PEM: a framework enabling continual optimization of workflow process executions based upon business value metrics

The competitiveness of the market place and the advent of on demand services computing are encouraging many organizations to improve their business efficiency and agility via business process management technologies. A lot of work has been done in process codification, tracking, and automation. However, a significant gap still remains between the way an organization´s codified processes execute and the organization´s business objectives such as maximizing profit with high-degree of customer satisfaction. This paper addresses this gap by proposing a process execution management (PEM) framework which enables continual optimization of workflow process executions based upon business value metrics such as SLA breach penalty, revenue, and customer satisfaction index. We have implemented the PEM framework based upon leading commercial products. We have also used the framework to develop two representative business performance management solutions for service quality management processes and application execution workflows. Our experimental results show that, when compared with a state-of-the-art commercial workflow product, our PEM system can reduce the loss of business value of a set of process execution requests by 67% on average.