Sudan University of Science and Technology

College of Graduate study

College Of Computer Science and Information Technology

Msc. Computer Science-Software Engineering track

Online Msc Application Workflow Management

System

Prepared by:

1. Mohamed zeinalabdeen. 2. Omer Salih Dawood.

Introduction:

With evolution of information and Technology (ICT) ,become able to do anything at

anywhere and anytime , one important issues that must be taken into account is application

to study master degree ,this issues traditionally faces many like delay of processing

application, the application may me lost and so on, to solve these problems we develop new

system to be online (Online Application Management System).

The key idea of system is that the student enter to the system , fill the forms, and send

application to admission, the admission receive application and process it, after that the

admission send application to college if the application is good ,the college receive the

application and reply to admission ,and after that the admission notify the student.

Benefits of Online applications:

Online applications comprise fully hosted tools that provide great functionality without the

need to install anything on your local PC.

Online applications sometimes go by other names such as Software as a Service (SaaS),

Managed Services and hosted services.

With online applications the functionality and data resides on a server which is accessed

over the internet, so you only need an internet connection and a web browser to utilize

them.

There are a number of other benefits that makes online applications attractive:

No need for local software: Removing the need for installation, maintenance or hosting

of hardware and software - All you need is an internet connection and a web browser.

Cost for result: Online Applications provide a very high level of functionality and

flexibility at the price point

Speed of delivery: Using Online Software is akin to having a tool box of functionality

to select from, there is no need to develop tools from the ground up

Fully developed solutions allow you to concentrate on best practice and business

objectives, not technology limitations and tricky code writing

Online management: All aspects of the solution are online; website building,

customizing and member / events / data management

Fully tested: Online software is already proven and operational, therefore a very low

risk approach

Shortened implementation cycles: Implementation involves customization not

development, which takes weeks not months.

Low risk implementation: Changes and updates are considerably easier and less

expensive.

Fully hosted (hosing cost included): Hosting fees for all elements (all sites and

administration facilities) are included in the quote provided.

Third party license cost included - Use of other technologies such as Microsoft's SQL

Server and IIS are included in the price.

Software maintenance included - The Online Software is maintained and monitored to

ensure that your site is available for the maximum quantity of time.

Upgrades included - Online Software is commonly upgraded to reflect new user

requirements. These improvements will be ‘rolled out' to your site as appropriate.

Ability to ‘self manage' - Online Applications can be managed directly by you, thus

avoiding high maintenance fees and charges.[1]

System Goals:

1. Provide online services for applicants, admission, and college.

2. Reduce delay that happens in traditional system and process.

3. The system can be used from anywhere and anytime.

4. Reduce cost and time that found in traditional system.

System Description:

There are main four users to the system :

1- Applicant (student) :

Who need to apply for master and capable of doing following operation:

Login to system.

Fill form and upload the required documents.

Receive admission Email.

2- Admission:

Login to system.

Verify the application.

Pass application to college.

receive application from college.

Send Email o the student.

3- College :

Login to system.

View application.

Decide about application.

Reply application to college.

4- Administrator :

Login to the system and manage all users and applications.

Tools and Technology :

1- Unified Modeling Language (UML)

UML is a standardized general-purpose modeling language in the field of software

engineering. The standard is managed, and was created by, the Object Management Group.

UML includes a set of graphic notation techniques to create visual models of software-

intensive systems. The Unified Modeling Language (UML) is used to specify, visualize,

modify, construct and document the artifacts of an object-oriented software-intensive

system under development. UML combines techniques from data modeling (entity

relationship diagrams), business modeling (work flows), object modeling, and component

modeling. UML include two major types of diagrams:

1-1 Behavioral diagrams:

Behavior diagrams emphasize what must happen in the system being modeled. Since

behavior diagrams illustrate the behavior of a system, they are used extensively to describe

the functionality of software systems, It includes many diagrams and the following

diagrams few of them:

Use case diagram: describes the functionality provided by a system in terms of actors,

their goals represented as use cases, and any dependencies among those use cases. The

main purpose of a use case diagram is to show what system functions are performed

for which actor. Roles of the actors in the system can be depicted.

Sequence diagram: shows how objects communicate with each other in terms of a

sequence of messages. Also indicates the life spans of objects relative to those

messages. Sequence diagrams are sometimes called event diagrams, event scenarios,

and timing diagrams.

Activity diagrams are graphical representations of workflows of stepwise activities and

actions with support for choice, iteration and concurrency. In the Unified Modeling

Language, activity diagrams can be used to describe the business and operational step-

by-step workflows of components in a system. An activity diagram shows the overall

flow of control.

2-2 Structural Diagrams:

Structure diagrams emphasize the things that must be present in the system being

modeled. Since structure diagrams represent the structure, they are used extensively in

documenting the software architecture of software systems, It includes many diagrams and

the following diagram one of them:

Class diagram:a class diagram in the Unified Modeling Language (UML) is a type of

static structure diagram that describes the structure of a system by showing the

system's classes, their attributes, operations(or)methods and the relationships between

the classes.[2]

1- Use Case Diagrams :

Student Operations

College Operations

Admission operations

2- Sequence Diagram:

Login Sequence

Student application sequence

Application Process sequence

System Workflow:

Workflow Diagram

3- Class Diagram :

System Class Diagram

class online_application

Department

+ Dept_Name: string- Dept_No: int

Country

+ country_name: string- country_no: int

Application

- Certificate: int+ CV: string- Personel_statement: string

User

- Email: string- ID: int+ name: String- User_Type: string

+ Login() : void

Rejected_reasons

- id: int+ Reason: String

College_Decision

+ Decision: String- id: int

Role

- r_id: int+ Role: string

Area

- a_id: int+ Area: string

Admission

+ notify student() : void+ Receive application() : void+ Receive College Decision() : void+ Send application to College() : void

Student

+ apply for Msc() : void+ Receive admission email() : void

College

+ Process Application() : void+ Receive application() : void+ Reply with Final decision() : void

1

0..1

0..*

1

1..* 1..*

1..*

1..* 1..*

0..*

0..1

1

0..*

1..*

2. Business Process management Tool(BizAgi ): BizAgi is a Business Process Management solution that supports the management in

process-oriented organizations by allowing the visualization, control, and improvement of

all the processes in real time. Its main application is the management, control, tracking and

analysis of procedures such as processing of insurance claims, approvals of credit requests,

and handling of complaints and reclamations. BizAgi offers immediate results. The

processes are modeled and implemented in an agile way, no matter its complexity, but they

conserve sufficient flexibility, so that they can be easily modified, according to the

changing requirements of the business.

HOW DOES BIZAGI WORK?

BizAgi is a solution developed for the organizations oriented to the optimization,

automation, and management of business processes. They are organizations with a vision of

processes in each of its functional areas, regardless of the amount of areas or departments

involved in the process. Taking into account the agility and flexibility in the optimization,

automation, and management that the organizations in the continuous execution of the

processes currently require.

Users : User is defined as someone who interacts with BizAgi's web application

carrying out activities in processes, or managing business information. Each user has an

account through which he or she is identified in BizAgi. All the properties defined in the

account allow or restrict the interaction with the application.

Licenses: BizAgi BPM Suite can be downloaded to use indefinitely without any

obligation. With the Evaluation Version, you will have full access to all the features and

capabilities of our BPM Solution.

Entities This function allows the administration of the Parameter Entities in order to

modify, add or disable records.

Cases :This function allows the user to reassign activities or abort cases. The

administrator SHOULD have a valid e-mail address.

Password Encryption: This function protects the password used by the user to enter

the database by means of the code password option in the administration module of the web

application.

Asynchronous Work Item Retries: When asynchronous task fail, surpassing the

number of retries specified by the user, they are stored in the administration console where

the user can see them and retry them, using the Asynchronous Work Item Retries option.

User Pending Request: When there is a blocked account; the user can request the

administrator to unblock it to be able to login to the web application.

Authentication Log Query: From this option, the administrator can review the log for

authentication events of every user. To access the log, click on the Admin option in the web

application's Main Menu. Then select the Authentication Log Query requests option.

Monitor: In this section of the Web application, the administrator or a user who has

access to this page (for further information go to Authorization) can view the distribution of

cases of each of the system users.

Business Policies: groups of policies, preconditions and decision tables can be

managed and modified from the Web application, when necessary. This procedure is

facilitated by the use of the vocabulary which contains well known business terms. Thus,

the user does not need to understand technical details.

Profiles : From this option, the administrator can add or delete users from the following

items:

Position

Role

Skill

User group

Organization

Manage Default Assignation: User In this section of the Web application, the

administrator or a user who has access to this page (for further information go to

Authorization) can select a user for case assignment when none of the assignment rules is

met.

Localization Resources: BizAgi can be displayed in the Work Portal (or User

Interface) in any desired language. It is also possible to define more than one language and

allow the final user to choose which language he/she desires their application to be

displayed.

Analysis Reports: Process and Task Analytics:

BizAgi provides organizations with management indicators that are fully comprehensive

and easy to interpret based on accurate, real time business information, allowing process

owners to make agile flow adjustments and better, more efficient decisions to optimize the

performance of business processes. In order to display accurate information in all the

options in this module, it is necessary to define not only the duration of the tasks, but also

the process estimated duration (and preferably lower and upper limits) in the processes'

properties.

As a tool for continuous processes improvement, BizAgi provides a set of indicators that

show the current status of ongoing cases and activities in the system, Business Activity

Monitoring or BAM, and the performance that the different processes have had, Analytics.

Entering the Analysis Reports menu from the web application, BizAgi provides four

indicator groups:

Process Analytics :

Presents summaries of the cases and activities that are currently closed.

Task Analytics :

Presents information of closed activities that belong to closed cases.

Process BAM :

Provides information on the current status of ongoing cases.

Task BAM :

Provides information on the current status of ongoing activities.

Sensor Analytics :

Provides information of the phases (or paths) defined by the user.

Process Analytics :

These indicators present summaries of the cases and activities that are currently closed. The

user can choose to filter by Process or any of the Dimensions previously defined. Process

Analytics is divided into four sections: Cycle Time, Duration Histogram, Process Activity

and Activation Ranking.

Cycle Time :

The chart shows a summary that contains the number of closed cases for the chosen

process, average duration, expected duration, standard deviation and number of cases

completed on time. At the bottom of the screen, there is a time filter that applies to the

termination date of the cases. Completed cases DO NOT include aborted cases. The chart

compares the average time duration against the expected duration. The graph on the right,

Case Status, shows closed cases divided into two groups: On time and overdue.

Duration Histogram :

This chart shows how many days closed cases have taken to complete. The vertical dashed

line separates on time cases from overdue cases. The time filter applies to the termination

date of the cases.

Process Activity :

This tab shows a summary that contains the number of cases created (Open), the number of

completions (Closed) and the number of aborted cases during the date range selected, along

with an effective value (Effectiveness) obtained from the ratio of closed over created. The

Process Activity chart compares initiated cases, closed cases and aborted cases in the

selected date range. The Trend graph shows the number of activations of the process in the

selected date range.

Activation Ranking :

A bar graph shows all processes ordered by the number of activations each one has had, in

the selected date range .

Task Analytics :

This menu presents information of closed activities that belong to closed cases (not

including aborted cases). Activities can be filtered by process version and User dimensions.

It has just one section: Cycle Time. Cycle time Shows the process flow for the selected

process, displaying for each task the number of manual activities completed divided into

two groups: On time and delayed. The two measures are shown by a small pie-chart on the

task. When the task has uncompleted activities the task will show a pie chart with its

information. These activities do not include aborted cases. By clicking on any given task a

small window displays a summary of the relevant measures: Average duration, Expected

duration, (number of activities) Closed on time, (number of activities) Closed overdue and

Cases count (number of cases that successfully passed the task).

At the bottom of the diagram there is a list, hidden by default, that displays all the manual

tasks, indicating for each one the expected duration, average duration, number of activities

closed on time, number of activities closed overdue and total number of cases that went

through. Click on any given task to display the diagram. The columns can be reordered by

dragging each heading.

BizAgi also offers the possibility to show the most frequented paths in a specific process.

This option allows the user to identify the bussiness cases in the process that

are more common and make decisions based on these statistics. As an example, we are

going to use the Vacation Leave Request process. The manager of the Human Resources

area should expect that most of the requests are indeed approved. In order to analize that, in

the same Task Analytics option, he should check the option show frequent paths that

appears only if some cases have been closed for this process (not aborted).

Once checked, BizAgi will identify and show the most common paths in the process. It

calculates the percentage of closed cases that went through an specific path among all the

closed cases for the process (not aborted cases). In the example, the user can verify that

80% of the cases have passed through the highlighted path (approved and update payroll

system). The user can deduct from this result that almost all the request for vacations have

been approved (as expected), but there is a problem with the update payroll system because

most of the requests have to be done manually and not through the automatic task.

The user can also verify which other paths have been used frequently and get the

percentage of use. BizAgi will highlight each one of the other paths as well. In the image

below, the user can verify that only 10% of the cases were not approved.

Cases Details :

Click on any part of the chart to display a list of all the cases relating to that part. This list

can be exported to Excel by clicking on the link at the bottom of the screen (marked by the

number 3 in the image below).

1. Click on the case number to enter the case.

2. Click in the View column to see the state of case within the process and its trail.

Save Report :

Process Analytics and Task Analytics include a "Save Query" button.

This feature will save queries that will be available on the left panel in the "Analysis

Queries" section for further analysis and decision making.

Saved queries are visible only for the user that creates them. [3]

References:

1- www.process2go.com/benefits/Toptenbenefits.pdf.

2- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unified_Modeling_Language#Modeling.

3- http://wiki.bizagi.com/en/index.php?title=Web_Application.