Scaling workflow applications with component and Internet technology: organizational and architectural concepts

Dedicated workflow management systems (WMS) display considerable disadvantages that limit their usability, especially in small and medium sized enterprises (SME). Two of these disadvantages are their complexity and incompatibility with one another, should a business use more than one of the commercially available applications. We propose two approaches to set up right sized and open workflow applications. The first is to emulate the features of a WMS using productivity applications and enriching applications with workflow functionality (component technology). The second is to outsource the operation of large scale WMS to special service providers (Internet technology). Both approaches allow continuous scaling of WMS, which is demonstrated by outlining two scenarios. For small businesses the share of application implicit functions or functions outsourced to a WMS service provider is high. With increasing business scope, the total size and number of workflow functions grow, the outsourcing level shrinks and the importance of application implicit workflow functions fades away.