Policy Resolution in Workflow Management Systems

One crucial function of a workflow management system (WFMS) is to assign tasks to users who are eligible to carry them out. Except in simple workflow scenarios, roles such as secretary and manager are not a sufficient basis for determining eligibility. Additionally, WFMSs are deployed not only in group settings by small companies but also worldwide by large enterprises. Since local laws and business policies have to be followed, task assignment policies for the same task generally differ from country to country and, therefore, must be specified locally. The Policy Resolution Architecture (PRA) model provides more generality and expressiveness than role models do and at the same time supports the independent specification of task assignment policies in different parts of an enterprise. PRA can be used to model arbitrary organization structures and to define realistic task assignment (eligibility) rules by means of precisely defined organizational policies. Thus, PRA provides real-world organizations with a precise, simple means of expressing their complex task assignment policies.