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Business integration technologies

Project overview

This project explores the emerging paradigm of business-driven development, which presupposes a methodology for developing IT solutions that directly satisfy business requirements and needs. At the core of business-driven development are business processes, which are usually modeled by combining graphical and textual notations. During the business-driven development process, business-process models are taken down to the IT level, where they describe the so-called choreography of services in a service-oriented architecture. The derivation of a service choreography based on a business-process model is simple and straightforward for toy examples only. For realistic applications, many challenges at the methodological and technical level have to be solved.

Business-driven development requires that "a mechanism needs to be devised by which IT efforts are interlocked with business strategy and requirements through an execution framework that is standardized, well understood, and can be executed repeatedly and successfully" (quoted from this paper).

Student internships

This project offers interested students the opportunity to do an internship or a Master's or PhD thesis.

Students can inquire via the contact name shown on this page and apply via the official employment page of the Zurich Research Lab.

This project team cooperates with various universities, including the Universities of Stuttgart and Zurich and the ETH Zurich, where some team members are currently pursuing a PhD.

 

External activities

We are a member of the EU project SUPER.

We are co-chairing the development program at OOPSLA 2008 and sponsor awards for the best student papers at the doctoral symposium of the MODELS 2008 conference.

We are co-organizing these workshops in 2007 and 2008

· WEWST 2007
· SC 2008
· MDE4BPM 2008

 

Externally available software
· BPEL Repository
· XML Import tool from ARIS to IBM WebSphere Business Modeler
· Constraint Patterns and Consistency Analysis for IBM Rational Software Architect
· Architectural Decision Knowledge Wiki
· Object Life Cycle Explorer for IBM WebSphere Business Modeler

 

Business-driven development model

The Model phase comprises the identification of business goals and requirements and the modeling of the underlying business processes. The business-process models are an essential means to create a link between the business needs and the IT implementations. In the Assemble phase, the business-process models are refined through a number of transformations until an implementation is obtained. By reusing and assembling existing service implementations into a consistent architecture, processes can be implemented faster and linked directly to the existing infrastructure in the Deploy phase. The resulting deployed solution is managed and monitored to measure how it achieves the originally stated business goals. Needs for changes and adaptation of the running business processes can be derived and fed back into the original business-process models.

The project investigates these challenges and works out solutions that help to improve IBM's service and product offerings in this area.

The project work in Zurich focuses on the following areas:

· Lifecycle and change management of processes and data. We investigate the lifecycle management for business objects, which combines the design and analysis of stateful business objects with the development of process-centric systems. Our work in the area of version merging and customization of business process models studies the problem of merging different process models to create a new process model in a semi-automatic and user-friendly approach.
· Quality assurance for business and data models. We work on methodologies and best practices for business process models and develop automatic solutions to find errors and anti-patterns in behavioral models. Methods and tools to engineer constraints for data models, particularly UML class diagrams, help increase the quality and precision of data models.
· Decision modeling in service-oriented architectures. Here, we focus on interface and protocol mismatches between new and existing services, as well as transaction and compensation logic design. We develop methods and tools supporting architectural thinking, collaboration, and reuse in these areas.
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 Publications    
     
 Journals and International Conferences  
· Journals and International Conferences
· Workshops
· Research Reports
   
[1] Jussi Vanhatalo, Hagen Völzer, and Jana Koehler
The refined process structure tree
In Marlon Dumas, Manfred Reichert, and Ming-Chien Shan, editors, 6th International Conference on Business Process Management (BPM), volume 5240 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science, pages 100–115, Springer 2008 (best paper award).
[2] Jochen M. Küster, Christian Gerth, Alexander Förster, and Gregor Engels
Detecting and Resolving Process Model Differences in the Absence of a Change Log
In Marlon Dumas, Manfred Reichert, and Ming-Chien Shan, editors, 6th International Conference on Business Process Management (BPM), volume 5240 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science, pages 244-260, Springer 2008.
[3] Ksenia Wahler and Jochen M. Küster
Predicting Coupling of Object-Centric Business Process Implementations
In Marlon Dumas, Manfred Reichert, and Ming-Chien Shan, editors, 6th International Conference on Business Process Management (BPM), volume 5240 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science, pages 148-163, Springer 2008.
[4] Thomas Gschwind, Jana Koehler, and Janette Wong
Applying Patterns during Business Process Modeling
In Marlon Dumas, Manfred Reichert, and Ming-Chien Shan, editors, 6th International Conference on Business Process Management (BPM), volume 5240 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science, pages 4-19, Springer 2008.
[5] C. Pautasso, O. Zimmermann, F. Leymann
RESTful Web Services vs. Big Web Services: Making the Right Architectural Decision
W.-Y. Ma, A. Tomkins, X. Zhang (eds.): Proc. of WWW 2008, ACM Press (2008).
[6] O. Zimmermann, U. Zdun, T. Gschwind, F. Leymann
Combining Pattern Languages and Architectural Decision Models into a Comprehensive and Comprehensible Design Method
In: Garlan D., Woods E. (eds.): Proceedings of Seventh Working IEEE/IFIP Conference on Software Architecture (WICSA) 2008. IEEE Computer Socienty, Los Alamitos (2008).
[7] O. Zimmermann, J. Grundler, S. Tai, F. Leymann
Architectural Decisions and Patterns for Transactional Workflows in SOA
In: Krämer, B., Lin K.-J., Narasimhan, P. (eds.): ICSOC 2007, LNCS 4749, Springer, Heidelberg (2007).
[8] O. Zimmermann, T. Gschwind, J. Küster, F. Leymann, N. Schuster
Reusable Architectural Decision Models for Enterprise Application Development
In: Overhage S. Szyperski C. (eds.), QOSA 2007. LNCS 4880, Springer, Heidelberg (2007).
[9] N. Schuster, O. Zimmermann, C. Pautasso
ADkwik: Web 2.0 Collaboration System for Architectural Decision Engineering
In: Cooke D., Proc. of the Nineteenth International Conference on Software Engineering & Knowledge Engineering (SEKE 2007), Knowledge Systems Institute Graduate School, Skokie, IL (2007).
[10] J. M. Küster, K. Ryndina
Improving Inconsistency Resolution with Side-effect Evaluation and Costs
In G. Engels, B. Opdyke, D. C. Schmidt, F. Weil (Eds.): Proceedings ACM/IEEE 10th International Conference on Model Driven Engineering Languages and Systems, LNCS 4735, Springer, pages 136-150, October 2007.
[11] J. M. Küster, K. Ryndina, H. Gall
Generation of Business Process Models for Object Life Cycle Compliance
G. Alonso, P. Dadam and M. Rosemann (Eds.), Proceedings 5th International Conference on Business Process Management, LNCS 4714, Springer, pages 165-181, October 2007.
[12] J. Vanhatalo, H. Völzer, F. Leymann
Faster and more focused control-flow analysis for business process models though SESE decomposition
In Proceedings of 5th International Conference on Service-Oriented Computing (ICSOC 2007). LNCS 4749, pp. 43-55. Springer, September 2007.
[13] J. Koehler, J. Vanhatalo
Process anti-patterns: How to avoid the common traps of business process modeling, Part 2 Modeling data flow
IBM Websphere Developer Technical Journal, Issue 10.4, April 2007.
[14] J. Koehler, J. Vanhatalo
Process anti-patterns: How to avoid the common traps of business process modeling, Part 1 Modeling control flow
IBM Websphere Developer Technical Journal, Issue 10.2, February 2007.
[15] M. Wahler, J. Koehler, A. D. Brucker
Model-Driven Constraint Engineering
Electronic Communications of the EASST, Volume 5, 2007.
[16] A. Bernstein, Th. Gschwind, and W. Zimmermann (Eds.)
Proceedings of the 4th European Conference on Web Services (ECOWS)
IEEE Press, December 2006.
[17] J. M. Küster
Definition and Validation of Model Transformations
Software and Systems Modeling (SoSyM), Volume 5, Number 3, pages 233-259, Springer, September 2006.
[18] J. Vanhatalo, J. Koehler, F. Leymann
Repository for business processes and arbitrary associated metadata
In Proceedings of the BPM Demo Session at the Fourth International Conference on Business Process Management (BPM 2006).
[19] O. Zimmermann, V. Doubrovski, J. Grundler, K. Hogg
Service-oriented architecture and business process choreography in an order management scenario: rationale, concepts, lessons learned
20th annual ACM SIGPLAN Conference on Object-oriented programming, systems, languages, and applications, San Diego, CA, USA, pp. 301-312, ISBN 1-59593-193-7.
[20] K. Ehrig, J. Küster, G. Taentzer, J. Winkelmann
Generating Instance Models from Meta Models
Proceedings of 8th International Conference on Formal Methods for Open Object-Based Distributed Systems (FMOODS), 2006.
[21] W. Zhao, R. Hauser, K. Bhattacharya, B. Bryant, F. Cao
Compiling Business Processes: Untangling Unstructured Loops in Irreducible Flow Graphs
International Journal of Web and Grid Services, 2(1), 2006, pp. 68 - 91.
[22] O. Zimmermann, N. Schlimm, G. Waller, M. Pestel
Analysis and Design Techniques for Service-Oriented Development and Integration
In INFORMATIK 2005 - Informatik LIVE! Band 2, Beiträge der 35. Jahrestagung der Gesellschaft für Informatik e.V. (GI), Bonn, September 2005, pp. 606-611, ISBN 3-88579-397-0.
[23] S.-K. Chen, H. Lei, M. Wahler, H. Chang, K. Bhaskaran, J. Frank
A Model Driven XML Transformation Framework for Business Performance Management
IEEE Computer Society, 2005.
[24] B. Srivastava, J. Vanhatalo, J. Koehler
Managing the Life Cycle of Plans
AAAI 2005
: 1569-1575.
[25] W. Zhao, K. Bhattacharya, B. Byant, F. Cao, R. Hauser
Transforming Business Process Models: Enabling Programming at a Higher Level
IEEE International Conference on Services Computing (SCC), July 11-15, 2005, Orlando, Florida, USA, pages 173-180.
[26] J. Koehler, R. Hauser, S. Sendall, M. Wahler
Declarative techniques for model-driven business process integration
IBM Systems Journal, 44(1), 2005.
[27] R. Hauser, J. Koehler
Compiling Process Graphs into Executable Code
In Proc. 3rd Int'l Conf. on Generative Programming and Component Engineering "GPCE 2004," Vancouver, Canada, October 24-28, 2004, edited by Gabor Karsai, Eelco Visser, Lecture Notes in Computer Science Volume 3286 / 2004, Springer-Verlag Heidelberg.
[28] J. Koehler, R. Hauser
Untangling Unstructured Cyclic Flows - A Solution Based on Continuations
In Proc. On the Move to Meaningful Internet Systems 2004: CoopIS, DOA, and ODBASE: OTM Confederated Int'l Conferences, CoopIS, DOA, and ODBASE 2004, Agia Napa, Cyprus, October 25-29, 2004, edited by Robert Meersman, Zahir Tari, Lecture Notes in Computer Science Volume 3290 / 2004, Springer-Verlag Heidelberg.
[29] J. Koehler, R. Hauser, S. Kapoor, F. Wu, S. Kumaran
A Model-Driven Transformation Method
EDOC 2003, 186 - 197, IEEE Press.
[30] J. Koehler, G. Tirenni, S. Kumaran
From Business Process Model to Consistent Implementation: A Case for Formal Verification Methods
EDOC 2002, pp. 96-106.
 
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Workshops  
· Journals and International Conferences
· Workshops
· Research Reports
   
[1] E. Fernandez, P. Colmondeley, O. Zimmermann
Extending a Secure System Development Methodology to SOA
In: DEXA 2007, 2nd CFP - Workshop on Secure Systems Methodologies Using Patterns, IEEE Computer Society (2007).
[2] O. Zimmermann, J.Koehler, F. Leymann
Architectural Decision Models as Micro-Methodology for Service-Oriented Analysis and Design
In: Lübke, D. (ed.), Proc. of the Workshop on Software Engineering Methods for Service-oriented Architecture 2007 (SEMSOA 2007), Hannover, Germany, online CEUR-WS.org/Vol-244 (2007).
[3] J. Koehler, T. Gschwind, J. Küster, C. Pautasso, K. Ryndina, J. Vanhatalo, H. Völzer
Combining Quality Assurance and Model Transformations in Business-Driven Development
Third International Workshop and Symposium on Applications of Graph Transformation with Industrial Relevance (AGTIVE 2007), Kassel, Germany, 2007.
[4] J. M. Küster, J. Koehler, K. Ryndina
Improving Business Process Models with Reference Models in Business-Driven Development
2nd Workshop on Business Processes Design (BPD'06), LNCS, Springer-Verlag, September 2006.
[5] J. Koehler, R. Hauser, J. Küster, K. Ryndina, J. Vanhatalo, M. Wahler
The Role of Visual Modeling and Model Transformations in Business-driven Development
Proceedings of the 5th International Workshop on Graph Transformation and Visual Modeling Techniques, 2006.
[6] O. Zimmermann, J. Koehler, F. Leymann
The Role of Architectural Decisions in Model-Driven Service-Oriented Architecture Construction
In: Skar, L.A., Bjerkestrand A.A. (Eds.), Best Practices and Methodologies in Service-Oriented Architectures, OOPSLA 2006 Workshop.
[7] K. Ryndina, J. M. Küster, H. Gall
Consistency of Business Process Models and Object Life Cycles
Workshops and Symposia at MoDELS 2006. LNCS 4364, Springer, pages 80-90.
[8] J. M. Küster, M. Abd-El-Razik
Validation of Model Transformations - First Experiences using a White Box Approach
Proceedings of the 3rd Workshop on Model Design and Validation (MoDeV2a), 2006.
[9] J. M. Küster, J. Koehler, K. Ryndina
Improving Business Process Models with Reference Models in Business-Driven Development
In Proceedings of the 2nd Workshop on Business Processes Design (BPD) co-located with the 4th International Conference on Business Process Management, Vienna, 2006.
[10] S. Sendall, R. Hauser, J. Koehler, J. Küster, M. Wahler
Understanding Model Transformation by Classification and Formalization
Proceedings of Workshop on Software Transformation Systems (part of 3rd International Conference on Generative Programming and Component Engineering), Vancouver, Canada, 24th October 2004.
[11] S. Sendall, J. Küster
Taming Model Round-Trip Engineering
Proceedings of Workshop on Best Practices for Model-Driven Software Development (part of 19th Annual ACM Conference on Object-Oriented Programming, Systems, Languages, and Applications), Vancouver, Canada, 25th October 2004.
[12] J. Küster
Systematic Validation of Model Transformations
Proceedings 3rd UML Workshop in Software Model Engineering (WiSME 2004), Lisbon, Portugal, October 2004.
[13] J. Novatnack, J. Koehler
Using Patterns in the Design of Inter-organizational Systems - An Experience Report
In Proc. On the Move to Meaningful Internet Systems 2004: CoopIS, DOA, and ODBASE: OTM Confederated Int'l Conferences, CoopIS, DOA, and ODBASE 2004, Agia Napa, Cyprus, October 25-29, 2004, edited by Robert Meersman, Zahir Tari, LNCS 3292, 2004, pp. 444-455, Springer-Verlag Heidelberg.
[14] B. Srivastava, J. Koehler
Planning with Workflows-An Emerging Paradigm for Web Service Composition
ICAPS 2004 Workshop on Planning and Scheduling for Web and Grid Services.
[15] J. Koehler, B. Srivastava
Web Service Composition: Current Solutions and Open Problems
ICAPS 2003 Workshop on Planning for Web Services, pages 28 - 35.
[16] T. Gardner, C. Griffin, J. Koehler, R. Hauser
A review of OMG MOF 2.0 Query / Views / Transformations Submissions and Recommendations towards the final Standard
MetaModelling for MDA Workshop, York, England, 2003. Also available as a position paper at OMG.
 
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Research Reports  
· Journals and International Conferences
· Workshops
· Research Reports
   
[1]

J. Koehler, T. Gschwind, J. Küster, H. Völzer, O. Zimmermann
Towards a Compiler for Business-IT Systems – A Vision Statement Complemented with a Research Agenda
ZRL Research Report RZ-3705, 2008.

[2] J. Vanhatalo, H. Völzer, and F. Leymann
Faster and more focused control-flow analysis for business process models though SESE decomposition
ZRL Research Report RZ-3694, 2007.
[3] J. Koehler and J. Vanhatalo
Process anti-patterns: How to avoid the common traps of business process modeling
ZRL Research Report RZ-3678, 2007.
[4] J. Küster, J. Koehler, R. Hauser, K. Ryndina, J. Vanhatalo, M. Wahler
Methodology and Tooling to combine an existing legacy business process model with best-practice industry reference models for Business Transformation
ZRL Research Report RZ-3663, 2006.
[5] R. Hauser
Transforming Unstructured Cycles to Structured Cycles in Sequential Flow Graphs
ZRL Research Report RZ-3624, 2005.
[6] J. Küster, K. Ryndina, R. Hauser
A Systematic Approach to Designing Model Transformations
ZRL Research Report RZ-3621, 2005.
[7] K. Ryndina, J. Küster
A Layered Approach to Defining a Transformation Language - Informal Description and Validation by Case Study
ZRL Research Report RZ-3547, 2005.
[8] J. Koehler, D. Gantenbein, C. Giblin, R. Hauser
On Autonomic Computing Architectures
ZRL Research Report RZ-3487, 2003.
 
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