Orchestrating business processes

A business process is a long-lived flow of activities, executed in a specific sequence, to achieve the desired outcome. These activities consist of human tasks and atomic actions. The duration of a business process can range from minutes to days, or longer, depending on the nature of the human tasks that must be performed. For example, the Food Delivery process, which involves preparing and delivering food, should be measured in terms of minutes, whereas a typical business process that requires a management approval step may involve waiting hours or days for a manager to approve a task.There are two approaches to implementing business processes: choreography and orchestration. These terms are borrowed from the arts and are used as metaphors for software techniques—for example, a team of dancers work together to perform a choreographed set of movements but the choreographer is not in control of the actual performance, whereas an orchestra is led...