Identifying the workflow potential of business processes

Abstract

Though the activities of business organizations in the field of workflow management are facing an enormous growth, a methodical solution for an essential problem occurring in many workflow projects is still lacking: the identification of those processes that can be supported by workflow applications in a profitable way. In this paper, we present a structured framework which can serve as a guideline for the evaluation of processes during the selection and introduction of a workflow management system. This framework contains three groups of criteria: technical, organizational and economic. Designed as a scoring model, this approach enables the user to evaluate the workflow potential of business processes systematically. First, the underlying concepts and design of the framework are outlined. We describe how the framework can be adjusted to individual needs through a three-step aggregation process. In order to demonstrate the framework's practical relevance, its application within an industrial workflow project is described.