Kumar Bhaskaran

A heuristic to minimize the total weighted tardiness with sequence-dependent setups

We propose a three-phase heuristic for the problem of minimizing the total weighted tardiness on a single machine in the presence of sequence-dependent setup times. In the first phase a number of parameters characterizing the problem instance at hand are calculated. In the second phase we develop a schedule by using a new priority rule whose parameters are calculated based on the results of the first phase. Computational experiments show that this rule significantly outperforms the only other rule so far developed in the literature. The third phase consists of a local improvement procedure to improve the schedule obtained in the second phase. The procedure we suggest has been successfully implemented in an industrial scheduling system.

Model driven development for business performance management

Business process integration and monitoring provides an invaluable means for an enterprise to adapt to changing conditions. However, developing such applications using traditional methods is challenging because of the intrinsic complexity of integrating large-scale business processes and existing applications. Model Driven DevelopmentTM (MDDTM) is an approach to developing applications-from domain-specific models to platform-sensitive models-that bridges the gap between business processes and information technology. We describe the MDD framework and methodology used to create the IBM Business Performance Management (BPM) solution. We describe how we apply model-driven techniques to BPM and present a scenario from a pilot project in which these techniques were applied. Technical details on models and transformation are presented. Our framework uses and extends the IBM business observation metamodel and introduces a data warehouse metamodel and other platform-specific and transformational models. We discuss our lessons learned and present the general guidelines for using MDD to develop enterprise-scale applications.

Model-driven business performance management

In this paper, we present a model-driven approach to business performance management (BPM). BPM is a new frontier in IT-enabled enterprise that supports the monitoring and control of business operations. BPM solutions must be able to efficiently process business events, compute business metrics, detect business situations, and provide the real-time visibility of key performance indicators. In addition, system support is required for the rapid development of BPM solutions and the adaptation of the solutions to the dynamic business environment. We have adopted a meta-model, dubbed the observation meta-model, for capturing the business requirements for BPM, which frees solution developers from low-level programming concerns. We have also used a hybrid compilation-interpretation approach to map an observation model to the runtime executable. First, we extract and refactor the data aspect of the observation model to facilitate runtime access. Second, we compile the operational aspect of the model, such as logic for metric computation and situation detection, into Java code. Third, we develop a runtime engine that interprets the refactored model and dynamically loads the generated code, according to the meta-model. Our framework further enables the evolution and hot deployment of the observation model and provides the platform for several on-going customer engagement efforts

An e-business integration and collaboration platform for B2B e-commerce

The B2B e-commerce area is poised for tremendous growth. While this is a great opportunity for the system designers, the challenges are abundant as well. We list the requirements on an application platform for B2B e-commerce. We describe a framework-based approach to designing such a platform. We use design patterns to describe the frameworks on which the platform is based. These patterns illustrate how the platform supports collaborative business processes that integrate enterprise applications and trading partner systems. We present a programming model that enables the assembly of complex e-business applications on the platform.

Platform-independent model templates for business process integration and management solutions

Business process integration and management (BPIM) solutions are increasingly used to address pressing business integration needs within an enterprise or among value chain trading partners. The basic idea of the BPIM approach is to capture the business integration scenarios and requirements through formal modeling of the business operations and transforming the resulting models into platform-independent models (PIM) at solution level that can then be further developed into platform-specific models (PSM) and deployable solutions. The key of this approach is to externalize the business process models from the rest of business, application and other system logic of the integration solutions. In this paper, we propose a solution template approach for developing BPIM solutions. A solution template is a platform-independent model for BPIM solutions where a template is represented through a composition of a set of solution artifacts with an explicit description of the interrelationships among the solution artifacts.

Policy Driven Business Performance Management

Business performance management (BPM) has emerged as a critical discipline to enable enterprise to manage their business solutions in an on demand fashion. BPM applications promote an adaptive means by emphasizing the ability to monitor and control both business processes and IT events. However, most BPM processes and architectures are usually linear and rigid; and once done, will be very hard to change. Hence, it does not help enterprise to create adaptive monitoring and control applications for business solutions. There is an urgent need of adaptive BPM framework to be used as a platform of developing BPM applications. This paper presents a policy based BPM framework to help enterprise to achieve on demand monitoring and control framework for business solutions.

A model driven XML transformation framework for business performance management

As XML formats have been widely adopted for representing business documents both within and across enterprises, XML to XML translation becomes a common and critical component for business process integration. Due to limitations of popular approaches such as XSLT for XML translations, we designed a model driven development framework for XML to XML translation with the additional benefits of code re-use and strong built-in model validation. We further applied this framework to the domain of business performance management, converting documents from human-readable XML format to machine-readable XMI format

A model driven XML transformation framework for Business Performance Management model creation

As XML formats have been widely adopted for representing business documents both within and across enterprises, XML to XML translation becomes a common and critical component for business process integration. Due to limitations of popular approaches such as XSLT for XML translations, we designed a model driven development framework for XML to XML translation with the additional benefits of code re-use and strong built-in model validation. We further applied this framework to the domain of Business Performance Management (BPM), converting documents from human-readable XML format to machine-readable XMI format. Experimental evaluation indicated that XML models can have more than 75% size reduction.

Privileged identity management in enterprise service-hosting environments

IAM needs will only grow as devices, servers, and end points continue to increase . Current schemes are not sustainable as the number of IDs will explode. Environment is heterogeneous, and constantly adding new systems including Cloud. Our solution offers a platform where a user gets an individual user ID on a system - but only if they need it, when they need it, for only as long as they need it . Reusable ID scheme reduces the number of IDs in the system yielding cost savings on lifecycle management activities, improved security compliance . A compliance readiness platform can be enabled to prevent, flag, or monitor questionable access in or near real-time . Provide easily accessible logs to prove compliance policies.

Pushing the envelope of pervasive access

This paper presents the design and implementation of the Puma middleware system. Puma enables pervasive access to Web applications from a wide range of clients. In addition to traditional, browser-equipped client devices such as laptops and PDAs, Puma supports the use of peer collaboration tools such as instant messengers, SMS devices, email clients and telephones. While those collaboration tools were initially intended for free-form interaction between people, Puma leverages them for structured interaction between people and computers in order to offer more flexibility, convenience and intimacy to end users. In addition to user-initiated, or pull-based, interactions, Puma allows an application to proactively push an interaction to a user, in a manner sensitive to the applications needs and the users current context. Architecturally, Puma employs various Modality Bots to mediate between application servers and heterogeneous clients. The Modality Bots also serve as the initial point of contact for application-initiated interactions. As an experiment, Puma has been used to mobilize the human tasks application, which supports the creation, processing, and management of the manual steps in business processes.