CFP: special issue on coordinated development of business processes and their support systems

REQUIREMENTS ENGINEERING JOURNAL 
Call for Papers for a Special Issue On 
COORDINATED DEVELOPMENT OF BUSINESS PROCESSES AND THEIR SUPPORT SYSTEMS 
IN CONNECTION WITH THE 5TH BPMDS WORKSHOP 

Traditional RE for business applications mainly concerns creating requirements 
on a software system based on business needs. During the past ten years, 
requirements on functionality of business applications have been slowly 
changing. The shift consists of moving from the command-based applications to 
the applications of workflow and groupware type. The difference between the 
traditional applications and the new generation is that while the former 
support the execution of certain activities, e.g. to write a letter, to print 
an invoice, to complete a transaction, the latter support the whole business 
process. A Business Process Support (BPS) system provides the possibility to 
run a business in a new, process-oriented way, a way which is more effective 
and efficient but which is not possible to introduce without a BPS system. 
This, in turn, demands not only to consider requirements the busi
 ness imposes on the system, but also requirements the system imposes on the 
business. In !
 the broader context, the focus of the development project should be shifted 
from the software development to coordinated development of business processes 
and BPS systems.  
The goal of a co-development project can be formulated as Creating and 
Maintaining the Fit between Business Processes and Support Systems. The focus 
of the creation phase is on concurrently designing business processes and 
business software applications. It involves RE activities as well as 
development and implementation activities of both business processes and BPS 
systems. All the involved activities relate to business as well as to 
technological issues. The maintenance phase is about the parallel evolution of 
the business and its BPS system as a reaction to changes in the business 
environment as well as to revolutionsin the information technology. 
While the need for alignment of business processes and their support systems 
has been emphasized and discussed, there is a great need for systematic 
approaches and tools for achieving it. The special issue on Coordinated 
development of Business Processes and their Support Systems seeks contributions 
that will fill this gap. Papers are encouraged from both the academic and 
business communities. Contributed papers may deal with, but are not limited to: 
- The role of models and modeling in the co-development of business processes 
and BPS 
- Tools, techniques, and conceptual frameworks for analyzing, creating and 
maintaining the alignment of business processes, business structure and BPS 
systems 
- RE for flexible or customizable BPS systems in support of creating and 
maintaining a fit between business processes and a BPS system 
- Goal analysis and modeling, with respect to software systems and business 
processes. 
- Business process modeling in changing environments 
- Enterprise architecture frameworks 
- The effect of co-development on the requirements for BPS systems and vice 
versa 
- Concurrent and/or coordinated development processes 
A 500-word abstract should be sent, "for guidance on appropriateness", to Gil 
Regev by e-mail: gil.regev-NaQqUyT2U4r5Qms1ycrYxg@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Closing date 
for receipt of abstract is 1 April 2004. 
In parallel to this CFP, an international workshop on Creating and Maintaining 
the Fit between Business Processes and Support Systems is being organized in 
June 2004 in Riga, Latvia: www.ibissoft.se/bpmds04/bpmds04.htm. Those who 
consider submitting a paper to the special issue are encouraged to participate 
in the workshop. Workshop participants do not need to submit extended 
abstracts, the appropriateness of their work will be judged by their position 
papers. 
Full papers should be 5000-6000 words long, submitted electronically to Gil 
Regev by 1 September, 2004. 
The format of submission should follow the guidelines for REJ: 
http://rej.co.umist.ac.uk. Reviews of the submitted manuscripts will proceed in 
accordance with REJ's editorial policy. All contributions will be subjected to 
a rigorous blind review by normally 3 experts. Notification of acceptance will 
be sent to authors by 31 December 2004. The special issue will be published in 
the first half of 2005. 
Guest Editors for the Special Issue: 
Gil Regev gil.regev-NaQqUyT2U4pyDzI6CaY1VQ@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 
Pnina Soffer spnina-Tjyw7bffEFV6auLlOhE+pQ@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 
Ilia Bider ilia-uJhTyWp3fkEwFerOooGFRg@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 
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