Model-Driven Development of Interoperable, Inter-Organisational Business Processes

Author(s):  
Harald Kühn ◽  
Marion Murzek ◽  
Gerhard Specht ◽  
Srdjan Zivkovic

Public and private organisations have a high rate of interaction, i.e. all their external business processes are de-facto inter-organisational. Besides traditional non-functional aspects, inter-organisational processes demand a high rate of interoperability. The authors present a model-driven development process explicitly considering interoperability levels as development process phases. Applying this development process has shown that it substantially raises the interoperability awareness for all associated actors. To further improve “common sense” between the involved actors, we use an integrated modelling language approach. For this, the metamodels of the used modelling languages are integrated using metamodel integration based on metamodel mappings and integration rules. The approach is demonstrated by integrating BPMN-based business process modelling and CCTS-based data modelling into a consolidated modelling language. Considering the integrated metamodel, the authors apply model transformation to re-use model information along the described development phases, e.g. business process definitions are used to generate skeletons for executable workflows and business document definitions are used to generate data model definitions and associated data schemata. The application of the model-driven development process, the metamodel integration as well as the model transformation is illustrated by a case study of electronic VAT statement transaction.

2011 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 93-123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hiroshi Wada ◽  
Junichi Suzuki ◽  
Katsuya Oba

In Service Oriented Architecture (SOA), each application is designed with a set of reusable services and a business process. To retain the reusability of services, non-functional properties of applications must be separated from their functional properties. This paper investigates a model-driven development framework that separates non-functional properties from functional properties and manages them. This framework proposes two components: (1) a programming language, called BALLAD, for a new per-process strategy to specify non-functional properties for business processes, and (2) a graphical modeling method, called FM-SNFPs, to define a series of constraints among non-functional properties. BALLAD leverages aspects in aspect oriented programming/modeling. Each aspect is used to specify a set of non-functional properties that crosscut multiple services in a business process. FM-SNFPs leverage the notion of feature modeling to define constraints among non-functional properties like dependency and mutual exclusion constraints. BALLAD and FM-SNFPs free application developers from manually specifying, maintaining and validating non-functional properties and constraints for services one by one, reducing the burdens/costs in development and maintenance of service-oriented applications. This paper describes the design details of BALLAD and FM-SNFPs, and demonstrates how they are used in developing service-oriented applications. BALLAD significantly reduces the costs to implement and maintain non-functional properties in service-oriented applications.


Author(s):  
Hiroshi Wada ◽  
Junichi Suzuki ◽  
Katsuya Oba

In Service Oriented Architecture (SOA), each application is designed with a set of reusable services and a business process. To retain the reusability of services, non-functional properties of applications must be separated from their functional properties. This paper investigates a model-driven development framework that separates non-functional properties from functional properties and manages them. This framework proposes two components: (1) a programming language, called BALLAD, for a new per-process strategy to specify non-functional properties for business processes, and (2) a graphical modeling method, called FM-SNFPs, to define a series of constraints among non-functional properties. BALLAD leverages aspects in aspect oriented programming/modeling. Each aspect is used to specify a set of non-functional properties that crosscut multiple services in a business process. FM-SNFPs leverage the notion of feature modeling to define constraints among non-functional properties like dependency and mutual exclusion constraints. BALLAD and FM-SNFPs free application developers from manually specifying, maintaining and validating non-functional properties and constraints for services one by one, reducing the burdens/costs in development and maintenance of service-oriented applications. This paper describes the design details of BALLAD and FM-SNFPs, and demonstrates how they are used in developing service-oriented applications. BALLAD significantly reduces the costs to implement and maintain non-functional properties in service-oriented applications.


2009 ◽  
Vol 18 (02) ◽  
pp. 261-308 ◽  
Author(s):  
GEYLANI KARDAS ◽  
ARDA GOKNIL ◽  
OGUZ DIKENELLI ◽  
N. YASEMIN TOPALOGLU

Semantic Web evolution brought a new vision into agent research. The interpretation of this second generation web will be realized by autonomous computational entities, called agents, to handle the semantic content on behalf of their human users. Surely, Semantic Web environment has specific architectural entities and a different semantic which must be considered to model a Multi-agent System (MAS) within this environment. Hence, in this study, we introduce a MAS development process which supports the Semantic Web environment. Our approach is based on Model Driven Development (MDD) which aims to change the focus of software development from code to models. We first define an architecture for Semantic Web enabled MASs and then provide a MAS metamodel which consists of the first class meta-entities derived from this architecture. We also define a model transformation process for MDD of such MASs. We present a complete transformation process in which the source and the target metamodels, entity mappings between models and the implementation of the transformation for two different real MAS frameworks by using a well-known model transformation language are all included. In addition to the model-to-model transformation, the implementation of the model-to-code transformation is given as the last step of the system development process. The evaluation of the proposed development process by considering its use within the scope of a real commercial software project is also discussed.


Author(s):  
Monica Nehemia ◽  
Tandokazi Zondani

Big data has gained popularity in recent years, with increased interest from both public and private organisations including academics. The automation of business processes led to the proliferation of different types of data at various speeds through information systems. Big data is generated at a high rate from multiple sources that can become complex to manage with challenges to collect, manipulate, and store data with traditional IS/IT. Big data has been associated with technical non-technical challenges. Due to these challenges, organisations deploy enterprise architecture as an approach to holistically manage and mitigate challenges associated with business and technology. An exploratory study was done to determine how EA could be used to manage big data in healthcare facilities. This study employs the interpretive approach with documentation as the analysis. Findings were governance, internal and external big data sources, information technology infrastructure development, and big data skills. Through the different EA domains, big data challenges could be mitigated.


Author(s):  
Farhad Daneshgar

This chapter introduces a modelling language called Awareness Net for both representation as well as measuring the knowledge-sharing requirements in collaborative business processes. It is a conceptual model that facilitates representation and analysis of knowledge-sharing requirements of the actors in collaborative business processes. The representation and measurement are handled by a set of collaborative semantic concepts and their relationships. The proposed language enforces overall specification of what matters to the actors in collaborative processes when collaborating in business process to keep them aware of the collaboration context.


Author(s):  
Yassine Rhazali ◽  
Asma El Hachimi ◽  
Idriss Chana ◽  
Mohammed Lahmer ◽  
Abdallah Rhattoy

The CIM, PIM, and PSM models are the main levels of the MDA approach. Model transformation is an important step in the MDA process. Indeed, in MDA there are two elementary transformation kinds: CIM to PIM transformation and PIM to PSM transformation. However, most searches propose approaches transforming PIM to PSM, since there are multiple points in common between PIM and PSM. Nevertheless, transforming CIM to PIM is rarely addressed in research because these two levels are mainly different. However, there is not a synthesis work that makes it possible to carry out a model transformation from CIM to PIM towards PSM until obtaining the code. This synthesis methodology allows controlling models transformation from CIM to PIM to PSM, indeed, up to obtaining code according the MDA. This approach makes it possible to limit the intervention of computer scientists in the life cycle of software development. Indeed, this methodology allows modeling only CIM, the business process, and then obtains the source code through successive semi-automatic transformations.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document