An evaluation of methodological issues in workflow management

Abstract

Workflow management is a diverse and rich technology being applied over an increasing number of industries. Despite this fact, workflow management systems (WFMSs) still have a long way to go before they can be regarded as mature technology. In this thesis, we try to analyze methodological aspects of WFMSs and contribute to the workflow management theory in terms of new functionality and structures of workflow schemas. A confirmation of our ideas is provided by simulation results of a workflow application which we have designed. Bringing the simulation stage in between design and implementation stages would let a schema designer assess a workflow system in terms of optimal system throughput, required facility capacities, and an efficient transactional representation of activities. Also, by allowing a schema designer to choose an effective structure of a workflow system, simulation results help to avoid possible future losses at early stages of the workflow schema design.