Management of IT Environment (3)LS 2012/13 1

Modelling of business processesModelling of business processes

Karol Furdík

Department of Cybernetics and AI, FEI TU Košice

MManagement of IT Environment (3)anagement of IT Environment (3)Riadenie IT prostrediaRiadenie IT prostredia

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Lecture contentLecture content

Definitions of basic terms processs, business process, a model, modelling,...

Ways of BP modelling hierarchical process diagram, process threads diagram

approaches, formalisms: UML, BPMN

BPMN characteristics, history

BPMN elements: activities, events, gateways, connectors, ...

Examples

References

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Def.: ProcesDef.: Processs, , business process and its typesbusiness process and its types

Process - an unifying principle that acts in various systemic contexts. (K. L. von Bertalanffy, philosophical-cybernetic def. Example: process of feedback)

Business process (BP): A set of structured and temporally connected activities or tasks that

are employed in an organisation/enterprise for producing a certain service or product (i.e., activities are goal-oriented) for a particular customer.

Types of business processes:

1. Management processes

2. Operational processes

3. Supporting processes Operationalmanagement

Middle management

Top management

Strategic planning

Managerial

control

Control of actions

actions/ services feedback

planning

control

Information flow in an enterprise. Ref: Mihók, Révészová: IS pre ekonómov. EkF TU Košice, 2006

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Def.: Model, Def.: Model, BP BP modelmodellingling

Model: a (formal) representation of a domain, part of reality, or a system,

which enables investigating relevant events, relationships, and processes ongoing in the domain/system more easily - in comparison with investigation these events in a real world environment.

Consequence: model does not match the reality; it expresses just our view of the reality in a particular context, from certain perspective.(cf. L. Wittgenstein, W. V. O. Quine, W. Sellars, ...)

BP modelling: a set of activities for representing business processes in a formal

way enabling analysis and further improvement of these processes. IT perspective: BP modelling is required as a presumption for

creating and/or modifying information systems in an enterprise.

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BP models and levels of modellingBP models and levels of modelling

BP models: serve for presenting a structured flow of business activities togehter

with all related information. interpreted models enable to determine the level of fulfilling business

goals by an organisation/enterprise.

Levels of BP modelling: Process maps – simple schemas of activity sequences. Process descriptions – schemas extended on additional descriptive

information (however, not complete enough for executing the

modelled processes). Process models – schemas extended on all information required for

modelled process execution.

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Ways of BP modellingWays of BP modelling

BP model formalisms: Older – data/control flow diagrams, block schemas of functions, Gantt

diagrams, PERT diagrams, etc. UML – general modelling formalism, primarily in software engineering

area, but applicable on BP modelling as well. Various types of process models, for example:

Hierarchical process diagram, Process threads diagram Use case diagram Interaction overview diagram Object diagram

BPMN – standardised graphical notation of abstract (i.e., not

executable) BP, suitable for all levels of modelling (process maps,

descriptions, models) and control (planning, design, implementation,

transition, operation, ...).

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Hierarchical process diagramHierarchical process diagram

Taxonomy of business processes: proces on a higher level is composed

of sub-processes modelled on lower

levels.

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Process threads diagramProcess threads diagram

Dynamic description of business processes: describes events that are launching particular sub-processes, as well

as results of these sub-processes.

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UML - Unified Modeling LanguageUML - Unified Modeling Language

UML: a modelling language for specification, visualization, development and documenting of software systems. Can be applied on business processes as well.

A set of diagrams enabling an object-oriented design Diagrams:

Use-case diagram Class diagram State diagram Activity diagram Sequence diagram Interaction diagram Component diagram Deployment diagram

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BPMN - Business Process Modeling NotationBPMN - Business Process Modeling Notation

Formalism for graphical representation of business processes by

means of a diagram of ordered/structured flow of activities and

related information - Business Process Diagram.

BPMN is a set of graphical objects and rules defining available

connections between the objects. BPMN provides a mechanism for generating executable business

processes - BPEL (Business Process Execution Language).

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History & versions of BPMNHistory & versions of BPMN

Business Process Management Institute (BPMI, nowadays a part of OMG

consortium, www.omg.org) developed the BPML language (XML-based,

representation of executable BPs). It implied a necessity of a general and easily

understandable graphical notation - BPMN. BPML was later replaced by BPEL (currently a standard).

August 2001: group Notation Working Group, consisting of 35 members,

organisations and individuals.

BPMN 1.0 May 2004: BPMN 1.0 specification published. February 2006: BPMN 1.0 accepted as OMG standard.

BPMN 1.1: OMG specification, February 2008. BPMN 1.2: OMG specification, January 2009. The last non-executable notation BPMN 2.0: released in January 2011: http://www.omg.org/spec/BPMN/2.0/

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Basic elements of BPMNBasic elements of BPMN

Flow objects

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BPMN: PosterBPMN: Poster

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BPMN: Examples (1)BPMN: Examples (1)

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BPMN: Examples (2)BPMN: Examples (2)

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BPMN: Examples (3)BPMN: Examples (3)

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BPMN: Examples (4a)BPMN: Examples (4a)

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BPMN: Examples (4b)BPMN: Examples (4b)

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BPMN: Examples (4c)BPMN: Examples (4c)

Choreography - BPMN 2.0 notation

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BPMN: ReferencesBPMN: References

http://www.bpmn.org, the web of Object Management Group/Business Process Management Initiative

tutorials, guidelines, best practices, ...

http://www.omg.org/spec/BPMN/, specifications

http://bpm-sme.blogspot.com/2008/03/3-uvod-do-bpmn.html, short tutorial in Czech

http://www.defm.fmph.uniba.sk/ludia/odrobina/Process_modeling.htm, brief intro to BPMN in Slovak

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Questions?Questions?