8. A computer program product encoded on a non-transitory, tangible storage medium, the product comprising computer readable instructions for causing at least one processor to perform operations comprising: generating, during a first phase in a business process, a predecessor document based on a request; releasing the predecessor document to a second phase in the business process; while maintaining the predecessor document, generating, during the second phase in the business process, a successor document based on information included in the predecessor document, wherein the predecessor document and the successor document are separate and different types of documents and are populated at different stages in a business process; receiving, from a previous stage in the business process, a notification of a potential update to the predecessor document in the business process prior to receiving a specific update to the predecessor document; in response to at least the potential-update notification, identifying the successor document in the business process, wherein the successor document depends on information at least identified by the predecessor document, and the successor document was generated, prior to receiving the notification of the potential update; substantially preventing release of the successor document in response to the notification of the potential update to the predecessor document; receiving a specific update to the predecessor document from the previous stage in the business process; updating the successor document based on the received update; and releasing the updated successor document.
8. A computer program product encoded on a non-transitory, tangible storage medium, the product comprising computer readable instructions for causing at least one processor to perform operations comprising: generating, during a first phase in a business process, a predecessor document based on a request; releasing the predecessor document to a second phase in the business process; while maintaining the predecessor document, generating, during the second phase in the business process, a successor document based on information included in the predecessor document, wherein the predecessor document and the successor document are separate and different types of documents and are populated at different stages in a business process; receiving, from a previous stage in the business process, a notification of a potential update to the predecessor document in the business process prior to receiving a specific update to the predecessor document; in response to at least the potential-update notification, identifying the successor document in the business process, wherein the successor document depends on information at least identified by the predecessor document, and the successor document was generated, prior to receiving the notification of the potential update; substantially preventing release of the successor document in response to the notification of the potential update to the predecessor document; receiving a specific update to the predecessor document from the previous stage in the business process; updating the successor document based on the received update; and releasing the updated successor document. 10. The computer program product of claim 8 , wherein a corresponding business object represents the successor document, the received notification includes an update to a status variable for the successor document, the operations further comprising updating the corresponding business object for the successor document with the update to the status variable, wherein the update to the status variable indicates an update to the predecessor document is expected.