SOC Research Area:
Cross-Organisational Service Workflow Modelling

Aim

To develop a suitable e-business modelling environment for business collaboration and integration, and to provide mechanisms for seamlessly integrating cross-organisational business processes in an efficient and effective way while keeping local autonomy of organisations.

 

Background

Today's increasingly competitive, expanding global marketplace requires business integration across the organisation boundary. The Web service framework provides a standard-based realization of the service-oriented computing paradigm that has emerged in response to the new way that organisations conduct their businesses via a loosely coupled integration model in the form of services. The challenge lies in the contradictory requirements to seamlessly integrate business processes of different organisations and to keep the autonomy of each organisation at the same time. Due to the loosely coupled nature in a cross-organisational environment, the business process model and supporting mechanisms need to be adaptive and responsible to these new requirements.

 

Research Issues/Capabilities

The research into Complex Cross-Organisational Service Workflow Modelling addresses several key challenges of Service-Oriented Computing including:

	Virtual organisation alliance modelling
	Local autonomy and visibility control of participating organisations
	Service based cross-organisational business modelling and re-engineering
	Value-based business process model
	Consistency and reliability support

 

The research is conducted by a team of internationally renowned researchers and postgraduate research students contributing expertise in a range of technologies including workflow technologies, information systems, web service technologies, web service transactions, multi-agent systems and complex processes, from six closely related research programs:

	Workflow Technology led by Prof. Yun Yang
	Web and Data Engineering led by A/Prof. Chengfei Liu
	Information Systems led by A/Prof. Judy McKay
	Intelligent Agents and Multi-Agent Systems led by Prof. Ryszard Kowalczyk
	Component Software and Enterprise Systems led by Prof. Jun Han
	Complex Intelligent Systems led by Prof. Tim Hendtlass

 

 

Selected R&D projects

The research into Cross-Organisational Service Workflow Modelling is carried out through a number of R&D projects in collaboration with external partners, including:

	Internet-based e-business ventures in collaboration with ITSC-AP, Altria
	A Comprehensive Business Transaction Framework for Web Services externally funded by ARC
	Grid Workflow Verification in collaboration with Adesso , Germany
	Adaptive Services Grid in collaboration with the EU Consortium of 21 research and industry partners

 

Other research projects carried out by research staff and postgraduates include:

	Cross-Organisational Business Process Modelling and Management in the Web Service Environment
	Supporting Business Processes with Peep-to-Peer based Decentralised Workflows
	Value Processes and Business Processes in e-Business Design
	Supply Chain Management in e-Business Design
	Explaining the Success of CRM Packaged Software-Based Work Systems
	Evaluating Application Service Provision and Information Systems using System Dynamics Methodology