Title :
From business process model to consistent implementation: a case for formal verification methods
Author :
Koehler, Jana ; Tirenni, Giuliano ; Kumaran, Santhosh
Author_Institution :
IBM Zurich Res. Lab., Rueschlikon, Switzerland
Abstract :
Today´s business applications and their underlying process models are becoming more and more complicated, making the implementation of these processes an increasingly challenging task. On the one hand, tools and methods exist to describe the business processes. On the other hand, different tools and method exist to describe the IT artifacts implementing them. But a significant gap exists between the two. To overcome this gap, new methodologies are sought. In this paper we discuss a pattern-based modeling and mapping process. Starting from a business process model, which emphasizes the underlying structural process pattern and its associated requirements, we map this model into a corresponding IT model based on nondeterministic automata with state variables. Model checking techniques are used to automatically verify elementary requirements on a process such as the termination and reachability of states. Using an example involving coupled, repetitive activities we discuss the advantages of an iterative process of correcting and refining a model based on insights gained in the interleaved verification steps.
Keywords :
business data processing; formal verification; reachability analysis; IT model; business process model; formal verification methods; interleaved verification steps; iterative process; model checking techniques; nondeterministic automata; pattern-based mapping; pattern-based modeling; reachability; state variables; structural process pattern; termination; Aerodynamics; Automata; Business communication; Business process re-engineering; Companies; Computer aided software engineering; Formal verification; Laboratories; Unified modeling language; Web services;
Conference_Titel :
Enterprise Distributed Object Computing Conference, 2002. EDOC '02. Proceedings. Sixth International
Print_ISBN :
0-7695-1742-0
DOI :
10.1109/EDOC.2002.1137700