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How to use BPMN* for modelling business processes

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Reduced version of a webinar

Transcript

WEBINAR (SHORT VERSION) HOW TO USE BPMN* FOR MODELLING BUSINESS PROCESSES Dr Alexander Samarin www.samarin.biz * Business Process Modeling Notation

  • BPM reference model
  • BPMN basic elements
  • Modelling methodology
    • BPMN diagramming style
    • BPMN practical patterns
    • BPMN-based modelling procedure
  • Evolution of BPMN
  • BPMN advanced use
Agenda 2009-summer How to use BPMN for modelling business processes
  • Ideally, one formal description of business processes
    • model in design
    • input for project planning and execution
    • executable program for coordination of work
    • documentation for all staff members
  • Explicit expression of coordination
  • Express relationships between BPM artefacts
  • Understandable by all staff members
  • A tool for communication
  • A tool for joint work of the business and the IT
Context for BPMN 2009-summer How to use BPMN for modelling business processes
  • An original development by Business Process Management Initiative to align modelling notations since 2000
  • The primary goal – understanding by business stakeholders
  • OMG standard since 2005
  • Current version 1.2 since Jan 2009
  • Version 2 is under development (to be discussed at the end of this webinar)
BPMN standard 2009-summer How to use BPMN for modelling business processes
  • This is based on the experience that the direct use of some standards does not guarantee interoperability
  • Development “by committee” leads to exotic features
  • Bottom-up approach leads to yet another attempt to solve all problems with the current tool
  • BPM industry is vendor-driven and not customer-driven
  • BPMN has no solid execution semantic model – each tool executes BPM diagrams differently
It is important to follow a critical approach to BPMN 2009-summer How to use BPMN for modelling business processes
  • BPM reference model
  • BPMN basic elements
  • Modelling methodology
    • BPMN diagramming style
    • BPMN practical patterns
    • BPMN-based modelling procedure
  • Evolution of BPMN
  • BPMN advanced use
Agenda 2009-summer How to use BPMN for modelling business processes
  • 3 kinds of flow objects
    • Activity
    • Gateway
    • Event
  • 3 ways of connecting
    • Sequence flow
    • Message flow
    • Association
  • Two types of container
    • Pools
    • Lanes (swimlanes)
BPMN basic set shapes 2009-summer How to use BPMN for modelling business processes
  • Template-based
    • static connection of “flow objects” or sequence relationship (predecessor and successor)
    • similar to a river (upstream and downstream)
    • process template is an abstract description of a process
Three types of coordination logic (1) 2009-summer How to use BPMN for modelling business processes
  • Token-based
    • token marks elements which active at a particular time
    • dynamic connection of “flow objects” or synchronisation (wait for) / chronologic relationship
    • similar to a “flock” of ducks (split and join)
    • several tokens may co-exist
Three types of coordination logic (2) 2009-summer How to use BPMN for modelling business processes
  • Instance-based
    • process instance is an enactment of a process template
    • each instance may have different behaviour of tokens
    • a process instance is completed when all tokens have been consumed
    • a process instance may start several instances of another process (although the latter is mentioned only once in the former)
Three types of coordination logic (3) 2009-summer How to use BPMN for modelling business processes
  • Start event produces a token
  • End (or finish) event consumes a token
  • Intermediate token means that something happened within a business process engine
Event types 2009-summer How to use BPMN for modelling business processes
  • Too many events details
  • Recommendations to use:
    • Mainly “message”
    • Sometimes “empty”, “error” and “timer”
Event details 2009-summer How to use BPMN for modelling business processes Throw message Catch message Start message End message
  • It has at least one activity!
Simplest useful process 2009-summer How to use BPMN for modelling business processes
  • Activity02, Activity03 and Activity04 will be executed in parallel; the process will only be continued when each of them is completed
  • Logic of tokens is used
Parallel gateway 2009-summer How to use BPMN for modelling business processes
  • A single activity Activity02 or Activity03 or Activity04 will be executed. The choice is based on the logic defined within the gateway G01
  • Logic of tokens is used
Exclusive gateway 2009-summer How to use BPMN for modelling business processes
  • Several activities can be executed in parallel
  • It covers functionality of parallel and exclusive gateways
  • Logic of tokens is used
Inclusive gateway 2009-summer How to use BPMN for modelling business processes
  • Many tokens can pass the same activity
Logic of templates vs. logic of tokens 2009-summer How to use BPMN for modelling business processes
  • Process fragment is a compound activity
  • Also called “sub-process”
Process fragments 2009-summer How to use BPMN for modelling business processes
  • Repeating conditions may be different in different systems
Repeatable process fragments (1) 2009-summer How to use BPMN for modelling business processes
  • Be explicit within fragments; the exclusive gateway G01 which is used to specify two branches – one to continue the loop and one to exit it
Repeatable process fragments (2) 2009-summer How to use BPMN for modelling business processes
  • Catching errors and time-outs
Process fragment as logical grouping 2009-summer How to use BPMN for modelling business processes
  • A pool is a container for activities carried out by a particular participant in a process
  • Typically, a participant is
    • a role for a human activity
    • a service (or a process) for an automated activity
Pool 2009-summer How to use BPMN for modelling business processes
  • Flow connector represents the sequence of activities within the same pool
  • Message connection represents the communication between activities in separate pools
Connectors 2009-summer How to use BPMN for modelling business processes Handling of messages (1) 2009-summer How to use BPMN for modelling business processes Handling of messages (2) 2009-summer How to use BPMN for modelling business processes The full set of elements 2009-summer How to use BPMN for modelling business processes
  • BPM reference model
  • BPMN basic elements
  • Modelling methodology
    • BPMN diagramming style
    • BPMN practical patterns
    • BPMN-based modelling procedure
  • Evolution of BPMN
  • BPMN advanced use
Agenda 2009-summer How to use BPMN for modelling business processes Example of unstructured BPMN 2009-summer How to use BPMN for modelling business processes
  • Horizontal vs. vertical timeline
Diagramming style in BPMN (1) How to use BPMN for modelling business processes 2009-summer Timeline Diagramming style in BPMN (2) How to use BPMN for modelling business processes 2009-summer Participants
  • BPM reference model
  • BPMN basic elements
  • Modelling methodology
    • BPMN diagramming style
    • BPMN practical patterns
    • BPMN-based modelling procedure
  • Evolution of BPMN
  • BPMN advanced use
Agenda 2009-summer How to use BPMN for modelling business processes
  • Recent research work led by several universities has led to the identification of about 40 workflows patterns; used for comparison of different workflow engines
  • Visit http://www.workflowpatterns.com/
  • Most of them are complex
Workflow patterns How to use BPMN for modelling business processes 2009-summer Anti-pattern PRF Process Realisation Faked 2009-summer How to use BPMN for modelling business processes
  • With a process instance we “carry” a package with
    • Business objects (by value and by reference)
    • Business documents (by value and by reference)
    • Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
    • Audit trails
    • Comments
    • Local variables
    • etc.
Pattern PP Process Package How to use BPMN for modelling business processes 2009-summer
  • BPM reference model
  • BPMN basic elements
  • Modelling methodology
    • BPMN diagramming style
    • BPMN practical patterns
    • BPMN-based modelling procedure
  • Evolution of BPMN
  • BPMN advanced use
Agenda 2009-summer How to use BPMN for modelling business processes
  • it treats human and automated activities equally
  • it is primarily for capturing the flow of control, and not for optimisation
  • it is a tool for both the business and the IT (maybe with coaching by a process architect/engineer)
  • it provides validation by simulation
  • it provides validation by quick prototyping – real services can be invoked
  • it is a visual programming approach
Principles of the modelling procedure 2009-summer How to use BPMN for modelling business processes
  • Its purpose is
    • to analyse a building block (what it is supposed to do)
    • to synthesise its implementation (how it does this) as the explicit coordination of other building blocks (processes or activities)
  • It is iterative – we can apply it until we have left only indivisible building blocks (i.e. activities)
  • Artefacts are constructed recursively, like Russian dolls
The modelling procedure 2009-summer How to use BPMN for modelling business processes Four phases 2009-summer How to use BPMN for modelling business processes
  • The purpose
    • to analyse a building block as a whole
    • to discover its functional characteristics and some related artefacts
  • The method
    • the business story behind this building block should be carefully analysed to determine some of its artefacts
  • Recommendations
    • at this point, don’t go into excessive detail for each artefact; this should be done later
Blackboxing phase 2009-summer How to use BPMN for modelling business processes
  • The purpose
    • to analyse a building block from within to determine its internal structure and its major artefacts
  • The method
    • determine the main functional (or logical) steps
    • add check-points between steps
    • classify artefacts for these steps
  • Recommendations
    • don’t have more than 7 steps
    • avoid loop-back over check-points
Structuring phase (1) 2009-summer How to use BPMN for modelling business processes
  • Steps and check points
Structuring phase (2) 2009-summer How to use BPMN for modelling business processes
  • Steps, check points and artefacts
Structuring phase (3) 2009-summer How to use BPMN for modelling business processes
  • The purpose
    • to synthesize an initial version of the formal coordination: some kind of process skeleton
  • The method
    • add intra-step logic
    • start formalising the business objects involved
    • collect test scenarios
  • Recommendations
    • consider implementation of human activities as interactive forms
Re-construction phase (1) 2009-summer How to use BPMN for modelling business processes
  • The diagram
Re-construction phase (2) 2009-summer How to use BPMN for modelling business processes
  • The purpose
    • to enrich the process skeleton by adding more automated activities
  • The method
    • add pools
    • apply different practical patterns
    • use a business rule engine if available
    • collect test scenarios
  • Recommendations
    • work iteratively (step-by-step)
Instrumentation phase (1) 2009-summer How to use BPMN for modelling business processes
  • The diagram
Instrumentation phase (2) 2009-summer How to use BPMN for modelling business processes
  • BPM reference model
  • BPMN basic elements
  • Modelling methodology
    • BPMN diagramming style
    • BPMN practical patterns
    • BPMN-based modelling procedure
  • Evolution of BPMN
  • BPMN advanced use
Agenda 2009-summer How to use BPMN for modelling business processes
  • Seamless exchange between different modelling tools
  • Conformance levels
  • Execution semantic promised
  • Merging orchestration and choreography
  • Driven by vendors
BPMN 2.0 (in development) 2009-summer How to use BPMN for modelling business processes
  • Agreed BPM reference model
  • Conformance for standard execution semantic
  • BPMN-like model with different levels of detail
  • A modelling procedure which guides people
  • A coherent set of standards similar to W3C for HTML:
    • xHTML for structure and content
    • CSS for presentation
    • DOM-based API for dynamic modifications
    • some other specialized standards
  • All vendors benchmark their products against an agreed test (similar to acid3.acidtests.org)
Dreaming about a customer-centric BPM 2009-summer How to use BPMN for modelling business processes
  • BPM reference model
  • BPMN basic elements
  • Modelling methodology
    • BPMN diagramming style
    • BPMN practical patterns
    • BPMN-based modelling procedure
  • Evolution of BPMN
  • BPMN advanced use
Agenda 2009-summer How to use BPMN for modelling business processes Example: Apply for a position 2009-summer How to use BPMN for modelling business processes
  • Contact information:
  • Alexander Samarin
  • [email_address]
  • www.improving-BPM-systems.com
Thank you 2009-summer How to use BPMN for modelling business processes