AgentWork: a workflow system supporting rule-based workflow adaptation

摘要

Current workflow management systems still lack support for dynamic and automatic workflow adaptations. However, this functionality is a major requirement for next–generation workflow systems to provide sufficient flexibility to cope with unexpected failure events. We present the concepts and implementation of AgentWork, a workflow management system supporting automated workflow adaptations in a comprehensive way. A rule-based approach is followed to specify exceptions and necessary workflow adaptations. AgentWork uses temporal estimates to determine which remaining parts of running workflows are affected by an exception and is able to predictively perform suitable adaptations. This helps to ensure that necessary adaptations are performed in time with minimal user interaction which is especially valuable in complex applications such as for medical treatments.