Integrating Groupware Activities into Work ow Management Systems

Computer supported cooperative work (CSCW) has been recognized as a crucial enabling technology for multiuser computer-based systems, particularly in cases where synchronous human-human interaction is required between geographically dispersed users. Workkow is an emerging technology that supports complex business processes in modern corporations by allowing to explicitly deene the process, and by supporting its execution in a workkow management system (WFMS). Since workkow inherently involves humans carrying out parts of the process , it is only natural to explore how to synergize these two technologies. We analyze the relationships between groupware and workkow management, present our general approach to integrating synchronous groupware tools into a WFMS, and conclude with an example process that was implemented in the Oz WFMS and integrated such tools. Our main contribution lies in the integration and synchronization of individual groupware activities into modeled workkow processes, as opposed to being a built-in part of the workkow WFMS.