Existence dependency-based domain modeling for improving stateless process enactment.

In a process-enabled service oriented architecture, a process engine typically stores the state of the process instances during enactment. As an alternative, stateless process enactment entails that process state is derived from the state of business objects, which are organized in a domain model. The business objects are referred to in pre- and post-conditions of activities, which determine when the activity is enabled and completed, respectively. Despite the fact that the latter approach has multiple benefits compared with the former, the repeated state (re)calculations deteriorate performance and the formulation of clear conditions is not self-evident if typical domain modeling techniques (e.g. UML or ER) are adopted. In this paper we show that by adopting a specific domain modeling technique, which is based on the notion of existence dependency between the business objects, the performance and comprehensibility issues can proficiently be dealt with. We illustrate the technique using a real-world case from the insurance domain and analyze the emerging duality between process modeling and domain modeling.

EXPLORING A DOMAIN ONTOLOGY BASED APPROACH TO BUSINESS PROCESS DESIGN

Business process modeling is a critical area of business application as business processes increase in complexity and become more automated. However, little attention has been paid to the fact that business process modelers often misunderstand domain concepts or relationships due to a lack of precise domain knowledge. This semantic ambiguity problem often affects the efficiency and quality of business process modeling. To address this problem, we propose a domain ontology based approach (DOBA) to supporting business process design by capturing domain semantics with a meta model of process ontologies. DOBA provides a means to capture rich, semantic information on complex business processes, which enables the incorporation of domain specific ontologies to facilitate modeling of business processes. The validity of DOBA is demonstrated via a business case in electronic auctions. The DOBA approach represents a first step towards developing a formal methodology for ontology-based modeling and analysis in business process management

Business Role-Object Specification: A Language for Behavior-aware Structural Modeling of Business Objects

Representing and reusing the business objects of a domain model for various use cases can be difficult. Especially, if the domain model is acting as a template or a guideline, it is necessary to map the enterprise’s individual structure and processes on the shared domain model. Structural modeling languages often do not meet this requirement of reusing structures and complying to established processes. We propose a modeling language called BROS (Business Role-Object Specification) for describing the business objects’ structure and behavior for structural models, based on a given domain model and process models. It utilizes roles for a use case related specification of business objects as well as events as interfaces for the business processes affecting these roles. Thus, we are able to represent and adapt the business object in different contexts with individual requirements, without changing the underlying domain model. We demonstrate our approach by modeling a simple case

Business Level Service-Oriented Enterprise Application Integration

In this paper we propose a new approach for service-oriented enterprise application integration (EAI). Unlike current EAI solutions, which mainly focus on technological aspects, our approach allows business domain experts to get more involved in the integration process. First, we provide a technique for modeling application services at a sufficiently high level of abstraction for business experts to work with. Next, these business experts can model the orchestration as well as the information mappings that are required to achieve their integration goals. Our mediation framework then takes over and realizes the integration solution by transforming these models to existing service orchestration technology

A Semantic-based framework for discovering business process patterns

Patterns currently play an important role in modern information systems (IS) development and their use has mainly been restricted to the design and implementation phases of the development lifecycle. Given the increasing significance of business modeling in IS development, patterns have the potential of providing a viable solution for promoting reusability of recurrent generalized models in the very early stages of development. This paper focuses on business process patterns and proposes an initial framework for the discovery and reuse of business process patterns within the IS development lifecycle. The framework synthesizes the idea from the domain engineering literature and proposes the use of semantics to drive both the discovery of patterns as well as their reuse

From Business Model to Business Modelling: Modularity and Manipulation

The concept of modularity has gained considerable traction in technology studies as a way to conceive, describe and innovate complex systems, such as product design or organizational structures. In the recent literature, technological modularity has often been intertwined with business model innovation, and scholarship has started investigating how modularity in technology affects changes in business models, both at the cognitive and activity system levels. Yet we still lack a theoretical definition of what modularity is in the business model domain. Business model innovation also encompasses different possibilities of modeling businesses, which are not clearly understood nor classified. We ask when, how and if modularity theory can be extended to business models in order to enable effective and efficient modeling. We distinguish theoretically between modularity for technology and for business models, and investigate the key processes of modularization and manipulation. We introduce the basic operations of business modeling via modular operators adapted from the technological modularity domain, using iconic examples to develop an analogical reasoning between modularity in technology and in business models. Finally, we discuss opportunities for using modularity theory to foster the understanding of business models and modeling, and develop a challenging research agenda for future investigations