a comparison of xml interchange formats for business process management

A Comparison of XML Interchange Formats for Business Process Management

Jan Mendling, Gustaf NeumannDept. of IS and New Media, WU Wien, Austria

Markus NüttgensChair of ISHWP Hamburg, Germany

LV 1734 - Vertiefungskurs Neue Medien - Collaborative SystemsFolie 2

Agenda

1. The problem of heterogeneity in BPM

2. Interchange format specification – why and how?

3. Which metamodel concepts are used in BPM?

4. Comparing BPM specifications

5. Conclusions and outlook

LV 1734 - Vertiefungskurs Neue Medien - Collaborative SystemsFolie 3

Agenda

The problem of heterogeneity in BPM

LV 1734 - Vertiefungskurs Neue Medien - Collaborative SystemsFolie 4

Lack of Standard-Interchange Formats for BPM

LV 1734 - Vertiefungskurs Neue Medien - Collaborative SystemsFolie 5

Standardization Bodies

• Object Management Group (OMG)

• Workflow Management Coalition (WfMC)

• Business Process Management Initiative (BPMI)

• Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS) (+ UN/CEFACT)

• World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)

• academic initiatives

LV 1734 - Vertiefungskurs Neue Medien - Collaborative SystemsFolie 6

Agenda

Interchange format specification – why and how?

LV 1734 - Vertiefungskurs Neue Medien - Collaborative SystemsFolie 7

Effects of Interchange Format Specification

• Pragmatic effect: moving models between tools

• Economic effect: reduced lock-in, more competition

• Conceptual effect: consolidation of concepts

LV 1734 - Vertiefungskurs Neue Medien - Collaborative SystemsFolie 8

Metamodels and Interchange Formats

Metamodel Interchange Format

ModelInterchange Format

Instance

instantiates instantiates

represents

maps to

LV 1734 - Vertiefungskurs Neue Medien - Collaborative SystemsFolie 9

Interchange Format Design Criteria

• Simplicity not too complex, focus on essentials

• Completeness include all major concepts

• Generality applicable in various scenarios

• No ambiguity precise terms and clear semantics

• Extensibility additional information, future development

LV 1734 - Vertiefungskurs Neue Medien - Collaborative SystemsFolie 10

How to specify Interchange Formats

• Interchange Format Only e.g. BPEL4WS

• Mappings Only e.g. XMI

• Joint Specification e.g. PNML

LV 1734 - Vertiefungskurs Neue Medien - Collaborative SystemsFolie 11

Agenda

Which metamodel concepts are used in BPM?

LV 1734 - Vertiefungskurs Neue Medien - Collaborative SystemsFolie 12

Methodological Remarks

• Schema integration approach

• Identification of high level concepts of BPM specs

• Identification of superset of these concepts

• Use list of concepts as a benchmark

LV 1734 - Vertiefungskurs Neue Medien - Collaborative SystemsFolie 13

BPM Specifications

• {Business Process Definition Metamodel (BPDM) by OMG}

• Business Process Execution Language for Web Services (BPEL4WS) by OASIS

• Business Process Modeling Language (BPML) by BPMI

• Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN) by BPMI

• Business Process Specification Schema (BPSS) by OASIS + UN/CEFACT

• EPC Markup Language (EPML) by academia

• OWL-S by academia

• Petri Net Markup Language (PNML) by academia

• UML ActD by OMG

• WS-Choreography Description Language (WSCDL) by W3C

• WS Choreography Interface (WSCI) by W3C

• WS Choreography Language (WSCL) by Hewlett-Packard

• WS Flow Language (WSFL) by IBM

• XLANG by Microsoft

• XML Process Definition Language (XPDL) by WfMC

LV 1734 - Vertiefungskurs Neue Medien - Collaborative SystemsFolie 14

Metamodel Concepts in BPM

• Task I/O

• Task Address/URI

• Quality Attributes

• Task Protocol

• Control Flow

• Data Handling

• Instance Identification

• Roles

• Events

• Exceptions

• Transactions

• Graphical Position

• Statistical Data

LV 1734 - Vertiefungskurs Neue Medien - Collaborative SystemsFolie 15

Agenda

Comparing BPM specifications

LV 1734 - Vertiefungskurs Neue Medien - Collaborative SystemsFolie 16

Comparison based on Concepts

BP

DM

BP

EL

4WS

BP

ML

BP

MN

BP

SS

EP

ML

OW

L-S

PN

ML

UM

L A

ct.D

.

WS

-CD

L

WS

CI

WS

CL

WS

FL

XL

AN

G

XP

DL

Task I/O

Task Address

Protocol

Control Flow

Data Handling

Instance Identity

Roles

Quality Attributes

Events

Exceptions

Transactions

Graphic Position

Statistical Data

? + + + + - + - + + + + + + +? + + + - - + - - + + + + + +

? + - + - - + - - + + + + + -? + + + + + + + + + + + + + +? + + + - - - - + + - - + - +? + + - - - - - - - + - + + -? + + + + - + - + + + - + + +

? - - - + - + - - - - - + - -

? + + + - + - - - - - - + + +? + + + + - - - + + + - + + +? + + + + - - - - + + - - + -? - - + - + - + + - - - - - -? - - - - - - - - - - - - - +

LV 1734 - Vertiefungskurs Neue Medien - Collaborative SystemsFolie 17

Remarks on Comparison

• BPEL4WS, BPMN, and WSFL support the most concepts

• But, different choices HOW to support a concept

• compare Workflow Patterns for control flow constructs (v.d.Aalst)

• Patterns needed for each concept

LV 1734 - Vertiefungskurs Neue Medien - Collaborative SystemsFolie 18

Agenda

Conclusions and outlook

LV 1734 - Vertiefungskurs Neue Medien - Collaborative SystemsFolie 19

Conclusions

• Identification of superset of metamodel concepts

• Pattern analysis for each concept needed

• Conceptual framework towards a BPM reference model

LV 1734 - Vertiefungskurs Neue Medien - Collaborative SystemsFolie 20

Further information

Thank you for your attention!

Jan Mendling, Gustaf Neumann

Dept. Of IS and New MediaWU Wien, Austria{jan.mendling | neumann}@wu-

wien.ac.at

Markus Nüttgens HWP Hamburg, Germanynuettgens@hwp-hamburg.de