Big software on the run: in vivo software analytics based on process mining (keynote)

Software-related problems have an incredible impact on society, organizations, and users that increasingly rely on information technology. Specification, verification and testing techniques aim to avoid such problems. However, the growing complexity, scale, and diversity of software complicate matters. Since software is evolving and operates in a changing environment, one cannot anticipate all problems at design-time. Hence, we propose to analyze software "in vivo", i.e., we study systems in their natural habitat rather than through testing or software design. We propose to observe running systems, collect and analyze data on them, generate descriptive models, and use these to respond to failures. We focus on process mining as a tool for in vivo software analytics. Process discovery techniques can be used to capture the real behavior of software. Conformance checking techniques can be used to spot deviations. The alignment of models and real software behavior can be used to predict problems related to performance or conformance. Recent developments in process mining and instrumentation of software make this possible. This keynote paper provides pointers to process mining literature and introduces the "Big Software on the Run" (BSR) research program that just started.