Merging workflows: a new perspective on connecting business processes

Authors:
Shuang Sun;Akhil Kumar;John Yen
Affiliations:
School of Information Sciences and Technology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA;SMEAL College of Business, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA;School of Information Sciences and Technology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA
Venue:
Decision Support Systems
Year:
2006

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Abstract

This paper describes the concept of workflow merge and methods for merging business processes. We grouped merges in four categories according to the type of merge: sequential, parallel, conditional, and iterative, and describe the corresponding algorithms for performing these operations. We give results that allow us to determine whether a merge operation is sound. It is shown that to avoid invalid merges, one should choose merge points between which a sub-workflow, called a merge region, is well structured. These findings can provide useful guidance for future workflow merge research. We also raise issues of more complex merge problems, such as merge conflicts, semantic ambiguities and workflow splits.