A Meta Level Architecture for Workflow Management

Current workflow management systems still lack some important features, esp. intelligent failure handling mechanisms. This is due to the static and only implicitly defined meta model of these systems. We argue that intelligent failure handling needs semantically enriched workflow models. We, therefore, propose a meta level architecture for WFMSs providing an explicit and dynamic meta model. This complex architecture is supported by an intelligent assistant based on established AI techniques. The system uses a plan representation for workflow models. With this representation the system is not only able to do intelligent failure handling, but can also support the workflow modelling and execution processes.