Aligning modeled and observed behavior: A compromise between computation complexity and quality

Abstract

Certifying that a process model is aligned with the real process executions is perhaps the most desired feature a process model may have: aligned process models are crucial for organizations, since strategic decisions can be made easier on models instead of on plain data. In spite of its importance, the current algorithmic support for computing alignments is limited: either techniques that explicitly explore the model behavior (which may be worst-case exponential with respect to the model size), or heuristic approaches that cannot guarantee a solution, are the only alternatives. In this paper we propose a solution that sits right in the middle in the complexity spectrum of alignment techniques; it can always guarantee a solution, whose quality depends on the exploration depth used and local decisions taken at each step. We use linear algebraic techniques in combination with an iterative search which focuses on progressing towards a solution. The experiments show a clear reduction in the time required for reaching a solution, without sacrificing significantly the quality of the alignment obtained.