, however, the field seems to have settled down quite a bit. There is still come disagreement over the proper use of BPM, but otherwise, the standards are in various committees and everyone seems willing to wait to decide which are needed. The WfMC, meantime, continues to develop and promote its various standards. The contents of the 2005 volume includes: * Foreword, Jon Pyke * Introduction, Layna Fischer Section 1 - The World of Workflow * Workflow in the World of BPM: Are They the Same? Charlie Plesums, WfMC Fellow, US * BPM -- Too Much BP, Not Enough of the M. Derek Miers, Enix Consulting, UK * Integrated Functino and Workflow - Chris Lawrence, Old Mutual, South Africa. * Business Activity Monitoring and Simulation. Joseph M DeFee, CACI, and Paul Harmon, Business Process Trends, US * Business Process Improvement Through Optimization of its Structural Poperties. Vladimir Modrak, Technical University of Kosice, Slovakia * Enhancing and Extending ERP Performance with an Automated Workflow System. Robert J. Kearney, Image Integration Systems, Inc. US * Narrowing the Semantic Gap Between Business Process Analysis and Business Process Execution. Dr. Setrag Khoshafian, Pegasystems, Inc. US * Using SOA and Web Services to Improve Business Process Flow. Jachay B.Wheeler, Roberta Bortolotti, SDDM Technology, US * Workflow and Business Rules -- A Common Approach. Heinz Lienhard and Urs-Martin Kunzi, ivyTeam-SORECOGroup, Switzerland * State of BPM Adoption in Asia. Ken Loke, Bizmann System (S) Pte Ltd., and Dr. Pallab Saha, Institute of Systems Science, National University of SIngapore. Section 2 -- Workflow Standards * Business Process Metamodels and Services. Jean-Jacques Dubray, Attachmate, US * Workflow and Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA). Arnaud Bezancon, Advantys, France. * A Comparison of XML Interchange FOrmats for Business Process Modeling. Jan Mendling and Gustaf Neumann, Vienna Uni. of Economics and Business Adm., and Markus Nuttgens, Hamburg Uni. of Economics and Politics, Austria * How to Measure the Control-Flow Complexity of web Processes & Workflows. Jorge Cardoso, Dept of Math and Eng. Universidy of Madeira, Portugal. * An Example of Uisng BPMN to Model a BPEL Process. Dr. Stephen A. White, IBM Corp. US * A Simple and Efficient Algorithm for Verifying Workflow Graphs. Sinnakkrishnan Perumal and Ambuj Mahanti, Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, India. * ASAP/Wf-XML 2.0 Cookbook -- Updated. Keith D. Swenson, Fujitsu Software Corp. US Section 3 -- Directory and Appendices * Author's Appendix * Chapters of WfMC * WfMC Membership Directory I read several of the articles in this volume. Several were interesting and a few were outstanding. Stephen White's article on BPMN and BPEL is definitive and Mendling and Neumann's work on XML Interchange Formats for BPM is very useful. Swenson's update on Wf-XML is a must read for anyone intersted in working with Wf-XML. Articles by Miers, Kearney, Lienhard and Kunzi, and Cardoso raise important issues in thoughtful ways. As in the past, there was more useful material in this volume that one usually gets in a book of readings of this kind. At $95, this isn't a book most individuals would buy to get an introduction to the world of workflow. It's a handbook that documents the development of a field and considers the issues most important circa 1994-1995. It is also a directory of the companies and individuals active in workflow. This is a book that professionals interested in monitoring the workflow market will buy for their corporate libraries. It's a reference for researchers, and it's a good one. The latest volume is a nice addition to the series. To keep things completely honest, note that an article I co-authored for Business Process Trends has been reproduced in this volume, but I have no financial interest in the book. Comment | | (Report this)