System and method for performing scalable distribution of process flow activities in a distributed workflow management system

A method for performing scalable distribution of process flow activities in a distributed workflow management system, the distributed workflow management system operating over a computer network comprising a plurality of interconnected computers and a plurality of resources, each computer including a processor, memory and input/output facilities, each resource operatively coupled to at least one of the computers and executing at least one of the activities in the process flow, the method comprising the steps of:

• coordinating and scheduling the execution of the process flow activities on the resources using a process flow engine, including storing data used in effecting each of the process flow activities in a database of the process flow engine;
• providing application data accessed from the database of the process flow engine to the resources using a application data handler interposed between the resources and process flow engine;
• managing worklists for access by the resources using a worklist handler interposed between the resources and process flow engine;
• and
• transporting messages between the process flow engine and each of the resources using a transport manager interposed between the resources and process flow engine.

A method for managing process flow activities in a distributed processing environment, each of the process flow activities comprising units of work performed by a resource operating within the distributed processing environment, the method comprising the steps of:

• coordinating the process flow activities using a process management engine operating on a computer system within the distributed processing enviromnment, the process management system identifying the work units to be performed;
• augmenting data maintained by the process management engine with further data specific to each such process flow activity using an application data handler functionally interposed between the process management engine and each such resource within the distributed processing enviromnment;
• maintaining a list of the work units using a worklist handler functionally interposed between the process management engine and each such resource within the distributed processing environment, the process management engine providing the work units list to the worklist handler and each such resource interactively selecting such work units from the work units list;
• and
• exchanging messages containing descriptions of the work units using a transport manager functionally interposed between the process management engine and each such resource within the distributed processing environment, each such resource interpreting the descriptions for the selected work units.