In: Weber, Ehrig, Reisig (Eds.): Proc. of 2nd Int. Coll. on Petri Net Technologies for Modelling Communication Based Systems, pages 123-128. DFG Research Group "Petri Net Technology", September 2001.
Abstract: Service outsourcing is the business paradigm in which an organization has part of its business process performed by a service provider. In dynamic markets, service providers are selected on the fly during process enactment.The cooperation between the parties is specified in a dynamically made electronic contract. This presentation discusses a structure for such electronic contracts, including a workflow-based specification of the outsourced process and process enactment clauses referring to this process specification. The structure is applied in the context of the CrossFlow architecture for cross-organizational workflow management. The use of contract-based dynamic service outsourcing opens ways to efficient handling of fine-grained cross-organizational processes, allowing the creation and dismantling of short-term virtual enterprises.