Method and apparatus for creating and managing complex business processes

#The present invention is related to United States Patent Application entitled “Method and Apparatus for Automatic Transitioning Between States in a State Machine That Manages a Business Process,” Ser. No. 09/951,028 United States Patent Application entitled “Method and Apparatus for Managing The Versioning of Business Objects Using a State Machine,” Ser. No. 09/951,027 United States Patent Application entitled “Method and Apparatus for Monitoring Execution of a Business Process Managed Using a State Machine,” Ser. No. 09/951,025 United States Patent Application entitled “Method and Apparatus for Managing and Displaying User Authorizations for a Business Process Managed Using a State Machine,” Ser. No. 09/951,024 and United States Patent Application entitled “Method and Apparatus for Managing a User Group List For a Business Process Managed Using a State Machine,” Ser. No. 09/951,029, filed contemporaneously herewith, assigned to the assignee of the present invention and incorporated by reference herein.

#The present invention relates generally to techniques for representing business processes as state machines, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for creating and managing complex business processes.

#A composite business process uses multiple trading mechanisms, such as requests for quotes (RFQs), auctions and contracts, or repeat passes through a single trading mechanism, over the life cycle of a single business object. For example, the results of an RFQ may need to be converted to a contract before the transaction is complete, or an auction may be performed in multiple stages with the first stage identifying serious bidders who will be involved in any subsequent stages.

#FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary conventional state machine having two states for managing a business process;

#FIG. 2 illustrates a state machine for managing a composite business process in accordance with the present invention;

#FIG. 3 is a sample table from an exemplary composite flow database table;

#The present invention provides a state machine-based business process that creates and manages composite business processes that include multiple trading mechanisms, such as requests for quotes (RFQs), auctions and contracts, or repeat passes through a single trading mechanism. As used herein, the repetition of a single business process sequentially is referred to as a multi-round process and the combination of different business processes in a sequence is referred to as a multi-stage process. Overall, a combination of multiple stand-alone business processes, whether multi-round or multi-stage, will be referred to as a composite flow or composite business process. For example, one auction process followed by another “round” or “pass” of the same auction process is an example of a multi-round process. On the other hand, a first auction followed by another auction with dissimilar rules is not a multi-round process, but rather a multi-stage process. Likewise, an RFQ followed by a contract is an example of a multi-stage process. Thus, a multi-round process refers to a sequence in which the same process is used multiple times, and though, for example, auction parameters may change, the rules within the process are the same.

#Business processes can be represented using a state machine. State machines provide a way to control the set of events and actions that may be performed throughout the life cycle of a business object. The Unified Modeling Language (UML) provides a standardized syntax for describing state machines. FIG. 1 is an example illustrating a state machine 100 having two states 110, 120 with a single transition 115 leading from the Start state 110 to the Active state 120. The transition 115 is composed of three parts. First, there is an event 130 that defines what may cause this transition 115 to be attempted. Second, one or more guards 140 determine whether or not the transition 115 may be taken based upon some predefined criteria, such as the authority of the user or certain values associated with the business object. Finally, the action 150 provides a means for identifying logic that may act upon, or on behalf of, the object being managed by the state machine 100. Thus, if the transition 115 is allowed according to the guards 140, then the action 150 is performed and the object moves into the Active state 120. The various components of a transition 115 can be expressed using the notation “event [guard] action.”

#For a more detailed discussion of techniques for managing business processes using a state machine, see, for example, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/818,719, filed Mar. 27, 2001, entitled “E-Market Architecture for Supporting Multiple Roles and Reconfigurable Business Processes,” August-Wilhelm Scheer, Aris—Business Process Modeling, Springer Verlag, 1999 or Peter Muth et al., Enterprise-Wide Workflow Management Based on State and Activity Charts, in A. Dogac, L. Kalinichenko, T. Ozsu, A. Sheth (Editors), Workflow Management Systems and Interoperability, Springer Verlag, 1998, each incorporated by reference herein.