Coordination Process Verification for Object-Centric Business Processes

The accuracy and efficacy of an object-centric business process are of paramount importance during its execution. In the context of the PHILharmonicFlows framework, user interaction forms are automatically generated from the structure of the business process. Consequently, errors (e.g. deadlocks) in the business process result in malfunctioning during execution. It is therefore of the utmost importance to identify and rectify any errors in the business process at the earliest possible stage, namely at the point of specification. However, the concept of object-centric process management is sophisticated and requires a high level of expertise to implement effectively. In particular, modelling the coordination processes that control the business process in order to represent the interactions between multiple business objects represents a significant challenge. In light of this, a verification algorithm has been developed, comprising two mechanisms (prevention and alerting), to assist process modellers in creating coordination processes. This verification algorithm was subjected to testing during the emulation of three existing business processes. This revealed a number of flaws, including the presence of cycles that comprise several coordination processes. These deficiencies had previously evaded the detection of numerous modelling experts.