1. HICSS 36 Data-driven Methodology to Extending Workflows to E-services over the Internet Presenter: Dickson K.W. CHIU Chinese University of HK Co-authors: S.C. Cheung & Sven TILL Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

2. Data-Driven Methodology to Extending Workflow HICSS 36-2 Agenda Introduction Meta-model for cross-organizational e-service workflows Extending internal workflows to cross- organizational e-services Cross-organizational exception and event support Implementation Architecture Conclusion and Future Work E-Services

3. Data-Driven Methodology to Extending Workflow HICSS 36-3 The need of e-Services Economy globalization leads to rising demands in e-Services. e-Services requires extending internal workflows to cross-organizational workflows. Problems:  How to extend an internal workflow to a cross- organizational e-service?  How to handle data exchange effectively and in a unified manner for both regular and exception parts of a business process?

4. Data-Driven Methodology to Extending Workflow HICSS 36-4 A Motivating Example

5. Data-Driven Methodology to Extending Workflow HICSS 36-5 Goal & Approach Goal:  Automate regular interactions  Detect & handle exceptions in cross-organizational communication Approach:  Extend an internal workflow to a cross-organizational e-service supported by a WFMS  Enact e-Services by an event-driven mechanism

6. Data-Driven Methodology to Extending Workflow HICSS 36-6 Meta-Model ECA rule: On event if condition then action

7. Data-Driven Methodology to Extending Workflow HICSS 36-7 Data-Driven Methodology Determine the data requirements of a business process. Identify incoming and outgoing external events of required data. Design Web service interface to process these incoming and outgoing external events. Support authentication in the workflow process. Provide process monitoring and directory services.

8. Data-Driven Methodology to Extending Workflow HICSS 36-8 Determine Data Requirement Construct three relations  publish = {(p, x) | p is a party that publish data item x in some task}  subscribe = {(p, x) | p is a party that subscribes data item x in some task}  depend = {(x, y) | data item x is derived from data item y} Examples:  publish(End User, Quotation request)  depend(System Configuration, Quotation Request)  depend(Customer Information, Quotation Request)

9. Data-Driven Methodology to Extending Workflow HICSS 36-9 Rules for External Events Identification Notation extEvt(p, d): an incoming external event with data d from party p intEvt(p, d): an outgoing internal event with data d to party p Rule: Identification of incoming external event publish(p,d)  extEvt(p, d) e.g., extEvt(End User, Quotation Request) Rule: Identification of Outgoing Internal Event subscribe(p, d)  intEvt(p, d) e.g., intEvt(End User, Quotation Response)

10. Data-Driven Methodology to Extending Workflow HICSS 36-10 Data Requirement Analysis (cont.) Rule: Identification of responses of incoming external Events  An outgoing internal event intEvt(p,e) can be a response of an incoming external event extEvt(p,d) if e can be subsequently derived from d.  This identifies possible ports for Web services. e.g., extEvt(End User, Quotation Request) & intEvt(End User, Quotation Response) Construct a directed graph G=(V, E) such that V = set of data item, E = depend relation d ef G=({d, e, f}, {depend(e, d), depend(f, d)})

11. Data-Driven Methodology to Extending Workflow HICSS 36-11 Web Service Interfaces Define the message and port types reflecting  Structure of Business Entities  Contents of Business Entities Facilitates cross-organizational communication over the Internet Provides standard interfaces to adapt already existing WFMSs

12. Data-Driven Methodology to Extending Workflow HICSS 36-12 Possible Web Services QuotationService in:QuotationRequest: CustomerInformation; SystemConfiguration; … out:QuotationResponse Quotation … OrderSystem in: SystemOrder CustomerNumber; QuotationNumber; … out: OrderConfirmation OrderStatus; Invoice; …

13. Data-Driven Methodology to Extending Workflow HICSS 36-13 Process Monitoring and Directory Services Provides necessary information to carry out inter-organizational processes.  Monitoring services – snapshot of process status  Description of cross-organizational workflow (e.g. BPEL4WS, WSFL, ebXML)  Balance trust and security – workflow views Provides “personalized” workflow views via directory services, such as UDDI

14. Data-Driven Methodology to Extending Workflow HICSS 36-14 Cross-organizational Exception and asynchronous Events 1. External Event Reception  External exception events incl. refinements  changeOrderRequest  changeDeliveryDate, changeDeliveryLocation, etc.  Events inheritance hierarchy  one capturing Web service per class + “catch-all” Web service 2. Sending Events to Business Partners  (a) request regular service (b) supply event feed  (c) request exception handling (d) pass exception status  Transport: Web service invocation, email, ICQ

15. Data-Driven Methodology to Extending Workflow HICSS 36-15 Cross-organizational Exception and asynchronous Events (cont.) 3. Event Subscription Service  Publish-subscribe paradigm  List all subscribe-able events at a UDDI directory  Subscribing via publisher’s subscription service  Subscription to:  Regular events (e.g. price updates) for asynchronous alerts  Exception events (order cancellation, delivery delayed)  automatic exception handling with ECA-rules 4. Event Chaining  Automated receiving and sending of events  Relay and distribute an event (e.g. Driver update scenario) Example: PVSI EU new Driver

16. E-ADOME with Web Services Data-Driven Methodology to Extending Workflow Sven TILL WSeBT2002-16

17. Data-Driven Methodology to Extending Workflow HICSS 36-17 Conclusion Practical data-driven approach to extend internal workflow to cross-organizational e-services  Supporting the handling of regular activities, exceptions and events  Realized with Web Service technology Event-based meta-model of cross-organizational workflows Generally applicable to advanced WFMS or information systems

18. Data-Driven Methodology to Extending Workflow HICSS 36-18 Future Work Process adaptation for interoperability Refinement of the workflow view mechanism Cross-organization security and transaction Real-life E-service / E-commerce applications - supply / service chains, financial applications, procurement, insurance, CRM Integration of workflows with enterprise document management systems

19. Data-Driven Methodology to Extending Workflow HICSS 36-19 Questions Your Comments and Questions are welcomed.

20. Data-Driven Methodology to Extending Workflow HICSS 36-20 S.C. Cheung http://www.cs.ust.hk/~scc/ Dickson K.W. Chiu http://www.cse.cuhk.edu.hk/~kwchiu/ Sven Till http://www.cs.ust.hk/~till/ Contacts