Shyh-Kwei Chen

Bio: Shyh-Kwei Chen is an academic researcher from IBM. The author has contributed to research in topics: Business rule & Artifact-centric business process model. The author has an hindex of 6, co-authored 9 publications receiving 257 citations.

Method and apparatus of on demand business activity management using business performance management loops

Abstract: An architecture, system, and method are provided for a commitment loop solution for on demand business activity management. A Business Performance Management (BPM) loop is defined as a set of nodes each relating to different tasks for processing performance management trigger data generated by a business entity in real time, where the beginning or sensing element of the loop is triggered by a token (representing a business event from a business process) and the ending or executing element provides a business action to be implemented by the business entity. The token is passed from node to node sequentially in a particular order around the loop. Processing of the data represented by the token is governed by policies, which can be changed dynamically and follow a life cycle. On demand business activity management of larger aggregates of business entities (i.e. enterprises and value chains) is achieved by extending this architecture by building upon the BPM loops of the component entities to form a BPM net, adding nodes as necessary. This architecture, system and method can be implemented at multiple levels of granularity from operational or tactical business activities to enterprise wide strategic activities.

Model driven development for business performance management

Abstract: Business process integration and monitoring provides an invaluable means for an enterprise to adapt to changing conditions. However, developing such applications using traditional methods is challenging because of the intrinsic complexity of integrating large-scale business processes and existing applications. Model Driven DevelopmentTM (MDDTM) is an approach to developing applications-from domain-specific models to platform-sensitive models-that bridges the gap between business processes and information technology. We describe the MDD framework and methodology used to create the IBM Business Performance Management (BPM) solution. We describe how we apply model-driven techniques to BPM and present a scenario from a pilot project in which these techniques were applied. Technical details on models and transformation are presented. Our framework uses and extends the IBM business observation metamodel and introduces a data warehouse metamodel and other platform-specific and transformational models. We discuss our lessons learned and present the general guidelines for using MDD to develop enterprise-scale applications.

Model-Driven Dashboards for Business Performance Reporting

Abstract: Business performance modeling and model-driven business transformation are two research directions that are attracting much attention lately. In this study, we propose an approach for dashboard development that is model-driven and can be integrated with the business performance models. We adopt the business performance modeling framework, and we extend it in order to capture the reporting aspect of the business operation. We describe models that can effectively represent all the elements necessary for the business performance reporting process, and the interactions among them. We also demonstrate how all these models can be combined and automatically generate the final solution. Finally, we discuss our experience from the application of our technique in a real-world scenario. This case study shows that our technique can be efficiently applied to and handle changes in the underlying business models, delivering significant benefits in terms of both development time and flexibility.

Method and apparatus of supporting business performance management with active shared data spaces

Abstract: A managed policy driven virtual data space for managing artifacts relationships and sharing artifacts among services. A policy model is used to represent business artifacts, sharing of the artifacts, and subscription of other artifacts that is of interest to current artifact and, to represent the various state of the artifact. An active shared space provides support functionality for the policy model, such as artifact lifecycle management. The active shared space also provides the support of sharing of such artifact with external/internal services and other artifacts. The active shared space also controls the artifacts storage in the relational database for archiving purposes. Active shared space also provides the mechanism of subscribing to various artifacts and publishing the availability of artifact for services and other artifacts itself. Active shared space also makes the artifact aware of the context within which the said artifact operates and allows subscribing to appropriate artifacts to support the context needs. Active shared space also provides the mechanism to trace through the various states of an artifact and facility to query the artifact data content.

Assessing existing business data from the World Wide Web

Abstract: The World Wide Web has experienced phenomenal growth over the last few years. Although, at ifs inception, Web technology was primarily used to retrieve information stored in static documents, important current uses of the Web include retrieval of dynamically changing information and the conducting of business transactions. Such uses of the Web result in access to dynamically changing data on or through Web servers, usually stored in a database. Huge volumes of business data exist on mainframes and other mature platforms that cannot be moved to client/server or workstation-based platforms, due to cost or performance issues. Providing Web access to these legacy data, therefore, is of great commercial interest to businesses. In this paper, we survey several solutions that have been developed to access existing business data through the Web. We discuss the details of two solutions developed at IBM: DB2(R) (DATABASE 2(TM)) World Wide Web Connection and Net.Data(TM). Each of these is a pure middleware approach as opposed to approaches that are integrated with either the Web server or the database management system, which accounts for their flexibility and power.

Artifact-Centric Business Process Models: Brief Survey of Research Results and Challenges

Abstract: A data-centric approach to business process and workflow modeling has been emerging over the past several years This short paper presents a structured framework for a class of data-centric business process models, which are based on "business artifacts" The paper provides a brief survey of research results on artifact-centric business process, and identifies a broad array of remaining research challenges

Business process management with the user requirements notation

Abstract: A number of recent initiatives in both academia and industry have sought to achieve improvements in e-businesses through the utilization of Business Process Management (BPM) methodologies and tools. However there are still some inadequacies that need to be addressed when it comes to achieving alignment between business goals and business processes. The User Requirements Notation (URN), recently standardized by ITU-T, has some unique features and capabilities beyond what is available in other notations that can help address alignment issues. In this paper, a URN-based framework and its supporting toolset are introduced which provide business process monitoring and performance management capabilities integrated across the BPM lifecycle. The framework extends the URN notation with Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and other concepts to measure and align processes and goals. An example process for controlling access to a healthcare data warehouse is used to illustrate and evaluate the framework. Early results indicate the feasibility of the approach.

System and method for providing integration of service-oriented architecture and web services

Abstract: A system and method for providing integration of service-oriented architecture (SOA) is provided. Generally, the method comprising the steps of: identifying SOA drivers, thereby determining matters that are driving the company to integrate the SOA and Web services into the company; developing a business initiative roadmap, thereby performing an analysis of current and planned business initiatives and projects of the company, and an analysis of current and potential services that will be required to implement or support the business initiatives during the providing integration of the SOA and Web services; developing an SOA technology roadmap, thereby determining necessary SOA enabling technical solutions that can be implemented to support the developed business initiative roadmap; and prioritizing and sequencing the business initiative roadmap and the SOA technology roadmap, thereby synchronizing the business initiatives and Web service initiatives with implementation of the supporting SOA technical solutions determined during the step of developing the SOA technology roadmap.

System and method for model-driven dashboard for business performance management

Abstract: A system, method, and framework resulting therefrom, for a model-driven dashboard for business performance management, which includes capturing business dashboard model requirements at a business model level by providing at least one user-customizable model for capturing functionality of a dashboard, and after the user defines the functionality of the dashboard using the at least one user-customizable model, automatically generating code for a deployable dashboard application.

Business Process Management: A Survey

Abstract: Business Process Management (BPM) includes methods, techniques, and tools to support the design, enactment, management, and analysis of operational business processes. It can be considered as an extension of classical Workflow Management (WFM) systems and approaches. Although the practical relevance of BPM is undisputed, a clear definition of BPM and related acronyms such as BAM, BPA, and STP are missing. Moreover, a clear scientific foundation is missing. In this paper, we try to demystify the acronyms in this domain, describe the state-of-the-art technology, and argue that BPM could benefit from formal methods/languages (cf. Petri nets, process algebras, etc.).