Lifecycle Support for IoT-Driven Business Rules

Abstract

The Internet of Things (IoT) is prevalent in various areas and enables a variety of smart applications such as smart factory, smart home, and smart health. The IoT corresponds to a network of physical objects, fostering the collection and exchange of data over the Internet. Each physical object is equipped with sensors, actuators, and other technologies, and is uniquely identifiable through its embedded computing system. Business Process Management (BPM), in turn, is concerned with the modeling, execution, discovery, analysis, and monitoring of business processes. By enriching business processes with real-world IoT data and IoT-driven business rules, process automation as well as real-time process monitoring and decision making can be enhanced. Despite the increasing interest in IoT-enhanced business process support, IoT-driven business rules have not been well integrated with business process execution so far. In this context, providing integrated lifecycle support for IoT-driven business rules in BPM systems constitutes a challenge. This paper discusses how to integrate lifecycle support of IoT-driven business rules with BPM systems covering the modeling, execution, monitoring, analysis, and evolution of IoT-driven business rules. Furthermore, all lifecycle phases need to be covered by holistic approaches to IoT-driven business rules. For each lifecycle phase, we elaborate on the requirements emerging in this context and discuss existing approaches.