BUSINESS PROCESS MASTER LIST (BPML)

Business Process Master List :  The Business Process Master List (BPML) is initially
created in Phase 2 as a report from the Q&Adb(Question and Answer data base). It is used to
identify, plan, schedule, and monitor the configuration and testing of all R/3 business scenarios and
processes within the scope of an implementation.

BPMN, BPEL, BPML and XPDL, an attempt to make some order in

the business modeling jungle.
BPMN, BPEL, BPML and XPDL … have you ever been confused by all of those
acronyms?  The good news is that you’re not the only one, and guess what; I have
even better news for you! After reading this post you’ll know for sure what those
acronyms stand for. My friends always tell me that I’m the worst combination of
pessimist and cynic so to support their thesis I’ll start from the worst part. Actually
there are around fifteen known XML-based specifications for business process
modeling (BPDM, BPEL4WS, BPML, BPMN, BPSS, EPML, OWL-S, PNML,
UML Activity Diagram, WS-CDL, WSCI, WSCL, WSFL, XLANG, XPD,
XPDL). I’m not going to cover them all in this post, but if you have a strong desire
to understand them all you can start with this paper: “A Comparison of XML
Interchange Formats for Business Process Modeling”
So let’s start dealing with four of those   acronyms. I’ll start with BPML because
it’s the most confusing one. This acronym has two different meanings in the SAP
world and therefore it’s responsible for most of the acronym symptom victims. In
the business modeling world BPML stand for Business Process Modeling
Language. This is an XML based standard and was proposed by the BPMI
(Business Process Management Initiative). BPMI merged with the Object
Management Group (OMG) in June 2005, forming the Business Modeling and
Integration Domain Task Force. Prior to its merger, the BPMI developed Business
Process Modeling Notation (And we’ll deal with BPMN shortly) and Business
Process Modeling Language, standards. The Business Process Modeling Language
scene has an  unhappy ending, the BPMI has dropped support for this proposed
standard in favor of BPEL4WS.  BPML Documentation So one meaning of BPML
concerns process modeling while the other meaning is more SAP (or even ERP)
oriented: Business Process Master List. The Business Process Master List is a key
tool for use in ERP implementation projects to capture the scope of the project,
drive the planning and managing of configuration and testing. It’s an excel
worksheet containing Business Processes configured in SAP R/3.  The Business
Process Master List is used throughout the implementation phases to support key
project activities, such as: Implementation Team Training, Business Workshops,
 BUSINESS PROCESS MASTER LIST (BPML)

Business Variants Documentation, Configuration Management, GAP Analysis,

Integration and Day in the Life Tests, Security and Roles & Responsibilities.  So,
although you’ll see BPML mentioned in business process context it shouldn’t be
used. Yes the specification exists and you can download it but due to the fact that
the standard’s father starts to support BPEL, it’s an orphan standard.   Business
Process Modeling Notation (BPMN) was developed by  the  Business Process
Management Initiative, and is now being maintained by the Object Management
Group since their merger in 2005. The primary goal of BPMN is to provide a
notation that is readily understandable by all business users, from the business
analysts who create the initial drafts of the processes, to the technical developers
responsible for implementing the technology that will perform those processes, and
finally, to the business people who will manage and monitor those processes. Thus,
BPMN creates a standardized bridge for the gap between the business process
design and process implementation. Currently, there are scores of process
modeling tools and methodologies.  BPMN
sample: 

 BP
MN documentation:  BPEL (BPEL4WS) Business Process Execution Language is
a business process language that grew out of WSFL and XLANG. SAP (as well as
Microsoft, IBM and Oracle) is an active partner in this standard committee. The
 BUSINESS PROCESS MASTER LIST (BPML)

goal of BPEL is to provide a definition of web service orchestration, the

underlying sequence of interactions, the flow of data from point to point. BPEL is
an “execution language”. It is a programming language that has variables and
operations. The operations can send and receive SOAP messages, and there is
strong support for XML and XML transformation. It has constructs that make it
easy to call multiple web services at the same time, and synchronize the results. It
does not have any concepts to support the graphics of the diagram; activities do not
have a position and size, and there is no representation at all of an “arrow”.  BPEL

sample:   B
PEL documentation. The XML Process Definition Language (XPDL) is a format
standardized by the Workflow Management Coalition (Mainly Microsoft and IBM)
to interchange Business Process definitions between different workflow products
like modeling tools and workflow engines. XPDL defines a XML schema for
specifying the declarative part of workflow. This language is a low level language
and it can be used to model higher level business language. The goal of XPDL is to
store and exchange the process diagram. XPDL is a process design format. It is a
file format that represents the “drawing” of the process definition. It has X & Y
coordinates and node size. It has a concept of lines, and points along the line that
give it a particular path. The nodes and lines have attributes which can specify
executable information such as roles, activity descriptions, timers, web service
calls, etc. XPDL 2.0 contains extensions in order to be able to represent all aspects
of BPMN (BP Modeling Notation). The goal is to be able to save and exchange the
process diagram.   XPDL