Business process decomposition and modular reusable process automation system

Abstract

A process automation platform and method for automating business processes are disclosed. The method can include defining a business process in metadata, and, based on that metadata, selecting microbots to perform micro-operations included in the business process. An event engine initiates execution of the business process using the microbots and manages data dependencies of the microbots within the process. Each of the plurality of microbots includes microbot metadata defining a micro-operation performed by the microbot, and execution of each of the plurality of microbots is initiated independently of the others of the plurality of microbots.

1 . A business process automation system comprising:
 a business process execution platform executable on a computing system, the business process execution platform including:
 a process management engine operable to define a plurality of different business processes, the plurality of different business processes comprising processes including a plurality of operations executed on a plurality of different computing systems and software applications; 
 a microbot management engine operable to manage definitions of a plurality of microbots, the plurality of microbots including:
 a first microbot operable to interface with one or more of the plurality of different computing systems and software applications to perform at least a portion of a physical task; and 
 a second microbot operable to generate one or more recommendations for automating at least a portion of the business process based on availability of the plurality of microbots; and 
 
 an event engine operable to initiate execution of a business process defined in the process management engine by calling a selected plurality of the microbots in a predefined order to perform the business process, the microbots each performing a portion of the business process independently from other microbots, the event engine managing data dependencies within the business process and initiating use of each of the selected plurality of microbots based on the data dependencies. 
   
     
     
         2 . The business process automation system of  claim 1 , further comprising a user console presenting a user interface operable to:
 receive a definition of a microbot to be added to the definitions of the plurality of microbots at the microbot management engine; and   receive a definition of a business process at the process management engine, the definition comprising process metadata.   
     
     
         3 . The business process automation system of  claim 2 , wherein each of the plurality of microbots comprises microbot metadata defining a micro-operation performed by the microbot and data dependencies of that microbot. 
     
     
         4 . The business process automation system of  claim 3 , wherein execution of each of the plurality of microbots is initiated independently of others of the plurality of microbots. 
     
     
         5 . The business process automation system of  claim 3 , wherein each of the plurality of microbots is stateless, wherein any state transitions or data dependencies required in definition of a business process are managed by the event engine. 
     
     
         6 . The business process automation system of  claim 1 , further comprising a security subsystem configured to manage data security within the business process execution platform. 
     
     
         7 . The business process automation system of  claim 1 , wherein one or more of the plurality of microbots is operable to utilize one or more worker systems to perform a portion of the business process, wherein the workers are included in a worker farm. 
     
     
         8 . The business process automation system of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the plurality of microbots comprises an adapter configured to interface with a software application within the enterprise. 
     
     
         9 . The business process automation system of  claim 1 , wherein the computing system comprises a plurality of communicatively interconnected computing devices. 
     
     
         10 . A computer implemented method of automating business processes, the method comprising:
 defining each of a plurality of different business processes, the plurality of different business processes comprising processes including a plurality of operations executed on a plurality of different computing systems and software applications;   managing definitions of a plurality of microbots, the plurality of microbots including:
 a first microbot configured to interface with one or more of the plurality of different computing systems and software applications to perform at least a portion of a physical task; and 
 a second microbot configured to generate one or more recommendations for automating at least a portion of the business process based on the availability of the plurality of microbots; and 
   initiating execution of a business process from an event engine by calling a selected plurality of the microbots to perform the business process, the microbots each performing a portion of the business process independently from other microbots, the event engine managing data dependencies within the business process and initiating use of each of the selected plurality of microbots based on the data dependencies.   
     
     
         11 . The computer implemented method of  claim 10 , further comprising:
 presenting, on a user console, a user interface configured to:
 receive a definition of a microbot to be added to the definitions associated with the plurality of microbots; and 
 receive a definition of a business process, the definition comprising process metadata. 
   
     
     
         12 . The computer implemented method of  claim 11 , wherein each of the plurality of microbots comprises microbot metadata defining an atomic operation performed by the microbot and data dependencies of that microbot. 
     
     
         13 . The computer implemented method of  claim 12 , wherein execution of each of the plurality of microbots is initiated independently of the others of the plurality of microbots. 
     
     
         14 . The computer implemented method of  claim 12 , wherein each of the plurality of microbots is stateless, wherein any state transitions or data dependencies required in definition of a business process are managed by the event engine. 
     
     
         15 . The computer implemented method of  claim 10 , wherein one or more of the plurality of microbots is configured to utilize one or more worker systems to perform a portion of the business process, wherein the workers are included in a worker farm. 
     
     
         16 . The computer implemented method of  claim 10 , wherein at least one of the plurality of microbots comprises an adapter configured to interface with a software application within the enterprise. 
     
     
         17 . The computer implemented method of  claim 10 , wherein the plurality of microbots includes one or more generic microbots reusable in a plurality of different business processes, and one or more custom microbots customized to the business process. 
     
     
         18 . A system comprising:
 a programmable circuit; and   a memory operatively connected to the programmable circuit, the memory storing:
 definitions of a plurality of different business processes, the plurality of different business processes each including a plurality of operations executed on a plurality of different computing systems and software applications; and 
 instructions that, when executed by the programmable circuit, cause the system to:
 manage definitions of a plurality of microbots, the plurality of microbots including: 
 at least one microbot operable to generate one or more recommendations for automating at least a portion of the business process based on the availability of the plurality of microbots; and 
 
 initiate execution of a business process by calling a selected plurality of the microbots to perform the business process, the microbots each performing a portion of the business process independently from other microbots, the event engine managing data dependencies within the business process and initiating use of each of the selected plurality of microbots based on the data dependencies. 
   
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 18 , wherein the processor and memory are included in a process automation platform, the system further comprising a plurality of worker systems having a plurality of different capabilities, and wherein one or more of the plurality of microbots is operable to interface with a worker system from among the plurality of worker systems to perform one or more of the plurality of operations. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 19 , further comprising a plurality of enterprise systems communicatively connected to the process automation platform, the plurality of enterprise systems hosting one or more of the plurality of business processes.