What agents can do in workflow management systems

Abstract

Workflow management systems are an emerging category of information systems, currently under dynamic evolution. On the other hand software agents are a distinct research area as well as an emerging paradigm for information systems design and development. This paper tries to examine the integration of these two fields; reveal the stimulation and the advantages of such a mixing. Popular standards of the workflow management field are used to derive a classification scheme, which is exploited to map existing approaches. As a significant number of existing approaches is reviewed, a plethora of integration patterns are identified and grouped according to the proposed classification scheme. The overall goal of the paper is to clear the vague picture of the consolidation of workflow management systems and software agents and to provide an unifying framework for this intersected area.

Reducing data transfer in big-data workflows: the computation-flow delegated approach

“…Mobile agents are also used for managing workflows and realizing workflow management systems (Delias et al 2011). They are used for integrating different knowledge sources; repetitive and time-consuming activities; and modeling of dynamic systems.…”