Business Process

Management (BPM)

Marlon Dumas
 How to engage in BPM?

1. Process identification Process

Modeling
2. Process discovery (as-is) Tools
3. Process analysis
4. Process redesign (to-be)
5. Process implementation Process
6. Process monitoring/controlling Management
Systems

2
 Purposes of Process Modeling
Organizational
Analysis

“AS IS”
Process
Models Communication,
simulation,
activity-based
Process “TO BE” costing…
Analysis & Design Process Models
Improvement
Measures for

Target Values

Process Process Detailed Models

Evaluation Implementation including
Data types, conditions,
Process Models data mappings, fault
Executable

handling…
Integration, testing,
Process
Process deployment…
Metrics Enactment &
Monitoring
3
 Business Process Modeling Notation
(BPMN)
• OMG Standard, supported by many tools:
– Bizagi Process Modeller
– Signavio (http://www.signavio.com/)
– TIBCO Business Studio (free download, quite large)
– IBM Websphere Business Modeler
– ARIS
– Oracle BPA
– Business Process Visual Architect (Visual Paradigm)
– Progress Savvion Business Modeller

4
 BPMN from 10 000 miles…

• A BPMN process model is a graph consisting of

four types of elements (among others):

5
Order Management Process in BPMN
First Try

Reject order

Check stock
Send invoice
availability

Confirm order

Ship goods

6
 A little bit more on Gateways …
• Exclusive Decision / Merge
– Indicates locations within a business process where the
sequence flow can take two or more alternative paths.
– Only one of the paths can be taken.
– Depicted by a diamond shape that may contain a marker
that is shaped like an “X”.
• Parallel Fork / Join
– Provide a mechanism to synchronize parallel flow and to
create parallel flow.
– Depicted by a diamond shape that must contain a
marker that is shaped like a plus sign.

7
Revised Order Management Process

Reject order

Check stock
Send invoice
availability

Confirm order

Ship goods

8
 Process Modelling Viewpoints
Organization
Who?

What?
Function When?
Process

Which?

Data / Service / Product

9
 Organisational Elements in Process
Models
Two basic abstractions:
• Resource: Human actor or equipment (e.g. printer) that is
required to perform an activity
• Resource class: Set of resources with shared characteristics,
e.g. Clerk, Manager, Insurance Officer
A resource class may be a:
• Role (skill, competence, qualification)
Classification based on what a resource can do or is expected
to do.
• Group (department, team, office, organizational unit)
Classification based on the organization’s structure.

10
 Resource Modelling in BPMN

• In BPMN, resource classes are captured using:

– Pools – independent organizational entities, e.g.
• Customer, Supplier, East-Tallinn Hospital, Tartu Clinic
– Lanes – resource classes in the same organizational
space and sharing common systems
• Sales Department, Marketing Department
• Clerk, Manager, Engineer

11
Lanes and Pools – Notation

12
 Order Management Process with Pools
Customer

Place
Make
purchase
payment
order

Invoice

Order Rejection Notification Shipment notification

Purchase Order confirmation

order notification Send invoice

Confirm order
Supplier

Check stock
Ship goods
availability

Reject order

13
Order Management Process with Lanes

14
 BPMN Information Artifacts

• Data Objects are a mechanism to show how

Data
Object
data is required or produced by activities.
– Are depicted by a rectangle that has its upper-right
corner folded over.
– Represent input and output of a process activity.
• Data stores are containers of data
Data objects that need be persisted beyond
Store the duration of a process instance

Directed association • Associations are used to link artifacts

such as data objects and data stores
Undirected association with flow objects (e.g. activities).

15
 BPMN Gateway

• Exclusive OR (XOR) Decision/Merge based on

data
• Exclusive OR (XOR) Decision/Merge based on
an event
• Inclusive OR (OR) Decisions/Merge
• Complex Decision/Merge
• Parallel Fork/Join

16
Data based XOR Gateway

17
Event Based XOR Gateway

18
Inclusive OR Gateway

19
Parallel Gateway

20
Complex Decision Gateway

21
Order Processing Model with Artifacts

Send invoice
Purchase
Order
Confirm order

Check stock Set PO to approved

Ship goods
availability
Set PO to rejected

Reject order

22
 BPMN Main Elements - Recap

Connections Swimlanes

Pool
Message Association

Lane
Flow

Flow Objects Artifacts

Text Annotation
Activity

Gateway

Event
Data
Object
Data
Store

23
 BPMN Flow Elements – Recap

Task End Event Flow

Start Event

AND-Join

~c
XOR Merge
AND-Split XOR-Decision

24
Example: OR gateways

25
 Reference

• Marlon Dumas (University of Tartuentis)

• http://blog.nostratech.com

26