Decentralised process modelling

Abstract

In this paper, we propose the use of fine-grain process modelling as an aid to software development. We suggest the use of two levels of granularity, one at the level of the individual developer and another at the level of the representation scheme used by that developer. The advantages of modelling the software development process at these two levels, we argue, include respectively: (1) the production of models that better reflect actual development processes because they are oriented towards the actors who enact them, and (2) models that are vehicles for providing guidance because they may be expressed in terms of the actual representation schemes employed by those actors. We suggest that our previously published approach of using multiple "ViewPoints" to model software development participants, the perspectives that they hold, the representation schemes that they deploy and the process models that they maintain, is one way of supporting the fine-grain modelling we advocate. We point to some simple, tool-based experiments we have performed that support our proposition.

Mobile Business Processes

“…Rather, they involve distributed teams, distributed service provisioning, and distributed repositories. This environment places higher demands on the infrastructure, coordination, communication and cooperation of the involved parties, all of which affect the suitable process models substantially ( [10], [20]). As illustrated in the examples of the Iridium software process and housing industry processes, distribution affects both processes and data.…”