Open source workflow systems in life sciences informatics

A simple yet powerful programming tool enabling in silico experimentation, end-to-end data management through web services as well as use of grid and cloud processing power is scientific workflows. This technology is receiving considerable interest in recent years primarily due to its ability to promote and support scientific collaboration among large distributed research teams. The paper reviews the Scientific Workflows Management Systems (SWMS) field and investigates in detail popular open source workflow systems used commonly in life sciences informatics. Emphasis is placed on features which make these systems attractive for scientific use, e.g. user friendliness, use of distributed resources, reusability, provenance, collaboration, data integration, etc. Our conclusions indicate that although SWMS, including open source ones, have several open issues, their unique features and strong momentum clearly suggest that it is only a matter of time before they are adopted in even more scientific fields.