A survey of open source Workflow Management systems

Transcription

1 A survey of open source Workflow Managemen sysems Absrac In plehora of workflow managemen sysems, boh open source and commercial, a deailed analysis of a se of his is very imporan. In his aricle we propose a survey of 5 open source workflow managemen sysems based on analysis of differen key aspecs. We propose a se of 8 key aspecs useful o evaluae analyzed workflow managemen sysems. These aspecs cover mos imporan aspecs of a workflow managemen sysems from design o implemenaion and monioring of process. Keywords: Business process, Open source, Workflow Managemen Sysem. 1. INTRODUCTION Caione Adriana, Guido Anna Lisa, Paiano Robero, Pandurino Andrea A process is a se of logically relaed asks performed o achieve a defined oucome [1] The auomaion of a process is performed by workflow. The workflow can be seen as auomaion of procedures: documens, informaion and asks go beween paricipans based on a se of rules in order o reach a well defined goal [2] Workflow managemen sysem is a sysem ha compleely defines, manages and execues workflows [3]. The choice of workflow managemen sysem is a sraegic choice in definiion of archiecure of a new informaion sysem because i is core of informaion sysem ha implemens processes. The choice of workflow managemen sysem is a sraegic choice also when company decide o adop a process approach inside is own informaion sysem. The workflow managemens sysem will be configurable and exensible in order o: Communicae o or sysems inernal or exernal o company; Allows reuse of process already defined and esed in order o achieve several siuaions. There are several workflow managemen sysems boh commercial and open source. In his aricle we focus on open source workflow managemen sysems and we propose a comparaive sudy of several open source producs. We define some key aspecs o analyze in order o make a comparaive sudy as possible objecive. The key aspecs are relaed o several aspecs of workflow managemen sysems: is complian wih a noaion; is capabiliy o be inegraed in exising Deparmen of Engineering for Innovaion, Universiy of Saleno, Via per Moneroni, Lecce, 73100, Ialy informaion sysem and so on. Deails abou se key aspecs are explained in nex secion. We focus on five open source workflow managemen sysems: Inalio BPMS [4] BoniaSof [5] JBPM [6] Acivii [7] Camunda [8] In his secion we presen in secion 2 key aspecs useful o make comparison beween open source workflow managemens sysems and in secion 3 we analyze 5 seleced workflow managemens sysems. In secion 4 we presen our conclusions. 2. WORKFLOW MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS CRICAL ASPECTS As explained in previous secion we selec several aspecs in order o analyze Workflow Managemen Sysem ools. These aspecs coming from common sense and experience abou open source plaforms and from several experience abou research projecs ha deal wih process managemen. The key aspecs are: Process ediors: possibiliy o design a process is firs key poin for evaluaion of a workflow managemen sysem. A workflow Managemen sysem mus cover all aspecs of a managemen saring from design and unil execuion, hus i is imporan o have an inegraed edior avoiding o design process in a hird pary ools and afer o impor i in workflow managemen sysem. Presence of API: presence of API is imporan in order o cusomize and enhance way o use process and o execue asks. For example, use of API will allow saring and execuing a process direcly from web applicaion and no using console inegraed in workflow managemen sysem. Anor imporan use of API is o cusomize worklis or o build a specific user inerface for ask execuion. Volume 4, Issue 5(1), Sepember Ocober 2015 Page 22

2 Presence of connecors: connecors are very imporan in order o connec workflow managemen sysem wih already exising applicaion. Very ofen, a workflow managemen sysem will be inegraed in a pre-exising informaion sysem and hus i is very imporan o have possibiliy o connec wih or informaion sysems wih low effor. BPMN 2.0 compliance: BPMN 2.0 is a sandard in design of process [9]. Business process analys are skilled in BPMN noaion and hus i is useful o provide a ool ha suppor designer in complex ask of design a process. Fas Prooyping: possibiliy o see a prooype of applicaion ha suppor process design and o undersand if designed process mee users requiremens is a very imporan aspec in selecion of workflow managemen sysem ools. Possibiliy o generaed applicaion: o have possibiliy o generaed applicaion in order o obain applicaion o provide o final user is a very ineresing aspec in selecion of workflow managemen sysem ools because allows o reduce developmen effor. Monioring of process: workflow managemen sysem need o have ools useful o monior process in order o undersand if re are some criical aspecs during execuion of process. Possbiliy o source code of engine: ofen for specific implemenaion, i is imporan o source code of engine in order o answer o specific needs. 3 WORKFLOW MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS In his secion we analyze seleced workflow managemen sysems. 3.1 InalioBPMS Inalio is an Open Source Workflow Managemen Sysem for managemen of process. I is independen of any or proprieary echnology and provides all componens useful for design, deploymen and managemen of complex processes including aciviy monioring, rules managemen, documen managemen and sysem inegraion. Inalio also has a ool for managemen of web applicaions. Inalio is creaed o be used by users who will have access o a process managemen plaform. In order o have an applicaion aligned wih process i is imporan ha s will cusomize obained process and o configure sysem. The Inalio engine is a BPEL open source engine named Orchesraion Direcor Engine (ODE). I provides a complee suppor o all BPEL version and hus i can play wih BPEL code coming from or sysems. Inalio suppors also BPEL4People. Inalio has a process edior ha suppor BPMN. The edior provides abiliy o make documenaion for process and o expor design in image forma. The edior is based on Eclipse and able designer o define process and o use already defined process in new process. Inalio includes a form edior useful for design of form ha suppor process execuion saring form process design already defined. In order o generaed form, i is imporan o have suppor of s and i is no a ask ha analys can ake wihou help. Inalio allows o inerac wih or sysems using web services. I allows o inegrae in process user query. Inalio has API useful o manage and o change designed process bu Inalio does no have possibiliy o cusomize engine. Inalio suppors process monioring made up using a specific Dashboard edior ha allows o define and o monior key performance indicaor. The Dashboard is cusomizable. 3.2 BoniaSof Bonia is able o combine hree soluions in only one. Bonia is characerized by speed wih which i is possible o creae applicaions based on process processes and is o users who can manage independenly and wihou help of experienced users ir process, from design o implemenaion The Bonia archiecure is o services. Bonia has a se of API useful o inegrae engine wih applicaion implemened using Bonia or or cusom applicaion. Bonia engine has a se of connecor ha allow o inegrae process wih or applicaions. The main engine characerisics are: Sable and solid engine ha also allows you o run muliple process insances simulaneously; Naive suppor for BPMN 2.0 modeling and execuion of processes; Highly scalable Bonia BPM Engine can be used in differen conexs, from simple processes a deparmenal level o mos criical processes wih deploymen across enerprise; Use asynchronous execuion o preven blocking of insances of process caused by pending operaions; APIs available include EJB2, EJB3, REST API and Java-based, for cusom applicaion developmen and easy inegraion; Assigning asks o users based on roles Bonia BPM Engine is a fully ransacional, ha groups of calls and definiion of unis for error handling; Volume 4, Issue 5(1), Sepember Ocober 2015 Page 23

3 I is possible o access processes also from smarphones and ables; Allows o creae process simulaion using parameers such as cos, ime and resource consumpion. Bonia allows o manage process design versioning in order o faciliae design phase. The edior has expor feaures in several image forma in order o address documenaion ask. The edior checks design in order o check for complian of process design wih BPMN noaion. Bonia has API useful o cusomize applicaion and has several connecors ha allow o exend framework wih an exernal applicaion. There are more han 100 connecors for open source and proprieary sysems. There is a ool for developmen of connecors. Bonia has ool for process monioring boh for real ime monioring and for definiion and analysis of Key performance indicaor. I is possible o define Key Performance indicaor in any poin of sysem and o monior m inside a dashboard. Using Bonia Poral, i is possible o obain web applicaion ha allow user o execue process. The obained web applicaion is a ligh applicaion useful o inegrae in exising company poral. The inerface for user is like inbox bu i is possible o his inerface hrough a specific cusomizaion. 3.3 jbpm jbpm 6.0 is a flexible Workflow Managemen Sysem (WFMS) Suie based on BPMN 2.0 noaion. I makes bridge beween analyss and developers. Tradiional workflow engines have a focus ha is limied o non-echnical people only. jbpm has a dual focus: i offers process managemen feaures in a way ha boh users and developers like i. jbpm has several feaures and ools able o design and execue process. The jbpm ools manage complee process lifecycle: design and deploy, runime managemen (es and debug) o race execuion parameer, reporing, The main ools of jbpm environmen are: Web-based process design ool ha allows o designer o model process using graphical and inuiive inerface and ha allows o simulae process execuion. The designer has a cusomizable design palee and provide capabiliy o explore several elemens of model such as organizaion unis, reposiory, projecs and files (projec explorer). Daa modeler allows creaion of daa model ha will be used in process soluion; Form modeler allows designer o creae web forms ha final user will use when he/she execue process. The creaion of web form doesn need echnical skills; hus, form modeler could be used by process analys bu also by sofware developer ha could cusomize layous and behaviors of modeled web forms; Moreover, suie allows o sofware developer o creae specific dashboards and repors for final user. Also jbpm provides a full suppor o persisen daa (based on Java Persisen API[10]) and o ransacion (based on Java Transacion API[11]). The main developer framework such as Maven, Spring, OSGi,.. are inegraed in design ool. The runime managemen of process is based on wo ools: Process Insance (ha shows lis of process insance in execuion and shows specific saus of an insance) and Task Managemen (ha allows o final user o see and o complee his/her assigned asks). The Business Aciviy Monioring was creaed o allow no-echnical designer o creae corporae dashboard. This ool is a graphic ool ha allows o cusomize predefined dashboard and o creae graphical represenaions of indexes. jbpm provides a full suppor o manual aciviies hrough a specific design elemen called Human Task. The HumanTask allows o model specific properies such as: Acors: This propery describes who has o do manual ask; Group: I describes group of users ha have o complee manual ask; DaaInpuSe: I describes all inpu variables o ask; DaaOupuSe: I describes all oupu variables o ask; Assignmen: I describes daa mapping; Conen: I describes informaion conneced o ask; Prioriy: i is prioriy level of ask; jbpm inegraes a powerful ool of process simulaion based on Drools [12] and a graphical inerface o view and undersand daa colleced during simulaion. The simulaor provides also a complee imeline of execuion of process ha includes all specific simulaion evens and daa. 3.4 Acivii BPMN 2.0 Acivii BPMN 2.9 is an engine o manage process used inside Alfresco Framework [13]. Acivii is open-source based on Apache license. Acivii is been projeced o provides a full suppor o Java developer and is archiecure minimizes required resources. Acivii has no user inerface ool. Is main componens are: Acivii Engine i is core of acivii projec. The engine can be used in any java projec and inegraed in any java framework (Spring, JTA). I allows a complee sysem scalabiliy also in cloud Volume 4, Issue 5(1), Sepember Ocober 2015 Page 24

4 environmen. Moreover, i has a complee implemenaion of Java Persisence API and Java Transacion API. All modelled process can be esed using Java Uni Tes. Acivii Modeler I is a web based edior. I models process and sores process in a specific direcory on server. Acivii Engine Designer i is an Eclipse plug-in ha could be used o creae model of process in BPMN2.0 noaion. This ool allows o add more deails o process model. For his reasons, Acivii suggess o use Modeler o design process wihou many deail and Designer o model specific informaion. Acivii Explorer I is web-based monioring console. I allows users o know assigned asks. Acivii Probe - Acivii Probe is a web applicaion ha provide possibiliy o monior and o manage process execuion. Also provide ool o add an insance of process and o make i execuable. This applicaion is o ha manage sysem ha has ask o guaranee ha sysem always works. This applicaion allows o have imporan informaion from sysem such as ime need o execue a ask or a process. Acivii Cycle - Acivii Cycle is a web based applicaion ha improves collaboraion in company. Allows o obain a BPMN 2.0 code saring from processes made up by Acivii Modeler 3.5 Camunda Camunda is a java-based framework for process auomaion. The Camunda process engine is a java library for process execuion. The process engine uses POJO echnology and i uses a relaional daabase o implemen persisence. A ORM mapping is provided by mybais framework [14]. There is possibiliy o inegrae process engine wih a Spring Framework, Conecs and Dependency Injecion in Java EE and an inegraion wih server infrasrucure of applicaion (Runime Conainer). In addiion o process engine, Camunda has camunda Modeler (an eclipse plugin for process design) and camunda-bpmn.js (a JavaScrip framework for parsing, rendering and execuion of BPMN 2.0 process described in XML forma). The managemen of users and managemen of flow is made up using web applicaion Tasklis. There is in addiion Camunda Cockpi a web applicaion useful o monior and o manage process insances. Camunda can be used boh in a sandalone mode or i can be inegraed inside java applicaion. There are a se of java API ha allow a simple and quick inegraion wih Camunda engine. Camunda allows a se of services for developers: ReposioryService: i manages deploymen of package and process definiion RunimeService: allow o sar new process insance, o obain new process variable, o query process during execuion Task service: allow o make query abou ask assigned o users or group, o creae new ask, o manage users ha have a specific ask IdeniyService: allow managemen of groups and users. I is possible o use his service wih LDAP, acive direcory and so on; FormService: add o Camunda sar form ( form ha user can see before process sar) and ask form ( form ha helps user o complee a form ask). 4 CONCLUSION This aricle allows o undersand some key aspecs of analyzed open source workflow managemens sysems. A comparison analysis abou ools allow us o observe ha Bonia is o analys and does no require a collaboraion effor wih. Or ools are o echnical user (Acivii and Camunda) or o wih a consan suppor o echnical user (jbpm and Inalio). All analyzed workflow managemen sysems have API in order o inegrae wih or sysems. The presence of API is an imporan aspec because provide possibiliy o exend workflow managemen sysem. Each analyzed ool has API ha allows o cusomize several aspecs of implemenaion: Acivii and Camunda has API useful o workflow engine. I is clear ha his funcionaliy is o ha are able o source code. jbpm has boh API for and API for non. I is possible o boh source code of workflow and source code of generaed applicaion. Bonia has boh API o inerac wih sysem and concep of connecor ha is a sofware componen ha can be designed and developed in order o exend ool wih or exernal applicaion. Inalio uses web service in order o connec wih exernal applicaion and has API bu i is no possible o inerac wih engine. Anor aspec is possibiliy o cusomize user inerface of generaed applicaion. Bonia is differen from or ools because has an advanced fas prooyping ool ha allows o generaed prooype. Inalio allow cusomizaion of generaed applicaion bu is no a fas prooyping ool. In Acivii, Camunda and jbpm re are no fas prooyping ools. Volume 4, Issue 5(1), Sepember Ocober 2015 Page 25

5 All analyzed ools have had a design ool complian wih BPMN noaion and generaed file will be open using an XML edior. Acivii and Inalio has a specific web inerface useful o add echnical deail o process design and his is proof of a srengh orienaion o echnical user and no o analys. Inalio, Bonia and jbpm has a web form edior useful o design final web applicaion. jbpm is boh o and o and i offer a full web based workbench. All Workflow Managemen Sysems ools has a suie o monior processes. Only Camunda and jbpm allow o download source code and i is possible o compile source code. Boh workflow managemen sysems have a good suppor service. jbpm has an open communiy wih several acive users. In able 1 re are is a summary of characerisics of analyzed sofware relaed o criical aspecs defined in secion 2. Table 1: Summary of analyzed ools Inalio Bonia jbpm Acivi Camun Process ediors Presence of API Presence of conneco rs BPMN 2.0 complian ce Fas Prooypi ng Possibili y o generaed applicai on Moniori ng of process Oriened o wih suppor of Non user (i is no possible o engine) Oriened o I Oriened o and Business Available Available No Available wih suppor of Yes wih suppor of i Oriene d o (i is no possibl e o only engine No Availab le Compli an wih suppor of s da Oriene d o Yes Yes No No No o o o and oriene d o No Availab le wih suppor of o Possibili y o source code of engine YES YES YESacive suppor from commu niy References [1] T.H. Davenpor, J.E. Shor "The New Indusrial Engineering: Informaion Technology and Business Process Redesign," Sloan Managemen Review, pp , [2] SHIMeiLin, YANGuangXin, XIANYong, WUShangGuang. WfMS Workflow managemen sysem. Chinese Journal of Compuers Vol.20 No.3 pp , [3] WfMC. Workflow Reference Model [4] hp:// [Accessed. Sep, 1, 2015] [5] hp://i.boniasof.com/ [Accessed. Sep, 1, 2015] [6] hp:// [Accessed. Sep, 1, 2015] [7] hp://acivii.org/ [Accessed. Sep, 1, 2015] [8] hps://camunda.com/ [Accessed. Sep, 1, 2015] [9] A. Sephen Whie for BPMI and IBM Corporaion (Feb 6, 2006): Business Process Modeling Noaion Specificaion, from [10] hp:// ersisence-jsp hml [Accessed. Sep, 1, 2015] [11] hp:// dex.hml[accessed. Sep, 1, 2015] [12] hp:// [Accessed. Sep, 1, 2015] [13] hps:// [Accessed. Sep, 1, 2015] [14] hps://mybais.gihub.io/mybais-3/. [Accessed. Sep, 1, 2015] Volume 4, Issue 5(1), Sepember Ocober 2015 Page 26