Process-driven Management Information Systems - Combining Data Warehouse and Workflow Technology

The use of workflow technology promises efficiency gains through the automation of manual routing, coordination and work distribution tasks. During the execution of workflows, state-changes of the workflow engine are recorded in a log file or database, the so-called audit trail. Combined with business object data, the audit trail provides exact and timely information about the operational behavior of an enterprise. In this paper we discuss the design on data warehouse applications that take advantage of workflow technology as an information source. We outline evaluation opportunities generated by the use of audit trail data and point out potential pitfalls with regard to data consistency and integrity.