Autonomic Goal-Oriented Business Process Management

Abstract

This paper outlines an autonomic approach to business process management using goal-oriented principles and autonomous agent technology employing the well-known BDI method. We discuss how the structure of common business processes can be mapped onto goal-oriented models where achievement points are represented by goals and the task structures used to reach them are represented by plans. The flexibility afforded by this approach implies that autonomic feedback loops are created between the business process incarnation and its autonomous controller, which may be extended to the multiple process case where several controllers interact to form extended feedback relationships. We introduce a set of technologies designed to deliver these features in real-world applications and support the position with a case study in the domain of Engineering Change Management.