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The
Delphi Oracle was a
very influential oracle
who made predictions
and announcements at
the Temple of Apollo
at Delphi, Greece. The
cult died out about
395 A.D. as Christianity
advanced.
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Endorsed by the
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Results
of Round 2
(will be available soon) |
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Problem Statement
The idea of software support
for the business processes of
an organization has been researched
since the late 1960’s.
In the context of organizational
theory, Nordsieck predicted
the process-oriented design
of information systems:
“Think about [a]
modern data processing [system].
[It] represents a perceptible
process, that is [..] connected
with the business process and
accompanies - or even controls
- this process during various
segments.”
[Nordsieck 1972, col. 9
(translated from the German
original)].
Workflow management technology
originated in office automation
projects in the 1970s at the
University of Pennsylvania,
Xerox Parc and others. The focus
of office automation research
was “to reduce the complexity
of the user’s interface
to the [office information]
system, control the flow of
information, and enhance the
overall efficiency of the office.”
[Ellis, Nutt 1980, p. 28]
Research in office automation,
which flourished between 1975
and 1985, laid the groundwork
for the development of industrial
workflow applications through
the analysis of technology support
for administrative processes.
While the research interest
in office automation ceased
by the middle of the 1980s [Mahling
et al. 1995; Nutt 1996], the
commercial exploitation of workflow
technology began between 1983
and 1985, fostered by advances
in imaging and document management
technology on the one side,
and enhanced e-mail systems
that extended traditional point-to-point
mail routing with a predefined
process map on the other side
[Swenson, Irwin, 1995]. From
this first generation of workflow
systems, only few vendors like
are still active, while the
majority of the early players
have been restructured through
mergers and acquisitions, or
dropped out of the market altogether.
[zur Muehlen 2003, p. 76].
The Association for Information
and Image Management (AIIM)
estimates the worldwide revenue
for workflow technologies to
grow from $4.3bn in 2000 to
$8.3bn in 2003 at a compound
annual growth rate of 31% [Emery
2000]. Especially in conjunction
with document management technology,
workflow systems are perceived
as the enablers of office productivity
gains through the elimination
of manual routing and work distribution
tasks [Attinger 1996, Frappaolo
2000]. Recently, workflow management
systems have spread beyond the
administrative environment and
can also be found as embedded
software components, that enhance
existing application packages
(e. g., ERP systems) as well
as infrastructure components
(such as application servers)
with process management functionality
[zur Muehlen, Allen 2001].
Since the 1990s, the environment
for process automation technology
has changed rapidly. The advent
of XML-based data exchanges
on the foundation of Internet
protocols, component-based system
architectures with reusable
components, and markets that
demand greater flexibility and
adaptability from their participants
change the functional and technical
requirements for process automation
systems.
Project Description
The delphi study is conducted
in parallel using three focus
groups: Researchers in workflow
management and process automation
(from both academia and corporate
research laboratories), current
users of the technology (project
managers and CIOs) and technology
vendors. Each group consists
of 8-10 experts, who individually
make predictions about their
assessment of the technology
and its future development.
The results are consolidated
and submitted to the groups
for review and comment. After
a second round of comment, a
final set of predictions and
assessments in generated. This
set of predictions serves as
the basis for the hypotheses
used in our workflow
survey.
References
Attinger, M. L.: Workflow:
A Technology Primer. In: ARMA
Records Management Quarterly,
30 (1996) 3, pp. 3-8.
Ellis, C. A.; Nutt, G. J.:
Office Information Systems and
Computer Science. In: ACM Computing
Surveys, 12 (1980) 1, pp. 27-60.
Emery, P.: The Workflow Market:
A Global Perspective for 2000.
In: Excellence in Practice Volume
IV: Innovation and Excellence
in Workflow and Knowledge Management.
Ed.: L. Fischer. Lighthouse
Point (FL) 2000, pp. 41-47.
Frappaolo, C.: The Many Generations
of Workflow. In: Workflow Handbook
2001. Ed.: L. Fischer. Lighthouse
Point (FL) 2000, pp. 51-60.
Mahling, D. E.; Craven, N.;
Croft, W. B.: From Office Automation
to Intelligent Workflow Systems.
In: IEEE Expert, 10 (1995) June,
pp. 41-47.
Nordsieck, F.: Betriebsorganisation.
Lehre und Technik (Textband).
2nd revised and enhanced edition,
Stuttgart 1972.
Nutt, G. J.: The evolution
toward flexible workflow systems.
In: Distributed Systems Engineering,
3 (1996) 4, pp. 276-294.
Swenson, K. D.; Irwin, K.:
Workflow Technology: Tradeoffs
for Business Process Reengineering.
In: Proceedings of the Conference
on Organizational Computing
Systems (COOCS '95). Milpitas
(CA) 1995, pp. 22-29.
zur Muehlen, M.: Workflow-based
Process Controlling. Foundation,
Design, and Application of workflow-driven
Process Information Systems.
Logos, Berlin 2003.
zur Muehlen, M.; Allen, R.:
Stand-Alone vs. Embedded Workflow
- Putting Paradigms in Perspective.
In: Excellence in Practice Volume
IV: Innovation & Excellence
in Workflow and Knowledge Management.
Ed.: L. Fischer. Lighthouse
Point (FL) 2000, pp. 49-58.
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