Workflow and Process Automation: Concepts and Technology (The Springer International Series in Engineering and Computer Science) [Hardcover]

Andrzej Cichocki (Author), Helal A. Ansari (Author), Marek Rusinkiewicz (Author), Darrell Woelk (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0792380991 | ISBN-13: 978-0792380993 | Publication Date: December 31, 1997 | Edition: 1

Based on the results of the study carried out in 1996 to investigate the state of the art of workflow and process technology, MCC initiated the Collaboration Management Infrastructure (CMI) research project to develop innovative agent-based process technology that can support the process requirements of dynamically changing organizations and the requirements of nomadic computing. With a research focus on the flow of interaction among people and software agents representing people, the project deliverables will include a scalable, heterogeneous, ubiquitous and nomadic infrastructure for business processes. The resulting technology is being tested in applications that stress an intensive mobile collaboration among people as part of large, evolving business processes. Workflow and Process Automation: Concepts and Technology provides an overview of the problems and issues related to process and workflow technology, and in particular to definition and analysis of processes and workflows, and execution of their instances. The need for a transactional workflow model is discussed and a spectrum of related transaction models is covered in detail. A plethora of influential projects in workflow and process automation is summarized. The projects are drawn from both academia and industry. The monograph also provides a short overview of the most popular workflow management products, and the state of the workflow industry in general. Workflow and Process Automation: Concepts and Technology offers a road map through the shortcomings of existing solutions of process improvement by people with daily first-hand experience, and is suitable as a secondary text for graduate-level courses on workflow and process automation, and as a reference for practitioners in industry.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 136 pages
• Publisher: Springer; 1 edition (December 31, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0792380991
• ISBN-13: 978-0792380993
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,463,368 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Overview of already published papers, May 5, 2000

By 

Dragos Manolescu - See all my reviews

This review is from: Workflow and Process Automation: Concepts and Technology (The Springer International Series in Engineering and Computer Science) (Hardcover)

This book is a high-level overview of already published material from the workflow domain. As such, it is mainly appropriate for technically-oriented managers who would like to get their feet wet. Researchers and practitioners won't find the amount of detail they are usually looking for here. They may find it useful as an initial starting point, when they are not quite familiar with the domain. However, they may be better off reading the research papers and the (few) other books available on this topic.

Unfortunately, its treatment of the subject is superficial, providing very few details:

In Chapter 2 the authors use the same process to illustrate the 3 modeling methodologies. Examples are always good! Unfortunately, the discussion is superficial. The book fails in explaining the shortcomings of each methodology and the types of processes for which they are applicable.

Chapter 3 discusses some very interesting issues too briefly. For example, I expected the authors to present and compare at least 2 or 3 workflow specification languages in the section entitled "Description Languages." Instead of providing concrete examples, they list generic features: "A good language should also have a very modular structure, so that libraries of popular sub-flows can be used... [I]n current practice, the rule-based languages are most often used" (24). The same happens in the next section, "Software architecture of the workflow enactment service." One of the issues that the authors try to address is reliability. But again instead of presenting solutions and discussing alternatives, they follow the same path: "To lower the probability of a software failure, the system should be carefully designed and developed..." (27).

Given the amount of detail that the authors provide about transactions in Chapter 4, it is reasonable to assume that they have a strong database background. The major problem with this whole chapter is that the transition from transactions to transactional workflows is too abrupt. Why do we have to think in terms of transactions when we look at workflow? We could also think in terms of objects sending messages, or people engaging in speech acts. The authors do not provide a clear rationale for transactional workflows.

In Chapter 6 the authors had the opportunity to present lots of the information collected during MCC's 1996 study mentioned at the beginning of the book. Unfortunately, the details are again superficial. Moreover, the treatment is inconsistent. First the authors describe the important features of workflow applications for the analysis, development, execution and administration phases. However, in the section entitled "Comparison of workflow products," they compare 7 products only in terms of the software environment characteristics (e.g., the OS on which the server and clients run and the database system it can use), disregarding the features they have previously discussed.

"Workflow and Process Automation" lies at the boundary between trade press and technical publications. The high level descriptions and lack of detail are typical of trade press publications, and several issues (e.g., extended transactions) belong to the realm of technical publications. Think of it as a trade book authored by people who are used to writing technical papers. To someone who belongs in the latter category, the result may be unsatisfactory. Moreover, the price tag makes one believe that the book is technical, when it really isn't.

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent exposition of the subject of workflow automation., June 20, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Workflow and Process Automation: Concepts and Technology (The Springer International Series in Engineering and Computer Science) (Hardcover)

This book is almost first of its kind to clearly and conscisely explain the notion of workflow automation. The way the authors deal with the categorization of workflow is excellent. This book is a MUST for both practioners as well as academic researchers. This can be used for building workflow automation systems as well as teaching a graduate course. The authors did an excellent service to the research/practioner community. As a professor in industrial and manufacturing engineering and computer science, I find this book extremely useful for both theoretical and applied research.