Business process modeling

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Business process modeling (BPM) in systems engineering and software engineering is the activity of representing processes of an enterprise, so that the current ("as is") process may be analyzed and improved in future ("to be"). BPM is typically performed by business analysts and managers who are seeking to improve process efficiency and quality. The process improvements identified by BPM may or may not require Information Technology involvement, although that is a common driver for the need to model a business process, by creating a process master.

Example of business process modeling of a process with a normal flow with the Business Process Modeling Notation.

Change management programs are typically involved to put the improved business processes into practice. With advances in technology from large platform vendors, the vision of BPM models becoming fully executable (and capable of simulations and round-trip engineering) is coming closer to reality every day.

Contents

[edit] Overview

Business process modeling plays an important role in the business process management (BPM) discipline. Since both business process modeling and business process management share the same abbreviation (BPM), these activities are sometimes confused with each other.

BPM addresses the process aspects of a business architecture, leading to an all encompassing enterprise architecture. The relationships of a business processes in the context of the rest of the enterprise systems (e.g., data architecture, organizational structure, strategies, etc.) create greater capabilities when analyzing and planning enterprise changes. For example, during a corporate merger it is important to understand the processes of both companies in detail so that management can correctly and efficiently identify and eliminate redundancies in operations.

The graphical representation of business process information has proven effective for presenting it to business stakeholders, including business analysts and system developers. Visual modeling languages used to represent business processes include Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN) and the Unified Modeling Language (UML).[1][2]

Business process modeling has always been a key aspect of business process reengineering (BPR) and continuous improvement approaches, such as Six Sigma. For routine business activities, BPM tools such as Provision, Intalio, K2 [blackpearl], Axway, Lombardi, Holosofx, Holocentric Modeler and TIBCO are used in order to represent a business process, to run a simulation of the process and for communication purposes. For innovative, adaptive, collaborative human work the techniques of human interaction management are required.

[edit] History

The classic business process modeling methodologies such as the flow chart, functional flow block diagram, data flow diagram, control flow diagram, Gantt chart, PERT diagram, and IDEF have emerged all over the 20th century: The Gantt chart around 1900, the flow charts in the 1920s, Functional Flow Block Diagram and PERT in the 1950s, Data Flow Diagrams and IDEF in the 1970s. IDEF0 is probably the most common technique of traditional business process modeling. These represent just a fraction of the methodologies used over the years to document business processes. Methods from the new millennium here are Unified Modeling Language and the Business Process Modeling Notation.[3] The term "business process modeling" itself was coined in the 1960s in the field of systems engineering. S. Williams in 1967 published the article "Business Process Modeling Improves Administrative Control." His idea was that techniques for obtaining a better understanding of physical control systems could be used in a similar way for business processes.[4]

In the 1990s the term "process" became a new productivity paradigm.[5] Companies were encouraged to think in "processes" instead of "functions" and "procedures". Process thinking looks horizontally through the company for inducing improvement and measurement. Traditional function modeling methods failed to measure and support improvement in cross-function activities, and their tools can depict the complexity and dependency. As complexity grows these cross-functional activities had increased in number and importance. The focus on processes has been described as business process redesign, business process innovation apart from several nicknames, all aiming at improving processes across the traditional functions that comprise a company.[5]

Around the same time (early 1990s) in the field of software engineering the term "business process modeling" was coined as opposed to software process modeling, much more oriented towards the state of the practice.[6] Earlier and new modelling techniques to capture business processes were now called "business process modeling languages." In the Object Oriented approach, it was considered to be an essential step in the specification of Business Application Systems. Business process modeling became the base of new methodologies, that for example also supported data collection, data flow analysis, process flow diagrams and reporting facilities. Around 1995 the first visually oriented tool for business process modeling and implementation were being presented.

[edit] BPM topics

[edit] Business model

Business model design template: Nine building blocks and their relationships, Osterwalder 2004[7]

A business model is a framework for creating economic, social, and/or other forms of value. The term business model' is thus used for a broad range of informal and formal descriptions to represent core aspects of a business, including purpose, offerings, strategies, infrastructure, organizational structures, trading practices, and operational processes and policies.

In the most basic sense, a business model is the method of doing business by which a company can sustain itself. That is, generate revenue. The business model spells-out how a company makes money by specifying where it is positioned in the value chain.

[edit] Business process

A business process is a collection of related, structured activities or tasks that produce a specific service or product (serve a particular goal) for a particular customer or customers. There are three main types of business processes:

  1. Management processes, the processes that govern the operation of a system. Typical management processes include "Corporate Governance" and "Strategic Management".
  2. Operational processes, processes that constitute the core business and create the primary value stream. Typical operational processes are Purchasing, Manufacturing, Marketing, and Sales.
  3. Supporting processes, which support the core processes. Examples include Accounting, Recruitment, Technical support.

A business process can be decomposed into several sub-processes, which have their own attributes, but also contribute to achieving the goal of the super-process. The analysis of business processes typically includes the mapping of processes and sub-processes down to activity level. A business process model is a model of one or more business processes, and defines the ways in which operations are carried out to accomplish the intended objectives of an organization. Such a model remains an abstraction and depends on the intended use of the model. It can describe the workflow or the integration between business processes. It can be constructed in multiple levels.

A workflow is a depiction of a sequence of operations, declared as work of a person, work of a simple or complex mechanism, work of a group of persons,[8] work of an organization of staff, or machines. Workflow may be seen as any abstraction of real work, segregated in workshare, work split or whatever types of ordering. For control purposes, workflow may be a view on real work under a chosen aspect.

[edit] Business process modeling tools

Business process modeling tools provide business users with the ability to model their business processes, implement and execute those models, and refine the models based on as-executed data. As a result, business process modeling tools can provide transparency into business processes, as well as the centralization of corporate business process models and execution metrics.[9]

[edit] Modeling and simulation

Modeling and simulation functionality allows for pre-execution “what-if” modeling and simulation. Post-execution optimization is available based on the analysis of actual as-performed metrics.[9]

Business process modeling diagrams are:

Some business process modeling techniques are:

[edit] Programming languages tools for BPM

BPM suite software provides programming interfaces (web services, application program interfaces (APIs)) which allow enterprise applications to be built to leverage the BPM engine.[9]

Programming languages that are being introduced for BPM include:[1]

Other technologies related to business process modeling include model-driven architecture and service-oriented architecture.

[edit] Related topics

[edit] Business reference model

Example of the US Federal Government Business Reference Model.[10]

A business reference model is a reference model, concentrating on the functional and organizational aspects of an enterprise, service organization or government agency. In general a reference model is a model of something that embodies the basic goal or idea of something and can then be looked at as a reference for various purposes. A business reference model is a means to describe the business operations of an organization, independent of the organizational structure that perform them. Other types of business reference model can also depict the relationship between the business processes, business functions, and the business area’s business reference model. These reference model can be constructed in layers, and offer a foundation for the analysis of service components, technology, data, and performance.

The most familiar business reference model is the Business Reference Model of the US Federal Government. That model is a function-driven framework for describing the business operations of the Federal Government independent of the agencies that perform them. The Business Reference Model provides an organized, hierarchical construct for describing the day-to-day business operations of the Federal government. While many models exist for describing organizations - organizational charts, location maps, etc. - this model presents the business using a functionally driven approach.[11]

[edit] Business process integration

Example of the interaction between business process and data models.[12]

A business model, which may be considered an elaboration of a business process model, typically shows business data and business organizations as well as business processes. By showing business processes and their information flows a business model allows business stakeholders to define, understand, and validate their business enterprise. The data model part of the business model shows how business information is stored, which is useful for developing software code. See the figure on the right for an example of the interaction between business process models and data models.[12]

Usually a business model is created after conducting an interview, which is part of the business analysis process. The interview consists of a facilitator asking a series of questions to extract information about the subject business process. The interviewer is referred to as a facilitator to emphasize that it is the participants, not the facilitator, who provide the business process information. Although the facilitator should have some knowledge of the subject business process, but this is not as important as her mastery of a pragmatic and rigorous method interviewing business experts. The method is important because for most enterprises a team of facilitators is needed to collect information across the enterprise, and the findings of all the interviewers must be compiled and integrated once completed.[12]

Business models are developed as defining either the current state of the process, in which case the final product is called the "as is" snapshot model, or a concept of what the process should become, resulting in a "to be" model. By comparing and contrasting "as is" and "to be" models the business analysts can determine if the existing business processes and information systems are sound and only need minor modifications, or if reengineering is required to correct problems or improve efficiency. Consequently, business process modeling and subsequent analysis can be used to fundamentally reshape the way an enterprise conducts its operations.[12]

[edit] Business process reengineering

Business Process Reengineering Cycle.

Business process reengineering (BPR) is an approach aiming at improvements by means of elevating efficiency and effectiveness of the processes that exist within and across organizations. The key to business process reengineering is for organizations to look at their business processes from a "clean slate" perspective and determine how they can best construct these processes to improve how they conduct business.

Business process reengineering (BPR) began as a private sector technique to help organizations fundamentally rethink how they do their work in order to dramatically improve customer service, cut operational costs, and become world-class competitors. A key stimulus for reengineering has been the continuing development and deployment of sophisticated information systems and networks. Leading organizations are becoming bolder in using this technology to support innovative business processes, rather than refining current ways of doing work.[13]

[edit] Business process management

Business process management is a field of management focused on aligning organizations with the wants and needs of clients. It is a holistic management approach[citation needed] that promotes business effectiveness and efficiency while striving for innovation, flexibility and integration with technology. As organizations strive for attainment of their objectives, business process management attempts to continuously improve processes - the process to define, measure and improve your processes – a "process optimization" process.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b "Business Process Modeling FAQ". http://www.BPModeling.com/faq/. Retrieved on 2008-11-02. 
  2. ^ "BPMN FAQ". http://www.BPMNforum.com/FAQ.htm. Retrieved on 2008-11-02. 
  3. ^ Thomas Dufresne & James Martin (2003). "Process Modeling for E-Business". INFS 770 Methods for Information Systems Engineering: Knowledge Management and E-Business. Spring 2003
  4. ^ Williams, S. (1967) "Business Process Modeling Improves Administrative Control," In: Automation. December, 1967, pp. 44 - 50.
  5. ^ a b Asbjørn Rolstadås (1995). "Business process modeling and reengineering". in: Performance Management: A Business Process Benchmarking Approach. p. 148-150.
  6. ^ Brian C. Warboys (1994). Software Process Technology: Third European Workshop EWSPT'94, Villard de Lans, France, February 7-9, 1994 : Proceedings. p. 252.
  7. ^ The Business Model Ontology - A Proposition In A Design Science Approach, Thesis by Alexander Osterwalder, 2004
  8. ^ See e.g., ISO 12052:2006, [1]
  9. ^ a b c Workflow/Business Process Management (BPM) Service Pattern June 27, 2007. Accessed 29 nov 2008.
  10. ^ FEA (2005) FEA Records Management Profile, Version 1.0. December 15, 2005.
  11. ^ FEA Consolidated Reference Model Document. May 2005.
  12. ^ a b c d Paul R. Smith & Richard Sarfaty (1993). Creating a strategic plan for configuration management using Computer Aided Software Engineering (CASE) tools. Paper For 1993 National DOE/Contractors and Facilities CAD/CAE User's Group.
  13. ^ Business Process Reengineering Assessment Guide, United States General Accounting Office, May 1997.

[edit] Further reading

[edit] External links

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