...your daily operations were fully automated, so that every day each employee receives a personalized "to do" list?
...the right data and computer application were automatically at hand for every task on that list?
...the tasks were automatically passed on to the person or computer application handling the next step?
...you were alerted when a task was not completed within a certain time?
...the tasks for absent employees were automatically routed to substitutes?
...you could balance out uneven workloads by reassigning tasks from your computer?
...at any time you could add, delete, or change the sequence of tasks and assigned staff to reflect special circumstances?
...you could set and monitor individual or group productivity goals?
...you could improve and modify your business processes more easily as the needs of the market demand?
Workflow management like this may seem futuristic, but software to automate and continuously reengineer the flow of work through business processes is already more fact than fiction.
Automated workflow management software promises to revolutionize how organizations will harness information technology well into the next century.
"Applications written with workflow management systems can free these companies because the business processes are separated from the programs that implement those processes," says Vogt, who has overall responsibility for IBM workflow management systems.
Moreover, points out Vogt, business executives can decide which individual processes to reengineer. "Once you've defined the key pieces of your processes, you can make a business decision on which ones to redesign," he explains. "Change the ones that promise 80 percent improvement, for example, and leave the others -- that are certainly used sometimes, but which have no real impact -- for as long as they can run. Now, you can make investment decisions based on what money is available and what the real priorities are."
Some industry analysts predict that workflow management systems will soon have as big an impact on information technology (IT) as database management systems did. "Twenty years ago, the industry realized it was data dependent. People coded programs interpreting data streams from flat files, cut the records off, interpreted the records, and so on. This led to the development of database management systems, which now manage the assets of companies," explains Dr. Frank Leymann, a senior technical staff member at the Boeblingen lab and a member of the IBM Academy of Technology.
The result is a new application structure, with the database management system as the foundation, the workflow management system at the top, and in between the implementation of the business algorithms. "Because these business algorithms are now discrete," Leymann says, "you can reuse and recombine them in many more applications than before."
"In the future," says Leymann, "you'll be able to buy components and assemble them -- using workflow management systems -- into applications that support your everyday business." To support this capability, IBM participates in the Workflow Management Coalition, a group of international software vendors developing standard interfaces to enable use of off-the-shelf components.
The system also can be an important tool for organizations seeking to reengineer their business processes. By linking valuable resources such as people, applications, and information, FlowMark can help businesses gain -- or maintain -- a competitive advantage. As the accompanying sidebar features illustrate, the software is finding a place in diverse organizations.
Competitive markets and the need for flexibility pushed service industries, such as banking and insurance, to adopt workflow management systems early. But, the concept isn't restricted to the service sector. "Such systems are being tested in the manufacturing sector, in shop floor control. Increasingly," Vogt remarks, "industries want to see how today's workflow engines fit into their environments.
"With just-in-time manufacturing, parts and subassemblies come from other companies, so the workflow extends beyond the enterprise," Vogt explains. "The manufacturers can now hook into their suppliers' systems, gaining an inter-enterprisewide view of the process."
When Vogt first began to conceive a workflow management system, he realized it would need to supersede prevailing technology. Historically, workflow management systems automated the flow of documents. But he wanted to model, and thus be able to manage, the business process itself.
"How can we describe business processes in an enterprise?" he asks. "There are three dimensions: persons who execute processes, the processes themselves, and the infrastructure on which those processes are executed.
"Until now, the problem with applications is that we had a very rigid description of a piece of a process. Into that were hard-wired the organization's resources and technology; there was no flexibility in the three dimensions. Initially," he says, "organizations implemented information technology to save money by improving a single, specific task.
"But today, companies need to be able to change quickly to maintain a competitive edge. They need a more adaptable, easily tailored system that addresses the entire process," Vogt continues. "Plus, today's technology empowers a wider range of people to participate in processes, and they are likely to be in different buildings, connected by the communications network."
According to Vogt, "every organization has living assets, fixed assets, and the process of doing something with those assets. Business process reengineering assumes that you're changing the process, which may have nothing to do with IT." FlowMark is designed to provide a flexible platform for application integration, Vogt says. The software is designed to integrate and coordinate people, activities, IT applications, and data.
Improvements to a business process don't necessarily imply radical change. Leveraging your company's investments in people, applications, and infrastructure means integrating these critical resources while providing flexibility to react to market changes.
For workflow software to reach its full potential, bringing users its full benefits, a firm linkage to business modeling is needed. The availability of business modeling functions sets FlowMark apart, enabling it to deliver an end-to-end, integrated solution to help businesses implement a comprehensive solution for continuous process improvement.
The software allows business professionals to define and document their business practices; to test the processes; to run the processes, both to support the people doing the work and to fully automate activities that do not require human guidance; to monitor the operation of the processes; and to refine and update the processes in a continuous cycle.
These capabilities are enhanced by FlowMark's ability to integrate with two other key pieces of technology that support continuous process improvement. With IBM's recently introduced business modeling technology -- which provides a unique approach for documenting, evaluating, and redesigning business processes -- organizations can now translate business models into implementation.
FlowMark also provides integration with application development tools to facilitate the development of new applications used within the business process. By linking business modeling, workflow, and application development, the result is a complete solution for continuous process improvement.
A fundamental concept for the FlowMark team was to base the workflow management system on two advanced information technologies -- object-oriented construction and client/server architecture.
Object orientation (OO) eases the combination and recombination of self-contained processes and subprocesses into full workflow solutions -- much like a child's building blocks. In OO, each object encapsulates both the process and the necessary data for that process.
The design of OO not only speeds the development of workflow applications, but makes it easier to revise them as requirements change, and extend them by purchasing off-the-shelf objects from third parties.
According to Leymann the efforts of two industry groups are intersecting, resulting in a special synergy between object and workflow technologies. "The Workflow Management Coalition is striving toward standardized interfaces to enable interoperability of workflow management systems," he says, "and to allow programs to be written in such a way that they can be used within different workflow management systems. Recent efforts of the Object Management Group show the increasing importance of business objects as granules of reuse."
Cooperation between the two groups is aimed at a standard allowing the exploitation of business objects in workflows. "The result will facilitate a straightforward composition of applications out of business objects. This meeting of the workflow paradigm and the object paradigm is very likely just the initial step toward a mutual large-scale exploitation of both technologies, especially within the area of component-based software construction.
Client/server architecture provides flexibility and scalability in implementing workflow applications, which can run on a single PC, on a local area network (LAN), or on networks of LANs. Currently, FlowMark servers run on OS/2 and AIX, with clients available for OS/2, Windows, and AIX. Both an MVS and AS/400 server are under development.
Each of three FlowMark components plays an important role. The server coordinates the OS/2, Windows, and AIX clients and the object-oriented database. The Buildtime client models business processes on OS/2 workstations and administers the system on OS/2, Windows, and AIX workstations. The Runtime client automatically starts processes (applications) and presents work lists to users on OS/2, Windows, and AIX workstations.
FlowMark automates two standard business concepts: procedure manuals and to-do lists. Procedure manuals become online workflow models that activate business processes; to-do lists become online work lists.
FlowMark leverages two aspects to model efficiency into a business. The first is the viewpoint of the business manager or "reengineer" who creates, tests, and refines models of business processes. The second aspect is the viewpoint of the person who uses the workflow applications.
The business manager works with the business modeling tool and the Buildtime component of FlowMark to define process models, manage organizational information, animate process models (follow the flow of a single instance), simulate processes (run multiple instances to analyze performance), and import/export information from/to other applications.
Designers can diagram the workflow model with a built-in graphical design tool on OS/2 workstations. Each workflow model depicts the business activities, the staff that performs them, the programs that support the people, and the flow of control and information between the activities. FlowMark's database stores this modeling information.
The system automatically documents the model, first as the diagram itself and then with supporting online documentation. Users can then print up-to-date workflow models as needed.
Before a workflow model is put into production (or any time changes are required) designers can test it using two available facilities: animation and simulation.
Animation is the activation of a single instance through the model. For example, one could track a single loan application through the loan application process and could find any errors before releasing the model for production. Animation has also proven to be an excellent tool to introduce workflow applications to management or to train staff.
Simulation is the activation of multiple instances through the model in order to detect bottlenecks or other problems. One could, for example, analyze the effect of running 30 loans a day at a certain staffing level. Simulation is useful both for the workflow application developer (who needs to test the system before putting it into production) and for the business manager (who wants to predict and prevent bottlenecks and balance workloads).
FlowMark supports programming tasks and the import/export of data through application programming interfaces (APIs) for the C language on OS/2, AIX, and Windows, for REXX on OS/2 and AIX, and Microsoft Visual Basic for Windows.
When the designer is satisfied that the model works properly, it is put into operation using the Runtime component. A process administrator (and authorized work list users) starts, interrupts, and resumes processes and changes work assignments.
Runtime presents the work list user, such as a loan processor, with an online list of activities to complete, which can be prioritized by importance, urgency, or other criteria.
As the staff member selects an activity, FlowMark automatically starts the program that supports the work and provides the necessary data. Thus, FlowMark would present the loan application, start the loan application evaluation program, and provide the necessary background data on the loan applicant.
As work is completed, the staff member deletes it from the work list, and FlowMark automatically passes the task (as well as old and added data) to the staff member or application responsible for the next step. Meetings, memos, and phone calls are not necessary to keep routine work moving.
In the loan processing example, FlowMark would pass the loan application to a senior loan officer for review or to a word processing program that prints the loan documents. As a result, data entry errors are reduced since the old and new data are passed on with the task.
In imaging and office solutions, workflow models add value by defining the flow of data and control between the programs that process documents. The results are faster throughput and greater reliability in handling large amounts of paper-based information.
With the Runtime client, process administrators, who are often the business process owner or manager, can monitor the status of instances (such as a specific loan application), individual staff members, or a staff group. Administrators can set task completion goals for individuals or groups and send alerts to the appropriate supervisor. Effective management of work means that activities happen in the right order, are assigned to the correct people, and carry along the necessary information. The key to efficiency is to link the business activities, the skills of the people in the organization, and the information technology to support the activities.
Hellena Smejda -- a writer specializing in high technology -- is president of WordsWorth International, Naperville, IL.
See also:
Gothaer Insurance
Blue Cross Blue Shield
Rancocas Orthopedic Associates
Widener University