COTS, workflow, and software process management: an exploration of software engineering tool development

Reports our initial investigations into the use of workflow technology for constructing a software process management tool. We examine some recent work undertaken in the fields of tool construction technologies and low-cost workflow engines. Using an example software engineering environment called PSEE (Process Software Engineering Environment), build on top of a commercial relational DBMS, we demonstrate a mapping from PSEE on to the Workflow Management Coalition's (WfMCs) Process Definition Interchange Process Model. The resultant workflow process definition can be imported into a WfMC-conformant workflow management system, thereby enabling the enactment of the software process model by different workflow management systems.