A workflow consists of an orchestrated and repeatable pattern of activity, enabled by the systematic organization of resources into processes that transform materials, provide services, or process information. It can be depicted as a sequence of operations, the work of a person or group, the work of an organization of staff, or one or more simple or complex mechanisms.
Business software is any software or set of computer programs used by business users to perform various business functions. These business applications are used to increase productivity, to measure productivity, and to perform other business functions accurately.
Business process modeling (BPM) in business process management and systems engineering is the activity of representing processes of an enterprise, so that the current business processes may be analyzed, improved, and automated. BPM is typically performed by business analysts, who provide expertise in the modeling discipline; by subject matter experts, who have specialized knowledge of the processes being modeled; or more commonly by a team comprising both. Alternatively, the process model can be derived directly from events' logs using process mining tools.
Business process automation (BPA), also known as business automation or digital transformation, is the technology-enabled automation of complex business processes. It can streamline a business for simplicity, achieve digital transformation, increase service quality, improve service delivery or contain costs. It consists of integrating applications, restructuring labor resources and using software applications throughout the organization. Robotic process automation is an emerging field within BPA.
Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) is a graphical representation for specifying business processes in a business process model.
A workflow pattern is a specialized form of design pattern as defined in the area of software engineering or business process engineering. Workflow patterns refer specifically to recurrent problems and proven solutions related to the development of workflow applications in particular, and more broadly, process-oriented applications.
YAWL is a workflow language based on workflow patterns. It is supported by a software system that includes an execution engine, a graphical editor and a worklist handler. It is available as open-source software under the LGPL license.
A traditional production board, stripboard, or production strip is a filmmaking term for a cardboard or wooden chart displaying color-coded strips of paper, each containing information about a scene in the film's shooting script. The strips can then be rearranged and laid out sequentially to represent the order one wants to film in, providing a schedule that can be used to plan the production. This is done because most films are shot "out of sequence," meaning that they do not necessarily begin with the first scene and end with the last. For logistical purposes, scenes are often grouped by talent or location and are arranged to accommodate the schedules of cast and crew. A production board is not to be confused with a Stripboard used for electronics prototyping.
Business Process Modeling Language (BPML) is an XML-based language for business process modeling. It was maintained by the Business Process Management Initiative (BPMI) until June 2005 when BPMI and OMG announced the merger of their respective Business Process Management (BPM) activities to form the Business Modeling and Integration Domain Task Force. It is deprecated since 2008. BPML was useful to OMG in order to enrich UML with process notation.
Workflow Management Coalition (WfMC) was a consortium formed to define standards for the interoperability of workflow management systems. The coalition was disbanded in 2019 and no longer exists.
A workflow application is a software application which automates, to at least some degree, a process or processes. The processes are usually business-related but can be any process that requires a series of steps to be automated via software. Some steps of the process may require human intervention, such as an approval or the development of custom text, but functions that can be automated should be handled by the application. Advanced applications allow users to introduce new components into the operation.
A workflow management system provides an infrastructure for the set-up, performance and monitoring of a defined sequence of tasks, arranged as a workflow application.
Business process management (BPM) is the discipline in which people use various methods to discover, model, analyze, measure, improve, optimize, and automate business processes. Any combination of methods used to manage a company's business processes is BPM. Processes can be structured and repeatable or unstructured and variable. Though not required, enabling technologies are often used with BPM.
Willibrordus Martinus Pancratius van der Aalst is a Dutch computer scientist and full professor at RWTH Aachen University, leading the Process and Data Science (PADS) group. His research and teaching interests include information systems, workflow management, Petri nets, process mining, specification languages, and simulation. He is also known for his work on workflow patterns.
Bizagi is a privately owned software company established in 1989 with headquarters in the US, and offices in UK, Spain, Germany & Latin America. Its name is a portmanteau of "business" and "agility".
Subject-oriented business process management (S-BPM) is a communication based view on actors, which compose a business process orchestration or choreography. The modeling paradigm uses five symbols to model any process and allows direct transformation into executable form.
Arthur Harry Maria ter Hofstede is a Dutch computer scientist, and Professor of Information Systems at the Queensland University of Technology in Australia, and Professor at the Eindhoven University of Technology, known for his work in Workflow patterns, YAWL and Business process management.
CEITON is a web-based software system for facilitating and automating business processes such as planning, scheduling, and payroll using workflow technologies. The system is used by several media companies such as MDR, Yle, RAI, A+E Networks, Red Bull Media House and also by public financial institutions such as the Development Bank of Saxony. In December 2018, the first CEITON User Group Meeting took place in Leipzig, Germany.
Imixs Workflow is an Open-Source-Project, providing technologies for building Business Process Management solutions. The project focus on human based workflows used to execute and control workflows in organisations and enterprises. In difference to task-oriented workflow engines, which focus on automated program flow control (tasks), Imixs Workflow is a representative of an event-based workflow engine. Here, the engine controls the status of a process instance within a defined state-diagram. By entering an event, the state of a process instance can be abandoned or changed. In human-centric workflow engines, events usually occur by an interaction of the actor with the system, for example by approving or rejecting a business transaction. They can also be triggered by scheduled events. An example of this is an escalation of an unfinished task.
WorkflowGen is a web-based low-code business application creation solution developed by Advantys. As a workflow software and business process management (BPM) solution, WorkflowGen enables organizations to automate human and system-based processes via a visual interface in a low programming environment.
