Title: Application framework support for process-oriented software development

Authors: Abel Tegegne; Liam Peyton

Addresses: School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Ottawa, 800 King Edward Avenue, Ottawa, K1N 6N5, Canada ' School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Ottawa, 800 King Edward Avenue, Ottawa, K1N 6N5, Canada

Abstract: As organisations move their business processes online, it is becoming important for software development to be process-oriented. In particular, managed process applications are a class of business software that helps to improve operational efficiency in organisations by monitoring processes and reporting on performance. General purpose application development tools and model-driven architecture do not support run-time configurability of a managed process nor do they provide specific systematic support for integrated data collection, monitoring and reporting within a managed process. To facilitate such configurability and integrated data management, a model-based application framework is needed to address process-oriented software development. In this paper, we describe a prototype of such a framework, illustrating and evaluating the benefits, with a case study of a system developed for and used by a palliative care support team in Ottawa, Canada. In the case study, we illustrate how a managed process can be modelled using the prototype framework (including its workflow, roles, entities, events, alerts and performance indicators).

Keywords: process management; application framework; performance indicators; model-based engineering; run-time configuration; data management; process-oriented software development; business software; operational efficiency; process monitoring; configurability; palliative care support; care support teams; healthcare.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEB.2013.051416

International Journal of Electronic Business, 2013 Vol.10 No.3, pp.232 - 253

Published online: 10 Apr 2015 *

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