Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Transactions on Petri Nets and Other Models of Concurrency II pp 1–26Cite as

Process-Aware Information Systems: Lessons to Be Learned from Process Mining

  • Chapter

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((TOPNOC,volume 5460))

Abstract

A Process-Aware Information System (PAIS) is a software system that manages and executes operational processes involving people, applications, and/or information sources on the basis of process models. Example PAISs are workflow management systems, case-handling systems, enterprise information systems, etc. This paper provides a brief introduction to these systems and discusses the role of process models in the PAIS life-cycle. Moreover, it provides a critical reflection on the state-of-the-art based on experiences with process mining. Process mining techniques attempt to extract non-trivial and useful information from event logs. One aspect of process mining is control-flow discovery, i.e., automatically constructing a process model (e.g., a Petri net) describing the causal dependencies between activities. The insights provided by process mining are very valuable for the development of the next generation PAISs because they clearly show a mismatch between the models proposed for driving these systems and reality. On the one hand, models tend to oversimplify things resulting in systems that are too restrictive. On the other hand, models fail to capture important aspects of business processes.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. van der Aalst, W.M.P.: The Application of Petri Nets to Workflow Management. The Journal of Circuits, Systems and Computers 8(1), 21–66 (1998)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. van der Aalst, W.M.P., Desel, J., Kindler, E.: On the Semantics of EPCs: A Vicious Circle. In: Nüttgens, M., Rump, F.J. (eds.) Proceedings of the EPK 2002: Business Process Management using EPCs, Trier, Germany, November 2002, pp. 71–80. Gesellschaft für Informatik, Bonn (2002)

    Google Scholar 

  3. van der Aalst, W.M.P., van Dongen, B.F., Günther, C.W., Mans, R.S., de Medeiros, A.K.A., Rozinat, A., Rubin, V., Song, M., Verbeek, H.M.W., Weijters, A.J.M.M.: ProM 4.0: Comprehensive Support for Real Process Analysis. In: Kleijn, J., Yakovlev, A. (eds.) ICATPN 2007. LNCS, vol. 4546, pp. 484–494. Springer, Heidelberg (2007)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  4. van der Aalst, W.M.P., van Hee, K.M.: Workflow Management: Models, Methods, and Systems. MIT Press, Cambridge (2004)

    Google Scholar 

  5. van der Aalst, W.M.P., ter Hofstede, A.H.M.: YAWL: Yet Another Workflow Language. Information Systems 30(4), 245–275 (2005)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. van der Aalst, W.M.P., ter Hofstede, A.H.M., Kiepuszewski, B., Barros, A.P.: Workflow Patterns. Distributed and Parallel Databases 14(1), 5–51 (2003)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. van der Aalst, W.M.P., ter Hofstede, A.H.M., Weske, M.: Business Process Management: A Survey. In: van der Aalst, W.M.P., ter Hofstede, A.H.M., Weske, M. (eds.) BPM 2003. LNCS, vol. 2678, pp. 1–12. Springer, Heidelberg (2003)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  8. van der Aalst, W.M.P., Jablonski, S.: Dealing with Workflow Change: Identification of Issues and Solutions. International Journal of Computer Systems, Science, and Engineering 15(5), 267–276 (2000)

    Google Scholar 

  9. van der Aalst, W.M.P., Lohmann, N., Massuthe, P., Stahl, C., Wolf, K.: From Public Views to Private Views: Correctness-by-Design for Services. In: Dumas, M., Heckel, R. (eds.) WS-FM 2007. LNCS, vol. 4937, pp. 139–153. Springer, Heidelberg (2008)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  10. van der Aalst, W.M.P., Nakatumba, J., Rozinat, A., Russell, N.: Business Process Simulation: How to get it right? In: vom Brocke, J., Rosemann, M. (eds.) International Handbook on Business Process Management. Springer, Berlin (2008)

    Google Scholar 

  11. van der Aalst, W.M.P., Reijers, H.A., Song, M.: Discovering Social Networks from Event Logs. Computer Supported Cooperative work 14(6), 549–593 (2005)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. van der Aalst, W.M.P., Reijers, H.A., Weijters, A.J.M.M., van Dongen, B.F., Alves de Medeiros, A.K., Song, M., Verbeek, H.M.W.: Business Process Mining: An Industrial Application. Information Systems 32(5), 713–732 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. van der Aalst, W.M.P., Stoffele, M., Wamelink, J.W.F.: Case Handling in Construction. Automation in Construction 12(3), 303–320 (2003)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. van der Aalst, W.M.P., van Dongen, B.F., Herbst, J., Maruster, L., Schimm, G., Weijters, A.J.M.M.: Workflow Mining: A Survey of Issues and Approaches. Data and Knowledge Engineering 47(2), 237–267 (2003)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. van der Aalst, W.M.P., Weijters, A.J.M.M., Maruster, L.: Workflow Mining: Discovering Process Models from Event Logs. IEEE Transactions on Knowledge and Data Engineering 16(9), 1128–1142 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. van der Aalst, W.M.P., Weske, M., Grünbauer, D.: Case Handling: A New Paradigm for Business Process Support. Data and Knowledge Engineering 53(2), 129–162 (2005)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Adams, M.: Facilitating Dynamic Flexibility and Exception Handling for Workflows. Phd thesis, Queensland University of Technology (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  18. Adams, M., ter Hofstede, A.H.M., van der Aalst, W.M.P., Edmond, D.: Dynamic, Extensible and Context-Aware Exception Handling for Workflows. In: Meersman, R., Tari, Z. (eds.) OTM 2007, Part I. LNCS, vol. 4803, pp. 95–112. Springer, Heidelberg (2007)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  19. Agrawal, R., Gunopulos, D., Leymann, F.: Mining Process Models from Workflow Logs. In: Schek, H.-J., Saltor, F., Ramos, I., Alonso, G. (eds.) EDBT 1998. LNCS, vol. 1377, pp. 469–483. Springer, Heidelberg (1998)

    Google Scholar 

  20. Alves, A., Arkin, A., Askary, S., Barreto, C., Bloch, B., Curbera, F., Ford, M., Goland, Y., Guízar, A., Kartha, N., Liu, C.K., Khalaf, R., Koenig, D., Marin, M., Mehta, V., Thatte, S., Rijn, D., Yendluri, P., Yiu, A.: Web Services Business Process Execution Language Version 2.0 (OASIS Standard). WS-BPEL TC OASIS (2007), http://docs.oasis-open.org/wsbpel/2.0/wsbpel-v2.0.html

  21. Bergenthum, R., Desel, J., Lorenz, R., Mauser, S.: Process Mining Based on Regions of Languages. In: Alonso, G., Dadam, P., Rosemann, M. (eds.) BPM 2007. LNCS, vol. 4714, pp. 375–383. Springer, Heidelberg (2007)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  22. Datta, A.: Automating the Discovery of As-Is Business Process Models: Probabilistic and Algorithmic Approaches. Information Systems Research 9(3), 275–301 (1998)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. van Dongen, B.F., van der Aalst, W.M.P.: Multi-Phase Process Mining: Building Instance Graphs. In: Atzeni, P., Chu, W., Lu, H., Zhou, S., Ling, T.-W. (eds.) ER 2004. LNCS, vol. 3288, pp. 362–376. Springer, Heidelberg (2004)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  24. Dumas, M., van der Aalst, W.M.P., ter Hofstede, A.H.M.: Process-Aware Information Systems: Bridging People and Software through Process Technology. Wiley & Sons, Chichester (2005)

    Book  Google Scholar 

  25. Dustdar, S.: Caramba - A Process-Aware Collaboration System Supporting Ad Hoc and Collaborative Processes in Virtual Teams. Distributed and Parallel Databases 15(1), 45–66 (2004)

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  26. Dustdar, S., Gombotz, R.: Discovering Web Service Workflows Using Web Services Interaction Mining. International Journal of Business Process Integration and Management 1(4), 256–266 (2006)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Ellis, C.A., Keddara, K., Rozenberg, G.: Dynamic Change within Workflow Systems. In: Comstock, N., Ellis, C., Kling, R., Mylopoulos, J., Kaplan, S. (eds.) Proceedings of the Conference on Organizational Computing Systems, ACM SIGOIS, Milpitas, California, August 1995, pp. 10–21. ACM Press, New York (1995)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  28. Georgakopoulos, D., Hornick, M., Sheth, A.: An Overview of Workflow Management: From Process Modeling to Workflow Automation Infrastructure. Distributed and Parallel Databases 3, 119–153 (1995)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Günther, C.W., van der Aalst, W.M.P.: Fuzzy Mining: Adaptive Process Simplification Based on Multi-perspective Metrics. In: Alonso, G., Dadam, P., Rosemann, M. (eds.) BPM 2007. LNCS, vol. 4714, pp. 328–343. Springer, Heidelberg (2007)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  30. van Hee, K.M., Sidorova, N., Voorhoeve, M.: Generalised Soundness of Workflow Nets Is Decidable. In: Cortadella, J., Reisig, W. (eds.) ICATPN 2004. LNCS, vol. 3099, pp. 197–215. Springer, Heidelberg (2004)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  31. Heinl, P., Horn, S., Jablonski, S., Neeb, J., Stein, K., Teschke, M.: A Comprehensive Approach to Flexibility in Workflow Management Systems. In: Georgakopoulos, G., Prinz, W., Wolf, A.L. (eds.) Work Activities Coordination and Collaboration (WACC 1999), pp. 79–88. ACM press, San Francisco (1999)

    Google Scholar 

  32. Herbst, J.: A Machine Learning Approach to Workflow Management. In: Lopez de Mantaras, R., Plaza, E. (eds.) ECML 2000. LNCS, vol. 1810, pp. 183–194. Springer, Heidelberg (2000)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  33. Jablonski, S., Bussler, C.: Workflow Management: Modeling Concepts, Architecture, and Implementation. International Thomson Computer Press, London (1996)

    Google Scholar 

  34. Kindler, E.: On the Semantics of EPCs: A Framework for Resolving the Vicious Circle. Data and Knowledge Engineering 56(1), 23–40 (2006)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Lamma, E., Mello, P., Montali, M., Riguzzi, F., Storari, S.: Inducing Declarative Logic-Based Models from Labeled Traces. In: Alonso, G., Dadam, P., Rosemann, M. (eds.) BPM 2007. LNCS, vol. 4714, pp. 344–359. Springer, Heidelberg (2007)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  36. Lawrence, P. (ed.): Workflow Handbook 1997, Workflow Management Coalition. John Wiley and Sons, New York (1997)

    Google Scholar 

  37. de Leoni, M., van der Aalst, W.M.P., ter Hofstede, A.H.M.: Visual Support for Work Assignment in Process-Aware Information Systems. In: Dumas, M., Reichert, M., Shan, M.-C. (eds.) BPM 2008. LNCS, vol. 5240, pp. 67–83. Springer, Heidelberg (2008)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  38. Leymann, F., Roller, D.: Production Workflow: Concepts and Techniques. Prentice-Hall PTR, Upper Saddle River (1999)

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  39. Lohmann, N., Massuthe, P., Stahl, C., Weinberg, D.: Analyzing Interacting BPEL Processes. In: Dustdar, S., Fiadeiro, J.L., Sheth, A.P. (eds.) BPM 2006. LNCS, vol. 4102, pp. 17–32. Springer, Heidelberg (2006)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  40. Manna, Z., Pnueli, A.: The Temporal Logic of Reactive and Concurrent Systems: Specification. Springer, New York (1991)

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  41. Marinescu, D.C.: Internet-Based Workflow Management: Towards a Semantic Web. Wiley Series on Parallel and Distributed Computing, vol. 40. Wiley-Interscience, New York (2002)

    Google Scholar 

  42. Massuthe, P., Reisig, W., Schmidt, K.: An Operating Guideline Approach to the SOA. Annals of Mathematics, Computing & Teleinformatics 1(3), 35–43 (2005)

    Google Scholar 

  43. de Medeiros, A.K.A., Weijters, A.J.M.M., van der Aalst, W.M.P.: Genetic Process Mining: An Experimental Evaluation. Data Mining and Knowledge Discovery 14(2), 245–304 (2007)

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  44. Mendling, J., Neumann, G., van der Aalst, W.M.P.: Understanding the Occurrence of Errors in Process Models Based on Metrics. In: Curbera, F., Leymann, F., Weske, M. (eds.) OTM 2007, Part I. LNCS, vol. 4803, pp. 113–130. Springer, Heidelberg (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  45. zur Muehlen, M.: Workflow-based Process Controlling: Foundation, Design and Application of workflow-driven Process Information Systems, Logos, Berlin (2004)

    Google Scholar 

  46. Pesic, M.: Constraint-based Workflow Management Systems: Shifting Control to Users. Phd thesis, Eindhoven University of Technology (May 2008)

    Google Scholar 

  47. Pesic, M., Schonenberg, M.H., Sidorova, N., van der Aalst, W.M.P.: Constraint-Based Workflow Models: Change Made Easy. In: Meersman, R., Tari, Z. (eds.) OTM 2007, Part I. LNCS, vol. 4803, pp. 77–94. Springer, Heidelberg (2007)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  48. Reichert, M., Dadam, P.: ADEPTflex: Supporting Dynamic Changes of Workflow without Loosing Control. Journal of Intelligent Information Systems 10(2), 93–129 (1998)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  49. Reijers, H.A., van der Aalst, W.M.P.: Short-Term Simulation: Bridging the Gap between Operational Control and Strategic Decision Making. In: Hamza, M.H. (ed.) Proceedings of the IASTED International Conference on Modelling and Simulation, pp. 417–421. IASTED/Acta Press, Anaheim (1999)

    Google Scholar 

  50. Rinderle, S., Reichert, M., Dadam, P.: Evaluation of Correctness Criteria for Dynamic Workflow Changes. In: van der Aalst, W.M.P., ter Hofstede, A.H.M., Weske, M. (eds.) BPM 2003. LNCS, vol. 2678, pp. 41–57. Springer, Heidelberg (2003)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  51. Rinderle, S., Reichert, M., Dadam, P.: Correctness Criteria For Dynamic Changes in Workflow Systems: A Survey. Data and Knowledge Engineering 50(1), 9–34 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  52. Rozinat, A., van der Aalst, W.M.P.: Conformance Testing: Measuring the Fit and Appropriateness of Event Logs and Process Models. In: Bussler, C.J., Haller, A. (eds.) BPM 2005. LNCS, vol. 3812, pp. 163–176. Springer, Heidelberg (2006)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  53. Rozinat, A., van der Aalst, W.M.P.: Decision Mining in ProM. In: Dustdar, S., Fiadeiro, J.L., Sheth, A.P. (eds.) BPM 2006. LNCS, vol. 4102, pp. 420–425. Springer, Heidelberg (2006)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  54. Rozinat, A., van der Aalst, W.M.P.: Conformance Checking of Processes Based on Monitoring Real Behavior. Information Systems 33(1), 64–95 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  55. Rozinat, A., de Jong, I.S.M., Günther, C.W., van der Aalst, W.M.P.: Process Mining of Test Processes: A Case Study. In: BETA Working Paper Series, WP 220. Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  56. Rozinat, A., Mans, R.S., Song, M., van der Aalst, W.M.P.: Discovering Colored Petri Nets From Event Logs. International Journal on Software Tools for Technology Transfer 10(1), 57–74 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  57. Rozinat, A., Wynn, M.T., van der Aalst, W.M.P., ter Hofstede, A.H.M., Fidge, C.: Workflow Simulation for Operational Decision Support Using Design, Historic and State Information. In: Dumas, M., Reichert, M., Shan, M.-C. (eds.) BPM 2008. LNCS, vol. 5240, pp. 196–211. Springer, Heidelberg (2008)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  58. Russell, N., van der Aalst, W.M.P., ter Hofstede, A.H.M., Edmond, D.: Workflow Resource Patterns: Identification, Representation and Tool Support. In: Pastor, Ó., Falcão e Cunha, J. (eds.) CAiSE 2005. LNCS, vol. 3520, pp. 216–232. Springer, Heidelberg (2005)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  59. Sadiq, S., Sadiq, W., Orlowska, M.: Pockets of Flexibility in Workflow Specification. In: Kunii, H.S., Jajodia, S., Sølvberg, A. (eds.) ER 2001. LNCS, vol. 2224, pp. 513–526. Springer, Heidelberg (2001)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  60. Schonenberg, H., Mans, R., Russell, N., Mulyar, N., van der Aalst, W.M.P.: Process Flexibility: A Survey of Contemporary Approaches. In: Dietz, J., Albani, A., Barjis, J. (eds.) Advances in Enterprise Engineering I. LNBIP, vol. 10, pp. 16–30. Springer, Heidelberg (2008)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  61. Streit, A., Pham, B., Brown, R.: Visualisation Support for Managing Large Business Process Specifications. In: van der Aalst, W.M.P., Benatallah, B., Casati, F., Curbera, F. (eds.) BPM 2005. LNCS, vol. 3649, pp. 205–219. Springer, Heidelberg (2005)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  62. Verbeek, H.M.W., Basten, T., van der Aalst, W.M.P.: Diagnosing Workflow Processes using Woflan. The Computer Journal 44(4), 246–279 (2001)

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  63. Weber, B., Reichert, M., Rinderle-Ma, S.: Change Patterns and Change Support Features: Enhancing Flexibility in Process-Aware Information Systems. Data and Knowledge Engineering 66(3), 438–466 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  64. Weijters, A.J.M.M., van der Aalst, W.M.P.: Rediscovering Workflow Models from Event-Based Data using Little Thumb. Integrated Computer-Aided Engineering 10(2), 151–162 (2003)

    Google Scholar 

  65. Wen, L., van der Aalst, W.M.P., Wang, J., Sun, J.: Mining process models with non-free-choice constructs. Data Mining and Knowledge Discovery 15(2), 145–180 (2007)

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  66. Weske, M.: Formal Foundation and Conceptual Design of Dynamic Adaptations in a Workflow Management System. In: Sprague, R. (ed.) Proceedings of the Thirty-Fourth Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Science (HICSS-34). IEEE Computer Society Press, Los Alamitos (2001)

    Google Scholar 

  67. Weske, M.: Business Process Management: Concepts, Languages, Architectures. Springer, Berlin (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  68. White, S.A., et al.: Business Process Modeling Notation Specification (Version 1.0, OMG Final Adopted Specification) (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  69. Wickens, C.D.: Engineering Psychology and Human Performance. Harper (1992)

    Google Scholar 

  70. Workflow Patterns Home Page, http://www.workflowpatterns.com

  71. Wynn, M.T., Dumas, M., Fidge, C.J., ter Hofstede, A.H.M., van der Aalst, W.M.P.: Business Process Simulation for Operational Decision Support. In: ter Hofstede, A.H.M., Benatallah, B., Paik, H.-Y. (eds.) BPM Workshops 2007. LNCS, vol. 4928, pp. 66–77. Springer, Heidelberg (2008)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  72. YAWL Home Page, http://www.citi.qut.edu.au/yawl/

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Eindhoven University of Technology, P.O. Box 513, NL-5600 MB, Eindhoven, The Netherlands

    Wil M. P. van der Aalst

Authors
  1. Wil M. P. van der Aalst
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Science, Department of Computer Science, University of Aarhus, IT-parken, Aabogade 34, 8200, Aarhus N, Denmark

    Kurt Jensen

  2. Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Technical University of Eindhoven, Den Dolech 2, 5612 AZ, Eindhoven, The Netherlands

    Wil M. P. van der Aalst

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2009 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

van der Aalst, W.M.P. (2009). Process-Aware Information Systems: Lessons to Be Learned from Process Mining. In: Jensen, K., van der Aalst, W.M.P. (eds) Transactions on Petri Nets and Other Models of Concurrency II. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 5460. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-00899-3_1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-00899-3_1

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-00898-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-00899-3

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation