Case-based adaptation of workflows

Abstract

This paper presents on a Case-based Reasoning approach for automated workflow adaptation by reuse of experience. Agile workflow technology allows structural adaptations of workflow instances at build time or at run time. The approach supports the expert in performing such adaptations by an automated method. The method employs workflow adaptation cases that record adaptation episodes from the past. The recorded changes can be automatically transferred to a new workflow that is in a similar situation of change. First, the notion of workflow adaptation cases is introduced. The sample workflow modeling language CFCN is presented, which has been developed by the University of Trier as a part of the agile workflow management system Cake. Then, the retrieval of adaptation cases is briefly discussed. The case-based adaptation method is explained including the so-called anchor mapping algorithm which identifies the parts of the target workflow where to apply the changes. A formative evaluation in two application domains compares different variants of the anchor mapping algorithm by means of experts assessing the results of the automated adaptation.