Managing workload within workflow-management-systems

A data processing program for execution in a data processing system comprising software code portions for performing a method for managing workload within a Workflow-Management-System (WFMS) said method being executable by said WFMS on at least one computer system, wherein said WFMS comprises a process model, said process model comprising one or more activities being the nodes of an arbitrary graph, and directed edges of said graph defining a potential control flow within said process model, said method comprising the steps of:

• analyzing said process model to determine if a priority execution indicator is assigned to one of said one or more activities within said process model wherein said process model is further analyzed to determine if there is a priority execution specification associated with said activity,
• when said analyzing step indicates that there is a priority execution indicator for an activity, said WFMS launching execution of said activity with an execution priority specified according to said priority execution indicator;
• and
• when there is no priority execution specification of said activity, analyzing for a priority execution specification of a performance sphere comprising said activity, said performance sphere comprising a sub-graph of said process model associating a process execution indicator to activities within said performance sphere.

A program storage device readable by machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine for performing method steps for managing workload within a Workflow-Management-System (WFMS) said method being executable by said WFMS on at least one computer system, wherein said WFMS comprises a process model, said process model comprising one or more activities being the nodes of an arbitrary graph, and directed edges of said graph defining a potential control flow within said process model, said method comprising the steps of:

• analyzing said process model to determine if a priority execution indicator is assigned to one of said one or more activities within said process model wherein said process model is further analyzed to determine if there is a priority execution specification associated with said activity,
• when said analyzing step indicates that there is a priority execution indicator for an activity, said WFMS launching execution of said activity with an execution priority specified according to said priority execution indicators;
• and
• when there is no priority execution specification of said activity, analyzing for a priority execution specification of a performance sphere comprising said activity, said performance sphere comprising a sub-graph of said process model associating a process execution indicator to activities within said performance sphere.

A system for managing workload in a computer system comprising:

• a Workflow-Management-System (WFMS) on at least one computer in said system, said WFMS comprises a process model, said process model comprising one or more activities being the nodes of an arbitrary graph, and directed edges of said graph defining a potential control flow within said process model;
• at least one processor component for analyzing said process model to determine if a priority execution indicator is assigned to one of said one or more activities within said process model wherein said process model is further analyzed to determine if there is a priority execution specification associated with said activity,
• an activity launching component for causing said WFMS to launch execution of said activity, when said analyzing step indicates that there is a priority execution indicator for an activity, said WFMS launching execution of said activity with an execution priority specified according to said priority execution indicator;
• and
• when there is no priority execution specification of said activity, said at least one processor component analyzing for a priority execution specification of a performance sphere comprising said activity, said performance sphere comprising a sub-graph of said process model associating a process execution indicator to activities within said performance sphere.