@article{IhdePufahlVoelkeretal.2022, author = {Ihde, Sven and Pufahl, Luise and V{\"o}lker, Maximilian and Goel, Asvin and Weske, Mathias}, title = {A framework for modeling and executing task}, series = {Computing : archives for informatics and numerical computation}, volume = {104}, journal = {Computing : archives for informatics and numerical computation}, publisher = {Springer}, address = {Wien}, issn = {0010-485X}, doi = {10.1007/s00607-022-01093-2}, pages = {2405 -- 2429}, year = {2022}, abstract = {As resources are valuable assets, organizations have to decide which resources to allocate to business process tasks in a way that the process is executed not only effectively but also efficiently. Traditional role-based resource allocation leads to effective process executions, since each task is performed by a resource that has the required skills and competencies to do so. However, the resulting allocations are typically not as efficient as they could be, since optimization techniques have yet to find their way in traditional business process management scenarios. On the other hand, operations research provides a rich set of analytical methods for supporting problem-specific decisions on resource allocation. This paper provides a novel framework for creating transparency on existing tasks and resources, supporting individualized allocations for each activity in a process, and the possibility to integrate problem-specific analytical methods of the operations research domain. To validate the framework, the paper reports on the design and prototypical implementation of a software architecture, which extends a traditional process engine with a dedicated resource management component. This component allows us to define specific resource allocation problems at design time, and it also facilitates optimized resource allocation at run time. The framework is evaluated using a real-world parcel delivery process. The evaluation shows that the quality of the allocation results increase significantly with a technique from operations research in contrast to the traditional applied rule-based approach.}, language = {en} } @article{YousfiBatoulisWeske2019, author = {Yousfi, Alaaeddine and Batoulis, Kimon and Weske, Mathias}, title = {Achieving Business Process Improvement via Ubiquitous Decision-Aware Business Processes}, series = {ACM Transactions on Internet Technology}, volume = {19}, journal = {ACM Transactions on Internet Technology}, number = {1}, publisher = {Association for Computing Machinery}, address = {New York}, issn = {1533-5399}, doi = {10.1145/3298986}, pages = {19}, year = {2019}, abstract = {Business process improvement is an endless challenge for many organizations. As long as there is a process, it must he improved. Nowadays, improvement initiatives are driven by professionals. This is no longer practical because people cannot perceive the enormous data of current business environments. Here, we introduce ubiquitous decision-aware business processes. They pervade the physical space, analyze the ever-changing environments, and make decisions accordingly. We explain how they can be built and used for improvement. Our approach can be a valuable improvement option to alleviate the workload of participants by helping focus on the crucial rather than the menial tasks.}, language = {en} } @article{PufahlWeske2019, author = {Pufahl, Luise and Weske, Mathias}, title = {Batch activity: enhancing business process modeling and enactment with batch processing}, series = {Computing}, volume = {101}, journal = {Computing}, number = {12}, publisher = {Springer}, address = {Wien}, issn = {0010-485X}, doi = {10.1007/s00607-019-00717-4}, pages = {1909 -- 1933}, year = {2019}, abstract = {Organizations strive for efficiency in their business processes by process improvement and automation. Business process management (BPM) supports these efforts by capturing business processes in process models serving as blueprint for a number of process instances. In BPM, process instances are typically considered running independently of each other. However, batch processing-the collectively execution of several instances at specific process activities-is a common phenomenon in operational processes to reduce cost or time. Currently, batch processing is organized manually or hard-coded in software. For allowing stakeholders to explicitly represent their batch configurations in process models and their automatic execution, this paper provides a concept for batch activities and describes the corresponding execution semantics. The batch activity concept is evaluated in a two-step approach: a prototypical implementation in an existing BPM System proves its feasibility. Additionally, batch activities are applied to different use cases in a simulated environment. Its application implies cost-savings when a suitable batch configuration is selected. The batch activity concept contributes to practice by allowing the specification of batch work in process models and their automatic execution, and to research by extending the existing process modeling concepts.}, language = {en} } @misc{CombiOliboniWeskeetal.2018, author = {Combi, Carlo and Oliboni, Barbara and Weske, Mathias and Zerbato, Francesca}, title = {Conceptual modeling of processes and data}, series = {Conceptual Modeling, ER 2018}, volume = {11157}, journal = {Conceptual Modeling, ER 2018}, editor = {Trujillo, JC Davis}, publisher = {Springer}, address = {Cham}, isbn = {978-3-030-00847-5}, issn = {0302-9743}, doi = {10.1007/978-3-030-00847-5_18}, pages = {236 -- 250}, year = {2018}, abstract = {Business processes constantly generate, manipulate, and consume data that are managed by organizational databases. Despite being central to process modeling and execution, the link between processes and data is often handled by developers when the process is implemented, thus leaving the connection unexplored during the conceptual design. In this paper, we introduce, formalize, and evaluate a novel conceptual view that bridges the gap between process and data models, and show some kinds of interesting insights that can be derived from this novel proposal.}, language = {en} } @misc{BazhenovaZerbatoWeske2018, author = {Bazhenova, Ekaterina and Zerbato, Francesca and Weske, Mathias}, title = {Data-Centric Extraction of DMN Decision Models from BPMN Process Models}, series = {Business Process Management Workshops}, volume = {308}, journal = {Business Process Management Workshops}, publisher = {Springer}, address = {Berlin}, isbn = {978-3-319-74030-0}, issn = {1865-1348}, doi = {10.1007/978-3-319-74030-0_43}, pages = {542 -- 555}, year = {2018}, abstract = {Operational decisions in business processes can be modeled by using the Decision Model and Notation (DMN). The complementary use of DMN for decision modeling and of the Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) for process design realizes the separation of concerns principle. For supporting separation of concerns during the design phase, it is crucial to understand which aspects of decision-making enclosed in a process model should be captured by a dedicated decision model. Whereas existing work focuses on the extraction of decision models from process control flow, the connection of process-related data and decision models is still unexplored. In this paper, we investigate how process-related data used for making decisions can be represented in process models and we distinguish a set of BPMN patterns capturing such information. Then, we provide a formal mapping of the identified BPMN patterns to corresponding DMN models and apply our approach to a real-world healthcare process.}, language = {en} } @misc{PufahlWongWeske2018, author = {Pufahl, Luise and Wong, Tsun Yin and Weske, Mathias}, title = {Design of an extensible BPMN process simulator}, series = {Business Process Management Workshops (BPM 2017)}, volume = {308}, journal = {Business Process Management Workshops (BPM 2017)}, publisher = {Springer}, address = {Berlin}, isbn = {978-3-319-74030-0}, issn = {1865-1348}, doi = {10.1007/978-3-319-74030-0_62}, pages = {782 -- 795}, year = {2018}, abstract = {Business process simulation is an important means for quantitative analysis of a business process and to compare different process alternatives. With the Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) being the state-of-the-art language for the graphical representation of business processes, many existing process simulators support already the simulation of BPMN diagrams. However, they do not provide well-defined interfaces to integrate new concepts in the simulation environment. In this work, we present the design and architecture of a proof-of-concept implementation of an open and extensible BPMN process simulator. It also supports the simulation of multiple BPMN processes at a time and relies on the building blocks of the well-founded discrete event simulation. The extensibility is assured by a plug-in concept. Its feasibility is demonstrated by extensions supporting new BPMN concepts, such as the simulation of business rule activities referencing decision models and batch activities.}, language = {en} } @misc{HaarmannBatoulisNikajetal.2018, author = {Haarmann, Stephan and Batoulis, Kimon and Nikaj, Adriatik and Weske, Mathias}, title = {DMN Decision Execution on the Ethereum Blockchain}, series = {Advanced Information Systems Engineering, CAISE 2018}, volume = {10816}, journal = {Advanced Information Systems Engineering, CAISE 2018}, publisher = {Springer}, address = {Cham}, isbn = {978-3-319-91563-0}, issn = {0302-9743}, doi = {10.1007/978-3-319-91563-0_20}, pages = {327 -- 341}, year = {2018}, abstract = {Recently blockchain technology has been introduced to execute interacting business processes in a secure and transparent way. While the foundations for process enactment on blockchain have been researched, the execution of decisions on blockchain has not been addressed yet. In this paper we argue that decisions are an essential aspect of interacting business processes, and, therefore, also need to be executed on blockchain. The immutable representation of decision logic can be used by the interacting processes, so that decision taking will be more secure, more transparent, and better auditable. The approach is based on a mapping of the DMN language S-FEEL to Solidity code to be run on the Ethereum blockchain. The work is evaluated by a proof-of-concept prototype and an empirical cost evaluation.}, language = {en} } @article{BazhenovaZerbatoOlibonietal.2019, author = {Bazhenova, Ekaterina and Zerbato, Francesca and Oliboni, Barbara and Weske, Mathias}, title = {From BPMN process models to DMN decision models}, series = {Information systems}, volume = {83}, journal = {Information systems}, publisher = {Elsevier}, address = {Amsterdam}, issn = {0306-4379}, doi = {10.1016/j.is.2019.02.001}, pages = {69 -- 88}, year = {2019}, abstract = {The interplay between process and decision models plays a crucial role in business process management, as decisions may be based on running processes and affect process outcomes. Often process models include decisions that are encoded through process control flow structures and data flow elements, thus reducing process model maintainability. The Decision Model and Notation (DMN) was proposed to achieve separation of concerns and to possibly complement the Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) for designing decisions related to process models. Nevertheless, deriving decision models from process models remains challenging, especially when the same data underlie both process and decision models. In this paper, we explore how and to which extent the data modeled in BPMN processes and used for decision-making may be represented in the corresponding DMN decision models. To this end, we identify a set of patterns that capture possible representations of data in BPMN processes and that can be used to guide the derivation of decision models related to existing process models. Throughout the paper we refer to real-world healthcare processes to show the applicability of the proposed approach. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.}, language = {en} } @book{MeinelDoellnerWeskeetal.2021, author = {Meinel, Christoph and D{\"o}llner, J{\"u}rgen Roland Friedrich and Weske, Mathias and Polze, Andreas and Hirschfeld, Robert and Naumann, Felix and Giese, Holger and Baudisch, Patrick and Friedrich, Tobias and B{\"o}ttinger, Erwin and Lippert, Christoph and D{\"o}rr, Christian and Lehmann, Anja and Renard, Bernhard and Rabl, Tilmann and Uebernickel, Falk and Arnrich, Bert and H{\"o}lzle, Katharina}, title = {Proceedings of the HPI Research School on Service-oriented Systems Engineering 2020 Fall Retreat}, number = {138}, publisher = {Universit{\"a}tsverlag Potsdam}, address = {Potsdam}, isbn = {978-3-86956-513-2}, issn = {1613-5652}, doi = {10.25932/publishup-50413}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-504132}, publisher = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, pages = {vi, 144}, year = {2021}, abstract = {Design and Implementation of service-oriented architectures imposes a huge number of research questions from the fields of software engineering, system analysis and modeling, adaptability, and application integration. Component orientation and web services are two approaches for design and realization of complex web-based system. Both approaches allow for dynamic application adaptation as well as integration of enterprise application. Service-Oriented Systems Engineering represents a symbiosis of best practices in object-orientation, component-based development, distributed computing, and business process management. It provides integration of business and IT concerns. The annual Ph.D. Retreat of the Research School provides each member the opportunity to present his/her current state of their research and to give an outline of a prospective Ph.D. thesis. Due to the interdisciplinary structure of the research school, this technical report covers a wide range of topics. These include but are not limited to: Human Computer Interaction and Computer Vision as Service; Service-oriented Geovisualization Systems; Algorithm Engineering for Service-oriented Systems; Modeling and Verification of Self-adaptive Service-oriented Systems; Tools and Methods for Software Engineering in Service-oriented Systems; Security Engineering of Service-based IT Systems; Service-oriented Information Systems; Evolutionary Transition of Enterprise Applications to Service Orientation; Operating System Abstractions for Service-oriented Computing; and Services Specification, Composition, and Enactment.}, language = {en} } @article{CombiOliboniWeskeetal.2021, author = {Combi, Carlo and Oliboni, Barbara and Weske, Mathias and Zerbato, Francesca}, title = {Seamless conceptual modeling of processes with transactional and analytical data}, series = {Data \& knowledge engineering}, volume = {134}, journal = {Data \& knowledge engineering}, publisher = {Elsevier}, address = {Amsterdam}, issn = {0169-023X}, doi = {10.1016/j.datak.2021.101895}, pages = {14}, year = {2021}, abstract = {In the field of Business Process Management (BPM), modeling business processes and related data is a critical issue since process activities need to manage data stored in databases. The connection between processes and data is usually handled at the implementation level, even if modeling both processes and data at the conceptual level should help designers in improving business process models and identifying requirements for implementation. Especially in data -and decision-intensive contexts, business process activities need to access data stored both in databases and data warehouses. In this paper, we complete our approach for defining a novel conceptual view that bridges process activities and data. The proposed approach allows the designer to model the connection between business processes and database models and define the operations to perform, providing interesting insights on the overall connected perspective and hints for identifying activities that are crucial for decision support.}, language = {en} }