1

The Ultimate Guide to BPMN 2

Contents
Why BPMN Matters

What is BPMN?

The ABCs of BPMN

A means for business & technical collaboration

The 3 levels of BPMN complexity

13

BPMN at 3 levels of complexity

14

Basic BPMN

15

An example with basic BPMN

16

Intermediate BPMN

17

The 4 categories of BPMN

Intermediate BPMN: activities

18

BPMN in 4 categories

Intermediate BPMN: sequence flows

19

Workflow

Intermediate BPMN: gateways

20

Organizing

10

Intermediate BPMN: events

21

Readability

11

Intermediate BPMN: messages and signals

22

Special behavior

12

Intermediate BPMN: timers and errors

23

An example with intermediate BPMN

24

Summary

25

Sources and further reading

26

The Ultimate Guide to BPMN 2

Why BPMN Matters

Business Process Model and
Notation 2.0 (BPMN 2) is one of
the best things to happen in
Business Process Management
(BPM) in a long time.
Finally, both the business and
technical sides of the
organization can share a
common
language

something that they can both

understand and that meets
their respective needs for
precision and flexibility.
This shared language is
empowering new ways of
working together and it results in the
deployment of new and more flexible
applications.
At Bonitasoft, the leading provider of open
source BPM solutions, we are mindful of the

power and potential of shared standards.

BPMN 2.0 is a natural fit with what we do.

We realize that many people and

organizations who could benefit from BPMN
have yet to give it a try.
It may be that youve been putting it off
under the mistaken assumption that you
need to be an expert to use BPMN. Or it may
be because the standard itself, and many of
the things written about BPMN, are a bit
unwieldy and hard to dissect.
In fact, BPMN is much simpler than you might
think; expertise comes over time but
starting is actually pretty easy. And we
believe the benefits can become quickly
apparent.

The Ultimate Guide to BPMN 2

In fact, the nice thing about BPMN is that it is

so structurally sound that once you master
the Basic BPMN level elements, your
knowledge and capability will improve
quickly; youll learn what you need from the
intermediate BPMN level elements for
extending the model, and the technical team
will pick up the advanced BPMN level to
complete the execution capability.
We offer this Ultimate Guide to help you to
get familiar with the basics and give BPMN a
try.
We are convinced you will find it powerful,
adaptable and remarkably easy. Whether
you are a business professional or a
developer, BPMN2 is your path to better
processes, improved management, and
more efficiency.
Miguel Valdes Faura,
Bonitasoft CEO and founder

What is BPMN?

The Ultimate Guide to BPMN 2

The ABCs of BPMN

If youve heard of BPMN but
arent really sure what it is or
what it does, you are not alone.
But, before we talk about what BPMN
is, lets talk about what it is not...
It is not a system.
You cant buy a BPMN it is a standard for
business process collaboration and for IT
development.
It is not just for business or just for IT it is a
shared, common language.
It is not only for experts.

If you are at all familiar with

flow charting, you can dive in
immediately.

Definitions
BPM Business Process Management
The discipline of managing processes as
the means for improving business
performance outcomes1.
BPMN Business Process Model and
Notation
A graphical representation for specifying
business processes in a business process
model2.
BPMS Business Process Management
Suite
Application infrastructure to support
BPM projects and programs from
process discovery, definition and design
to implementation, monitoring and
analysis,
and
through
ongoing
1
optimization .
1 Gartner Research
2 Object Management Group

The Ultimate Guide to BPMN 2

BPMN = BPM + N
A business process model is a representation
of an organizations processes. A model can
be analyzed and improved.
Notation consists of graphic symbols to
represent action, flow, or behavior of a
process.
In a BPMS, BPMN notation represents coding
instructions that are executable.
BPMN provides a notation that can be readily
understandable by all users:

from the business analyst who models

the process conceptually,
to the technical developers responsible
for implementing the technology for
the process,
to the people who will manage and
monitor the process.

A means for business & technical collaboration

BPMN provides a way to quickly
diagram business functions.
Use it to draw a process graphically
The visual model will be translated quickly
and easily into software that will run the
process.
With BPMN, business people can define what
they want, simply but with a high degree of
precision; and IT professionals can
communicate with each other and with
business people about the model in a clear,
common framework.

BPMN works for any kind of management,

operation and support process. By
developing a model with BPMN, you can
collaboratively improve communications
with decision makers about the nature and
health of a process; you can collaboratively
initiate improvements and you can
collaboratively move toward automating
those improvements.

BPMN has been around for almost a decade

and much in BPMN2 remains from the 1.0
version, especially the shapes and symbols.
One thing that has changed behind the
scenes is the adoption of XML interchange
format and the support BPMN 2.0 provides
for turning a model and its notation into an
executable process.
Open source and proprietary BPM vendors
now have the capacity to take BPMN 2.0
input and turn it into process automation.

Source: Business Process Model and Notation, Version 2,

January 2011 by OMG

BPMN may look familiar

The Ultimate Guide to BPMN 2

BPMN is
language

not

an

execution

It is designed to be consumed by
process engines and made into
executable processes.

The 4 categories of BPMN

The Ultimate Guide to BPMN 2

BPMN in 4 categories
The BPMN2 spec is long, dense
and relatively complex.
We can approach it by organizing BPMN
elements into a few general categories.

BPMN 2.0 spec in numbers

With just a few elements from first three

categories you can draw a business process
diagram and begin to build and understand a
process.
Lets look more closely at what they
represent.

Workflow

Organizing

Activities
Start & end events
Sequence flow
Gateways

Pools
Swimlanes or lanes

Readability
Annotations
Links

98
508
300
313
3
13

visual elements
pages
figures
tables
annexes
collaborating groups

Special behavior
Messages
Signals
Timers
Errors
Loop
Multi-instance

BPMN fact: Graphical representation for BPMN elements is monochrome. We use the following colors to improve diagram readability:
Start events

Activities &
intermediate events

Gateways

The Ultimate Guide to BPMN 2

End events

Workflow
Workflow includes activities,
gateways, events, and the
sequence flow that connects
them.

Events

Gateways

Used to start or end a process, and to

manage specific actions during a
workflow; it triggers or is the result of
something external of the process flow

Used to separate or join process flow

Gateway

Each of these elements have several types,

and all of these types can be connected in a
sequence.

Event

Activities
Tasks that are performed in the process
by humans, by automation, or that
activate subprocesses
Activity

Sequence flows
Used to show how the workflow moves
Activity

Activity

The Ultimate Guide to BPMN 2

Organizing
Organizing uses pools and
swimlanes. Think of these as the
container for the process flow.

10

Pools

Swimlanes

Contains a single, complete process.

Workflow cannot leave a pool - we need
to transfer action or data from one
pool/process to another using other
means.

Used to help organize the process based

on who does what (actors). In a lap pool,
swimlanes keep the swimmers from
crashing into one another.
Workflow crosses swimlane boundaries
as if they did not exist they are purely
for organizational clarity.

The Ultimate Guide to BPMN 2

Readability
Readability includes annotations
and links.
These elements help make a model readable.
They have no effect at all on the actual
process flow.

Text annotations

Links

Allow you to paste notes all over a model

with explanations for clarity (a great tool
for beginning modelers!)

Allow you to cut a process that has

become too long to read easily, and
simply continue the process on another
line in the same pool.

Throw link

11

The Ultimate Guide to BPMN 2

Catch link

Special behavior
Special behavior includes a
specific set of events and task
markers.
These elements allow us to design
executable workflow that can behave in
complex ways.

Messages and message flow

Used to transfer data from one
pool/process to another and to correlate
related processes
Correlation is used to coordinate
progress between two running process
instances and match message events

Signals

Errors

Used to broadcast information to other

processes

Used to define behavior when the system

encounters error

Throw signal

Catch signal

Timers

Loop and multi-instance

Used to launch periodic activities, or to

ensure that an activity happens within a
specified deadline

Used to repeat tasks, such as multiple

launches of the same task (multiinstance) or repeating the same task
(loop)

Timer

12

Error

The Ultimate Guide to BPMN 2

The 3 levels of BPMN complexity

13

The Ultimate Guide to BPMN 2

BPMN at 3 levels of complexity

BPMN symbols serve a dual
purpose.

Lets look at these BPMN elements at the three levels of complexity:

Basic, Intermediate and Advanced.
Basic

They visually represent a process flow.

They translate to executable code that allows
a visual process model to be executed as an
application.
Recall that we can organize BPMN modeling
elements into a few general categories:

Abstract

Human
Service
Call

Events

Start
End

Message
Timer
Error
Signal

Gateways

Parallel
Exclusive

Inclusive

Sequence flow

Sequence

Conditional
Default

Activities

Workflow
Organizing
Readability
Special behavior

Note that Basic BPMN is predominately

visual. Intermediate and Advanced
BPMN becomes executable.

14

Intermediate

Pools
Lanes
Other
Annotation
Links

The Ultimate Guide to BPMN 2

Advanced

Event subprocess

Loop
Multi-instance

Basic BPMN
Basic BPMN is useful for modeling
when details have not been
worked out.
Activities, events, gateways, and sequence
flow all have Basic BPMN level versions.

Abstract activity
No specific execution, acts as a placeholder
for documentation purposes.

15

Start event

Begins a process flow.

End event

Ends a process flow.

Parallel gateway
All inputs must be received (in any order)
before the process can continue.
All outputs are activated process continues
in parallel.

The Ultimate Guide to BPMN 2

Exclusive gateway
Only one input is needed for the process to
continue.
Only one output is activated a condition is
needed to determine which one.

Sequence flow
Directs process flow from activity to activity.

An example with basic BPMN

Start with the basics: abstract
activity, start and stop events,
gateways, and sequence flow.
For example, a generic new employee
orientation and training process modeled in
basic BPMN elements looks like this.
Imagine a token being moved through
the diagram like a traditional board
game.
This can help clarify how the features of
the model control the movement of the
token as you add complexity.
When a start event is triggered, a new
instance of a process begins. Think
through what happens to a single token
traversing a single pathway at a time.
BPMN 2.0, Thomas Allweyer
New employee orientation and training process

16

The Ultimate Guide to BPMN 2

Intermediate BPMN
To make a visual model
executable, begin to apply
intermediate BPMN.
In an executable process, the flow model
becomes an actual process application!
As you advance with BPMN, begin making
your BPMN executable to ultimately turn
it into an automated process.
BPMN 2.0 is not just a notation.
Implemented through a BPMN modeling
tool, it provides programming instruction
that a process engine uses to execute the
process.
The previous example is a simple model that
clearly shows visually what happens in the
process.
The example on this page and the next shows
how the model is extended as you begin to
apply intermediate BPMN.

17

New employee orientation and training process

Note that activities have been defined, and default flow has been added

The Ultimate Guide to BPMN 2

Intermediate BPMN: activities

Intermediate-level activities
include human, service, and call
activity.
Activities need to be differentiated is each
task performed by a person, is it automated
or, is it a subprocess in its own right?

Human activity is a step that

must be done by a person

Service activity is an
automated step

Call activity represents a

subprocess

Prepare training schedule is a call activity.

It is linked to a subprocess (a child of the
original parent process).
At this point in the process, the token is
passed to the subprocess, and when it has
completed its passage, it is passed back to
the parent process.
This is a super-useful aspect of BPMN.

18

Using this notation, you can model a toplevel parent process that can be quite simple.
It can call a series of subprocesses that are
entirely independent workflows.

The Ultimate Guide to BPMN 2

This means they can be modeled

independently and modified as needed
without necessarily changing the parent
process.

Intermediate BPMN: sequence flows

Intermediate-level sequence flow
includes conditional and default
flows.
Basic sequence flow is simply automatic (as
soon as an activity is completed, the process
moves to the next task in the sequence).
When connected to Exclusive or Inclusive
gateways, sequence flows need to be defined
as conditional or default, so the flow token
knows which path to follow.

Conditional sequence flow

Some specified condition(s) must be met so
the process can choose the next task from
among two or more options.
Conditional flow is what it sounds like: an IFTHEN condition is defined. In this (Boolean)
example:

19

If the schedule is ok with the trainer,

this condition = true.
If the schedule is NOT ok with the
trainer, this condition = false.

Default sequence flow

Default flow allows you to direct flow if, for
some reason, no conditions are met. The
flow token always has a direction to take.
Default flow is marked with a \

The Ultimate Guide to BPMN 2

Sequence flow cant cross a pool

boundary. To communicate between
pools (processes), use messages or
signals.

Intermediate BPMN: gateways

The intermediate-level gateway
inclusive offers finer control of
process flow.
Inclusive gateway
Outputs from inclusive gateway
The inclusive gateway can fire multiple
outputs simultaneously.
It supports conditions on the outgoing
sequence flows.
Example:
Variable

Value

amount

5000

color

red

In this example, flows 2 and 4 meet the flow

condition. Flows 1 and 3 do not so no token
passes.

20

Inputs to inclusive gateway

The inclusive gateway waits for all incoming
inputs (tokens).

The Ultimate Guide to BPMN 2

All valid inputs (i.e., flows 2 and 4) must be

received before the process flow can
continue.

Intermediate BPMN: events

Events are either throw or catch
events.

End event (throw), ends a process

flow. It must have at least one
incoming sequence flow.

Mastery of the different start, end, and inflow intermediate events is key to mastery
of intermediate BPMN.

Start

BPMN events are either throw (think of

these as senders) or catch (think of these
as receivers).

Start
message

Solid throws or sends events

Empty catches or receives events
The following colors are used as a
convenience (non-normative):

Throw
message

Catch
timer

Start
signal

Catch
signal

Throw
signal

Catch
link

Throw
link

Start
error

Catch
error

End

Elsewhere can mean from a throw event

somewhere in another process, and this can
be an end event.

End
message

In this case, the end of one process can

trigger the start of another process.
Timers too can start processes automatically,
by triggering at pre-set intervals.

Start
timer

Start event (catch), starts a

process. It must have at least one
outgoing sequence flow.
Intermediate event (catch or
throw), takes place within the flow
of a process. It must have at least
an incoming and an outgoing
sequence flow.

Catch
message

End
signal

End
error
Terminate

21

Message, signal and error start events allow

you to trigger processes without direct
human interaction, as they are set to catch
information sent from elsewhere.

The Ultimate Guide to BPMN 2

Intermediate BPMN: messages and signals

Messages and signals
information
across
boundaries.

carry
pool

Messages send to single receivers, while

signals broadcast widely to many receivers.

Message

Signal

You can start a process with a message. In

BPMN, message is specifically defined as the
means by which data can be transferred
between processes.

Like messages and errors, signals can be

caught from elsewhere and can start a
process.

With BPMN you can start a process with data

received from a different process.
And conversely, if you want to send data to
another process, use an intermediate send
message (anywhere in the process flow) or
an end message.

22

The Ultimate Guide to BPMN 2

A single throw signal is broadcast widely

and can be received by multiple catch signals.
This is useful when you want multiple actions
to be triggered.

Intermediate BPMN: timers and errors

Timers can delay or pause a
process, while errors send it on an
exception path.
Like other intermediate events, timers and
errors can start a process or impose an
action within the process flow.
Errors can also end a process.

Timer

Error

Timers can be set to go off at specific

intervals, or specific calendar-linked dates
and times. For example, a start timer can go
off every 24 hours, or on the first Tuesday of
each month.

Like messages, errors can be caught - and can

start a process, or a special error path within
a sub-process.

If the timer is a start event, the process starts

when the timer goes off. If the timer is
located in the process flow, the process waits
until the timer goes off and then it
continues.

23

The Ultimate Guide to BPMN 2

An example with intermediate BPMN

Messages, signals, timers, and
errors specify workflow behavior.

24

The Ultimate Guide to BPMN 2

Summary
With just 4 categories of basic and
intermediate BPMN you can
begin to build a deployable,
executable process application.
BPMN is a standard that allows business and
IT to share a common language, which makes
development of BPM applications for
business by IT easier and more efficient.
BPMN is both a set of visual modeling
elements, and a set of semantics for
executable code represented by those
elements.
Many of the visual elements in BPMN are
similar to standard flow chart elements.
Modeling with and interpreting models with
BPMN is relatively straightforward.

25

BPMN elements can be categorized

Workflow
Organizing
Readability
Special behavior
There are Basic, Intermediate, and
Advanced elements in each of these
categories.

Basic BPMN is useful for modeling.

Intermediate BPMN begins to make a

model executable.

Advanced BPMN fully defines process

behavior.

The Ultimate Guide to BPMN 2

If youre designing a BPM

software suite, read the
BPMN2 spec...
If youre designing process
applications, this Ultimate
Guide is what you really need!

Sources and further reading

BPMN Method and Style, 2nd ed., Bruce Silver, October 2011
OMG Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) Version 2.0, January 2011
BPMN 2.0: Introduction to the Standard for Business Process Modeling, Thomas Allweyer, February 2010

Learn more about BPM and BPMN

26

The Ultimate Guide to BPMN 2