On Deriving Net Change Information From Change Logs - The DELTALAYER-Algorithm

The management of change logs is crucial in different areas of information systems like data replication, data warehousing, and process management. One barrier that hampers the (intelligent) use of respective change logs is the possibly large amount of unnecessary and redundant data provided by them. In particular, change logs often contain information about changes which actually have had no effect on the original data source (e.g., due to subsequently applied, overriding change operations). Typically, such inflated logs lead to difficulties with respect to system performance, data quality or change comparability. In order to deal with this we introduce the DeltaLayer algorithm. It takes arbitrary change log information as input and produces a cleaned output which only contains the net change effects; i.e., the produced log only contains information about those changes which actually have had an effect on the original source. We formally prove the minimality of our algorithm, and we show how it can be applied in different domains; e.g., the post-processing of differential snapshots in data warehouses or the analysis of conflicting changes in process management systems. Altogether the ability to purge change logs from unnecessary information provides the basis for a more intelligent handling of these logs

Equivalence of Web Services in Process-Aware Service Compositions

Deciding on web service equivalence in process-aware service compositions is a crucial challenge throughout the composition life cycle. Restricting such decisions to (activity) label equivalence constitutes a simplification for many practical applications: if two web services have equivalent labels, does this necessarily mean they are equivalent as well? In many scenarios other factors play an important role. Examples include context information (e.g., input and output messages) and information on the position of web services within compositions. In this paper, we introduce the composition life cycle and discuss specific requirements for web service equivalence along its different phases. We define adequate equivalence notions for design, execution, analysis, and evolution of service compositions. Main focus is put on attribute and position equivalence. Altogether this paper is a first step towards a new understanding and treatment of equivalence notions in service compositions

On Utilizing Web Service Equivalence for Supporting the Composition Life Cycle

Deciding on web service equivalence in process-aware service compositions is a crucial challenge throughout the composition life cycle. Restricting such decisions to (activity) label equivalence, however, is not sufficient for many practical applications: if two activities and web services respectively have equivalent labels, does this necessarily mean they are equivalent as well? In many scenarios (e.g., evolution of a composition schema or mining of completed composition instances) other factors may play an important role as well. Examples include context information (e.g., input and output messages) and information on the position of web services within compositions. In this paper, we introduce the whole composition life cycle and discuss specific requirements for web service equivalence along its different phases. We define adequate equivalence notions for the design, execution, analysis, and evolution of service compositions. Main focus is put on attribute and position equivalence. Altogether this paper shall contribute a new understanding and treatment of equivalence notions in service compositions

On Representing, Purging, and Utilizing Change Logs in Process Management Systems

In recent years adaptive process management technolgy has emerged in order to increase the flexibility of business process implementations and to support process changes at different levels. Usually, respective systems log comprehensive information about changes, which can then be used for different purposes including process traceability, change reuse and process recovery. Therefore the adequate and efficient representation of change logs is a crucial task for adaptive process management systems. In this paper we show which information has to be (minimally) captured in process change logs and how it should be represented in a generic and efficient way. We discuss different design alternatives and show how to deal with noise in process change logs. Finally, we present an elegant and efficient implementation approach, which we applied in the ADEPT2 process management system. Altogether the presented concepts provide an important pillar for adaptive process management technology and emerging fields (e.g., process change mining)

Next-generation Process Management with ADEPT2

Short time-to-market, easy adaptation to changes in business environment, and robustness of processes are key requirements in today’s business world. In the IT area of Business Process Management (BPM), solutions claim to satisfy these new demands, but are still not sufficient.\ud In this paper we present a short overview on how these challenges are tackled by the ADEPT and AristaFlow projects and demonstrate a prototypical implementation

Vergleich der Präzision von unterschiedlichen Modellscannern (Licht- und Laserscanner) bei verschiedenen Entwicklungsstadien und Fehlbildungen des Gebisses

Um den Einfluss unterschiedlicher Entwicklungsstadien des Gebisses, sowie von uni- und bilateralen Lippen-Kiefer-Gaumenspalten auf die Genauigkeit und Reproduzierbarkeit von analoger und digitaler Modellvermessung zu untersuchen, wurden insgesamt 100 Modelle und zwei Prüfkörper nach DIN EN ISO-Norm 12836 im Abstand von mindestens 4 Wochen jeweils dreimal vermessen. Bei allen für die Studie verwendeten Modelle wurde darauf geachtet, dass nur ihrem Entwicklungsstadium entsprechend regelrecht bezahnte und unbeschädigte Modelle ausgewählt wurden. Die Modelle wurden entsprechend der gängigen Modellanalysen vermessen. Aus den erhaltenen Daten wurden repräsentative und vergleichbare Messstrecken ausgewählt. Die Messergebnisse wurden statistisch ausgewertet und entsprechend ihrer Messstrecken miteinander verglichen. Bei keiner Messgruppe zeigten sich signifikante Unterschiede in der Genauigkeit zwischen Handmessung und digitaler Messung. Alle Differenzen lagen im klinisch nicht relevanten Bereich. Beide Methoden sind somit mindestens gleichwertig. Bei der Vermessung der Prüfkörper stellte sich heraus, dass die digitale Vermessung in sechs von sieben Fällen näher am tatsächlichen Wert der Messstrecke lag. Es lässt sich feststellen, dass die digitale Vermessung die Handmessung an Genauigkeit eher übertrifft, weshalb sie in Zukunft die Handmessung auch in Anbetracht ihrer zahlreichen weiteren Vorteile als Goldstandard ablösen könnte

Lightweight Process Support with Spreadsheet-Driven Processes: A Case Study in the Finance Domain

The use of process management technology constitutes a salient factor for a multitude of business domains as it particularly addresses the flexibility demands of the digital enterprise. Still, spreadsheet applications are more likely to be used in many scenarios in which process management technology appears to be a more appropriate solution. Especially in the context of human-centric and knowledge-intensive processes, spreadsheets are widely used, even if more business-tailored applications exist. For example, financial service providers, like banks or insurers, prefer spreadsheet applications for accomplishing their daily business. However, this kind of usage reveals drawbacks when working collaboratively based on the same spreadsheet document. To remedy these drawbacks, we suggest the use of spreadsheet-driven processes, which shall combine the advantages of traditional process management technology with the ones of spreadsheets. Using a sophisticated scenario from the financial domain, this paper shows how spreadsheet-driven processes improve collaborative work, as required in the context of business processes, significantly. Moreover, a proof-of-concept prototype is presented to evaluate the approach in practice. Altogether, first results indicate that spreadsheet-driven processes may be a promising technical solution for everyday business involving human resources

Architectural Design of Flexible Process Management Technology

To provide effective support, process-aware information systems (PAIS) must not freeze existing business processes. Instead they should enable authorized users to deviate on-the-fly from the implemented processes and to dynamically evolve them over time. While there has been a lot of work on the theoretical foundations of dynamic process changes, there is still a lack of PAIS implementing this dynamics. Designing the architecture of respective technology constitutes a big challenge due to the high complexity coming with dynamic processes. Besides this, performance, robustness, security and usability of the system must not be affected by the added flexibility. In the AristaFlow project we have taken a holistic approach to master this complexity. Based on a conceptual framework for flexible process enactment and dynamic processes, we have designed a sophisticated architecture for next generation process management technology. This paper discusses major design goals and basic architectural principles, gives insights into selected system components, and shows how change support features can be realized in an integrated and effective manner

Architecural Principles and Components of Adaptive Process Management Technology

Process-aware information systems (PAIS) must not freeze business processes, but should enable authorized users to deviate from the implemented workflows on-the-fly and to dynamically evolve them over time. While there has been a lot of work on the theoretical foundations of dynamic process changes, there is still a lack of implemented PAIS providing this dynamics. Designing the architecture of such adaptive PAIS, however, constitutes a big challenge due to the high complexity coming with dynamic changes. Besides this, performance, robustness, security and usability of the PAIS must not be affected by the added flexibility. In the AristaFlow project we follow a holistic approach to master this complexity. Based on a conceptual framework for adaptive process management, we have designed a sophisticated architecture for next generation process management technology. This paper discusses major design goals and basic architectural principles, gives insights into selected system components, and shows how change support features can be realized in an integrated and efficient manner

Towards Truly Flexible and Adaptive Process-Aware Information Systems

If current process management systems shall be applied to a broad spectrum of applications, they will have to be significantly improved with respect to their technological capabilities. Particularly, in dynamic environments it must be possible to quickly implement and deploy new processes, to enable ad-hoc modifications of running process instances on-the-fly (e.g., to dynamically add, delete or move process steps), and to support process schema evolution with instance migration (i.e., to propagate process schema changes to already running instances if desired). These requirements must be met without affecting process consistency and by preserving the robustness of the process management system. In this paper we describe how these challenges have been addressed and solved in the ADEPT2 Process Management System. Our overall vision is to provide a next generation process management technology which can be used in a variety of application domains