On Dec 11, 2007, at 11:01 AM, David RR Webber ((XML)) wrote:
Sandy,
Glad you liked the peice - lot of common threads out there including your model.
"the basic premise is that XML needs to be replaced with an automated contextual infrastructure".
I'm not holding my breath on that one!!!
Better - "XML is being augmented to handle an automated contextual infrastructure".
It depends upon what one means by "augmentation." We fundamentally don't believe that the XML that has evolved into the RDF/OWL specifications can meet the requirements for an "automated contextual infrastructure." Strong statement, but can be backed up by ten cornerstone innovations that are required achieve Net scale. You can download my recent Stanford lecture slides that detail these innovations. <http://coretalk.net/Lectures/>
In the context of standards though - we're still taking baby steps in terms of better information alignment, rules and context management and mechanisms. Policy and contract are also key peices that are way to fuzzy right now.
Policy and contract must be an integral component of the infrastructure where formal communities of practice can joint develop and evolve services and other system artifacts in a highly automated fashion. These are not fuzzy concepts in the Cubicon ecology.
Establishing the business ROI is also key - for me the best bang for the buck for people today is BPM - getting that right. Better data / information will then follow driven by hard BPM needs and getting those $ savings in the boat.
Overall, its about automation of the complete software life cycle of which BPM is just one abstraction level. Drive costs low enough through automation, then ROI surfaces across a wide spectrum of use cases. In particular to BPM, the Cubicon Process Model provides a comprehensive executable architecture for business modeling and process coordination. The universal theories embodied in the model can be applied beyond workflow to any application where forking and join synchronization semantics apply.
Iconic Representation
Both process-flow and control-flow semantics are represented in a rich iconic syntax that enables declaration of complex behaviors without ever resorting to a script programming language.
Integral Transaction Model
Interaction with native composite and network schema data is performed through a sophisticated transaction mechanism that coordinates asynchronous process interactions with dynamic and persistent data.
Service & Project Exchanges
Service exchange between entities is performed through "dialogs" and "situations" that are automatically choreographed without translation through XML. Project exchange enables team associates to process multiple content artifacts in an ad hoc fashion as a microcosm of a larger more rigid workflow based upon linear and ordered task steps.
Human Interaction
Cubicon process management includes the ability for humans to participate in Service and project work unit exchanges as well. Each employee is recognized on the basis of his or her privilege, capability and activity history. Task and project work can be automatically delegated and coordinated across disparate systems.
Cheers,
Sandy