A Business Process Design Language (original) (raw)
Related papers
Proceedings of the Second Edition of the International Workshop on Experiences and Empirical Studies in Software Modelling, 2012
A software developer facing a modelling task may follow different styles at different levels of abstraction and precision, to better cope with the aims and the potential users of the model. We address the problem of modelling the business processes by means of UML activity diagrams, and present five styles differing in the precision level, from the Ultra-Light style, where the nodes and the edges of the activity diagram are decorated by freely-formed text, to precise styles where instead OCL and UML actions are used. Then, we propose a practical empirical method for choosing the most suitable style depending on the context in which the models will be used (why, when, where, how long, by whom).
Business process modeling languages
ACM Computing Surveys, 2010
Requirements capture is arguably the most important step of software engineering and yet the most difficult and the least formalized one [Phalp & Shepperd,2000]. Enterprises build information systems to support their business processes. Software engineering research has typically focused on the development process, starting with user requirements-if that-with business modeling often confused with software system modeling [Isoda, 2001]. Researchers and practitioners in management information systems have long recognized that understanding the business processes that an information system must support is key to eliciting the needs of its users (see e.g. [reference]), but lacked the tools to model such business processes or to relate such models to software requirements. Researchers and practitioners in business administration have long been interested in modeling the processes of organizations for the purposes of understanding, analyzing, and improving such processes [reference], but their models were often too coarse to be of use to software engineers. The advent of eCommerce and workflow management systems, among other things, have led to a convergence of interests and tools, within the broad IT community, for modeling and enabling business processes. In this paper, we present an overview of business process modeling languages. We first propose a categorization of the various languages. Then, we describe representative languages from each family.
A Unified View of Business Process Modelling Languages1
Understanding and specifying business processes is a challenge. Many different approaches have been developed, each with their own specific business process modelling languages designed to meet a business specific requirements. In practice, however, multiple business process languages are often being used within one and the same enterprise. This paper proposes a universal and language independent abstraction of the concepts of today's mainstream business process modelling languages, in a unified ontology based on an analysis of seven popular business process modelling approaches. Generic concepts are identified and a unified meta-model designed. An ontological analysis of the representational capability of this meta-model is examined in relation to the Bunge-Wand-Weber ontology. This meta-model is open to further extensions such as incorporating requirements or extending into a knowledge base.
Representing business processes: conceptual model and design methodology.
2009
In this work we present our contributions to business processes modeling. Namely, we have undertaken a thorough analysis of the OMG standard BPMN, along with other related technologies like WS-BPEL and XPDL. Such analysis has pointed out several weaknesses that motivate our contributions. We propose a new conceptual model of BPMN called BPeX as a clear and principled way to represent and reason about business processes. We provide a three-phase design methodology to model business processes focusing on BPMN and we introduce the notion of business process normal form. We introduce also the concept of business process views and apply them to business processes access control. Finally, we provide an extension to BPMN with privacy policies. Relevant parts of BPMN conceptual model will be included as part of the forthcoming BPMN 2.0 standard.
A Unified View of Business Process Modelling Languages
2013
Understanding and specifying business processes is a challenge. Many different approaches have been developed, each with their own specific business process modelling languages designed to meet a business specific requirements. In practice, however, multiple business process languages are often being used within one and the same enterprise. This paper proposes a universal and language independent abstraction of the concepts of today's mainstream business process modelling languages, in a unified ontology based on an analysis of seven popular business process modelling approaches. Generic concepts are identified and a unified meta-model designed. An ontological analysis of the representational capability of this meta-model is examined in relation to the Bunge-Wand-Weber ontology. This meta-model is open to further extensions such as incorporating requirements or extending into a knowledge base.
Empowering Business Users to Model and Execute Business Processes
Business Process Management, 2010
Existing process modelling languages and especially executable process modelling languages are not designed for business users without programming knowledge. We therefore propose a novel Lightweight Process Modelling seeking to lower the entrance barrier for modelling executable processes. In this sense lightweight applies to the user interaction and means easy to understand in the context of the modelling language and easy to deploy, implement, and execute processes in a tooling context. Hence business users get advanced guidance during their modelling activities. This paper will provide a specification of a Lightweight Process Modelling process and the Language for Lightweight Process Modelling (LLPM). The LLPM formal semantic core is fairly rich, but it is designed to be rendered in a simple graphical form without undue loss of semantics. To achieve this we followed three design principles of lightweight modelling when supporting a business user: abstracting from executable process details, using semantic annotations, and reusing process parts through patterns and templates. In order to realize these design principles we have created new elements for the LLPM that are not yet implemented in existing process modelling languages. Selected concepts of existing process modelling languages like BPMN and BPEL complement the LLPM. In this paper we present a coherent metamodel of the elements, properties, and relationships. Further a design process is defined revealing the steps of enhancing the abstract graphical process models with execution details.
Business process modeling languages for information system development
2009
It is known that different process models are used during various phases of the Business Process Modeling (BPM) life cycle. Many efforts have been introduced to overcome the disintegration between these process models to provide a standard process model for design and execution. However this integration is still a problem that mazes the researches in this field till now. This paper discusses the problem of translation between process models, which known as the conceptual mismatch. Different perspectives are described considering the case of Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN) vs. Business Process Execution Language (BPEL).
Business Process Modelling Languages
AGRIS on-line Papers in Economics and Informatics, 2017
This paper summarizes the current knowledge of business process modelling languages, which is increasingly important also in the agri-food industry. It describes the history of business process modelling, currently mostly used alternatives-UML, BPMN, EPC and recaps their strengths and features in which they outperform the others. As demonstrated all three notations can adequately model business processes. They do however differ in some specific features. In some aspects, each of the languages always outperforms the others. Important is that except of some general objective features where the languages differ, there is also a lot of subjective perception of how the single notations perform.
A combined approach for supporting the business process model lifecycle
Proc. of the 10th Pacific …, 2006
Business processes evolve throughout their lifecycle of change. Business Process Modeling (BPM 2) notations such as BPMN are used to effectively conceptualize and communicate important process characteristics to relevant stakeholders. Agent-oriented conceptual modeling notations, such as i*, effectively capture and communicate organizational context. In this paper we argue that the management of change throughout the business process model lifecycle can be more effectively supported by combining notations. In particular, we identify two potential sources of process change, one occurring within the organizational context and the other within the operational context. As such the focus in this paper is on the co-evolution of operational (BPMN) and organizational (i*) models. Our intent is to provide a way of expressing changes, which arise in one model, effectively in the other model. We present constrained development methodologies capable of guiding an analyst when reflecting changes from an i* model to a BPMN model and vice-versa.
On engineering support for business process modelling and redesign
2005
Currently, there is an enormous (research) interest in business process redesign (BPR). Several management-oriented approaches have been proposed showing how to make BPR work. However, detailed descriptions of empirical experience are few. Consistent engineering methodologies to aid and guide a BPR-practitioner are currently emerging. Often, these methodologies are claimed to be developed for business process modelling, but stem directly from information system design cultures. We consider an engineering methodology for BPR to consist of modelling concepts, their representation, computerized tools and methods, and pragmatic skills and guidelines for off-line modelling, communicating, analyzing, (re)designing business processes. The modelling concepts form the architectural basis of such an engineering methodology. Therefore, the choice, understanding and precise definition of these concepts determine the productivity and effectiveness of modelling tasks within a BPR project. The current paper contributes to engineering support for BPR. We work out general issues that play a role in the development of engineering support for BPR. Furthermore, we introduce an architectural framework for business process modelling and redesign. This framework consists of a coherent set of modelling concepts and techniques on how to use them. The framework enables the modelling of both the structural and dynamic characteristics of business processes. We illustrate its applicability by modelling a case from service industry. Moreover, the architectural framework supports abstraction and refinement techniques. The use of these techniques for a BPR trajectory are discussed.