Platform based approach for automation of workflows in a system of systems

Automation of workflows has been the focus of much research for more than three decades. There has also been significant research about the evolution of workflows. In this paper we describe how to achieve automation of workflows, not only in a single application but in an entire landscape of applications. How can distinctive types of workflow applications be built in an IT landscape? How can the SOA and BPM perspectives be combined in a very large scale system of systems context? We define a platform based approach for the automation of workflows which is in contrast with the classical single application based approach for workflow automation. Furthermore, we describe the core concepts of our workflow execution platform and provide an overview of the results.