Business Process Management: The Human Element
by Amy Larsen DeCarlo

Applying business process management (BPM) using a services-oriented architecture enables an organization to coordinate multiple steps as Web services to create an automated, flexible, efficient way to streamline operations. Of course, this approach requires coordination between Web services to ensure that they're carried out in the optimal order; it also requires that contingency strategies exist in case an error occurs in that controlled process. Given the complexity of the workflows involved, managing all the elements involved can be a difficult task without some solid tools.

To better manage this challenge, more organizations are tapping Business Process Execution Language (BPEL) to organize the interaction among process-enabling Web services. BPEL, an executable business process modeling language, provides a dialect for direct Web services process flows. But as helpful as the language is in directing the Web services that are part of an overall business process, BPEL doesn’t address the human element—and humans play a key role in process execution in even the most mechanized operations.

Without integrating the human component with Web services, organizations lack a comprehensive control flow. In June, six technology vendors, led by IBM and SAP AG, published "BPEL4People" specifications to address this need for human integration. More formally known as WS-BPEL Extension for People version 1.0 and Web Services Human Task (WS-HumanTask) version 1.0, the two specifications define an approach for integrating human interactions using BPEL . A 2005 white paper by IBM and SAP AG highlighted the situations in which people interact with Web services and influence business processes; it also suggested extensions to WS-BPEL to manage the human element along with Web services. The two companies are joined in the BPEL4People effort by Active Endpoints, Adobe, BEA Systems, and Oracle.

WS-Human Task version 1.0 defines all the properties and behavior of human activities. The specification includes a protocol to synchronize the human tasks associated with a process flow and ensure that different human elements can work together.

BPEL4People, which is based on WS-Human Task version 1.0, adds people to the process flow to ensure that activities run smoothly. For example, a bank can integrate the human element associated with a loan approval (a credit officer starting a loan application and staffers involved in the application’s review and its approval or rejection) with the Web services that automate the loan approval process. Essentially, the extension describes human-instigated transactions as an implementation, making it possible to link human activities with Web services to create a more complete and more automated process control flow. BPEL4People also addresses error handling and manages exceptions.

These extensions make powerful additions to a language that's already providing the dialect to automate business process flows that control operations. Organizations can apply BPEL and its BPEL4 People extension to implement new automation within their companies and to make changes on the fly involving both Web services and the crucial human tasks that drive so much of what happens operationally. In other words, BPEL and its BPEL4People extension lay the groundwork for effective BPM process flows by marrying logical, automated processes with their human drivers.

This ability to connect Web services with the users that set them in motion is essential to create a complete control flow. Once this control flow is in place, organizations can apply the kinds of business process improvements that will help them become more agile and responsive. Such improvements give companies the flexibility they need to react to shifting customer demand and capitalize on new opportunities. Once this level of dexterity is achieve, a company can be confident in its ability to keep up with market changes and stay a step ahead of its competitors.

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