Automatic Generation of Workflow-extended Domain Models ( extended version )

The specification of business processes is becoming a more and more critical aspect for organizations. Such processes are specified as workflow models expressing the logical precedence among the different business activities (i.e. the units of work). Up to now, workflow models have been commonly managed through specific subsystems, called workflow management systems. In this paper we advocate for the integration of the workflow specification in the system domain model. This workflow-extended domain model is automatically derived from the initial workflow specification. Then, model-driven development methods may depart from the extended domain model to automatically generate an implementation of the system enforcing the business processes in any final technology platform, thus avoiding the need of basing the implementation on a dedicated workflow engine.