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Transcript of 1 Alert-based e-Business Process Management and Decision Support Dickson K.W. Chiu Senior Member,...
1
Alert-based e-Business Process Management and
Decision Support
Dickson K.W. ChiuSenior Member, IEEE
Alert-based Process Mgmt and DSS 2
Agenda
Introduction and Background Case-study: Medical House-call
System Some Design Details Applicability and Advantage
Alert-based Service Speedup Ongoing Related Research Future Work and Summary
Alert-based Process Mgmt and DSS 4
New Requirements of e-Business Process Management and Decision Support
Process execution often requires human decision making in the execution
In a highly dynamic environment, processes may raise the requirement for urgent attention, especially when there is a competition of resources.
The priority and urgency of the process is captured with the concept of an alert.
Such situations demand to improve the response time of some currently executing instances – service improvement.
Alert-based information and process management to facilitate decision support improvement.
Alert-based Process Mgmt and DSS 5
Strategic Information Management
Strategic Information Systems help organizations do things better and to win aligned with business goals and strategies
Directive 1 - Highly competitive and dynamic Active and timely response to business events for management
decisions Timely and effective communications and coordination of personnel
(esp. management) Business processes integration with stringent urgency requirements
(within the enterprise and with business partners) Directive 2 - Service excellence
Service-oriented economy Quality value-added services provided over the Internet (e-Services)
Alert Management System (AMS) Alerts - urgent / critical messages Routing, monitoring, and logging the alerts Find suitable human attention / services dynamically
Alert-based Process Mgmt and DSS 6
Project Background Motivated by exception handling requirements in
workflow management systems (WFMS) D.K.W. Chiu, Q. Li and K. Karlapalem. A Meta Modeling
Approach for Workflow Management System Supporting Exception Handling. Information Systems, 24(2):159-184, 1999.
D.K.W. Chiu, Q. Li and K. Karlapalem. Web Interface-Driven Cooperative Exception Handling in ADOME Workflow Management System. Information Systems, 26(2):93-120, 2001.
D.K.W. Chiu, K. Karlapalem, Q. Li and E. Kafeza. Workflow Views Based E-Contracts in a Cross-Organization E-Service Environment. Distributed and Parallel Databases, 12(2-3):193-216, 2002.
S.C. Cheung and D.K.W. Chiu. Cross-Organizational Process Exceptions. RGC Grant (HKUST 6170/03E)
Capture the essences of workflow development and management methodology
Light-weight system integration platform
Alert-based Process Mgmt and DSS 7
Initial Research on This TopicFocus on B2B e-Services D.K.W. Chiu, Benny Kwok+, Ray Wong+, E. Kafeza and S.C.
Cheung. Alert Driven E-Services Management, 37th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS37), 1/2004, (BEST PAPER AWARD, Decision Technologies Track). (+PTMSc student)
Focus on medical applications D.K.W. Chiu, Benny Kwok+, Ray Wong+, E. Kafeza, S.C.
Cheung, and M. Kafeza. Alert Driven Healthcare Process and Data Integration, IEEE HICSS37, 1/2004. (+PTMSc student)
Journal version: conceptual model / management of medical personnel
E. Kafeza, D.K.W. Chiu, S.C. Cheung, and M. Kafeza. Alerts in Mobile Healthcare Applications: Requirements and Pilot Study, IEEE Transactions on Information Technology in Biomedicine, 8(2):173-181, 6/ 2004.
Alert-based Process Mgmt and DSS 8
Continuing Research on This Topic
Application on e-Learning Dickson K.W. Chiu and Samuel P. M. Choi. Alert Driven
Communications Management for Distance Learning, IEEE International Conference on e-Technology, e-Commerce and e-Services (EEE05), Hong Kong, 4/2005, pp 570-575.
Analysis of alert-based service speed-up E. Kafeza, D.K.W. Chiu, and K. Karlapalem. Improving the
Response Time of Business Processes: An Alert-based Analytical Approach, HICSS39, 1/2006.
Alert-based Process Mgmt and DSS 10
Case Study – Medical House-call System
Both human and computerized systems are involved Business partners have different degree of computerization Web Services supports both type of interactions in a unified
framework
Web Services
Alert-based Process Mgmt and DSS 11
Use Case Diagram
Both human and computerized systems are involved Business partners different degree of computerization Web Services supports both type of interaction in a unified
framework
Nurse / Helper
DoctorPatient
Make House Call
Find Doctor for Notification
Confirm Doctor and Patient
Report Absence of DoctorHandle Absence of Doctor
Find Administrative Staff
Payment
Find Nurse / Helper
Request Help
Finish Consultation
Send Information
Update Doctor Status
Call Center
Administrative Staff
Report Updated Status
Alert-based Process Mgmt and DSS 12
Overall Approach Objective: robust, efficient, cost effective, simple, and user
friendly AMS to improve communications Detailed requirements were elicited and formulated into an
alert conceptual model Sketched an overall system architecture Worked out the detailed mechanisms for each components
of the system Alert management policies from business goals and
strategies could be adapted to handle various situations Prototyping with phases:
establish a computerized call center to manage all the alerts, replacing the current manual system
extend the system to connect to business partners to form a service grid
include further intelligence into the system, e.g., advanced capability reasoning, scheduling with mobile location dependent information, service negotiation, integration with traffic routing
Alert-based Process Mgmt and DSS 13
Role of Alerts in Strategic IS / DSS
Strategic Information Systems and DSS
Event /Exception Handling
Information /Process
Requirements
Alerts Managed by AMS
Web Services and Mobile Devices
What are Alerts? Different from general events, alerts
have more specific attributes, e.g., urgency and process requirements.
Different from exceptions, they need not relate to abnormal behaviors.
asynchronously received through business events / exceptions / incoming requests
synchronously generated by internal business application
handled by the AMS by requesting services from:
internal information systems management / human attention external e-Service providers
3R – Retry, Reroute, Reassign
Alert-based Process Mgmt and DSS 15
Alert Conceptual Model (UML Class Diagram)
Schedule
Response
Flexible Task
Role
1..*
require
Specific Task
1..*
Human1..*1..*Web Service
Provider
Service Agent
0..n
1
0..n
11..*1..*
Capability Profile
11
specify
Devices* 1..** 1..*
Service Access Points1..*1..*
Alert
0..1
1
0..1
1
0..*0..*
send send
AMS Task
0..*1 0..*1
Alert-based Process Mgmt and DSS 16
Alert Life Cycle
Send alert
Log Alert
Check if response received by deadline
Check if service performed upon service due
Find matching service provider
Generate new alert to admin staff
[ no ]
Increase Alert Urgency
[ no ]
Determine device / web service access point
[ yes ]
[ yes ]
[ flexible task ]
[ specific task ]/ personnel
Alert-based Process Mgmt and DSS 17
Alert Urgency Elevation Defining the policies according to which the
urgency of the alert will be “elevated” Example
dtdtdtTdtdtT CriticalVery
dtdtTdtT Critical
dtTTt Very Urgen
(default) T Urgent
)(002
32121
211
1
t
t
t
t
tU
Urgency Level Action
Urgent default – notify the selected agent
Very Urgent Submit a second alert to the same agent, notifying about the approaching deadline
Critical Redirect the alert to another agent that has the best response time
Very Critical Send the alert to several agents and accept the results of the one that response first, notify an administrator
Alert-based Process Mgmt and DSS 18
System Architecture
Database
ApplicationLogic
Alert Management
System
Web / WAP Access
Ale
rt
Web Service Server
XSLT ProcessorWeb Front -end
Ale
rt
Web Services Programmatic
Access
Public UDDIRegistry
Alert
Triggered Action
Alert Input
XSLT Style Sheets
Desktop Laptop PDA Mobile
Patient Doctor Nurse/Helper
Call Center
Administrative Staff
HospitalsMedicalPartners
Internet
Medical House -Call System
Alert
Alert-based Process Mgmt and DSS 22
Alert Web Services Summary Service Name: requestAlert
Input: AlertID, RequestorID, AlertMessage, Roles, Urgency, ResponseRequired ( TRUE | FALSE ), Deadline
Response: AlertID, ServicePartnerID, Ack (Confirmed | Denied | Deferred), ResponseMessage, AlertReceiptTime
Service Name: cancelAlert Input: AlertID, RequestorID Response: Ack (Confirmed | Denied | Deferred )
Service Name: checkAlertStatus Input: AlertID, RequestorID Response: Alert Status
Service Name: listActiveAlerts Input: (TaskID | ServicePartnerID),, RequestorID Response: List of pending alerts associated
Service Name: receiveDeferredResponse Input: Item AlertID, ServicePartnerID, ResponseMessage,
AlertReceiptTime Response: Ack (Confirmed, NotConfirmed )
Alert-based Process Mgmt and DSS 24
Applicability – Process of the Call Center
Receive / enter call
Call ambulance
Find doctor
Find nurse
[ nurse required ]
Contact hospital
Gather patient record
Send patient record
Order medicine for patient
Perform House Call
Send patient to hospital
Billing
[ Hospitalization requested / required ]
Alert-based Process Mgmt and DSS 25
Applicability – Example Process for Data Integration
Get sources for medical claims from insurance company
Request patient records from doctors
Request drug history from phramacies
Request patient records from hospitals
Combine the records
Alert-based Process Mgmt and DSS 26
Applicability to Strategic IS – Decision Process Improvement
AMS is a unified platform supporting operational, tactical, and strategic decision making
seek different level of attention depending on alert’s nature alert “elevation”
Improves communications and coordination of management / personnel
Anytime anywhere multi-platform alerts for management decisions
Right person at right time with right information Automatic retry of calls and routing Accountability - logging and monitoring Mobile workforce management
Captures management knowledge and experience Alert management policies Addressing urgency requirements Avoiding errors and help handle exceptions
Alert-based Process Mgmt and DSS 27
Applicability to Strategic IS – Service Improvement
Improves e-Services provision Automation of call center which is a bottleneck in the whole
e-Service process Productivity improvement and cost reduction Clients / partners can request service via Web, mobile
devices, and even an emergency button Timely services
Business partners & service personnel form a service grid
B2B system integration - convergence of disparate business functionalities
Increase in business opportunities Relationships improvement
more “transparent” business process operations quality services
Alert-based Process Mgmt and DSS 29
Service Speedup Based on Alerts Exceptions to first-come-first-served policy:
earlier execution of selected process Measure the trade-off of speed-up, its cost, and the effect to
others. Aim at speed-up for alerted activities that requested speed-
up within the requested amount However might not be able to achieve speed-up for all Even some speed up, some slow down
Search problem (n!)p combinations for p services; queue length n exhaustive search infeasible algorithms developed are mainly for static cases inapplicable for
dynamic scheduling We propose a tailored polynomial time heuristics
Maximum Position First (MPF) MPF SiMilar Duration (MPF-MD)
Alert-based Process Mgmt and DSS 30
Maximum Position First (MPF) algorithm
Achieve as much speed-up as possible for all activities that have requested speed-up
Putting in the first queue positions those tasks that are further behind in the queue
Those in the back of the queue are served first and they are pushed as much forward as possible
Swap front positions with back ones Swap could be more than the requested Drawback: when small amounts of speed-up are
requested, activities are speeded up more than required, forcing the rest to slow down unnecessarily.
Alert-based Process Mgmt and DSS 31
MPF SiMilar Duration Algorithm (MPF-MD)
Swapping positions with other tasks that are ahead in the queues and have similar duration
If more than one qualified element, selects the element with the smaller position
Not so disruptive Cost factors
Alert-based Process Mgmt and DSS 32
Comparing Different Speedup Algorithms
Different algorithms cater for different situations Multiple step speed-up algorithms will try to
achieve the required speedup as much as possible over time
One step algorithms will achieve as much speed-up as possible and as soon as possible
MPF algorithm may slow-down other speeded-up activities
MPF-SD algorithm can guarantee that no activity that requested a speed-up is slowed-down - milder version of one-shot MPF
“Locking” policy where tasks that belong to activities that are delayed beyond a threshold are exempted from being swapped
Alert-based Process Mgmt and DSS 34
Ongoing Related Research – Cross-organizational Process Management
Follow-up Research Question: What (and when) are urgent / exceptions? How important / urgent are they?Advanced match-making
An ER^EC Framework for e-Contract Modeling, Enactment and Monitoring, Data and Knowledge Engineering, 51(1): 31-58, 2004.
Workflow View Driven Cross-Organizational Interoperability in a Web Service Environment, Information Technology and Management, 5(3/4):221-250, 2004.
An Architecture for E-Contract Enforcement in an E-service Environment. HICSS36, 1/2003 (best paper nominee)
Developing Workflow-based Information Integration (WII) with Exception Support in a Web Services Environment, HICSS37
Systematic Interaction Management in a Workflow View Based Business-to-business Process Engine, HICSS38 (journal version submitted to ACM ToIT)
Alert-based Process Mgmt and DSS 35
Ongoing Related Research – m-Services (IS availability, adaptability)
A Three-Tier View Methodology for adapting M-services, IEEE Trans on System, Man & Cybernetics, Part A, 33(6):725-741, Nov 2003.
Business process adaptation at all 3-tiers based on platform capability with views
front-end user-interface view application logic / process (workflow) view back-end database view
Conceptual model and implementation framework Formal consistency criteria for adaptation Service negotiation case study Research Direction
location dependent and context-based services (ICEC 2006 paper) Alerts applied for multi-platform notification Agent-based (mobile) workforce management
H.F. Leung, D.K.W. Chiu & S.C. Cheung RGC Grant CUHK 4190/03E Wrapper for existing Web sites to become e-/m-services
Integrating Legacy Sites into Web Services with WebXcript, IJ Cooperative IS, 14(1):25-44, 2005. (*FYP students)
Alert-based Process Mgmt and DSS 36
Ongoing Related Research – CRM and Enterprise Content Management
An Event Driven Approach to Customer Relationship Management in an e-Brokerage Environment. HICSS36, 1/2003. (FYP) (Journal version conditionally accepted to Decision Support Systems)
Turn knowledge into actions Complaints, abnormal transactions, (changes in)
customers’ behavior => alerts An Integrated Web Services Architecture for
Financial Content Management, HICSS37, 1/2004, (best paper nominee). (PTMSc) (journal version submitted to EJIS)
Timeliness requirement of financial content approval and distribution
Privacy and Access Control in Financial Enterprise Content Management, HICSS38, 1/2005
A Watermarking Infrastructure for Enterprise Document Management, HICSS36, 1/2003.
Alert-based Process Mgmt and DSS 37
Ongoing Related Research – Agent based Computing
AMS provides platform for intelligent communication support Agent-based (mobile) workforce management
H.F. Leung, D.K.W. Chiu & S.C. Cheung RGC Grant CUHK 4190/03E A Multi-Agent Infrastructure for Mobile Workforce Management in a
Service Oriented Enterprise, HICSS38, Jan 2005 A Multi-Modal Agent Based Mobile Route Advisory System for Public
Transport Network, HICSS38, Jan 2005 Next Generation Multi-platform Tourist Assistance Systems: A
Multi-agent and Semantic Web Approach, ICEC 2006 Making Personalized Recommendations to Customers in a
Service-oriented Economy: a Quantitative Decision Model Based on Reputation and Risk Attitude, ICEC 2006
adapt agent reputation model to real-life service provision strategy Legal Issues in Agents for Electronic Contracting, HICSS38,
1/2005 Constraint-based Negotiation in a Multi-Agent Information
System with Multiple Platform Support, HICSS37, 6/2004. Workflow Management Systems as Meta-Agents in a Multi-Agent
Information System. AOIS-2001, 6/2001.
Alert-based Process Mgmt and DSS 38
Ongoing Related Research – Negotiation Support Systems
Alerts for process support and offer / bid notification D.K.W. Chiu, S.C. Cheung, P.C.K. Hung, S.Y.Y. Chiu* and K.K.
Chung*. Developing e-Negotiation Process Support with a Meta-modeling Approach in a Web Services Environment, Decision Support Systems, 40:(1)51-69, 2005. (*FYP students)
Meta-model applicable for 3 kinds of e-Negotiation process(1) Bargaining (2) Auction (3) Request for Proposal
Implementation framework with Web services (FYP prototype) Focus on technology support for effective negotiation Constraint-based Negotiation in a Multi-Agent Information
System with Multiple Platform Support, HICSS37, 1/2004. On e-Negotiation of Unmatched Logrolling Views, HICSS36,
1/2003 (best paper nominee). (journal version under revision for JMIS)
Facilitating e-Negotiation Process with Semantic Web Technologies, HICSS38, 1/2005
Alert-based Process Mgmt and DSS 39
IS Case Studies with MSc Students
Web Services course papers HKUST Web-service Based Information Integration for Decision
Support: A Case Study on e-Mortgage Contract Matchmaking Service, HICSS39, 1/2006.
e-Government Integration with Web Services and Alerts: A Case Study on an Emergency Route Advisory System in Hong Kong, HICSS39, 1/2006.
Cooperative Brokerage Integration for Transaction Capacity Sharing: A Case Study in Hong Kong, HICSS39, 1/2006.
Credibility Relationship Management in a Web Service Integration Environment, 4th ICIS Workshop on e-Business, 12/2005.
Enhancing Availability of Information and Towards Freedom of News Distribution: Supporting Small-scale News Agencies with a Web-Service Infrastructure. (submitted)
Developing a Distributed e-Monitoring System for Website and Web Services: An Experience Report with Free Libraries and Tools. (submitted)
More to come…
Alert-based Process Mgmt and DSS 41
Future Work
Other application domains – tourism, CRM, … Interfacing and platform-specific issues Location dependent applications
Workforce management Mobile CRM
Analysis and simulation of alert-based speed-up Inter-relations among alerts Failure of commitments and their relation to
contract enforcement Impact of cancellations, other possible exceptions
Alert-based Process Mgmt and DSS 42
Summary A conceptual model for specifying alerts based on the
requirements of business processes and a set of routing parameters
A mechanism for (re-)routing alerts and increasing their urgency when alerts are not acknowledged or processed within deadline
A practical architecture for the AMS based on contemporary Web Services and mobile technologies – supports human and programmatic interfaces
Improved information and process management for decision support
Improved service provision through speed-up Flexible, reusable, light-weight AMS plugged into other
systems Looking for research collaborations (esp. domain knowledge,
say, logistics, tourism) for cross-disciplinary research and empirical studies in more depth and wider scope
Alert-based Process Mgmt and DSS 44
Service Provider Matchmaking
Algorithm searches for those personnel / service providers that can play the role required for the alert
Selects those that have a response time that is less than the deadline
If the matching is successful, one personnel / service provider is selected according to a user-supplied cost function
In case no matching is available, the algorithm upgrades the alert by expanding the roles whenever possible
Alert-based Process Mgmt and DSS 45
System Architecture
Database
The Outgoing Alert Monitor
Process / AlertDefinition Module
Alert Management System (AMS)
Process Execution Module
alerts
Role Matching Module
Urgencies Strategy Definition Module
Service ProviderMonitoring Module
Incoming Alerts
Inco
min
g A
lert
Mo
nito
r
Outgoing Alerts
Re
spo
nse
of
Inco
min
g A
lerts
Web ServicesServer
AMS
Web Server
Counterparty
AMS
Web Server
Counterparty
AMS
Web Server
Web ServicesProvider
Internet
Responses for Outgoing Alerts
Incoming Alerts
Responses for Incoming Alerts
ICQ, SMS, Email alerts
Use
r Inte
rface
Medical House-Call System Workflow and Application Logic
Web, WAP, SMS, email reply
ExecuteAlert Handlers Create
Alerts
Call CenterPersonnel
Human Service Providers
Alert-based Process Mgmt and DSS 46
Evaluation by Medical Professionals
AMS Advantages Make sure that an alert can reach the person who has
to be notified The inclusion of multiple mobile devices and platforms
helps both the medical professions and the patients The implementation of an urgency policy that uses
concurrently multiple devices to communicate the alert can increase the probability to inform the person on time
An automated alert can make sure that the information is passed accurately and completely
Capability to choose the kind of received information, reception devices, and desired time slots
Infrastructure Benefits Total solution healthcare chain workflow integration Save much paper work and administration guides call center operators to choose the right medical
professionals to minimize possible specialty mismatch
Alert-based Process Mgmt and DSS 47
Advantage of an AMS
The urgency requirements, associated interactions with service providers, and the monitoring required by the administrators can be systematically and modularly captured into an AMS, instead of scattering around in the main workflow specification.
The logic for sending, routing, and monitoring these alerts is supported in the AMS and can be heavily reused.
AMS evolves from the exception handling and user-interface mechanisms of our ME-ADOME WFMS, by factoring out and extending, in particular, urgency requirements.
Physical execution of individual tasks of regular processes is outside the scope of the AMS and is in capture in the application logic of individual information systems which can be a WFMS as well
An AMS is light-weight and highly coherent, but loosely coupled with other sub-systems, enabling it to be plugged into any information system that needs such services
Alert-based Process Mgmt and DSS 48
Evaluation by Medical Professionals
AMS Advantages Make sure that an alert can reach the person who has
to be notified The inclusion of multiple mobile devices and platforms
helps both the medical professions and the patients The implementation of an urgency policy that uses
concurrently multiple devices to communicate the alert can increase the probability to inform the person on time
An automated alert can make sure that the information is passed accurately and completely
Capability to choose the kind of received information, reception devices, and desired time slots
Infrastructure Benefits Total solution healthcare chain workflow integration Save much paper work and administration guides call center operators to choose the right medical
professionals to minimize possible specialty mismatch
Alert-based Process Mgmt and DSS 49
Alert Log Module Table State
Pos 0 1 2 3 4 5
Service1 1,1 2,1 3,1 6,1 5,1 4,1Service2 4,4 1,5 2,4 2,5 3,4 1,4Service3 5,4 6,4 3,5 4,5 1,7 2,7Service4 5,5 6,5 3,7 5,7 4,7 6,7 6 patients (activities A1 to A6) each having tasks
t1: have given blood and wait for the results, t2: given their insurance and wait for credit verification t3: given permission for date retrieval and wait for the creation
of their medical history (it might involve retrieval by several health care resources)
t4: wait to see the same specific physician
Total 24 tasks that are waiting to be served
Alert-based Process Mgmt and DSS 50
Task Durations and Positional Values
Pos 0 1 2 3 4 5
dagent1 5 7 2 5 1 8
dagent2 8 3 7 3 6 1
dagent3 9 3 5 2 4 1
dagent4 4 6 2 6 2 8Pos 0 1 2 3 4 5
pvagent1 0 5 12 14 19 20
pvagent2 0 8 11 18 21 27
pvagent3 0 9 12 17 19 23
pvagent4 0 4 10 12 18 20
ijkjkj
kj
ttt
tijst dtpv :
1 )( , where dtkj is the duration of task tkj
Alert-based Process Mgmt and DSS 51
Activity Position Value and Vector
If an activity has submitted more than one task to a given web-service, then we deduct the duration added by the previous tasks
Represents the total waiting time - metrics The set of positional values of all the activities
in a given table form its positional vector PV
p
i ik
kjijjLTst tpvtpvApv1
)()()(