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2020 | Buch

Business Process Management: Blockchain and Robotic Process Automation Forum

BPM 2020 Blockchain and RPA Forum, Seville, Spain, September 13–18, 2020, Proceedings

herausgegeben von: Aleksandre Asatiani, Prof. José María García, Nina Helander, Andrés Jiménez-Ramírez, Prof. Agnes Koschmider, Jan Mendling, Dr. Giovanni Meroni, Prof. Dr. Hajo A. Reijers

Verlag: Springer International Publishing

Buchreihe : Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing

Enthalten in: Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" , Springer Professional "Technik" , Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

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Über dieses Buch

This book constitutes the proceedings of the Blockchain and Robotic Process Automation (RPA) Forum which was held as part of the 18th International Conference on Business Process Management, BPM 2020. The conference was planned to take place in Seville, Spain, in September 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the conference took place virtually.

The Blockchain Forum and the RPA Forum have in common that they are centered around an emerging and exciting technology. The blockchain is a sophisticated distributed ledger technology, while RPA software allows for mimicking human, repetitive actions. Each of these have the potential to fundamentally change how business processes are being orchestrated and executed in practice. The BPM community has embraced these technologies as objects of analysis, design, development, and evaluation.

The 14 full plus one short paper presented in this volume were carefully reviewed and selected from a total of 28 submissions.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Frontmatter

Blockchain Forum

Frontmatter

Silver Bullet for All Trust Issues? Blockchain-Based Trust Patterns for Collaborative Business Processes

Abstract

In recent years, the advancing digitization and internationalization of business processes led to increasing inter-organizational collaboration. In such collaborative processes, different organizations work together towards a single objective. Usually, subprocesses carried out by one collaborator are beyond the domain of influence of all other collaborators. This leads to uncertainty regarding the execution of the collaborative business process. If collaborators still want to engage in the process, trust is needed. Several studies identified blockchain and distributed ledger technologies as a promising tool to enhance trust in business processes. Therefore, this paper proposes and analyzes a taxonomy of blockchain-based trust design patterns from a process-centric perspective. Process engineers can utilize the taxonomy as an overview of how the blockchain technology can enhance trust in collaborative processes.

Marcel Müller, Nadine Ostern, Michael Rosemann

Blockchain Oracles: A Framework for Blockchain-Based Applications

Abstract

Oracles support the access, validation, and transmission of data from external sources to blockchain systems. They are important components of blockchain-based architectures. However, there exists no guidance on how oracles could be used when designing blockchain-based applications. In this paper, based on the results of a systematic literature review, we propose a framework to explain blockchain oracles and their relationships to blockchain-based applications. More specifically, the blockchain oracle framework addresses the origin of data, oracle properties, encryption method, oracle data source, validation procedures, and the integration of oracles to blockchain-based applications. Potentially, this framework can guide developers when incorporating oracles to blockchain-based applications.

Kamran Mammadzada, Mubashar Iqbal, Fredrik Milani, Luciano García-Bañuelos, Raimundas Matulevičius

Foundational Oracle Patterns: Connecting Blockchain to the Off-Chain World

Abstract

Blockchain has evolved into a platform for decentralized applications, with beneficial properties like high integrity, transparency, and resilience against censorship and tampering. However, blockchains are closed-world systems which do not have access to external state. To overcome this limitation, oracles have been introduced in various forms and for different purposes. However so far common oracle best practices have not been dissected, classified, and studied in their fundamental aspects. In this paper, we address this gap by studying foundational blockchain oracle patterns in two foundational dimensions characterising the oracles: (i) the data flow direction, i.e., inbound and outbound data flow, from the viewpoint of the blockchain; and (ii) the initiator of the data flow, i.e., whether it is push or pull-based communication. We provide a structured description of the four patterns in detail, and discuss an implementation of these patterns based on use cases. On this basis we conduct a quantitative analysis, which results in the insight that the four different patterns are characterized by distinct performance and costs profiles.

Roman Mühlberger, Stefan Bachhofner, Eduardo Castelló Ferrer, Claudio Di Ciccio, Ingo Weber, Maximilian Wöhrer, Uwe Zdun

The Role of Modeling in Blockchain Process Design

Abstract

Blockchain could introduce a new approach by which organizations view and govern their information and technology projects. Processes involving blockchain are oftentimes transaction-based, decentralized, and require coordinated communization before implementation. This approach may introduce new challenges to conventional modeling techniques. In this study, the role of modeling during the design phase of blockchain processes is explored. This role is described through a theory derived from 30 semi-structured interviews, two case studies, and two focus groups. The results are applied to inter-organizational business process modeling. The role of modeling, the effects on this role caused by the introduction of blockchain, and the shortcomings of current modeling techniques are described. Additionally, the study provides several opportunities for future research.

Ruben Post, Stijn Kas, Koen Smit

External Data Monitoring Using Oracles in Blockchain-Based Process Execution

Abstract

In blockchain-based process execution, operational aspects of business processes are encoded in smart contracts on blockchains, enabling powerful auditing and compliance capabilities due to the platforms’ trust and integrity guarantees. However, smart contracts are subject to the blockchain’s conceptual limitations, which particularly restrict the real-time integration of external data. This potentially leads to non-compliant runtime behavior of process instances when data updates are missed and conditional constraints are wrongly evaluated. In this paper, we analyze the semantics of established external data interaction patterns in business processes with regards to their support on blockchain platforms. We extend and propose various oracle-based implementation strategies to alleviate conceptual issues independent of the concrete blockchain used, and discuss their properties and merits.

Jan Ladleif, Ingo Weber, Mathias Weske

Robotic Process Automation Forum

Frontmatter

A Conversational Digital Assistant for Intelligent Process Automation

Abstract

Robotic process automation (RPA) has emerged as the leading approach to automate tasks in business processes. Moving away from back-end automation, RPA automated the mouse-click on user interfaces; this outside-in approach reduced the overhead of updating legacy software. However, its many shortcomings, namely its lack of accessibility to business users, have prevented its widespread adoption in highly regulated industries. In this work, we explore interactive automation in the form of a conversational digital assistant. It allows business users to interact with and customize their automation solutions through natural language. The framework, which creates such assistants, relies on a multi-agent orchestration model and conversational wrappers for autonomous agents including RPAs. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed approach on a loan approval business process and a travel preapproval business process.

Yara Rizk, Vatche Isahagian, Scott Boag, Yasaman Khazaeni, Merve Unuvar, Vinod Muthusamy, Rania Khalaf

Is Robotic Process Automation Becoming Intelligent? Early Evidence of Influences of Artificial Intelligence on Robotic Process Automation

Abstract

Advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI) are changing the nature of work and enable the increasing automation of tasks. The trend around AI technologies has also reached Robotic Process Automation (RPA). To date, RPA is known as a software solution that performs simple and routine tasks based on clearly defined rules. However, past research indicates that through the application of AI and Machine Learning technologies, RPA is starting to get “smart” by including intelligent features. Since little is known about the capabilities of intelligent RPA in academia, this paper examines how AI impacts the capabilities and applicability of RPA. Based on case studies with global RPA software providers and RPA integrators, evidence for cognitive capabilities within RPA is examined within the boundaries of a definition of cognitive intelligence. The paper also discusses the general necessity for cognitive intelligence within RPA software.

Johannes Viehhauser

Automated Generation of Executable RPA Scripts from User Interface Logs

Abstract

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) operates on the user interface (UI) of software applications and automates - by means of a software (SW) robot - mouse and keyboard interactions to remove intensive routine tasks (or simply routines). With the recent advances in Artificial Intelligence, the automation of routines is expected to undergo a radical transformation. Nonetheless, to date, the RPA tools available in the market are not able to automatically learn to automate such routines, thus requiring the support of skilled human experts that observe and interpret how routines are executed on the UIs of the applications. Being the current practice time-consuming and error-prone, in this paper we present SmartRPA, a cross-platform tool that tackles such issues by exploiting UI logs to automatically generate executable RPA scripts that automate the routines enactment by SW robots.

Simone Agostinelli, Marco Lupia, Andrea Marrella, Massimo Mecella

Integrating Robotic Process Automation into Business Process Management

Abstract

As of today, robotic process automation (RPA) is a prominent process automation technology, which uses software to replace humans at operating graphical user interfaces. However, RPA is limited in scope and, in order for it to be established successfully, its environment must meet many requirements. The more mature research field of business process management (BPM) has the potential to provide the environment for RPA to thrive. We present an approach for embedding RPA into BPM in order to link their technologies and combine their systematic methods. The approach allows RPA to synergize with capabilities and insights provided by BPM.

Maximilian König, Leon Bein, Adriatik Nikaj, Mathias Weske

How to Trust a Bot: An RPA User Perspective

Abstract

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) has taken the industry by storm in recent years. Many organisations are keen to adopt RPA technology to dramatically improve their operational efficiency and digitally transform their business operations. However, industry reports and early academic research papers on RPA have highlighted various challenges associated with the use of RPA. Trust is one of the key factors that poses a challenge on the organisational acceptance of RPA. In this paper, we analysed the IS literature on trust to build an initial RPA-trust conceptual model. We then collected primary data from a selected group of RPA users to explore, explain, and confirm the factors that hinder building the user trust in bots using IT-artefact and Integrative model of organisational trust theories. The outcomes of this study are summarised in a conceptual model for RPA trust that will help organisations to build their strategies to effectively introduce and sustain RPA technology in their daily operations.

Rehan Syed, Moe Thandar Wynn

Towards a Taxonomy of Cognitive RPA Components

Abstract

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is a discipline that is increasingly growing hand in hand with Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning enabling the so-called cognitive automation. In such context, the existing RPA platforms that include AI-based solutions classify their components, i.e. constituting part of a robot that performs a set of actions, in a way that seems to obey market or business decisions instead of common-sense rules. To be more precise, components that present similar functionality are identified with different names and grouped in different ways depending on the platform that provides the components. Therefore, the analysis of different cognitive RPA platforms to check their suitability for facing a specific need is typically a time-consuming and error-prone task. To overcome this problem and to provide users with support in the development of an RPA project, this paper proposes a method for the systematic construction of a taxonomy of cognitive RPA components. Moreover, such a method is applied over components that solve selected real-world use cases from the industry obtaining promising results .

Antonio Martínez-Rojas, Irene Barba, José González Enríquez

Towards an OpenSource Logger for the Analysis of RPA Projects

Abstract

Process automation typically begins with the observation of humans conducting the tasks that will be eventually automated. Similarly, successful RPA projects require a prior analysis of the undergoing processes which are being executed by humans. The process of collecting this type of information is known as user interface (UI) logging since it records the interaction against a UI. Main RPA platforms (e.g., Blueprism and UIPath) incorporate functionalities that allow the recording of these UI interactions. However, the records that these platforms generate lack some functionalities that large-scale RPA projects require. Besides, they are only understandable by the proper RPA platforms. This paper presents an extensible and multi-platform OpenSource UI logger that generate UI logs in a standard format. This system collects information from all the computers it is running on and sends it to a central server for its processing. Treatment of the collected information will allow the creation of an enriched UI log which can be used, among others purposes, for smart process analysis, machine learning training, the creation of RPA robots, or, being more general, for task mining .

José Manuel López-Carnicer, Carmelo del Valle, José González Enríquez

Beyond the Hype: RPA Horizon for Robot-Human Interaction

Abstract

Medium and big organizations have embraced RPA in the last years bringing to light the high maturity of the technology. Current trends are towards including “human-in-the-loop” which promotes efficient ways for robot-human interaction. This is especially relevant since most real RPA projects require a collaboration between the human and the robot leading to hybrids approaches. The challenges that arise from this line can be addressed by both asynchronous (i.e., landing area or task queues where robots and humans share information) and synchronous solutions (i.e., human digital augmentation where robots provide immediate support). This paper goes in deep elaborating in these two alternatives by setting the benefits, requirements, and future research lines which are envisioned through industrial experiences. In addition, this work exposes the role of process mining in this journey since it allows for the necessary efficiency in the process analysis, time-to-market reduction, and continuous improvement that this robot-human collaboration requires .

Rafael Cabello, María José Escalona, José González Enríquez

A Framework to Evaluate the Viability of Robotic Process Automation for Business Process Activities

Abstract

Robotic process automation (RPA) is a technology for centralized automation of business processes. RPA automates user interaction with graphical user interfaces, whereby it promises efficiency gains and a reduction of human negligence during process execution. To harness these benefits, organizations face the challenge of classifying process activities as viable automation candidates for RPA. Therefore, this work aims to support practitioners in evaluating RPA automation candidates. We design a framework that consists of thirteen criteria grouped into five perspectives which offer different evaluation aspects. These criteria leverage a profound understanding of the process step. We demonstrate and evaluate the framework by applying it to a real-life data set.

Christian Wellmann, Matthias Stierle, Sebastian Dunzer, Martin Matzner

From Robotic Process Automation to Intelligent Process Automation

– Emerging Trends –

Abstract

In this survey, we study how recent advances in machine intelligence are disrupting the world of business processes. Over the last decade, there has been steady progress towards the automation of business processes under the umbrella of “robotic process automation” (RPA). However, we are currently at an inflection point in this evolution, as a new paradigm called “Intelligent Process Automation” (IPA) emerges, bringing machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to bear in order to improve business process outcomes. The purpose of this paper is to provide a survey of this emerging theme and identify key open research challenges at the intersection of AI and business processes. We hope that this emerging theme will spark engaging conversations at the RPA Forum.

Tathagata Chakraborti, Vatche Isahagian, Rania Khalaf, Yasaman Khazaeni, Vinod Muthusamy, Yara Rizk, Merve Unuvar

Backmatter

Titel: Business Process Management: Blockchain and Robotic Process Automation Forum
herausgegeben von: Aleksandre Asatiani
Prof. José María García
Nina Helander
Andrés Jiménez-Ramírez
Prof. Agnes Koschmider
Jan Mendling
Dr. Giovanni Meroni
Prof. Dr. Hajo A. Reijers
Verlag: Springer International Publishing
Electronic ISBN: 978-3-030-58779-6
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-58778-9
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-58779-6