Inter-organizational Workflow Research Articles

A higher-order transformation approach to the formalization and analysis of BPMN using graph transformation systems

The Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN) is a widely used standard notation for defining intra- and inter-organizational workflows. However, the informal description of the BPMN execution semantics leads to different interpretations of BPMN elements and difficulties in checking behavioral properties. In this article, we propose a formalization of the execution semantics of BPMN that, compared to existing approaches, covers more BPMN elements while also facilitating property checking. Our approach is based on a higher-order transformation from BPMN models to graph transformation systems. To show the capabilities of our approach, we implemented it as an open-source web-based tool.

A resilient inter-organizational workflow assignment plan selection approach: Application to a digital health use case

Workflow Management Systems are rapidly evolving and increasingly used in a variety of industries, allowing organizations to automate and enhance their business processes. Hence, they are open to collaboration throw inter-organizational workflows to achieve common objectives. Thus, organizations could thereby adapt to highly dynamic environments and abrupt sudden changes like during epidemics. One of the particular interests for security researchers is to ensure workflow resiliency, which means ensuring the completion of the workflow execution given a defined set of security constraints without violating the security policy. However, the rigid application of security constraints restricts some task-organization assignments, which leads to the workflow satisfiability problem. Moreover, a wise selection of collaborating organizations is very important for secure resilient inter-organizational workflow execution. Therefore, we aim in this paper to propose a resilient inter-organizational workflow assignment plan selection approach to select a valid task-organization plan that allows a resilient inter-organizational workflow complete execution. Our proposed approach, uses the task priority concept, Bayesian inference, and a hybrid multi-criteria decision-making approach based on the methods Analytical Hierarchical Process and Grey Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution. As a result, the proposed approach selects the best assignment plan for a resilient execution of the Inter-Organizational Workflow, in addition to delegates for each task-organization assignment if available.

Security based partner selection in Inter-organizational workflow systems

The creation of inter-organizational workflow implies the coalition of partners' efforts and resources in order to achieve a set of common objectives and goals. However, this openness may cause a huge damage to the participating entities due to security breaches. The risk of unsuccessful collaboration should be well studied. Thus, the key for successful collaboration is to select the appropriate collaborators based on specific security criteria for each outsourced task. In this sense, several criteria have to be considered, among them: trust and reputation level, policy similarity level, security level and privacy compliance level. The proposed security based partner selection approach allows us to rank participating entities in the collaboration based on the main security criteria in order to assign each task to the suitable partner with the most appropriate and efficient way.

RPMInter-work: a multi-agent approach for planning the task-role assignments in inter-organisational workflow

ABSTRACTWorkflow management is a core component of modern Enterprise Information Systems (EISs) infrastructure that automates the execution of critical business processes. One of the particular interests of the security community is how to ensure the completion of the workflow execution in the presence of authorisation constraints. These constraints present some restrictions on the users or the roles that are authorised to execute the workflow tasks. The goal is to enforce the legal assignments of access privileges to the executors of the workflow tasks. Despite the variety of approaches proposed in this context, an approach dedicated to the inter-organisational workflows is still missing. In this paper, we take a step towards this goal by proposing a multi-agent-based model, named RPMInter-Work (task-Role assignment Planning Model for Inter-organisational Workflow). Our approach aims to perform the planning of the task-role assignments in inter-organisational workflow in presence of authorisation constraints that are related to task-role assignments. In our research work, this planning problem is formulated as a DisCSP (Distributed Constraint Satisfaction Problem). Our proposed contribution is based on the requirements of inter-organisational workflows, in particular, the autonomy of the participating organisations and the respect of their privacy. A prototype of RPMInter-Work is implemented using JADE (Java Agent DEvelopment) platform and some evaluation results of this prototype are exposed in this paper.

Analysis and Comparison of Role-Based Interorganizational Workflows for a Construction Project

The implementation process of construction projects is an iterative process of continuous modification and improvement among participant organizations. Traditional workflow analysis methods for a single organization are not suitable for the analysis of such implementation processes. Therefore, an interorganizational workflow analysis method based on organizational roles and associated with their collaborative relationships is required. In this study, a role-based interorganizational workflow model for participant organizations is developed, in which it is assumed that interoperability has a loosely coupled form for temporary multi-organizations. The Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP) is applied to determine the parameters of the correlation between interorganizational workflows, which includes downstream sensitivity and the probability of change. Furthermore, according to workflow interactions between organizations, an analysis model of interorganizational workflow is developed by using the Design Iteration Model for reference to analyze the time performance of participant organizations. Additionally, two forms of interorganizational workflow are compared and analyzed. Some suggestions are put forward to improve interorganizational workflow management and reduce the total time taken to complete the workflow processing of each organization (T) and the total time spent on the interorganizational workflow process (effort, E). This research may help strengthen interorganizational workflow management and enrich the workflow modeling theory.

Security based partner selection in Inter-organizational workflow systems

The creation of inter-organizational workflow implies the coalition of partners' efforts and resources in order to achieve a set of common objectives and goals. However, this openness may cause a huge damage to the participating entities due to security breaches. The risk of unsuccessful collaboration should be well studied. Thus, the key for successful collaboration is to select the appropriate collaborators based on specific security criteria for each outsourced task. In this sense, several criteria have to be considered, among them: trust and reputation level, policy similarity level, security level and privacy compliance level. The proposed security based partner selection approach allows us to rank participating entities in the collaboration based on the main security criteria in order to assign each task to the suitable partner with the most appropriate and efficient way.

An Approach Based on Hierarchical Petri Nets for the Verification of Interconnected BPEL Processes

This article describes an MDE approach for transformation from BPEL specifications to WF-nets models for verifying behavioral properties on IOWF (Inter-Organizational Workflow) processes. The authors consider WF processes specified with BPEL and interconnected together according to specific cooperation patterns. They define a specific class of Petri nets called Hierarchical WF-nets (HWN) in order to formally check the “soundness” property on IOWF process models. For that, their verification approach is defined around three main phases: (i) recovery of the BPEL file(s) and generation of process tree(s), (ii) transformation from BPEL to WF-nets (resp. HWN) models using mapping and transformation rules and (iii) verification of the “soundness” property on the models obtained. They particularly define and implement a set of specific transformation rules which are closely linked to the interconnection rules attached to each cooperation pattern. Also, to show the feasibility of their verification method, the authors developed a “WF-Checking” tool which allows the implementation and testing of the proposed approach.

Adaptation and Evolution Frameworks for Service Based Inter-Organizational Workflows

This paper describes pattern-based frameworks for adaptation and evolution of service-based workflow process models meeting specific cooperation patterns widely recognized in the B2B area. In the authors' previous works, they focused on restructuring and interconnecting workflows using the SOA paradigm so as to deal with more flexible inter-organizational workflow (IOWF) models. The main issue of this paper is the question of flexibility of IOWF process models where the authors distinguish two main aspects: adaptability and evolutivity affecting different levels of the IOWF process. For that, they define three categories of adptation called functional, behavioral and interactional adaptations and two categories of evolution called functional evolution and organizational evolution; then, they conceptualize some adaptation and evolution patterns which can be applied on the IOWF process models. The authors' adaptation and evolution frameworks are developed according to the MVC pattern and operate on process models specified with BPEL. Thanks to their high modularity, the frameworks are easily extensible and allow the reusing of patterns to implement other ones.

Workflow restructuration and interconnection for adaptation and evolution support: the 'loosely coupled' architecture

This paper describes an approach for restructuration, interconnection and change support of B2B process models. We start with process models obeying to specific inter-organisational workflow IOWF architectures widely used in the B2B area, among them the 'loosely coupled' architecture. To obtain IOWF process models with additional degree of flexibility, we define new cooperation patterns based on the SOA paradigm. We focus first, on the question of restructuring and interconnecting WF processes using services. For that, we define a restructuring process with two main phases. Then, using the concept of service-based cooperation pattern SBCP, we provide conceptualisation and formalisation of the 'loosely coupled' pattern. For the issue relative to flexibility support, we propose specific patterns for adaptation and evolution of IOWF process models obeying to the 'loosely coupled' pattern. Also, for formalisation, we define new operators of adaptation.

Systematic Heterogeneity:How to Combine Smartphone Related Apps with FIspace

FIspace represents an Internet based B2B collaboration platform that can be used by actors along the supply chain, and specifically the agri-food chain, facilitating the design and usage of inter-organisational workflows. The FIspace platform was developed by using FIWARE, a European initiative to develop technologies for a Future Internet. At the same time, the requirements of actors from an agri-food related B2B environment were analysed. One of the key requirements was the demand for smartphone-based apps that can be easily used by any actor at any time in the scope of a B2B relationship of different organisations. However, realising inter-organisational workflows with a combination of smartphones and a platform for B2B collaboration raises business related requirements that are specifically in relation to interoperability and security. Therefore, the architectural principles of FIspace supported ecosystems are presented and the concept of developing FIspace software applications is detailed. The latter provides domain specific features and enables a systematic usage of heterogeneous components in business related ecosystems. Furthermore, different development strategies for smartphone apps are analysed to discuss the related implications with respect to effort, costs and interoperability when aiming at a combination with a FIspace supported ecosystem. This is compared with the general principles to develop features within a FIspace ecosystem to systematically identify the implications when integrating heterogeneous software and hardware solutions. The purpose of this paper is to present those design principles that shall help to systematically analyse end-user requirements, which need to be taken into account when developing or designing changes and extensions of a FIspace supported business ecosystem with the help of smartphone apps. Therefore, the paper addresses specifically software developers intending to use FIspace as well as business architects intending to change or design an ICT supported collaborative ecosystem.

Net-structure-based conditions to decide compatibility and weak compatibility for a class of inter-organizational workflow nets

Inter-organizational workflow nets (IWF-nets) can well model the interactions among multiple processesby sending/receiving messages. Compatibility and weak compatibility are crucial properties for IWF-nets.The latter guarantees that a system is deadlock-free and livelock-free while the former also guarantees that ithas no dead tasks. Our previous work proved that the (weak) compatibility problem is PSPACE-complete forsafe IWF-nets. This paper defines a class of IWF-nets in which some simple circuits are allowed. Necessaryand sufficient conditions are presented to decide compatibility and weak compatibility for this class, and theyare dependent on the net structures only. Algorithms are developed based on these conditions. In addition, weshow that the traditional net structures like siphon cannot be easily used to decide the (weak) compatibility ofIWF-nets.

Embedded Differential Access Control for Printing Variable Jobs

Business case requirements have resulted in related documents that are native to their individual formats being combined into a collection called composite documents. These are used for a variety of activities such as presentations, premium/sensitive content distributions and business workflows, and may include standard types such as PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint Slides and other specially formatted files. Additionally, cross-organizational workflow demands have created new challenges for the management of such composite documents. These include access control to individual parts, security and privacy issues in the absence of shared trusted infrastructure, communication over popular and potentially insecure channels, auditing, print control and disposal. These challenges led to the development of Publicly Posted Composite Documents (PPCDs) [1] as a recently proposed document format that enables the secure containment and transfer of personalized document versions over insecure channels, with the access control and policies built into and carried within the document itself (as an integral part). PPCD technology is intended to act as the central pillar of document workflow scenarios, where a single document can be created, controlled, accessed, used and monitored throughout its life cycle as it participates in inter-organizational workflows. However, PPCD technology is currently missing an important property of electronic documents: the ability to be securely printed to a physical copy. The limited resources on multi-function printer (MFP) devices and the security focused structure of PPCDs makes this a challenging and non-trivial problem. Thus, in this paper we utilize the unique structure of PPCDs to describe novel mechanisms and firmware extensions on MFPs for enforcing differential access control and printing.

A pattern-based approach for workflow interconnection and flexibility support

This paper describes a new approach for interconnection and flexibility support of service-based workflow processes. We consider specific architectures of inter-organisational workflows IOWF fairly widespread in the B2B area defining different cooperation schemas; our final objective is to deal with flexibility of IOWF models obeying to these schemas. First, by introducing a new concept called service-based cooperation pattern SBCP, we define new generic IOWF-architectures using the SOA paradigm to support process models flexible enough for easing their adaptation, evolution and reuse. A SBCP is defined through three main dimensions: the distribution of services among the partner's sites, the control of instance execution and the structure of interaction between services. Furthermore, to support changes affecting the IOWF models, we define three categories of adaptation patterns according to the three dimensions defining a SBCP; we also exhibit aspects of evolution and reuse of IOWF models using generalised and composite cooperation patterns.

Sufficient and Necessary Condition to Decide Compatibility for a Class of Interorganizational Workflow Nets

Interorganizational Workflow nets (IWF-nets) can well model many concurrent systems such as web service composition, in which multiple processes interact via sending/receiving messages. Compatibility of IWF-nets is a crucial criterion for the correctness of these systems. It guarantees that a system has no deadlock, livelock, or dead tasks. In our previous work we proved that the compatibility problem is PSPACE-complete for safe IWF-nets. This paper defines a subclass of IWF-nets that can model many cases about interactions. Necessary and sufficient condition is presented to decide their compatibility, and it depends on the net structures only. Finally, an algorithm is developed based on the condition.

A Dataflow Perspective for Business Process Integration

Business process integration has become prevalent as business increasingly crosses organizational boundaries. To address the issue of protecting organizations’ competitive knowledge and private information while also enabling business-to-business (B2B) collaboration, past research has focused mainly on customized public and private process design, as well as structural correctness of the integrated workflow. However, a dataflow perspective is important for business process integration. This article presents a data-flow perspective using workflow management and mathematical techniques to address data exchange problems in independent multistakeholder business process integration in dynamic circumstances. The research is conducted following a design science paradigm. We build artifacts that include interorganizational workflow concepts, a workflow model, and a public dataset calculation method. The use of the proposed artifacts is illustrated by applying them to a real-world case in the Shenzhen (Chaiwan) port. The utility of the artifacts is evaluated through interviews with practitioners in industry. We conclude that this research complements the control-flow perspective in the interorganizational workflow management area and also contributes to B2B information-sharing literature; further, the dataflow formalism can help practitioners to formally provide the right data at the right time in dynamic circumstances.

Service Based Cooperation Patterns to Support Flexible Inter-Organizational Workflows

Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) is a paradigm that provides important advantages like interoperability, reusability and flexibility, particularly beneficial for B2B applications. In the current paper, we consider specific architectures of inter-organizational workflows (IOWF) fairly widespread in the B2B area and implementing different cooperation schemas. Our aim is to propose new generic IOWF-architectures by using the SOA paradigm in order to obtain IOWF models flexible enough to ease their adaptation, evolution and reuse. For that, we introduce the concept of Service-Based Cooperation Pattern (SBCP) that supports the definition of IOWF models based on services. A SBCP is defined by three main dimensions: the distribution of services, the control of execution and the structure of interaction between services. Also, we define a concept of composite cooperation pattern based on the combination of elementary patterns. We illustrate our approach by a general description of our cooperation framework called ―S-IOFLOW‖ that supports the implementation of IOWF models obeying to the described SBCP. Three main points characterize our approach: (i) the use of a pattern-based approach; (ii) the definition of composite patterns by reusing elementary ones and (iii) the support of several cooperation schemas with different types of control.

Embedded Scanning, Encryption and Certification Workflows on Multi-Function Printers (MFPs)

A recently proposed document format: Publicly Posted Composite Documents (PPCDs) [1] has been developed to tackle both the containment and security aspects of composite documents participating in inter-organizational workflows. Here, the access control and authentication material together with the actual contents form a tamper proof digital bundle that was designed to be securely transmitted over potentially low security channels. Though PPCDs can be created, shared cross-organizationally and edited using software on a computer, a key functionality to efficiently and securely incorporate scanned documents inside Multi-Function Printers (MFPs) was missing. We solve this problem by enabling users with assigned modification rights to specific content-parts of a PPCD, to update such parts through scanning physical documents at a standalone MFP. The scans are then securely and automatically encrypted, signed and inserted as new PPCD content. Thus, in this paper we provide a comprehensive solution for document workflow participants to securely update or insert new contents to the PPCD at a standalone MFP device through non-trivial extension of HP MFP firmware.

Semisupervised Wrapper Choice and Generation for Print-Oriented Documents

Information extraction from printed documents is still a crucial problem in many interorganizational workflows. Solutions for other application domains, for example, the web, do not fit this peculiar scenario well, as printed documents do not carry any explicit structural or syntactical description. Moreover, printed documents usually lack any explicit indication about their source. We present a system, which we call PATO, for extracting predefined items from printed documents in a dynamic multisource scenario. PATO selects the source-specific wrapper required by each document, determines whether no suitable wrapper exists, and generates one when necessary. PATO assumes that the need for new source-specific wrappers is a part of normal system operation: new wrappers are generated online based on a few point-and-click operations performed by a human operator on a GUI. The role of operators is an integral part of the design and PATO may be configured to accommodate a broad range of automation levels. We show that PATO exhibits very good performance on a challenging data set composed of more than 600 printed documents drawn from three different application domains: invoices, datasheets of electronic components, and patents. We also perform an extensive analysis of the crucial tradeoff between accuracy and automation level.

Inter-organizational Workflow for Intelligent Audit of Information Technologies in terms of Entreprise Business Processes

IT governance is critical to the success of Enterprise governance by providing effective, efficient and measurable improvements in business processes by ensuring that information technologies are in line with business objectives. Consequently, this paper provides an intelligent solution to audit Information System Business processes using the IT Governance Framework COBIT. The particularity of this solution is the use of Inter-organization Workflows (IOW), Multi-agent System and semantic web. In fact Inter-Organizational Workflow is used to cooperate autonomous, heterogeneous and distributed organizations processes to reach a common goal. In this paper case the goal is the dynamic alignment of every Business Process with the convenient Information System component and this through a permanent interaction with different stockholders. Multi-agent Systems (MAS) are known as the natural solution for IOW modeling since they provide dynamic modification and execution of adaptive processes. In addition, MAS have the ability to describe distribution and coordination of IOW organizations in micro and macro level, with high level communication protocols. As for the semantic web, the proposed IT Governance IOW based on COBIT, has the principal role to match Enterprise real Business Goals with COBIT Business goals , so the use of the semantic web is a way to share business terminology and avoid semantic conflict for a correct and efficient Audit operation.

A Flexible Method Using Identity Based Message Key Distribution for Securing Workflow Signatures

The increase in advancement of information technology led the migration of workflows from paper based to electronic workflow systems. Basically a workflow consists of a number of tasks and each of these tasks should be authenticated by using any of the cryptographic techniques. To provide more security within workflow systems, signing keys are used. In addition to data authenticity and integrity, logical relationships such as AND- join and AND-split are to be provided in a workflow signature scheme. Such a scheme was experimentally proven which is based on hierarchical identity-based cryptography to meet security properties required by inter-organizational workflows. Due its high complexity, a new mechanism, IB-MKD (Identity Based Message Key Distribution) is proposed as an alternative to HIBS, which is achieved with conventional RSA without any additional assumptions and limitations and it is believed to have less overhead.