A framework for selecting workflow tools in the context of composite information systems

When an organization faces the need of integrating some workflow-related activities in its information system, it becomes necessary to have at hand some well-defined informational model to be used as a framework for determining the selection criteria onto which the requirements of the organization can be mapped. Some proposals exist that provide such a framework, remarkably the WfMC reference model, but they are designed to be appl icable when workflow tools are selected independently from other software, and departing from a set of well-known requirements. Often this is not the case: workflow facilities are needed as a part of the procurement of a larger, composite information syste m and therefore the general goals of the system have to be analyzed, assigned to its individual components and further detailed. We propose in this paper the MULTSEC method in charge of analyzing the initial goals of the system, determining the types of components that form the system architecture, building quality models for each type and then mapping the goals into detailed requirements which can be measured using quality criteria. We develop in some detail the quality model (compliant with the ISO/IEC 9126-1 quality standard) for the workflow type of tools; we show how the quality model can be used to refine and clarify the requirements in order to guarantee a highly reliable selection result; and we use it to evaluate two particular workflow solutions a- ailable in the market (kept anonymous in the paper). We develop our proposal using a particular selection experience we have recently been involved in, namely the procurement of a document management subsystem to be integrated in an academic data management information system for our university.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

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Projecte presentat al 6è Premi a la Qualitat de la Gestió Universitària, convocat pel Consell Social de la UPCAward-winningPostprint (author's final draft

Personalidades jurídicas difusas y artificiales

Edición especial: Con ocasión de la II UB International PhD in Law Conference

CIBERER : Spanish national network for research on rare diseases: A highly productive collaborative initiative

Altres ajuts: Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII); Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación.CIBER (Center for Biomedical Network Research; Centro de Investigación Biomédica En Red) is a public national consortium created in 2006 under the umbrella of the Spanish National Institute of Health Carlos III (ISCIII). This innovative research structure comprises 11 different specific areas dedicated to the main public health priorities in the National Health System. CIBERER, the thematic area of CIBER focused on rare diseases (RDs) currently consists of 75 research groups belonging to universities, research centers, and hospitals of the entire country. CIBERER's mission is to be a center prioritizing and favoring collaboration and cooperation between biomedical and clinical research groups, with special emphasis on the aspects of genetic, molecular, biochemical, and cellular research of RDs. This research is the basis for providing new tools for the diagnosis and therapy of low-prevalence diseases, in line with the International Rare Diseases Research Consortium (IRDiRC) objectives, thus favoring translational research between the scientific environment of the laboratory and the clinical setting of health centers. In this article, we intend to review CIBERER's 15-year journey and summarize the main results obtained in terms of internationalization, scientific production, contributions toward the discovery of new therapies and novel genes associated to diseases, cooperation with patients' associations and many other topics related to RD research

Introducing use cases in a small organization: an experience and lessons learned

In this paper we report the adoption of use cases by a small organization in a university setting. Use cases were first introduced in the middle of a huge project and adopted thereafter for later projects. The paper mostly focuses in the first experience, whose most interesting characteristics were the large size of the resulting specification, the fact that it took place once the project had started (for documentation purposes instead of driving the development) and the limitation that resources allocated were not as much as required. We present the lessons learned from this experience.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Implementing and improving the SEI risk management method in a University software project

Although risk management approaches appeared more than one dec­ade ago, there is the evidence of low penetration rate of their techniques in software projects. One of the most widely known methods is the SEI Software Continuous Risk Management (SEI-CRM) method. This paper addresses the usage of the SEI-CRM method in a big software development project. The study we carried out suggests that SEI-CRM is limited in terms of the organiza­tional risk perspective. This research is expected to contribute with the knowl­edge on risk management for software development projects by for which we propose to extend the SEI-CRM method with some organizational risk factors that we have found relevant from our study.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

A framework for selecting workflow tools in the context of composite information systems

When an organization faces the need of integrating some workflow-related activities in its information system, it becomes necessary to have at hand some well-defined informational model to be used as a framework for determining the selection criteria onto which the requirements of the organization can be mapped. Some proposals exist that provide such a framework, remarkably the WfMC reference model, but they are designed to be appl icable when workflow tools are selected independently from other software, and departing from a set of well-known requirements. Often this is not the case: workflow facilities are needed as a part of the procurement of a larger, composite information syste m and therefore the general goals of the system have to be analyzed, assigned to its individual components and further detailed. We propose in this paper the MULTSEC method in charge of analyzing the initial goals of the system, determining the types of components that form the system architecture, building quality models for each type and then mapping the goals into detailed requirements which can be measured using quality criteria. We develop in some detail the quality model (compliant with the ISO/IEC 9126-1 quality standard) for the workflow type of tools; we show how the quality model can be used to refine and clarify the requirements in order to guarantee a highly reliable selection result; and we use it to evaluate two particular workflow solutions a- ailable in the market (kept anonymous in the paper). We develop our proposal using a particular selection experience we have recently been involved in, namely the procurement of a document management subsystem to be integrated in an academic data management information system for our university.Peer Reviewe

Implementing and improving the SEI risk management method in a University software project

Although risk management approaches appeared more than one dec­ade ago, there is the evidence of low penetration rate of their techniques in software projects. One of the most widely known methods is the SEI Software Continuous Risk Management (SEI-CRM) method. This paper addresses the usage of the SEI-CRM method in a big software development project. The study we carried out suggests that SEI-CRM is limited in terms of the organiza­tional risk perspective. This research is expected to contribute with the knowl­edge on risk management for software development projects by for which we propose to extend the SEI-CRM method with some organizational risk factors that we have found relevant from our study.Peer Reviewe

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Projecte presentat al 6è Premi a la Qualitat de la Gestió Universitària, convocat pel Consell Social de la UPCAward-winnin