Twenty years of workflow prompt the question - what is its role in the era of AI, cloud, containers, open-source, and open architecture? We conducted an ongoing study with subject matter experts within and outside of the process management field to discuss this matter. These are our initial findings.

1. IBM Technology Expert Labs
The future of workflow
in times of gen.AI,
cloud, container,
open-source and open
architecture.
— A study —

2. in times of gen.AI, cloud,
container, open-source and
open architecture.
2
Inspiration
Workflow and Case Management technologies
are cornerstones of business automation for
more than 20 years.
Their key elements of harmonization,
standardization, (end-to-end) control and
transparency are rooted in historically
centralized (IT-) architecture approaches.
Microservices, containerization, domain-
driven-design (DDD), business capability
mapping, hybrid cloud architecture and open
architecture all seem to contradict the
traditional approaches of Workflow and Case
Management.
The goal of this study is putting these into the
context of the current state of IT without any
fixed expectations and prejudging and answer
questions like:
▪ Is there a valuable role for Workflow and
Case Management in the context of cloud,
Microservices, Gen.AI, etc.?
If yes…
▪ Where in the overall system architecture of
modern IT landscapes is WF and Case?
▪ What are the tasks / functions
implemented?
▪ What is the context?
▪ Reference architecture?
IBM Technology Expert Labs | Automation Summit 2023

3. With you today
3
IBM Technology Expert Labs | Automation Summit 2023
Business Automation Consultant
Christoph ist seit über 10 Jahren
im Bereich Business Automation
tätig und verwirklicht Lösungen
im Bereich Geschäftsprozesse
und Geschäftsregelmanagement.
christoph.schmitt@de.ibm.com
Tech Practice Leader Business
Automation
Thomas arbeitet seit über 20 Jahren
mit Kunden verschiedener Branchen
an allen Facetten der Verbesserung
ihrer betriebswirtschaftlichen
Prozesse und Abläufe mit Hilfe
digitaler Werkzeuge.
tbohn@de.ibm.com

4. Contributors
4
IBM
3rd party IT vendor
Partner
Customer
other
Senior IT Architect
Solution Architect
IT Architect
Vorstand
CTO
Distinguished Engineer & CTO
Business Automation
Workflow Product Manager
IT Architect
YOU?
IBM Technology Expert Labs | Automation Summit 2023

5. The paradigms for our
projections What defines next gen software
development:
▪ Application of
Cloud-practices:
− discrete functional
components ...
− that encourage re-use and
composition
− with Technology Autonomy
− based on Open Technology
and open Architecture
− Linked to business and
organization by application
of domain-driven thinking
▪ Uses Containers
▪ Based on hybrid system
landscapes: fluid use of SaaS,
public and private cloud, on
prem
5
Mobile
Customer
Portals Chat
Platform to
Platform Open APIs
Core Systems Data Fabric
Packaged Business
Capabilities
Composed Business
Applications
Customer
Positions
Account
Services
Customer
Positions
Documents
& Archive
Customer
Mgmt.
Party Ref.
Data
KYC
By 2023, 60% of mainstream
organizations will list composable
enterprise as a strategic objective
and will use an increasing number
of packaged business capabilities.
Gartner, Innovation Insight for Composable Modularity of
Packaged Business Capabilities, 16.03.2021
Desired target state:
A capability-based,
layered solution
architecture optimized
for open co-creation
Domain
IBM Technology Expert Labs | Automation Summit 2023

6. The Spectrum
of Process
Applications
6
Integrated, single-package
Business Applications
based on low-code
Human-intensive
Workload
Straight through
processing
Coordination in an open,
cross-domain, cross-
ecosystem world
IBM Technology Expert Labs | Automation Summit 2023

7. Domain A
P1
S²
S1
Team A
e2e Prcs X
The Role of Business
Process changes: From
being the overarching,
defining element to
being a team player
among equals
– Process scope boxed to domain
– Domain-scoped process design is
easier to define and maintain
over e2e design
– Discrete functional design
encourages simple interface and
self-contained state model
– Error and exception handling
remains inside the domain where
specific action can take place
Business
System 1
Business
System 2
Process
Layer
Business
Layer
Integration
Layer
Integration
Team
Create discrete
functional
components
Domain B
P2
I2
S4
S³
Team B
Business
System 1
Business
System 2
I1
Prcs
Team
SME1 SME2
SME1 SME2
7
IBM Technology Expert Labs | Automation Summit 2023

8. The approaches for
process logic at
hand today
Orchestrated, coordinator-
driven process
An active, “central” coordinator acting on a
concrete model of the process,
orchestrating all process tasks.
Pros:
▪ Explicit model creates clarity across
stakeholders
▪ Simple and easy switch between
technical coordination and human
interaction
▪ Transparency, completeness insurance
and supervision OOTB
Cons:
▪ State needs management when process
changes
▪ Effort for design and alignment among
stakeholders
Choreographed, event-
driven process
A group of independent actors each
individually reacting upon event(s) raised by
the other actors with n the swarm.
Pros:
▪ Flexible re-configuration and change
without state management
▪ “Build-in” parallelization and scale
Cons:
▪ No explicit model for all stakeholders,
rather a loose and not transparent event
chain
▪ History, human interaction all need
custom solutions, no OOTB support
▪ State Transparency, completeness
solution require additional components
8
IBM Technology Expert Labs | Automation Summit 2023

9. The Role of Business Process changes:
End-to-End Processes are dissolved
into Domain Processes
9
e2e process
?
+ + x
x
What are the benefits of
e2e processes?
• Transparency across
the whole process
• Centralized exception
handling possible
• Integration technology
provided by the tool
How do we move to a more open
architecture that avoids the drawbacks
without losing these benefits?
x x
What are the pains of e2e
processes?
• Building consensus across
multiple business units and
functions
• Prevent “local optimization”
• Enable change – prevent
“process petrification”
IBM Technology Expert Labs | Automation Summit 2023

10. e2e process
?
+ + x
x
x x
10
? ?
Orchestrated, coordinator-driven
domain process
Pros:
▪ Domain SMEs design and share an explicit
graphical model
▪ Simple and easy integration of system and
human tasks
▪ Build-in support for process state management,
transparency, history, etc.
Cons:
▪ Process change requires migration of stateful
process instances
Choreographed, event-driven
domain process
Pros:
▪ Simple “change” of process logic
Cons:
▪ All supporting functionality for process state
management, history, transparency needs to be
built.
▪ Any functionality to route work to humans needs
to be build explicitly.
The Role of Business Process changes: End-
to-End Processes are dissolved into chains of
interconnected Domain Processes
Domain processes typically
cover a wide range of
coordination scenarios from
pure services across hybrid to
human-centric coordination.
When scoped and isolated to a
specific domain, explicit
process definition is typically
easier to complete for a team.
On domain level, process
scenarios often cover human
centric coordination, incl.
regulatory requirements for
human approvals, human-
required error and exception
handling.
Having an explicit process
model, build-in human task
support, history, transparency,
etc. makes a workflow engine
often a good fit for
orchestrating domain-level
processes.
Domain A
P1
Domain B
P2
Domain C
P3

11. Event Bus
11
The Role of Business Process changes: End-
to-End Processes are dissolved into chains of
interconnected Domain Processes
Domain processes typically
cover a wide range of
coordination scenarios from
pure services across hybrid to
human-centric coordination.
When scoped and isolated to a
specific domain, explicit
process definition is typically
easier to complete for a team.
On domain level, process
scenarios often cover human
centric coordination, incl.
regulatory requirements for
human approvals, human-
required error and exception
handling.
Having an explicit process
model, build-in human task
support, history, transparency,
etc. makes a workflow engine
often a good fit for
orchestrating domain-level
processes.
BE1 BE2 BE2 BE3
order created item reserved BE3 BE4 billing completed
Domain A
P1
Domain B
P2
Domain C
P3
11
IBM Technology Expert Labs | Automation Summit 2023
(State- / Business-) Event-driven, Event bus –
based “coupling” of domains became to state-
of-the art approach across domains and
bounded contexts.
Experience with and acceptance of the technologies
and architectural pattern around event sourcing and
event buses extends to coupling business domains.
Definition of Business Events
To allow flexibility and dynamicity, attention needs to
be paid to business events:
▪ Define states, not commands
▪ The right granularity and semantic is key
▪ Managed sharing across domains and contexts is
key (e.g. registry)

12. Event Bus
12
The Role of Business Process changes: End-
to-End Processes are dissolved into chains of
interconnected Domain Processes
For the interconnection of
domain processes, event-
driven-architecture is the
dominant approach.
EDA offers build-in scalability
and flexibility.
However, EDA is the
“communication layer”. For
controlling the flow, three
approaches are in use with
specific features:
▪ Direct event chaining with
no actual coordinator
▪ Orchestrator based flow
control
▪ Situational evaluation and
State Machine based “next
best action”
order created item reserved billing completed
Domain
Level
Process
(L2)
Direct Chaining /
No Coordinator Orchestrator
Situation Detection /
State Machine
?
+ + x
No active component at all
– successors consume
directly events published
by predecessors.
Events are correlated to a
process instance in an
orchestrator. The process
model in the orchestrator
generates and publishes
subsequent events.
Events are put into
contexts, event
correlations and situations
are detected, and
subsequent events are
published.
Domain A Domain B Domain C
P1 P2 P3
BE1 BE2 BE2 BE3 BE3 BE4
Organization/
Application
Level
Process
(L1)
12
IBM Technology Expert Labs | Automation Summit 2023

13. 13
Patterns of Organizational / Application-Level Processes
#1: Mixed mode automation Systems supporting and
isolating human-centric work
on domain level.
As workflow engines are well
equipped to support human-
centric work next to technical
coordination, the use of
workflow engines is a good fit.
The consequence of autonomy
for technical implementation is
the potential of multiple
different workflow engines
which subsequently leads to
the need to provide technical
solutions for consolidated
tasklists, in order to provide a
single, unified experience for
business users.
Domain
Level
Process
(L2)
Domain A
P1
S²
S1
Domain B
P2
I2
S4
S³
I1
Coordination Domain
Strictly technical coordination
processing
Support Domain
History
Transp
arency
Task
List
Organization/
Application
Level
Process
(L1)
13
IBM Technology Expert Labs | Automation Summit 2023

14. 14
Patterns of Organizational / Application-Level Processes
#2: Strict technical automation with subsequent, central
human-centric processing
Systems focusing on strict
automated processing of
requests. Any human-centric
work is pushed towards the
end of any request handling.
Human-centric work covers:
▪ Error and exception
handling
▪ Long-tail human-based
completion of request
handling
This pattern favors generalists
SMEs.
At least the human-centric
processing part is a typical
suspect for a workflow engine.
The location in the central L1
Process Level suggests a
single, central workflow engine
thus reducing complexity and
effort for providing unified
perspectives on task lists and –
execution.
Domain
Level
Process
(L2)
Domain A
P1
S²
S1
Domain B
P2
I2
S4
S³
I1
Coordination Domain
Strictly technical coordination
processing
Support Domain
History
Transp
arency
Organization/
Application
Level
Process
(L1)
Domain C
Human-centric
processing
14
IBM Technology Expert Labs | Automation Summit 2023

15. Mining Business State Events
Event Design Pattern
15
E7
E6
E5
E8
E9
E11
E10
E12
E13
E²
E3
E4
E1
BE
BE
Filtered Business State Event
Correlated Business State Event
delivery address = […]
Order status = 1
Order created
Delivery delayed
Item delivery date = […]
Order status = 1
Item reserved = true
Event
Command
BE Delivery delayed
System
BE Order created
CDE_2_BSE
Filter change-data-event streams
for business state events or
correlate CDEs to detect
situations and generated
related BSEs.
EVENT_2_COMMAND
React to business state events and coordinate their processing.
When needed create command calls to systems and services and
orchestrate flows.
setReservationTime (…)
createReservation (…)
IBM Technology Expert Labs | Automation Summit 2023

16. 16
IBM Technology Expert Labs | Automation Summit 2023
How IBM Process Management evolves
to support the next generation of
process applications
IBM Business Automation
Tech Foundation
Native support for event driven
messaging.
Smaller footprint and better
Container runtime.
Dev-Ops
Better pipeline support and
integration into existing
environments.
Interaction Models
Conversational models let user
interact in a more natural way
with tasks.
A situational approach allows
for more autonomy on lower
levels where teams can design
their tasks by themselves.
GenAI
AI can help during creation of
process definitions, user
interfaces or data models.
It could decide which steps
have to be executed for any
given process instance and
modify the models on the fly.