Workflow management : State of the art versus state of the products

It has been over ten years since the first workflow product was introduced. Despite the large number of workflow vendors and various research efforts all over the world, as well as the hype about the workflow market, workflow technology is still far from pervasive. This paper assesses the situation from a technical point of view, focusing on the development and enactment aspects of workflow processes. We discuss the current capabilities of workflow products, major issues that need to be addressed before workflow can be pervasive, as well as possible future trends and research that will help workflow succeed.