Workflow management in distributed systems

A computer-implemented method of providing workflow management in a distributed system, the method comprising:

• loading into a plan engine for execution a workflow plan, the workflow plan being comprised of a plurality of actions and user actions organized into a plurality of dataflow paths, wherein branching between dataflow paths is defined by result codes returned by each of the plurality of actions and user actions during execution, wherein based on the loaded workflow plan, the plan engine manages and maintains sequential, asynchronous execution of actions and user actions provided in the selected workflow plan based on result codes provided by each action and/or user action;
• adding a user action provided in the executed workflow plan to a pending user action database;
• receiving a request for pending user actions from a particular user;
• retrieving pending user actions from the pending user action database based on the particular user making the request;
• delivering retrieved pending user actions to the user for review;
• removing pending user actions from the user action database in response to completion of the user action by the particular user;
• and
• storing outputs provided by executed actions and user actions.

A distributed communication system comprising:

• a system interface that is connectable to communicate with an external system;
• a user interface for displaying and receiving input from a user;
• a workflow management system connected via a network to the system interface and the user interface, the workflow management system comprising:
• a database that stores a model and one or more workflow plans, wherein the model defines as actions those interactions between the system interface and the external system, and as user actions those interactions between the user interface and the user, wherein the one or more workflow plans consists of individual instances of actions and user actions defined in the model, organized into dataflow paths, wherein branching between dataflow paths is defined by result codes returned by each instance of action and user action during execution;
• an event engine, executed by one or more processors, that receives event notifications from the system interface and/or the user interface, wherein in response to a received event notification the event engine selects one or more of the workflow plans stored in the database for execution;
• a plan engine, executed by the one or more processors, that loads the one or more workflow plans selected for execution and selects branching between dataflow paths based on a result code returned by each instance of actions and/or user actions during execution, wherein the plan engine also stores outputs provided by actions and/or user actions;
• an action engine that communicates with the plan engine to execute actions provided in the workflow plan executed by the plan engine;
• a pending user action database that communicates with the plan engine to store user actions provided in the workflow plan executed by the plan engine until indication is received by the plan engine that the user action has been completed;
• and
• a portal engine, executed by the one or more processors, that communicates with the plan engine, the pending user action database and the user interface to display to a user a list of pending user actions, receive input from the user regarding the pending user actions to be assigned to the user, and provide completed user actions to the plan engine.