 <p>In Java world, your use case is called as BPM (Business process management). </p> <p>In .Net world, this is called as Windows Workflow Foundation (WWF).</p> <p>There are many java based open source BPM tools. The one i like is <a href="http://www.jbpm.org/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">jBPM</a>.</p> <p>This is more powerful and can be integrated with rule engines like <a href="http://www.drools.org/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Drools</a>.</p> <p>Sample jBPM Screenshot: <img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/3aw9x.png" alt="jBPM Diagram"></p> <p>Also <a href="http://activiti.org/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Activiti</a> is another good choice.</p> <p>Sample Activiti Screenshot: <img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/SwngO.png" alt="Activiti Diagram"></p>