A Method for Analysing Web Systems Model Alignment

Andrew Bucknell, Senior Research Assistant, Centre for Real-Time Information Networks, University of Technology, Sydney, Broadway NSW, 2007. Email: andrew.j.bucknell@student.uts.edu.au

Professor David Lowe, Director, Centre for Real-Time Information Networks, University of Technology, Sydney, Broadway NSW 2007, Email: david.lowe@uts.edu.au

Professor Didar Zowghi, Director, Requirements Engineering Laboratory, University of Technology, Sydney, Broadway NSW 2007, Email: Didar.Zowghi@uts.edu.au

Keywords

Alignment, Modelling, Web Systems, Web Engineering

Abstract

The introduction or modification of IT systems will often lead to the need for consequential changes to the associated business processes. This is particularly true for Web systems, where the system can be much more deeply intertwined with the business processes. The failure to identify these potential impacts early on can lead to major delays or cost increases in the development process, and subsequent redevelopment as the IT system and business processes are appropriately modified to bring them into alignment.

We believe that early modelling of the existing business processes, and their relationship to the IT systems, as well as the potential changes to these processes will allow the identification of misalignments in the model which are a reflection of likely misalignments which would exist in the actual processes if the changes were to be implemented. This then will allow rectification of the misalignment much earlier than is currently the case. It is worth noting that his does not necessarily require new modelling notations, but rather the use of existing notations in new ways combined with appropriate analysis tools.

This research aims to demonstrate that this identification of misalignments can be achieved using existing modelling notations by applying algorithmic analysis to the information about the business process captured in the model. This can be achieved by integrating this analysis with modelling tools, and hence supporting the identification of likely flaws in a proposed changed business process before that process is actually implemented. This paper presents a proof of concept that demonstrates an approach to analysing the properties of model elements using a constraint-based rule system in conjunction with an existing widely-used modelling tool.