Automation In the Real World

Proactive notifications: Business-process automation's goal is to ensure that work moves forward on a timely basis. However, many BPM solutions use an Internet browser as their preferred client interface. By its very nature, the Web is a passive medium, so when a new workflow task is assigned to a user, the user will not know that until he visits a BPM Web site. That's why BPM solutions use proactive notifications of new tasks, primarily via e-mail, so that users will know to respond to the event.

Assigning tasks: A workflow participant can be away from work for a variety of reasons, so an effective BPM solution must provide a means of rerouting tasks or else a business process workflow will come to a standstill. Options include a user assigning some or all of his tasks to another user, a user assigning his tasks until a specific date when he will be available again, or a user's supervisor or workflow administrator handling reassignment.

Escalations and rollback: A BPM solution can specify time limits for each step in a process, then trigger notification to the recipients of the tasks that warn them when time is running out. They can also trigger escalations. If a step is late beyond specified limits, a BPM solution provides the means of escalating based on business rules for the process and the specific context of the incident. Escalation of tasks is generally accomplished through the Event Condition Tables or through other similar mechanisms.

Process rollback is another real-life requirement, which calls for a job in progress to be rolled back to an earlier state, then continued from there. For example, when a company receives an order, it starts a series of tasks, including acknowledging receipt of the order and entering the order in the manufacturing system. But before the order is shipped and completed, the customer makes a change, which might involve some of the tasks being undone or repeated, while other tasks might not be affected at all. Enter process rollback, which allows the incident to be rolled back to a previous state and then continued from there.

Confer: At times, a user will want to consult with a colleague about the specifics of a particular task. A BPM solution accommodates this by providing the ability to "confer" a task with another user. When a task is conferred, it is sent to the other user, who can review the information and enter information and comments, but cannot complete the task. The task is then returned to the owner, who can review the comments and then decide how to complete it.

Private tasks: A robust BPM solution allows a supervisor to view subordinates' tasks. However, there may be certain tasks relating to salary or medical information that he should not be able to access. The ability to declare a step private allows for this flexibility.

Archiving: Many business processes require that critical information be archived after a case is completed. Auditors or regulators often review archived information going back several months or even years. Some BPM solutions provide this capability as part of the product. A BPM solution may also archive the electronic forms and associated data for review by individuals who have archive access rights.

Rashid Khan is co-founder and CEO of Ultimus, a solution provider based in Cary, N.C. This article is an excerpt from his book Business Process Management: A Practical Guide (Meghan-Kiffer Press).