Workflow creation support device and method

Abstract

To propose a workflow creation support device and method that can reduce the effort and time required to create workflow.SOLUTION: There are provided a workflow creation support device that supports the creation of workflow consisting of multiple tasks and a workflow creation support method that can be executed by the workflow creation support device. The device and method manage definition contents of workflow created in the past, and extract and recommend candidate tasks for a target step in workflow being currently created based on definition contents of tasks already defined for a predetermined number of steps before and / or after the workflow being currently created, as well as definition contents of existing workflow being managed.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 26

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a workflow creation support device and method, and is suitable for application to, for example, a workflow creation support device that supports the creation of complex workflows. [Background technology]

[0002] In general, in the operation management of IT services that manage computer systems, if the work content and procedures are not clearly defined, the work can become dependent on individuals, leading to a decline in work efficiency. A commonly used method to prevent this dependency on individuals in operation management is to create a workflow that predefines the work processing procedures, such as the work content and order, and then proceed with the work according to the created workflow. The advantage of an operation management method using a workflow is that it clarifies the work flow, prevents work from becoming dependent on individuals, and allows work to be carried out efficiently.

[0003] As a conventional technique for creating and reviewing workflows, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses an operations automation support system that determines whether a created workflow is missing any work items, and adds the missing work items if any are missing.

[0004] Patent Document 2 also discloses an operation system that executes registered operation procedures on a target server that is the object of operation, stores the execution results as execution history information, analyzes the stored execution history information, and transmits information indicating points for improvement in the operation procedures based on the analysis results to an administrator device, while analyzing similar patterns between the registered operation procedures and transmitting information to the administrator device that encourages control of the operation procedures based on the analyzed similar patterns. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2012-248085 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2014-191568 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] However, as workflows become more complex, it becomes more difficult to write them and to set their parameters, which can be a time-consuming and labor-intensive process for people without specialized knowledge.

[0007] The same is true for improving workflows. For example, even if improvement points such as those disclosed in Patent Document 2 are presented, it is difficult to know how to specifically improve operational procedures, resulting in the problem of requiring a lot of effort and time to make the improvements.

[0008] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above points, and aims to propose a workflow creation support device and method that can reduce the labor and time required to create a workflow. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] In order to solve this problem, in the present invention, a workflow creation support device that supports the creation of a workflow made up of a plurality of tasks is provided with a management unit that manages the definition contents of workflows that have been created in the past, and a candidate task recommendation unit that extracts and recommends candidate tasks for a target step in the workflow being created, based on the definition contents of tasks that have already been defined for a predetermined number of steps before and / or after the workflow being created, and the definition contents of existing workflows managed by the management unit. The task is defined by a plurality of types of parameters, and the parameters of the task are managed by dividing them into a first parameter group in which exact matches determine that the parameters are identical, a second parameter group in which similar parameters are treated as identical, and a third parameter group that includes parameters other than those belonging to the first and second parameter groups. The candidate task recommendation unit classifies the task into an existing task classification in which the values ​​of the parameters belonging to the first parameter group are exact matches and the values ​​of the parameters belonging to the second parameter group are similar. The candidate task recommendation unit also classifies the task into an existing task classification in which the values ​​of the parameters belonging to the first parameter group are exact matches and the values ​​of the parameters belonging to the second parameter group are similar. Each task is classified into one of task classifications, existing workflows are extracted in which each task of the same task classification as each task of the workflow being created exists in the same order as the workflow, the task classification of the task of the target step in each of the extracted existing workflows is identified, the occurrence probability of each identified task classification is calculated, all tasks of the task classification with the highest calculated occurrence probability are extracted from each of the existing workflows, each extracted task is evaluated based on the occurrence frequency, execution time and execution cost of the task, and a predetermined number of tasks with the highest evaluation values ​​are recommended as task candidates for the target step in the workflow being created. I did so.

[0010] Also, in the present invention, there is provided a workflow creation support method executed by a workflow creation support device that supports the creation of a workflow made up of a plurality of tasks, the method comprising: a first processing step of managing the definition contents of workflows created in the past; and a second processing step of extracting and recommending task candidates for a target step in the workflow being created based on the definition contents of tasks of a predetermined number of steps before and / or after the workflow being created that have already been defined in the workflow being created and the definition contents of the existing workflows being managed. The task is defined by a plurality of types of parameters, and the parameters of the task are managed by dividing them into a first parameter group in which exact matches determine that the parameters are the same, a second parameter group in which similar parameters are treated as the same, and a third parameter group that handles parameters other than those belonging to the first and second parameter groups, and the workflow creation support device classifies the task into an existing task classification in which the values ​​of the parameters belonging to the first parameter group are exact matches and the parameters belonging to the second parameter group are similar, and in the second processing step, the workflow creation support device classifies the task into an existing task classification in which the values ​​of the parameters belonging to the first parameter group are identical and the values ​​of ... classifies the tasks of each subsequent step into one of the task classifications, extracts the existing workflows in which each task of the same task classification as each task of the workflow being created exists in the same order as the workflow, identifies the task classification of the task of the target step in each of the extracted existing workflows, calculates the occurrence probability of each identified task classification, extracts all tasks of the task classification with the highest calculated occurrence probability from each of the existing workflows, evaluates each extracted task based on the occurrence frequency, execution time, and execution cost of the task, and recommends a predetermined number of tasks with the highest evaluation values ​​as task candidates for the target step in the workflow being created. I did so.

[0011] According to the workflow creation support device and method of the present invention, it is possible to recommend appropriate tasks that have already been defined to an administrator who is creating a workflow. [Effects of the Invention]

[0012] According to the present invention, it is possible to realize a workflow creation support device and method that can reduce the effort and time required to create a workflow. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0013] [Figure 1] 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of a workflow creation support system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the configuration of a workflow creation screen. [Figure 3] 10A and 10B are diagrams showing screen transitions on a workflow creation screen in response to an administrator operation. [Figure 4] 10A and 10B are diagrams showing screen transitions on a workflow creation screen in response to an administrator operation. [Figure 5] 10A and 10B are diagrams showing screen transitions on a workflow creation screen in response to an administrator operation. [Figure 6] 10A and 10B are diagrams showing screen transitions on a workflow creation screen in response to an administrator operation. [Figure 7] 10A and 10B are diagrams showing screen transitions on a workflow creation screen in response to an administrator operation. [Figure 8]FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the configuration of an operation performance registration screen. [Figure 9] FIG. 10 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a method for predicting the next task to be specified. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a method for predicting the next task to be specified. [Figure 11] 1A is a conceptual diagram illustrating a method for predicting the next task using a second-order Markov model, and FIG. 1B is a diagram illustrating a specific example of such a prediction method. [Figure 12] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a method for calculating an evaluation value of a task. [Figure 13] 1A is a conceptual diagram illustrating a method for predicting the next task using a second-order Markov model, and FIG. 1B is a diagram illustrating a specific example of such a prediction method. [Figure 14] 10 is a diagram illustrating task parameters. [Figure 15] 10 is a diagram illustrating the contents that can be specified as parameter values ​​of a parameter called "action." [Figure 16] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a method for classifying tasks. [Figure 17] 10A to 10D are conceptual diagrams showing the procedure for classifying tasks. [Figure 18] 10 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a task table. [Figure 19] 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a task classification table. [Figure 20] 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a workflow table. [Figure 21] 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a person in charge table. [Figure 22] 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a cloud execution environment table. [Figure 23] 10 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a workflow execution history table. [Figure 24] 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a task execution history table. [Figure 25] 10 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for task classification processing. [Figure 26] 10 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure of task recommendation processing. [Figure 27] 10 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for workflow registration processing. [Figure 28] 10 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for workflow time / cost prediction processing. [Figure 29] 10 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for workflow analysis processing. [Figure 30] FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram showing the flow of processing related to creation and registration of a workflow. [Figure 31] FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram showing a processing flow relating to task recommendation. [Figure 32] FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram showing a processing flow relating to workflow analysis. [Figure 33] FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram showing a flow of processing related to writing a workflow. [Figure 34] FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram showing a processing flow relating to the execution of a workflow. [Figure 35] FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram showing a process flow relating to confirmation of an operational status. [Figure 36] FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram showing a processing flow related to registration of operational results. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0014] An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

[0015] (1) Configuration of the Workflow Creation Support System According to the Present Embodiment 1, the workflow creation support system according to this embodiment is generally designated by reference numeral 1. This workflow creation support system 1 comprises a workflow creation support device 2, an administrator device 3, and an operation target server 4.

[0016] The workflow creation support device 2 is configured from a general-purpose server device equipped with a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 10, a main memory device 11, an auxiliary memory device 12, an input device 13, a display device 14, and the like.

[0017] The CPU 10 is a processor that controls the overall operation of the workflow creation support device 2. The main storage device 11 is configured from volatile semiconductor memory such as SRAM (Static Random Access Memory) or DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory), and is used as a working memory for the CPU 10.

[0018] The auxiliary storage device 12 is configured with a large-capacity nonvolatile storage device such as a hard disk drive or SSD (Solid State Drive), and stores data, programs, etc. that need to be stored for a long period of time. The programs stored in the auxiliary storage device 12 are loaded into the main storage device 11 when the workflow creation support device 2 is started up or when needed, and the programs loaded into the main storage device 11 are executed by the CPU 10, thereby performing various processes of the workflow creation support device 2 as a whole, as described below.

[0019] The input device 13 is composed of, for example, a keyboard, a mouse, etc., and is used by the administrator to input necessary information and commands to the workflow creation support device 2. The display device 14 is composed of, for example, a liquid crystal display or an organic EL (Electro-Luminescence) display, etc., and is used to display necessary information and screens. Note that instead of the input device 13 and the display device 14, a touch panel that integrates these may be used.

[0020] The administrator device 3 is configured from a general-purpose computer such as a notebook personal computer, a desktop personal computer, or a tablet, and is connected to the workflow creation support device 2 via a first network 5 such as the Internet, a LAN (Local Area Network), or a dedicated line. The administrator device 3 transmits various instructions and various data input by the administrator of this workflow creation support system 1 to the workflow creation support device 2 via the first network 5, and displays the processing results of various processes transmitted from the workflow creation support device 2 via the first network 5.

[0021] The operation target server 4 is a general-purpose cloud server device or an on-premise server device to which a workflow created by an administrator using the workflow creation support device 2, as will be described later, is applied, and is connected to the workflow creation support device 2 via a second network 6 such as the Internet, a LAN, or a dedicated line. The first and second networks 5 and 6 may be the same network.

[0022] (2) Workflow Creation Support Function According to This Embodiment (2-1) Overview of Workflow Creation Support Function According to the Present Embodiment Next, we will explain the workflow creation support function installed in the workflow creation support device 2. In this workflow creation support system 1, the administrator can create a new workflow (hereinafter referred to as a new workflow) by sequentially specifying the tasks for each step of the workflow. At this time, the workflow creation support function is a function that extracts and recommends candidate tasks for the specified new workflow from the tasks used in the past case workflow, based on the definition contents of the previous and / or next tasks already defined in the new workflow and the definition contents of the past case workflow (hereinafter referred to as the past case workflow).

[0023] In practice, in this workflow creation support system 1, an administrator can perform a predetermined operation on the administrator device 3 to display a workflow creation screen 20 on the administrator device 3, which has a workflow creation area 20A and a recommendation area 20B as shown in Figure 2.

[0024] The workflow creation area 20A is an area for creating a new workflow by arranging the desired tasks in the order in which the administrator wants them to be created. In practice, when starting to create a new workflow, the task setting field 21 (21A) for the first step is displayed blank in the upper left of the workflow creation area 20A.

[0025] When the administrator sets the task for the first step of the new workflow to be created at that time through a predetermined operation, an icon 22 showing the label of that task is displayed in the first task setting field 21 (21A). In addition, a second task setting field 21 (21B) for specifying the task for the next step is newly displayed in a blank state below the first task setting field 21 (21A), and an arrow 23 (23A) pointing from the first task setting field 21 (21A) to the task setting field 21 (21B) for the second step is displayed between these two task setting fields 21 (21A, 21B).

[0026] Furthermore, when the administrator clicks on the second task setting field 21 (21B) displayed in the workflow creation area 20A and then sets the task for the second step of the new workflow that the administrator is currently creating through a predetermined operation, an icon 22 displaying the label of that task is displayed in the second task setting field 21 (21B), as shown in Fig. 3. In addition, a third task setting field 21 (21C) for specifying the task for the next step is newly displayed in a blank state below the second task setting field 21 (21B), and an arrow 23 (23B) pointing from the second task setting field 21 (21B) to the third task setting field 21 (21C) is displayed between these two task setting fields 21 (21B, 21C).

[0027] Thereafter, when the administrator clicks on the third task setting field 21 (21C) displayed in the workflow creation area 20A, several icons 24, each bearing the label of a task recommended by the workflow creation support device 2 as the task for the third step of the new workflow being created at that time, are displayed in the recommendation area 20B. Note that a specific selection method for how the workflow creation support device 2 selects the tasks to recommend will be described later.

[0028] 4, in the recommendation area 20B, by moving the cursor 25 onto an icon 24 bearing the label of a desired task from among the displayed icons 24, a first pop-up 26 can be displayed that describes the detailed definition of the task corresponding to that label, as well as the cost and time required to execute the task. This allows the administrator to rely on the information displayed in the first pop-up 26 to select a task to be applied as the task of the third step from among the tasks recommended by the workflow creation support device 2.

[0029] Then, when the administrator drags and drops the label of a task desired as the third step of the new workflow from among several tasks for which icons 24 corresponding to the recommendation area 20B are displayed into the third task setting field 21 (21C), or sets the third task of the new workflow using a predetermined operation similar to that for the first and second tasks, an icon 22 bearing the label of that task is displayed in the third task setting field 21 (21C), as shown in Fig. 5. At the same time, a blank fourth task setting field 21 (21D) for setting the next step task is newly displayed below the third task setting field 21 (21C), and an arrow 23 (23C) pointing from the third task setting field 21 (21C) to the fourth task setting field 21 (21D) is displayed between these two task setting fields 21 (21C, 21D).

[0030] Then, on the workflow creation screen 20, in the same manner as described above, when the administrator clicks on the nth (here, n≧4) task setting field 21 displayed in the workflow creation area 20A, one or more icons 24 each bearing the label of the task recommended by the workflow creation support device 2 as the task for the nth step of the new workflow being created at that time are displayed in the recommendation area 20B.

[0031] Then, when the administrator drags and drops the icon 24 of the task desired as the task for the nth step of the new workflow from among several tasks for which icons 24 corresponding to the recommendation area 20B are displayed into the nth task setting field 21, or sets the nth task of the new workflow using a predetermined operation similar to that for the first task, an icon 22 bearing the label of that task is displayed in the nth task setting field 21. At the same time, a blank n+1th task setting field 21 for specifying the next task is newly displayed below the nth task setting field 21, and an arrow 23 pointing from the nth task setting field 21 to the n+1th task setting field 21 is displayed between these two task setting fields 21.

[0032] Thus, by repeating the above-described operations using the workflow creation screen 20, the administrator can sequentially set the tasks for each step in the new workflow being created at that time, thereby creating the desired new workflow.

[0033] On workflow creation screen 20, by moving cursor 25 onto task setting field 21 of a step in a new workflow displayed in workflow creation area 20A for which a task has already been set, a second pop-up 27 describing the details of the definition of that task can be displayed, as shown in Fig. 5. In this second pop-up 27, the described definition of the task can be edited, and thereby the task definition of that step in the new workflow can also be updated.

[0034] In addition, on the workflow creation screen 20, as shown in FIG. 6, by clicking on the task setting field 21 of the third or subsequent step for which a task has already been set while creating a new workflow as described above, several icons 24 each bearing the label of a task recommended by the workflow creation support device 2 as a task for that step can be displayed again in the recommendation area 20B.

[0035] Then, the administrator drags and drops the icon 24 of the task desired as the task for that step of the new workflow from among the tasks for which the icon 24 corresponding to the recommendation area 20B is displayed into the corresponding task setting field 21, or sets the task for the step to be changed in the new workflow using a predetermined operation similar to that for the first task.Instead of the label of the original task, an icon 22 bearing the label of the task that was just moved or set is displayed in the task setting field 21 for that step.

[0036] In this case, when a task for a step after that step has not been specified, a blank task setting field 21 for setting a task for the next step is displayed below the task setting field 21 for that step, and an arrow 23 pointing from the task setting field 21 for that step to the newly displayed next task setting field 21 is displayed between these two task setting fields 21.

[0037] On the other hand, when a task for a step after that step has already been specified (the task setting field 21 for the next step is already displayed), a new task setting field 21 for setting the task for the next step is not displayed, and accordingly, a new arrow 23 pointing from the task setting field 21 for that step to the task setting field 21 for the next step is not displayed either.

[0038] On the other hand, on the workflow creation screen 20, as shown in Fig. 7, after creating a new workflow in the workflow creation area 20A as described above, by clicking an analysis button 28 provided in the workflow creation area 20A, the administrator can have the workflow creation support device 2 predict the cost and time required to execute the new workflow created at that time. Hereinafter, the cost required to execute the workflow will be referred to as the execution cost, and the time required to execute the workflow will be referred to as the execution time. At this time, a third pop-up 29 describing the execution cost and execution time predicted by the workflow creation support device 2 is displayed on the workflow creation screen 20.

[0039] Additionally, one or more past case workflows that are similar to the new workflow created by the administrator at that time and that are recommended by the workflow creation support device 2 are extracted from among workflows (hereinafter referred to as past case workflows) that were created in the past and have already been executed on one of the operation target servers 4 (FIG. 1), and are displayed in the recommendation area 20B as recommended workflows 30. This allows the administrator to update the content of the new workflow created in the workflow creation area 20A as needed, while referring to the recommended workflows 30 displayed in the recommendation area 20B.

[0040] Furthermore, on the workflow creation screen 20, after creating a new workflow as described above, by clicking the registration button 31, various information about the new workflow can be registered in the workflow creation support device 2. Note that the "various information about the workflow" here refers to information that represents the definition of the workflow, including information about the definition of each task that constitutes the workflow (hereinafter referred to as task information), information about the task classification of these tasks, and information about the order in which these tasks are arranged (hereinafter referred to as workflow information).

[0041] Furthermore, on workflow creation screen 20, by clicking write button 32 after creating a new workflow, the administrator can file the workflow information of the new workflow and output it to workflow creation support device 2. In this case, the workflow information that has been filed is managed in that state in workflow creation support device 2.

[0042] On the other hand, by performing a predetermined operation on the administrator device 3, the administrator can display an operation performance registration screen 40 as shown in Fig. 8 on the administrator device 3. On this operation performance registration screen 40, a workflow (past case workflow) 41 that has already been executed by a predetermined operation can be displayed in a performance registration target workflow display area 40A on the left side of the screen. In this case, in addition to the past case workflow 41, a fourth pop-up 46 is also displayed in the performance registration target workflow display area 40A, which displays the workflow ID of the past case workflow 41 and the execution time and execution cost required to execute the past case workflow.

[0043] On the performance record registration screen 40, when a desired task (hereinafter referred to as the target task) in the past case workflow 41 displayed in the performance record registration target workflow display area 40A is clicked as described above, an execution time text box 42 for inputting the actual time required to execute the target task and a cost text box 43 for inputting the actual cost required to execute the target task are displayed in the performance input area 40B on the left side of the performance record registration screen 40.

[0044] Also displayed in the result input area 40B at this time are a person in charge text box 44 for inputting the name of the person who actually handled the target task, and a cost difference reason specification field 45A for specifying, in a pull-down menu, the reason for the difference between the cost predicted by the workflow creation support device 2 and the actual cost required.

[0045] Thus, the administrator can manually input the information by entering the actual time required to perform the target task in a time text box 42, the actual cost required to perform the target task in a cost text box 43, and the name of the person in charge of actually performing the target task in a person in charge text box 44.

[0046] Furthermore, the administrator can specify the reason for the difference between the cost predicted by the workflow creation support device 2 and the actual cost by selecting an appropriate reason from the options displayed in a pull-down menu (not shown) that is displayed by clicking on a pull-down button 45B displayed to the right of the cost difference reason specification field 45A. The reason specified at this time is displayed in the cost difference reason specification field 45A.

[0047] On the operation performance registration screen 40, the actual time and cost required for execution of other tasks of the past case workflow 41 displayed in the performance registration target workflow display area 40A can be manually entered in the same manner as described above, and then by clicking the registration button 47, this information can be registered in the workflow creation support device 2 as manually entered information related to that past case workflow.

[0048] (2-2) Method for selecting and displaying recommended tasks by a workflow creation support device Next, a specific method for selecting and displaying tasks to be recommended to the user in the workflow creation support device 2 will be described.

[0049] In this embodiment, the workflow creation support device 2 analyzes the order of tasks in past case workflows using an N-order Markov model, predicts several tasks that are likely to be set as tasks for steps specified in a new workflow based on the analysis results, and recommends these tasks. Here, for the third and subsequent steps, the workflow creation support device 2 predicts tasks that are likely to be set as tasks for those steps using a second-order Markov model (N=2) as shown in Fig. 9 and Fig. 10.

[0050] In practice, when the nth task setting field 21 (FIGS. 2 to 7) is clicked in the workflow creation area 20A of the workflow creation screen 20 (FIGS. 2 to 7) in a state where the tasks up to the n-1th (here, n≧3) in a new workflow have already been set and no tasks from the nth onwards have been set, the workflow creation support device 2 extracts from the past case workflows all past case workflows in which tasks of the same task classification as the tasks set as the n-2th task and the n-1th task in the new workflow, respectively, are set as the n-2th task and the n-1th task, respectively.

[0051] Note that a "task category" here refers to a group of tasks classified according to their definition, and "tasks of the same task category" refer to tasks that can be treated as tasks of the same task category even if their definitions do not match exactly. For example, if a task with a label defined by an administrator called "inquiry" and another task with a label also defined by an administrator called "inquiry" match in all aspects except for the label, they can be treated as the same task. Therefore, these two tasks fall under the category of "tasks of the same task category."

[0052] The workflow creation support device 2 then identifies all tasks set as the n-th task in each of the extracted past case workflows, and calculates the occurrence probability for each task category to which each of these identified tasks belongs.

[0053] For example, as shown in Figure 11(A), suppose that in a new workflow, an administrator specifies a task in a task category labeled "inquiry" as the n-2th task, and another task in a task category labeled "content confirmation" as the n-1th task, and then the nth task setting field 21 is clicked.

[0054] In this case, the workflow creation support device 2 extracts from the past case workflows all past case workflows in which the n-2th task is set to a task of the same task classification as the n-2th task of the new workflow and the n-1th task is set to a task of the same task classification as the n-1th task of the new workflow, and identifies the task classification of the nth task in each of the extracted past case workflows.

[0055] 11B, the workflow creation support device 2 counts the frequency of occurrence for each identified task category. Then, based on the counting results, the workflow creation support device 2 calculates the frequency of occurrence of each identified task category using the following equation:

number

[0056] Note that Figure 11(B) shows an example in which the labels of the nth task set in the extracted past case workflow are "answer," "approval," and "reception," and the occurrence frequencies of the tasks for each task classification to which these tasks belong are "200 times," "400 times," and "400 times," respectively, so the occurrence probabilities P of these task classifications are calculated to be "20%," "40%," and "40%," respectively.

[0057] 12, the workflow creation support device 2 extracts all tasks that belong to each task category for which the occurrence probability P has been calculated as described above from the tasks that make up each past case workflow, and calculates the occurrence frequency, execution time, and execution cost of each of the extracted tasks based on the execution history of the past case workflows. Specific methods for calculating the occurrence frequency, execution time, and execution cost of these tasks will be described later.

[0058] Then, the workflow creation support device 2 calculates the frequency of occurrence, execution time, and execution cost of these tasks using the following formula:

number

[0059] For example, in the example of FIG. 12, the workflow creation support device 2 calculates the following equation for "task A":

number

number

[0060] The workflow creation support device 2 then arranges the task categories vertically so that the larger the total value of the calculated evaluation values ​​S is at the top, and displays icons 24 with the labels of the top several tasks (for example, up to 2 to 3) with the largest evaluation values ​​S within the same task category horizontally in the recommendation area 20B of the workflow creation screen 20 (see Figures 3, 4, and 6).

[0061] On the other hand, when the task setting field 21 corresponding to the nth task for which the n-2th and n-1th tasks and the n+1th and n+2th tasks have already been specified (i.e., a task for which two tasks have already been set before and after it), is clicked, the workflow creation support device 2 selects and displays the recommended tasks as follows:

[0062] The workflow creation support device 2 first extracts, from among the past case workflows, all past case workflows in which tasks of the same task classification as the task classification of each task set as the n-2th and n-1th tasks of the new workflow, respectively, are set as the n-2th and n-1th tasks.

[0063] Then, as shown in Figures 13(A) and (B), the workflow creation support device 2 identifies the task classification of the nth task in each of the extracted past case workflows in the same manner as described above with reference to Figures 11(A) and (B), and calculates the occurrence probability P1 (hereinafter referred to as the first occurrence probability) for each of these identified task classifications.

[0064] Furthermore, the workflow creation support device 2 extracts, from the past case workflows, all past case workflows in which tasks of the same task classification as the task classification of each task set as the n+1th and n+2th tasks in the new workflow are set as the n+1th and n+2nd tasks, respectively.

[0065] Then, as shown in FIGS. 13(A) and (B), the workflow creation support device identifies all task classifications of the task set as the nth task in each of the extracted past case workflows using a method similar to that described above with reference to FIGS. 11(A) and (B), and calculates the occurrence probability P2 (hereinafter referred to as the second occurrence probability) for each of these identified task classifications.

[0066] For example, as shown in Figure 13(B), suppose that in a new workflow, the administrator has designated a task labeled "inquiry" as the n-2th task and a task labeled "content confirmation" as the n-1th task, and has designated tasks labeled "approval" as the n+1th task and "inspection" as the n+2nd task, and has clicked on the task setting field 21 corresponding to the nth task.

[0067] In this case, the workflow creation support device 2 extracts, from the past case workflows, all past case workflows that are set to the same task classification as the "inquiry" task to which the (n-2)th task belongs, and the same task classification as the "content confirmation" task to which the (n-1)th task belongs, and identifies all task classifications of the nth task in each of the extracted past case workflows. The workflow creation support device 2 also calculates the first occurrence probability P1 for each identified task classification using equation (1).

[0068] The workflow creation support device 2 also extracts all past case workflows that are set for tasks in the same task classification as the "approval" task to which the (n+1)th task belongs, and tasks in the same task classification as the "inspection" task to which the (n+2)th task belongs, and identifies all task classifications that are set as the nth task in the extracted past case workflows. The workflow creation support device 2 also calculates a second appearance frequency P2 for each identified task classification using equation (1).

[0069] Furthermore, the workflow creation support device calculates the following equation based on the first and second occurrence probabilities P1 and P2 calculated as described above for the same task category:

number

[0070] Furthermore, the workflow creation support device 2 extracts all tasks that belong to each task classification for which the occurrence probability P has been calculated as described above from the tasks that make up each past case workflow, and calculates the occurrence frequency, execution time, and execution cost of each of the extracted tasks based on the execution history of the past case workflow.

[0071] Furthermore, the workflow creation support device 2 calculates an evaluation value S for each task using the above-mentioned formula (2) based on the calculated occurrence frequency, execution time, and execution cost of each task.

[0072] The workflow creation support device 2 then displays the icons 24 (FIGS. 3, 4, and 6) of the labels of these tasks in the recommendation area 20B of the workflow creation screen 20 so that the task classifications with the larger totals of the calculated evaluation values ​​S are positioned at the top, and the top several tasks (for example, up to 2 to 3) with the largest evaluation values ​​S within the same task classification are arranged horizontally.

[0073] In the above example, a second-order Markov model was used to predict a task that is likely to be specified as the task for the nth step (n≧3). However, a first-order Markov model (an Nth-order Markov model with N=1, also known as a simple Markov model) may also be used to predict a task that is likely to be set as the nth step (n≧2) in the same manner as above.

[0074] The first-order Markov model can be used to predict the task likely to be set in the nth step (n≧2) using only the tasks of the steps before that step, as shown in Figure 9, and also to predict the task likely to be set in the nth step (n≧2) using the tasks of the steps before and after that step, as shown in Figure 10.

[0075] Furthermore, an N-th order Markov model, where N is 3 or more, may be used to predict tasks that are likely to be set in the N+1th or subsequent steps.

[0076] (2-3) Task Classification Method According to the Present Embodiment Next, a method by which workflow creation support device 2 classifies each task of a new workflow into one of the task categories will be described. In this embodiment, each task of a new workflow is classified based on the parameters of that task. Here, the description will be given assuming that a task is defined by nine parameters, namely, "label," "description," "action," "input," "group / role," "ui," "next," "when," and "do," as shown in FIG.

[0077] "Action" is a parameter that indicates the content of the processing that is actually performed as the task. In this embodiment, the processing that can be specified as "action" includes "core.ask", "core.http", "core.noop", "core.sendmail", "fetch_access_token", "run_job_template", and "get_job_result", as shown in FIG.

[0078] Here, if the condition for classifying a task into a certain task classification is that all parameters of the task to be classified are a perfect match with all parameters of any task belonging to that task classification, then even if the task is essentially the same task classification, if the label ("label") differs by just one character or the description of the task in the "description" differs by several characters, the task will be determined to be in a different classification.

[0079] However, labels and descriptions are defined by administrators, and some administrators may write "inquiry" as "inquiry," "inquiry," or "inquiry," or the description of a task in "description" may be written differently from that of other administrators, even though the content is essentially the same. In such cases, if the task to be classified is determined not to belong to that task classification, problems may occur, such as a task that should have been recommended not being recommended or the same task being recommended multiple times.

[0080] Therefore, in this embodiment, the tasks to be classified are classified into existing or new task categories using the following method.

[0081] First, as shown in Fig. 16, the task parameters are divided into a first parameter group consisting of parameters that should be determined to be identical when they match perfectly (e.g., "action" and "ui"), a second parameter group consisting of parameters that are similar but treated as identical (e.g., "label" and "description"), and a third parameter group consisting of parameters that are not used or difficult to use in analysis (e.g., "input"). Furthermore, for each parameter belonging to the first parameter group, a representative value for that parameter in each task classification is set in advance.

[0082] When classifying a task in a new workflow into one of the task classifications, first, as shown in Figure 17(A), the values ​​of each parameter belonging to the first parameter group of that task (hereinafter referred to as the task to be classified) are compared with the representative values ​​of those parameters in the existing task classifications.

[0083] Then, a task classification is extracted in which the values ​​of all parameters belonging to the first parameter group of the classification target task exactly match the representative values ​​of the corresponding parameters. Hereinafter, the extracted task classification is called the extracted task classification.

[0084] Next, as shown in Figure 17(B), the similarity between the task to be classified and each task classification is calculated from the representative value of each parameter belonging to the second parameter group of the task to be classified and the representative value of each parameter belonging to the second parameter group of the extracted task classification.

[0085] Such similarity can be calculated as a weighted sum of similarities between words or sentences for each parameter. For example, the Levenshtein distance between two words can be used as the similarity between those two words, and the Word Mover's Distance between two sentences can be used as the similarity between those two sentences.

[0086] Next, as shown in Figure 17(C), the extracted task classification with the greatest similarity to the classification target task is selected. Furthermore, as shown in Figure 17(D), it is determined whether the similarity between the selected extracted task classification and the classification target task is equal to or greater than a preset threshold, and if a positive result is obtained, the classification target task is classified into the selected extracted task classification. The reason for adding the determination in Figure 17(D) is to prevent the classification target task from being classified into a task classification with a low similarity when there is little data, such as at the beginning of operation.

[0087] (2-4) Configuration of the Workflow Creation Support Device Regarding the Workflow Creation Support Function As means for realizing the workflow creation support function of this embodiment as described above, as shown in FIG. 1, a task table 50, a task classification table 51, a workflow table 52, a person in charge table 53, a cloud execution environment table 54, a workflow execution history table 55, and a task execution history table 56 are stored in the auxiliary storage device 12 of the workflow creation support device 2, and a screen creation unit 57, an operation management unit 58, an execution management unit 59, and a procedure file management unit 60 read from the auxiliary storage device 12 are stored in the main storage device 11 of the workflow creation support device 2.

[0088] The task table 50 is a table used to manage tasks set in any past case workflow, and as shown in Figure 18, it is composed of a task ID column 50A, a task classification ID column 50B, and a parameter value column 50C for each parameter described above in Figure 14.

[0089] In the task table 50, one record (row) corresponds to the task information of one task executed in one of the past case workflows. In the task table 50, tasks for which the parameter values ​​of each parameter are exactly the same are treated as the same task, and even if these tasks are executed in different past case workflows, the task information of these tasks is not registered in the task table 50 in duplicate.

[0090] The task ID column 50A stores an identifier (task ID) unique to the corresponding task, and the task classification ID column 50B stores an identifier (task classification ID) unique to the task classification into which the task is classified. The parameter value columns 50C store the parameter values ​​of the corresponding parameters set for the corresponding tasks.

[0091] Therefore, in the example of Figure 18, a task assigned a task ID of "1" is a task classified into a task classification assigned a task classification ID of "1", and the parameter values ​​of each parameter are set as follows: "action" is "core.ask", "label" is "inquiry", "description" is "xxx", "ui" is "1", etc.

[0092] Task classification table 51 is a table for managing representative values ​​of specific parameters of tasks that can be classified into each task classification, and is configured with a task classification ID column 51A and multiple specific parameter columns 51B, as shown in Fig. 19. In task classification table 51, one record corresponds to one task classification.

[0093] The task category ID field stores the task category ID of the corresponding task category. The specific parameter field 51B stores representative values ​​(parameter values) of several specific parameters for classifying the task into the task category.

[0094] Therefore, in the example of Figure 19, for example, in order for a task to be classified into a task classification with a task classification ID of "1", the parameter value of "action" must be "core.ask", the parameter value of "label" must be "inquiry", the parameter value of "description" must be "xxx", and so on, and must match or be close to these values ​​(as the above parameter values ​​are merely representative values).

[0095] The workflow table 52 is a table for managing workflows created in the past (past case workflows), and is configured with a workflow ID column 52A, a task list column 52B, and a task classification list column 52C, as shown in Fig. 20. In the workflow table 52, one record corresponds to one past case workflow.

[0096] In the workflow table 52, past case workflows in which the same tasks are set in the same order are treated as the same past case workflow, and even if these past case workflows are executed at different times, information about these past case workflows is not registered in the workflow table 52 in duplicate.

[0097] The workflow ID column 52A stores an identifier (workflow ID) unique to the corresponding past case workflow that is assigned to that past case workflow, and the task list column 52B stores the task IDs of the tasks for each step that make up that past case workflow in a list format arranged in step order.

[0098] The task classification list column 52C stores the task classification IDs of the task classifications into which the tasks of each step in the corresponding past case workflow are classified, in the order of the steps of the corresponding tasks, in a list format.

[0099] Therefore, in the example of Figure 20, for example, a past case workflow assigned a workflow ID of "1" is a workflow in which tasks assigned task IDs of "1" to "4" are executed in that order, and the task classifications of these tasks "1" to "4" are assigned task classification IDs of "3," "4," "2," or "9," respectively.

[0100] The person in charge table 53 is a table for managing the person in charge when a past case workflow is executed or the manager who may be in charge when a new workflow is executed, and is configured with a person in charge ID column 53A and a cost per unit time column 53B, as shown in Fig. 21. In the person in charge table 53, one record corresponds to one person in charge.

[0101] The person in charge ID column 53A stores an identifier (person in charge ID) unique to the person in charge, and the cost per unit time column 53B stores the cost per unit time of the person in charge. Therefore, in the example of Figure 21, the cost per unit time of the person in charge ID "1" is shown to be "○ yen".

[0102] Cloud execution environment table 54 is a table for managing cloud environments, and is configured with a cloud environment ID column 54A and a cost per unit time column 54B, as shown in Fig. 22. In cloud execution environment table 54, one record corresponds to one cloud environment in which a workflow is executed.

[0103] The cloud environment ID column 54A stores an identifier (cloud environment ID) unique to the corresponding cloud environment, and the cost per unit time column 54B stores the usage cost per unit time of the cloud environment. Therefore, in the example of Figure 22, the usage cost per unit time of the cloud environment ID "1" is shown to be "□ yen."

[0104] 23, the workflow execution history table 55 includes a workflow execution history ID column 55A, a workflow ID column 55B, a total execution time column 55C, an automatically calculated total cost column 55D, and a manually input total cost column 55E. In the workflow execution history table 55, one record corresponds to the execution history of one workflow (past case workflow).

[0105] The workflow execution history ID column 55A stores an identifier (workflow execution history ID) unique to the corresponding execution history, and the workflow ID column 55B stores the workflow ID of the past case workflow executed at that time.

[0106] The total execution time column 55C stores the total time (total execution time) required to execute the past case workflow, and the automatically calculated total cost column 55D stores the total cost required to execute the corresponding past case workflow, which is automatically calculated by the workflow creation support device 2.

[0107] The total execution time of a past case workflow is calculated as the sum of the execution times of the individual tasks that make up that past case workflow, and the total cost of a past case workflow is calculated as the sum of the costs required to execute the individual tasks that make up that past case workflow. The methods for calculating the execution time and cost of each task will be described later.

[0108] Furthermore, the actual total cost required to execute the corresponding past case workflow, which is manually entered by the administrator, is stored in the manually entered total cost value field 55E. Note that if the total cost is not manually entered by the administrator, "NULL" is stored in the manually entered total cost value field 55E.

[0109] Therefore, in the example of FIG. 23, for example, the execution history of a past case workflow assigned a workflow execution history ID of "1" is the execution history of a past case workflow assigned a workflow ID of "1", and it took "3 days, 4 hours, and 56 minutes" to execute that past case workflow, and the total cost was calculated automatically by the workflow creation support device 2 as "XX yen", and the administrator did not manually input the total cost (the value of the total cost manual input value column 55E is "NULL").

[0110] 24, the task execution history table 56 includes a task execution history ID column 56A, a workflow execution history ID column 56B, a task ID column 56C, an execution time column 56D, an automatically calculated cost value column 56E, a manually input cost value column 56F, a person in charge ID column 56G, and a cloud execution environment ID column 56H. In the task execution history table 56, one record corresponds to the execution history of one task.

[0111] The task ID column 56C stores the task ID of the corresponding task, and the task execution history ID column 56A stores an identifier (task execution history ID) unique to the execution history of that task that is assigned to that execution history. Furthermore, the workflow execution history ID column 56B stores the workflow execution history ID of the execution history of the past example workflow in which that task was executed.

[0112] The execution time column 56D stores the time required to execute the corresponding task (execution time), and the automatically calculated cost column 56E stores the cost required to execute the task (execution cost) automatically calculated by the workflow creation support device 2.

[0113] The execution time of a task is calculated by the average value of the time required to execute the task, and the execution cost of a task is calculated by adding together the cost per unit time of the corresponding person stored in the person table 53 (FIG. 21) multiplied by the time required to execute the task, and the cost per unit time of the cloud environment used to execute the task stored in the cloud execution environment table 54 (FIG. 22) multiplied by the time required to execute the task.

[0114] Furthermore, the manually input cost value field 56F stores the cost required to execute the corresponding past case workflow, which has been manually input by the administrator. If the total cost has not been manually input by the administrator, "NULL" is stored in the manually input cost value field 56F. If a numerical value is stored in the manually input cost value field 56F, the numerical value stored in the manually input cost value field 56F is used preferentially when calculating the value to be input into the automatically calculated total cost value field 55D of the workflow execution history table 55 described above with reference to FIG. 23.

[0115] Furthermore, the person in charge ID column 56G stores the ID of the person in charge of executing the corresponding task. If the task is not performed manually, "NULL" is stored in the person in charge ID column 56G.

[0116] Furthermore, the cloud execution environment ID field 56H stores the cloud environment ID of the cloud environment in which the corresponding task was executed. If the task does not use a cloud environment, "NULL" is stored in the cloud execution environment ID field 56H.

[0117] Therefore, in the example of Figure 24, for example, a task execution history assigned a task execution history ID of "1" is shown to be the execution history of a task with a task ID of "1" in the past case workflow corresponding to the workflow execution history assigned a workflow execution history ID of "1".

[0118] 24 also shows that the task took "1 day, 4 hours, and 56 minutes" to execute, that the execution cost was "XX yen" according to automatic calculation by the workflow creation support device 2, and that the cost was not manually entered by the administrator (the value of the manually entered total cost value field 56F is "NULL"). In addition, Fig. 24 also shows that the task was executed by a person assigned a person ID of "1", and that a cloud environment was not used (the value of the cloud execution environment ID field 56H is "NULL").

[0119] On the other hand, the screen creation unit 57 is a program having the function of transferring various requests given from the administrator device 3 in response to the administrator's operations to the operation management unit 58, and generating various screens including the workflow creation screen 20 and the operation performance registration screen 40 described above with reference to Figures 2 to 8 based on the information given from the operation management unit 58, and transmitting the screen data to the administrator device 3, thereby displaying the screen on the administrator device 3.

[0120] In addition, the operation management unit 58 is a program that has the function of referring to the task table 50, task classification table 51, workflow table 52, person in charge table 53, cloud execution environment table 54, workflow execution history table 55, and task execution history table 56 based on a request from the administrator provided by the screen creation unit 57, selecting tasks and past case workflows to recommend to the administrator, and notifying the screen creation unit 57.

[0121] In addition, the operation management unit 58 stores and manages various information provided by the administrator via the screen creation unit 57 and various information input via the input device 13 (Figure 1) in a task table 50, a task classification table 51, a workflow table 52, a person in charge table 53, a cloud execution environment table 54, a workflow execution history table 55, or a task execution history table 56.

[0122] The execution management unit 59 is a program that, in response to instructions from the operation management unit 58, executes a new workflow created by the administrator on the operation target server 4 (Figure 1) specified by the administrator, and also has the function of obtaining the execution results and notifying the operation management unit 58.

[0123] The procedure file management unit 60 is a program that has the function of converting workflow information of a new workflow created by the administrator into a file and saving it in accordance with instructions from the operation management unit 58 .

[0124] (3) Various processes related to workflow creation support function Next, we will explain the specific processing contents of various processes that are executed in the workflow creation support device 2 in relation to the workflow creation support function according to this embodiment. Note that, although the processing entities of various processes will be explained below as programs ("... units"), it goes without saying that in reality, the CPU 10 (FIG. 1) executes the processes based on the programs.

[0125] (3-1) Task classification processing Fig. 25 shows the processing procedure of task classification processing executed by the operation management unit 58 when classifying tasks. The operation management unit 58 classifies the task to be classified at that time (classification target task) into one of the task classifications according to the processing procedure shown in Fig. 25.

[0126] In practice, when the operation management unit 58 starts this task classification process, it first compares the parameter values ​​of each parameter belonging to the first parameter group described above with reference to FIG. 16 for each task classification registered in the task classification table 51 (FIG. 19) with the parameter values ​​of each parameter belonging to the first parameter group of the task to be classified, and extracts all existing task classifications in which the parameter values ​​of all parameters belonging to the first parameter group match (S1).

[0127] Next, the operation management unit 58 determines whether or not at least one task category was extracted in step S1 (S2). If the operation management unit 58 obtains a negative result in this determination, it determines that there is no existing task category to which the classification target task applies, and registers the necessary parameters of the classification target task as parameters of a new task category in the task category table 51 (S7). Then, the operation management unit 58 ends this task classification process.

[0128] In contrast, if the operation management unit 58 obtains a positive result in the judgment of step S2, it calculates the similarity between each extracted task classification and the target task as described above based on the parameter values ​​of each parameter belonging to the second parameter group of each task classification (extracted task classification) extracted in step S1 registered in the task classification table 51 and the parameter values ​​of each parameter belonging to the second parameter group of the task to be classified (S3).

[0129] Next, the operation management unit 58 selects one extracted task classification that has the greatest similarity to the task to be classified, based on the similarity between each extracted task classification calculated in step S3 and the task to be classified (S4), and determines whether the similarity is greater than a preset threshold value (S5).

[0130] If the operation management unit 58 obtains a negative result in this determination, it classifies the classification target task into the extracted task classification selected in step S4, and then ends this task classification process.

[0131] (3-2) Task recommendation processing 26 shows the processing steps of a task recommendation process executed by the operations management unit 58 when the workflow creation support device 2 recommends tasks while the administrator is creating a new workflow. The operations management unit 58 extracts task candidates for steps specified by the administrator and recommends them to the administrator according to the processing steps shown in FIG.

[0132] In practice, when an administrator clicks on the task setting field 21 (Figures 2 to 7) of any step (hereinafter referred to as the target step) while creating a new workflow using the workflow creation screen 20, the operations management unit 58 starts the task recommendation process shown in Figure 26.

[0133] Then, operation management unit 58 first determines whether or not tasks for the two steps immediately preceding the target step in the new workflow have already been set (S10). If operation management unit 58 obtains a negative result in this determination, it terminates this task recommendation process. Therefore, in this case, the task recommended by workflow creation support device 2 as the task for the target step is not displayed in recommendation area 20B (FIGS. 2 to 7) on workflow creation screen 20.

[0134] In response to this, if the operation management unit 58 obtains a positive result in the judgment of step S10, it classifies each of these tasks into one of the task classifications by performing the task classification process described above with reference to FIG. 25 for each task in the two steps immediately preceding the target step (S11).

[0135] Next, based on the classification results of step S11, the operation management unit 58 extracts from the workflow table 52 all past case workflows in which tasks with the same task classification as the task classification of each task in the two steps immediately preceding the target step in the new workflow exist in the same order (S12).

[0136] Specifically, the operation management unit 58 refers to the task classification list 52C (FIG. 20) in the workflow table 52 and extracts all workflow IDs of past workflows that have the same task classifications, in the same order, as the task classifications of each task in the two steps immediately preceding the target step in the new workflow.

[0137] Next, the operation management unit 58 refers to the task classification list column 52C of the workflow table 52 to identify the task classification of the task of the step corresponding to the target step of the new workflow in each past case workflow extracted in step S12 (hereinafter referred to as the first extracted past case workflow), and calculates the occurrence probability P1 for each identified task classification using the method described above with reference to Figures 11(A) and (B) (S13).

[0138] Furthermore, the operation management unit 58 extracts all tasks belonging to each task classification identified in step S13 (S14). Specifically, the operation management unit 58 extracts all task IDs for which the task classification ID of each task classification identified in step S13 is stored in the task classification ID column 50B of the task table 50 (FIG. 18).

[0139] Next, the operation management unit 58 determines whether or not each task of the two steps immediately following the target step in the new workflow has already been set (S15). If the operation management unit 58 obtains a negative result in this determination, it proceeds to step S20.

[0140] In response to this, if the operation management unit 58 obtains a positive result in the judgment of step S15, it executes the task classification process described above with reference to FIG. 25 for each task in the two steps immediately following the target step, thereby classifying each of these tasks into one of the task classifications (S16).

[0141] Furthermore, based on the classification results of step S16, the operations management unit 58 extracts from the workflow table 52 all past case workflows in which the same task classifications as the task classifications of the tasks in the two steps immediately following the target step in the new workflow exist in the same order, in the same manner as in step S12 (S17).

[0142] Furthermore, the operation management unit 58 refers to the task classification list column 52C of the workflow table 52 to identify the task classification of the task of the step corresponding to the target step of the new workflow in each past case workflow extracted in step S12 (hereinafter referred to as the second extracted past case workflow), and calculates the occurrence probability P2 for each identified task classification using the method described above with reference to Figures 11(A) and (B) (S18).

[0143] Furthermore, the operation management unit 58 extracts all tasks belonging to each task classification identified in step S18 in the same manner as in step S14 (S19).

[0144] Thereafter, the operation management unit 58 calculates the evaluation value S for each task extracted in step S14 and / or step S19 (S20).

[0145] Specifically, if the operation management unit 58 obtains a negative result in the determination in step S15 and proceeds to step S20, it calculates the evaluation value S of each task extracted in step S14 using the above-mentioned formula (2). In this case, the occurrence probability P1 calculated in step S13 becomes P in formula (2).

[0146] Furthermore, when the operation management unit 58 proceeds to step S20 via step S19, it calculates the evaluation value S of each task extracted in step S14 and step S19 using the above-mentioned formula (2). In this case, it calculates the occurrence probability P using formula (5) based on the occurrence probability P1 calculated in step S13 and the occurrence probability P2 calculated in step S18, and then calculates the evaluation value S of each task using formula (2).

[0147] Furthermore, the operation management unit 58 notifies the screen creation unit 57 (FIG. 1) of each task extracted in step S14 and step S19, the task classification of these tasks, and the evaluation value S for each task calculated in step S20 (S21), and then terminates this task recommendation process.

[0148] Thus, the screen creation unit 57 then generates a workflow creation screen 20 in which icons 24 bearing the labels of the tasks are displayed in the recommendation area 20B so that the task categories with the larger total value of the evaluation values ​​S are positioned at the top, and the top several tasks (for example, up to 2 to 3) with the largest evaluation values ​​S within the same task category are arranged horizontally, and the screen data is transmitted to the corresponding administrator device 3, thereby causing the workflow creation screen 20 to be displayed on that administrator device 3.

[0149] (3-3) Workflow registration process 27 shows the procedure for workflow registration processing executed by the operation management unit 58 when the administrator clicks the registration button 31 (FIGS. 2 to 7) after creating a new workflow using the workflow creation screen 20. The operation management unit 58 registers various information about the new workflow created by the administrator in the workflow table 52 (FIG. 20), task table 50 (FIG. 18), and task classification table 51 (FIG. 19) according to the procedure shown in FIG.

[0150] In practice, when the administrator creates a new workflow using workflow creation screen 20 and then clicks registration button 31, operations management unit 58 starts the workflow registration process shown in FIG. 27, and first selects one unprocessed task from the tasks that make up the new workflow in step S30.

[0151] Next, the operation management unit 58 performs the task classification process described above with reference to FIG. 25 using the task selected in step S30 (hereinafter, in the description of FIG. 27, this will be referred to as the selected task) as the task to be classified, thereby classifying the selected task into one of the task classifications (S31).

[0152] Next, operation management unit 58 determines whether or not the processing of steps S31 to S33 has been completed for all tasks of the new workflow to be registered (S32). If operation management unit 58 obtains a negative result in this determination, it returns to step S30, and thereafter repeats the processing of steps S30 to S32 while sequentially switching the task selected in step S30 to another task that has not been processed in step S31.

[0153] When the operations management unit 58 eventually obtains a positive result in step S32 by classifying all tasks of the new workflow to be registered into one of the task categories, it newly registers information about the new workflow to be registered in the workflow table 52 and newly registers task information for each task that makes up the new workflow in the task table 50 (S33).

[0154] However, at this time, if a past example workflow that is exactly the same as the new workflow to be registered has already been registered in workflow table 52, operations management unit 58 will not register that new workflow in workflow table 52. Similarly, if, among the tasks that make up the new workflow to be registered, there is a task whose parameter values ​​exactly match those of a task already registered in task table 50, operations management unit 58 will not register that task in task table 50.

[0155] Then, the operation management unit 58 thereafter ends this workflow registration process.

[0156] (3-4) Workflow time and cost prediction process FIG. 28 shows the procedure for workflow time / cost prediction processing executed by the operation management unit 58 to predict the execution time and execution cost of a workflow.

[0157] The operations management unit 58 starts the workflow time and cost prediction process shown in Figure 28, for example, when an administrator creates a new workflow using the workflow creation screen 20 and then clicks the analysis button 28 (Figures 2 to 7).

[0158] Then, the operations management unit 58 first selects one task for which step S41 and subsequent steps have not been processed from among the tasks of the target workflow (hereinafter referred to as the target workflow) (S40).The operations management unit 58 also classifies the selected task (hereinafter referred to as the selected task in the description of FIG. 28) into one of the task classifications by performing the task classification process described above with reference to FIG. 25 on the selected task (hereinafter referred to as the selected task in the description of FIG. 28) (S41).

[0159] Next, the operations management unit 58 extracts all execution histories of tasks classified into the same task classification as the selected task from the task execution history table 56 (FIG. 24) (S42). Specifically, the operations management unit 58 identifies all records in the task table 50 in which the task classification ID of the same task classification as the selected task is stored in the task classification ID column 50B, and extracts all task IDs stored in the task ID of these records. Then, the operations management unit 58 extracts from the task execution history table 56 information on all records in the task execution history table 56 in which any of the task IDs extracted as described above is stored in the task ID column 56C.

[0160] Next, the operations management unit 58 calculates the average value of the execution time of each task and the average value of the execution cost of each task from the execution history of each task extracted in step S42 (S43). Specifically, the operations management unit 58 calculates the average value of the execution time of each task included in the execution history of each task acquired in step S42. The operations management unit 58 also calculates the average value of the execution cost of each task included in the execution history of each task acquired in step S42.

[0161] At this time, for tasks for which a manually input cost value (the value stored in the manually input cost value column 56F in FIG. 24) is registered among the tasks for which the execution history is obtained in step S42, the operations management unit 58 uses the manually input cost value as the execution cost of the task, and for tasks for which a manually input cost value is not registered, the operations management unit 58 uses the automatically calculated cost value (the value stored in the automatically calculated cost value column 56E in FIG. 24) as the execution cost of the task.

[0162] Thereafter, the operation management unit 58 determines whether or not the processing of steps S41 to S43 has been completed for all tasks of the target workflow (S44). If the determination is negative, the operation management unit 58 returns to step S40, and thereafter repeats the processing of steps S40 to S44 while sequentially switching the task selected in step S40 to a task that has not been processed since step S41.

[0163] When the operations management unit 58 eventually obtains a positive result in step S44 by completing calculation of the average values ​​of the execution time and execution cost of all tasks in the target workflow in the execution history, it calculates the predicted values ​​of the execution time and execution cost of the entire target workflow by adding up the average values ​​of the execution time and execution cost of each task of the target workflow that have been calculated so far (S45).The operations management unit 58 then terminates this workflow time / cost prediction process.

[0164] (3-5) Workflow analysis processing FIG. 29 shows the flow of workflow analysis processing executed by the operation management unit 58 when the workflow creation support device 2 analyzes a new workflow created using the workflow creation screen 20 and presents other recommended workflows to the administrator.

[0165] When the analysis button 28 (FIGS. 2 to 7) is clicked after a new workflow is created on the workflow creation screen 20, the operation management unit 58 starts the workflow analysis process shown in FIG.

[0166] The operation management unit 58 then first executes the workflow time / cost prediction process described above with reference to FIG. 28 with the new workflow as the target workflow, thereby calculating the predicted values ​​of the execution time and execution cost of the new workflow (S50).

[0167] Next, the operation management unit 58 executes the task classification process described above with reference to FIG. 25 for each task of the new workflow, thereby classifying each of these tasks into one of the task classifications (S51).

[0168] Next, the operation management unit 58 extracts from the past case workflows all past case workflows for which the proportion of tasks with the same task classification as the task classification of each task in the new workflow accounts for the total tasks in that past case workflow is equal to or greater than a predetermined first threshold, and the difference between the number of tasks (number of steps) in the new workflow and the number of tasks (number of steps) in that past case workflow is equal to or less than a predetermined second threshold (S52).

[0169] Next, the operation management unit 58 obtains the execution time and execution cost of each past case workflow extracted in step S52 from the workflow execution history table 55 (S53). At this time, if an execution cost is stored in the corresponding total cost manually input value field in the workflow execution history table 55, the operation management unit 58 obtains that execution cost.

[0170] Then, based on the execution time and execution cost of each past case workflow acquired in step S53, the operation management unit 58 notifies the screen creation unit 57 of the top few past case workflows with the shortest execution time or the lowest execution cost from among these past case workflows (S54).

[0171] As a result, the workflow creation screen 20 displayed in the recommendation area 20B in order of shortest execution time or lowest execution cost is generated by the screen creation unit 57, and the screen data is sent to the corresponding administrator device 3, whereby the workflow creation screen 20 is displayed on the administrator device 3.

[0172] Then, the operation management unit 58 then ends this workflow analysis process.

[0173] (4) Flow of various processes Next, the flow of various processes executed in the entire workflow creation support system 1 in relation to the workflow creation support function described above will be described.

[0174] (4-1) Creating and registering a workflow FIG. 30 shows the flow of a series of processes executed in the workflow creation support system 1 from when the administrator creates a new workflow using the workflow creation screen 20 until the created new workflow is registered in the workflow creation support device 2.

[0175] When the administrator performs a predetermined operation to display the workflow creation screen 20 on the administrator device 3, a workflow creation screen display request is transmitted from the administrator device 3 to the workflow creation support device 2 (S60).

[0176] Then, screen creation unit 57 of workflow creation support device 2 that has received this workflow creation screen display request transfers a workflow data acquisition request to operation management unit 58 (S61). Furthermore, when operations management unit 58 receives this workflow acquisition request, if there is a new workflow in the middle of creation, it transmits the workflow information of the new workflow up to that point to screen creation unit 57 as workflow data, but if there is no new workflow in the middle of creation, it notifies screen creation unit 57 to that effect (S61).

[0177] When the screen creation unit 57 receives workflow data, it generates a workflow creation screen 20 in which a new workflow in the process of being created based on the workflow data is displayed in the workflow creation area 20A, and transmits screen data of the generated workflow creation screen 20 to the administrator device 3 (S62). As a result, the workflow creation screen 20 is displayed on the administrator device 3. Furthermore, when the screen creation unit 57 receives a notification that there is no new workflow in the process of being created, it transmits screen data of the workflow creation screen 20 in its initial state to the administrator device 3. As a result, the workflow creation screen 20 in its initial state is displayed on the administrator device 3 (S63).

[0178] 2 to 7 are performed by cooperative processing between screen creation unit 57 and operation management unit 58 of workflow creation support device 2 in response to operations by the administrator. When the administrator eventually completes the creation of a new workflow and clicks registration button 31 (FIGS. 2 to 7) on workflow creation screen 20 (S64), a workflow registration request is transmitted from the administrator device 3 to workflow creation support device 2 (S65).

[0179] Then, screen creation unit 57 of workflow creation support device 2 that has received this workflow registration request transfers the received workflow registration request to operation management unit 58 (S66). Furthermore, operation management unit 58 that has received this workflow registration request executes the workflow registration processing described above with reference to Fig. 27 to register information about the new workflow in workflow table 52, and also registers task information for each task of the new workflow in task table 50 (Fig. 18) (S67). This completes this series of processes.

[0180] (4-2) Task Recommendations FIG. 31 shows the flow of a series of processes executed in this workflow creation support system 1 when an administrator clicks on any of the task setting fields 21 (FIGS. 2 to 7) displayed in the workflow creation area 20A of the workflow creation screen 20 when creating a new workflow using the flow described above with reference to FIGS. 2 to 7 using the workflow creation screen 20 displayed on the administrator device 3 in step S63 of the series of processes described above with reference to FIG. 30.

[0181] In this workflow creation support system 1, tasks to be recommended to the administrator are selected in the following flow shown in Figure 31, and icons 24 (Figures 3, 4, and 6) with the labels of these tasks written on them are displayed in the recommendation area 20B of the workflow creation screen 20.

[0182] In practice, when the administrator clicks on the task setting field 21 of any step from the third step onwards in a new workflow displayed in the workflow creation area 20A of the workflow creation screen 20 (S70), a recommended task display request requesting the display of tasks to be recommended as tasks for that step is sent from the administrator device 3 to the workflow creation support device 2 (S71).

[0183] The screen creation unit 57 of the workflow creation support device 2, which receives this recommended task display request, sends a recommended task selection request to the operation management unit 58, requesting the selection of a task to be recommended as a task for the step whose task setting field 21 was clicked at that time (hereinafter, in the explanation of Figure 31, this will be called the target step) (S72).

[0184] Upon receiving this request to select a recommended task, the operations management unit 58 executes the task recommendation process described above with reference to FIG. 26 to select tasks to be recommended, and transmits necessary information such as the title of each selected task and the evaluation value S described above to the screen creation unit 57 (S73).

[0185] Then, the screen creation unit 57, which has received the information on these tasks, generates a workflow creation screen 20 in which icons 24 bearing the labels of the tasks to be recommended selected by the operation management unit 58 are arranged in the recommendation area 20B as described above with reference to FIG. 3, and transmits the screen data to the administrator device 3 (S74). As a result, the workflow creation screen 30 is displayed on the administrator device 3. This completes the series of processes.

[0186] (4-3) Workflow analysis 32 shows the flow of a series of processes executed in the present workflow creation support system 1 when, after creating a new workflow using the workflow creation screen 20 displayed on the administrator device 3 in step S63 of the series of processes described above with reference to Fig. 30 and following the flow described above with reference to Figs. 2 to 7, the administrator clicks the analysis button 28 (Figs. 2 to 7) on the workflow creation screen 20. In the present workflow creation support system 1, analysis processing is executed for the new workflow created at that time, according to the following flow shown in Fig. 32.

[0187] In practice, when the administrator clicks analysis button 28 after creating a new workflow on workflow creation screen 20 (S80), a workflow analysis request requesting analysis of the new workflow is transmitted from administrator device 3 to workflow creation support device 2 (S81). Furthermore, screen creation unit 57 of workflow creation support device 2, which has received this workflow analysis request, transfers this workflow analysis request to operation management unit 58 (S82).

[0188] Then, upon receiving the workflow analysis request, the operations management unit 58 executes the workflow analysis process described above with reference to Fig. 29 (S83). As a result, the predicted values ​​of the execution time and execution cost of the new workflow are calculated, and a recommended workflow is extracted from among past case workflows. The calculated execution time and execution cost, as well as information about the extracted recommended workflow, are sent to the screen creation unit 57 as the analysis results.

[0189] When the screen creation unit 57 receives the analysis results from the operation management unit 58, it generates the workflow creation screen 20 described above with reference to FIG. 7, in which the predicted values ​​of the execution time and execution cost of the new workflow are displayed in the workflow creation area 20A and the recommended workflow 30 (FIG. 7) is displayed in the recommendation area 20B, and transmits the screen data to the administrator device 3 (S84). As a result, the workflow creation screen 20 is displayed on the administrator device 3. This completes the series of processes.

[0190] (4-4) Exporting a new workflow Fig. 33 shows the flow of a series of processes executed in this workflow creation support system 1 from when an administrator creates a new workflow using the workflow creation screen 20 until the created new workflow is written out. In Fig. 33, the processes of steps S90 to S93 are the same as steps S60 to S63 in Fig. 30, and therefore their explanation will be omitted here.

[0191] When the administrator creates a new workflow using workflow creation screen 20 and then clicks write button 32 (FIGS. 2 to 7) (S94), a workflow write request requesting that the new workflow created at that time be written is transmitted from administrator device 3 to workflow creation support device 2 (S95). Furthermore, screen creation unit 57 of workflow creation support device 2 that has received this workflow write request transfers the workflow write request to operation management unit 58 (S96).

[0192] Then, upon receiving this workflow write request, the operation management unit 58 passes the workflow information of the new workflow to the procedure file management unit 60 (FIG. 1) (S97). Thus, the procedure file management unit 60, to which the workflow information has been passed, converts the flowchart information into a file and stores the file data of that file in the auxiliary storage device 12 (FIG. 1). This completes this series of processes.

[0193] (4-5) Executing the workflow FIG. 34 shows the flow of a series of processes when the administrator causes the desired workflow to be executed on the desired operation target server 4.

[0194] First, when the administrator specifies a desired workflow and performs a predetermined operation to display a predetermined operation execution screen (not shown), an operation execution screen display request is sent from the administrator device 3 to the workflow creation support device 2 (S100). The operation execution screen display request also includes the workflow ID of the workflow specified by the administrator at that time.

[0195] Then, upon receiving this workflow creation screen display request, the screen creation unit 57 of the workflow creation support device 2 sends a workflow data acquisition request to the operation management unit 58, requesting acquisition of data of the workflow to be executed, which is included in the operation execution screen request (S101).

[0196] Furthermore, upon receiving this workflow acquisition request, operation management unit 58 refers to task list column 52B (FIG. 20) of workflow table 52 (FIG. 20) to acquire each task that constitutes the requested workflow, and also acquires task information for each of the acquired tasks from task table 50 (FIG. 18), and transmits this information as workflow data to screen creation unit 57 (S102). As a result, the workflow specified by the administrator is displayed on administrator device 3.

[0197] Thereafter, the administrator specifies on the operation execution screen the operation target server 4 that should execute the workflow, and instructs on the operation execution screen to execute the workflow on the operation target server 4. Then, when this instruction is accepted by the administrator device 3 (S104), an operation execution request to execute the workflow on the target server 4 is transmitted from the administrator device 3 to the workflow creation support device 2 (S105).

[0198] Furthermore, upon receiving this operation performance request, the screen creation unit 57 of the workflow creation support device 2 transfers the received operation execution request to the operation management unit 58 (S106), and upon receiving this operation execution request, the operation management unit 58 transfers this operation execution request to the execution management unit 59 (S107).

[0199] When the execution management unit 59 receives such an operation execution request, it sends the workflow information of the workflow and an operation execution command to execute the workflow to the operation target server 4 specified by the administrator on the operation execution screen based on the operation execution request (S108).

[0200] Thus, the operation target server 4 that has received this operation execution command executes the workflow. Then, when the operation target server 4 has finished executing the workflow, it transmits the execution result to the workflow creation support device 2 (S109).

[0201] Furthermore, upon receiving this execution result, execution management unit 59 of workflow creation support device 2 transfers the received execution result to operation management unit 58 (S110). Thus, upon receiving this execution result, operation management unit 58 stores necessary information including the time and cost required to execute the entire workflow, which has been automatically calculated, and the time and cost required to execute each task, which has been automatically calculated for each task constituting the workflow, in workflow execution history table 55 (FIG. 23) and task execution history table 56 (FIG. 24), respectively (S111). This completes this series of processes.

[0202] (4-6) Operational status confirmation 35 shows the flow of a series of processes when, in response to a request from an administrator, the execution status of a workflow that has been or is being performed on the operation target server 4 is displayed on the administrator device 3. Note that, as a premise of this process, it is assumed that the operation target server 4 that is executing a workflow notifies the workflow creation support device 2 of the execution result each time one task of the workflow is completed, and that this notification is managed by the operation management unit 58.

[0203] In this case, first, when the administrator performs a predetermined operation on the administrator device 3, in response, the administrator device 3 issues an operation status confirmation request to the screen creation unit 57 of the workflow creation support device 2 (S120). Furthermore, upon receiving the operation status notification request, the screen creation unit 57 transmits it to the operation management unit 58 (S121).

[0204] When the operation management unit 58 receives the operation status confirmation request, it transmits the execution results of each task given up to that point by the operation target server 4 for the execution of the target workflow to the screen creation unit 57 (S122). Furthermore, the screen creation unit 57 displays the execution results of each task given from the operation management unit 58 on the administrator device 3 (S123). This completes this series of processes.

[0205] (4-7) Manual registration of operational results FIG. 36 shows the flow of a series of processes when an administrator manually registers the operational results of a workflow performed on a target server.

[0206] In this case, when the administrator specifies the target past case workflow and performs a predetermined operation on the administrator device 3 to display the operation performance registration screen 40 described above with reference to Fig. 8, an operation performance registration screen display request to display the operation performance registration screen 40 is transmitted from the administrator device 3 to the screen creation unit 57 of the workflow creation support device 2 (S130). Note that the operation performance registration screen display request also includes the workflow ID of the target workflow specified by the administrator at that time and the workflow execution history ID of that workflow.

[0207] When the screen creation unit 57 receives this request to display the operation performance registration screen, it sends an operation history data acquisition request to the operation management unit 58, indicating that the operation history data of the workflow specified in the request to display the operation performance registration screen should be transferred (S131).

[0208] When the operation management unit 58 receives the operation history data acquisition request from the screen creation unit 57, it transmits the operation history data of the target workflow to the screen creation unit 57 (S132). Specifically, the operation management unit 58 acquires a list of tasks constituting the target workflow (task list) from the task list column 52B (FIG. 20) of the corresponding record in the workflow table 52 (FIG. 20), and acquires the labels of each task included in the acquired task list from the task table 50 (FIG. 18). In addition, the operation management unit 58 transmits the acquired task list and the level of each task to the screen creation unit 57 as operation history data.

[0209] The screen creation unit 57, which has received this operation history data, generates the operation performance registration screen 40 described above with reference to Fig. 8 based on the received operation history data, and transmits the screen data to the administrator device 3 (S133). As a result, the operation performance registration screen 40 is displayed on the administrator device 3.

[0210] Thereafter, when the administrator manually inputs the execution time, name of the person in charge, total cost, etc. of the workflow and then clicks registration button 47 (FIG. 8) (S134), the administrator device 3 transmits the various information input at this time as operation performance information together with a registration request to workflow creation support device 2 (S135). Furthermore, upon receiving this operation performance information and registration request, screen creation unit 57 of workflow creation support device 2 transfers the operation performance information and registration request to operation management unit 58 (S136).

[0211] Thus, the operation management unit 58, which has received the operation performance information and the registration request, stores the various information included in the operation performance information in the total cost manually input value column 55E (FIG. 23) of the corresponding record in the workflow performance history table 55 (FIG. 23) and in the total cost manually input value column 56F (FIG. 24) of the corresponding record in the task execution history table 56 (FIG. 24) (S137). This completes this series of processes.

[0212] (5) Effects of this embodiment As described above, the workflow creation support device 2 of this embodiment extracts candidates for steps specified in a new workflow from the tasks of past cases, based on the workflow information and execution history of the past case workflow and the task information and execution history of each task that makes up the past case workflow, and recommends the extracted tasks as tasks for that step.

[0213] Therefore, according to this workflow creation support device 2, it is possible to recommend appropriate tasks that have already been defined to an administrator who is creating a workflow, thereby reducing the effort and time required to create a workflow.

[0214] (6) Other embodiments In the above embodiment, the workflow creation support device 2 is described as being configured by one computer device, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the workflow creation support device 2 may be configured by multiple computers that form a distributed computing system.

[0215] Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, a case has been described in which a task for a certain step is set on workflow creation screen 20 by a predetermined operation, and when icon 22 bearing the label of that task is displayed in task setting field 21, task setting field 21 for the next step is automatically displayed. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a dedicated button for displaying task setting field 21 may be provided, and task setting field 21 for the next step may be displayed by clicking the button.

[0216] Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the processing of steps S15 to S19 is executed after steps S10 to S14 in the task recommendation processing described above with reference to FIG. 26 has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the processing of steps S10 to S14 and steps S15 to S19 may be executed simultaneously in parallel. [Industrial Applicability]

[0217] The present invention can be widely applied to various workflow creation support devices that support the creation of a workflow made up of a plurality of tasks. [Explanation of symbols]

[0218] 1...Workflow creation support system, 2...Workflow creation support device, 3...Administrator device, 4...Operation target server, 10...CPU, 20...Workflow creation screen, 21...Task setting field, 22, 24...Icon, 26...First pop-up, 27...Second pop-up, 28...Analysis button, 29...Third pop-up, 31, 47...Register button, 32...Export button, 40...Operation performance registration screen, 42...Execution time text box, 43...Cost text box, 44...Responsible person text box, 45A...Cost difference reason specification field 45A, 46...Fourth pop-up, 50...Task table, 51...Task classification table, 52...Workflow table, 53...Responsible person table, 54...Cloud execution environment table, 55...Workflow execution history table, 56...Task execution history table, 57...Screen creation unit, 58...Operation management unit, 59...Execution management unit, 60...Procedure file management unit.

Claims

1. A workflow creation support device that supports creation of a workflow consisting of a plurality of tasks, A management section that manages the definitions of workflows that have been created in the past, a candidate task recommendation unit that extracts and recommends candidate tasks for a target step in the workflow being created based on the definition contents of tasks of a predetermined number of steps before and / or after the workflow being created and the definition contents of existing workflows managed by the management unit; Equipped with The task is defined by a plurality of parameters, the parameters of the tasks are managed by dividing them into a first parameter group in which exact matches are determined to be identical, a second parameter group in which similar parameters are treated as identical, and a third parameter group that includes parameters other than those belonging to the first and second parameter groups; The candidate task recommendation unit classifying the task into a task classification among existing task classifications in which the values ​​of the parameters belonging to the first parameter group are completely identical and the values ​​of the parameters belonging to the second parameter group are similar; The candidate task recommendation unit Classifying the tasks of each of the previously defined previous and / or subsequent steps in the workflow being created into any one of task classifications; extracting the existing workflow in which each task of the same task category as each task of the workflow being created exists in the same order as the workflow in question; Identifying a task classification for each of the tasks of the target steps in each of the extracted existing workflows; The occurrence probability of each identified task category is calculated, and all tasks of the task category with the highest calculated occurrence probability are extracted from each of the existing workflows. Each extracted task is evaluated based on the occurrence frequency, execution time, and execution cost of the task, and a predetermined number of tasks with the highest evaluation values ​​are recommended as task candidates for the target step in the workflow being created. A workflow creation support device characterized by:

2. You can create a new workflow by specifying the tasks for each step of the workflow in order on a specific screen. The candidate task recommendation unit An icon corresponding to each of the task candidates for the target step in the workflow being created is displayed on the predetermined screen, thereby recommending each task candidate.

2. The workflow creation support device according to claim 1.

3. A workflow creation support method executed by a workflow creation support device that supports creation of a workflow made up of a plurality of tasks, comprising: a first processing step of managing the definition contents of workflows created in the past; a second processing step of extracting and recommending task candidates for a target step in the workflow being created based on the definition contents of tasks of a predetermined number of steps before and / or after the workflow being created and the definition contents of existing workflows being managed; Equipped with The task is defined by a plurality of parameters, the parameters of the tasks are managed by dividing them into a first parameter group in which exact matches are determined to be identical, a second parameter group in which similar parameters are treated as identical, and a third parameter group that includes parameters other than those belonging to the first and second parameter groups; the workflow creation support device, classifying the task into a task classification among existing task classifications in which the values ​​of the parameters belonging to the first parameter group are completely identical and the values ​​of the parameters belonging to the second parameter group are similar; In the second processing step, the workflow creation support device Classifying the tasks of each of the previously defined previous and / or subsequent steps in the workflow being created into any one of task classifications; extracting the existing workflow in which each task of the same task category as each task of the workflow being created exists in the same order as the workflow in question; Identifying a task classification for each of the tasks of the target steps in each of the extracted existing workflows; The occurrence probability of each identified task category is calculated, and all tasks of the task category with the highest calculated occurrence probability are extracted from each of the existing workflows. Each extracted task is evaluated based on the occurrence frequency, execution time, and execution cost of the task, and a predetermined number of tasks with the highest evaluation values ​​are recommended as task candidates for the target step in the workflow being created. A workflow creation support method comprising:

4. You can create a new workflow by specifying the tasks for each step of the workflow in order on a specific screen. In the second processing step, the workflow creation support device An icon corresponding to each of the task candidates for the target step in the workflow being created is displayed on the predetermined screen, thereby recommending each task candidate.

4. The workflow creation support method according to claim 3.

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