Conceptual Framework and Architecture for Service Mediating Workflow Management

This paper proposes a three-layer workflow concept framework to realize workflow enactment flexibility by dynamically binding activities to their implementations at run time. A service mediating layer is added to bridge business process definition and its implementation. Based on this framework, we propose an extended workflow management systems architecture, in which service contracting layer, service binding layer and service invocation layer are extensions to support the proposed service mediating concept. According to an enactment specification, different instances of the same activity can be bound to different services to achieve enactment flexibility. The conceptual framework and architecture together provide a comprehensive approach to flexible service enactment in B2B collaborative settings.