Workflow temporal verification: an efficient and effective approach for delivering on-time completion

In the real world, most workflow applications are time constrained, i.e. to be completed by satisfying a set of temporal constraints such as local milestones and global deadlines. Meanwhile, due to the distributed nature of business processes and scientific workflows, most workflow systems are running in a dynamic computing environment such as the Cloud. Therefore, how to guarantee the on-time completion of workflow applications becomes a critical yet challenging issue for enhancing the overall performance and usability of workflow systems. In this tutorial, we will present a detailed overview of workflow temporal verification, which is one of the most efficient and effective approaches for delivering on-time completion of workflow applications. A general temporal verification framework consists of three major components, viz. temporal constraint setting, temporal consistency monitoring and temporal exception handling. Details for each component and comprehensive experimental results will be demonstrated. After the tutorial, the audience will have a complete view of what are workflow temporal verification as well as the state-of-the-art and open issues in this field. © 2014 Authors.