Dynamic workflow approvals

Abstract

A dynamic approval system, capable of integration with enterprise software systems, where approval requests are generated from within application programs and processed using one or more dynamic approval rules comprising discrete rule steps and step criteria. For each approval request, only those rule steps applicable to the requestor and type of request are processed. Individual rule steps may be reordered, added or skipped, as appropriate, during an approval process. Typical rule steps include at least one request for approval or review. The party receiving the request may be a specific individual, a person holding a specific position, or a person having a relative relationship, such as supervisor, with the requestor.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system having one or more computer systems including a memory storing a set of instructions that when executed by one or more processors associated with the one or more computer systems configure the one or more processors for processing approval requests, the set of instructions comprising:
 instructions that cause the one or more processors to generate an approval interface having one or more user interface elements that allow an approver to approve or deny an approval request to perform one or more tasks associated with a business object that accomplishes specific business tasks; and   instructions that cause the one or more processors to implement an approval rule processor that loads a plurality of dynamic approval rules each including at least one rule step characterized by rule step criteria, determines whether at least one of the collection of rule steps in the plurality of dynamic approval rules applies to the approval request, determines a rule step order indicative of a sequence of which each rule step applicable to the approval request is executed, executes a first step of the determined rule step order that delivers the approval interface to the approver, and receives an approval or disapproval from the approver.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the approval rule processor further executes a second rule step of the determined rule step order. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the approval rule processor further generates a notification to the approver of a current status of the approval request. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the approval rule processor further generates a status interface that shows a status of the approval request where rule steps are executed both in series and in parallel. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the approval rule processor further adds a new rule step to the determined rule step order. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the approval interface is further configured to allow the user to approve a subset of the approval request. 
     
     
         7 . A method for processing an approval request, the method comprising:
 receiving, by a computer system, a plurality of dynamic approval rules each including at least one rule step characterized by rule step criteria;   determining, by a processor of the computer system, whether at least one of the collection of rule steps in the plurality of dynamic approval rules applies to the approval request;   determining, by the processor of the computer system, a rule step order indicative of a sequence of which each rule step applicable to the approval request is executed;   executing, by the processor of the computer system, a first step of the determined rule step order that delivers an approval interface to the approver; and   receiving, at the computer system, an approval or disapproval from the approver.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , further including executing, by the computer system, a second rule step of the dynamic approval rule. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the first step of the rule order and the second rule step are executed in parallel. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 7 , further including skipping a rule step in the determine rule step order. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the rule step is skipped responsive to a time-out. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the rule step is skipped responsive to escalation. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 7 , further including delivering a status interface to a user, the status interface showing a status of the approval request, the approval request having rule steps executed both in series and in parallel. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the approval interface shows to the approver a current status of the approval request. 
     
     
         15 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code executable by a processor of a computer system for processing an approval request, the non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising:
 code that causes the processor to perform an operation of receiving a plurality of dynamic approval rules each including at least one rule step characterized by rule step criteria;   code that causes the processor to perform an operation of determining whether at least one of the collection of rule steps in the plurality of dynamic approval rules applies to the approval request;   code that causes the processor to perform an operation of determining a rule step order indicative of a sequence of which each rule step applicable to the approval request is executed;   code that causes the processor to perform an operation of executing a first step of the determined rule step order that delivers an approval interface to the approver; and   code that causes the processor to perform an operation of receiving an approval or disapproval from the approver.   
     
     
         16 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 15 , further including code that causes the processor to perform an operation of executing a second rule step of the dynamic approval rule. 
     
     
         17 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 16 , wherein the first step of the rule order and the second rule step are executed in parallel. 
     
     
         18 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 15 , further including code that causes the processor to perform an operation of skipping a rule step in the determine rule step order. 
     
     
         19 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 15 , further including code that causes the processor to perform an operation of delivering a status interface to a user, the status interface showing a status of the approval request, the approval request having rule steps executed both in series and in parallel. 
     
     
         20 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 15 , wherein the approval interface shows to the approver a current status of the approval request.