Optimizing Exception Handling in Workows using Activity Restructuring

Exception handling is the process by which a failure in a process is mitigated. Depending on the speci…cs of an exception, exception handling may range from halting a process, through attempts of activity reactivation, to an identi…cation of an alternative path to successful completion of a process. Designing e¢ cient exception handlers is not a simple task. By their very nature, exceptions are rare events which may result in poor design of exception handlers in terms of cost and logic. In this work we aim at improving exception handling performance in work‡ow management systems (WfMSs), a task which has been recognized as a fundamental component of WfMSs that is critical to their successful deployment in real-world scenarios. Our approach is based on the observation that when designing a business process as a work‡ow, a designer has some degree of freedom in streamlining actions. Therefore, we propose work‡ow restructuring as a main tool in reducing the cost of exception handling. We believe that restructuring of a work‡ow, based on exception e¢ ciency consideration, can increase the overall productivity of the business process. Although the rarity of exceptions allows amortizing their costs over time we cannot ignore exception costs altogether. Therefore, we use a cost-based approach to prioritize their impact on the work‡ow design. Our main contribution is the provision of a methodology for exception handling optimization at the work‡ow design phase.