LECTURE 3: BUSINESS ARCHITECTURE

ASPECTS: BUSINESS PROCESS MODELLING

Lecture 3: Business Process Modelling CA4101 Lecture Notes (Martin Crane 2016) 1
 Historical View of BP Modelling
– Work Process Flow (early to mid 1900s)
o Frank Gilbreth & his 'Flow Process Charts' (= flowcharts)
o First structured method for documenting process flow
– Work Flow (mid-1970s)
o Motivation was disenchantment with the above
o Acted as a genesis for BP Modelling
– Business Process Modelling (2000s)
o Trend towards new manufacturing paradigm – Virtual Enterprise
o VE=distributed & parallel BP execution from each VE entity
o Need effective process modelling with strict model analysis

Lecture 3: Business Process Modelling CA4101 Lecture Notes (Martin Crane 2016) 2
 Business Process Modelling
• What is it?
– The activity of representing processes of an enterprise, so that the current
process may be analyzed and improved.
– Typically performed by business analysts & managers seeking to improve
process efficiency and quality.
– The process improvements identified by BPM may or may not require IT
involvement, although that is a common driver behind modelling a BP
• BPM helps companies to:
– To become more process-oriented
– To optimise business processes thro Process Change Mgmt: long term
planning, execution & control of processes
– To document and manage processes on an ongoing basis
– To simulate BP using, i.a. Monte Carlo simulation & Discrete Event Simulation
Lecture 3: Business Process Modelling CA4101 Lecture Notes (Martin Crane 2016) 3
 Business Process Modelling Notation
– Why BPM Notation (BPMN)?
o => a notation that can be understood by all business users.
o i.e. business analysts (creating initial drafts of processes)
o & technical developers (implementing technology performing those
processes).
– Where does BPMN fit in with tools (WF/UML diagrams)?
o swimlanes/WF not flexible for VE/whole organisations so BPMN
encapsulates WF models thro use of swimlane diagrams
o process is sound = a pathway exists leading system to the final state. In a
process model with formal execution semantics, these types of properties
can be defined precisely & verified automatically by tools.
o BPM Diagrams can be translated to PNs for analysis & verification.
o Can be mapped to UML.
Lecture 3: Business Process Modelling CA4101 Lecture Notes (Martin Crane 2016) 4
 BPMN: Business Process Diagrams
– BPMN specifies one Business Process Diagram (BPD).
– Diagram designed to do two things well:
o easy to use and understand, used to quickly & easily model business processes, &
easily understandable by non-tech users (usually mgmt).
o offers expressiveness to model very complex business processes & can be
naturally mapped to business execution languages.
– Steps:
o model the events that occur to start a process, processes that get performed, &
end results of the process flow.
o business decisions and branching of flows is modelled using gateways.
o process can have sub-processes, shown by BPD hyper-linked to a process symbol
• If a process is not decomposed by sub-processes, considered a task – the lowest-
level process.
• A ‘+’ mark in the process symbol denotes that the process is decomposed; if it
doesn’t have a ‘+’ mark, it is a task.
Lecture 3: Business Process Modelling CA4101 Lecture Notes (Martin Crane 2016) 5
 Business Process Modelling Notation
(BPMN)
• OMG Standard, supported by many tools:
– Bizagi Process Modeller
– Signavio (http://www.signavio.com/)
– TIBCO Business Studio (free download, quite large)
– IBM Websphere Business Modeler
– ARIS
– Oracle BPA
– Business Process Visual Architect (Visual Paradigm)
– Progress Savvion Business Modeller

Lecture 3: Business Process Modelling CA4101 Lecture Notes (Marlon Dumas 2016) 6
 BPMN Elements
There are three primary modelling
elements (flow objects):
•Events
•Activities
•Gateways

Three ways of connecting primary

modelling elements (Connecting Objects):
•Sequence Flow
•Message Flow
•Association

There are two ways of grouping the

primary modelling elements through Swim
lanes (Grouping Objects):
•Pools
•Lanes

… And there are some Artifacts

Lecture 3: Business Process Modelling CA4101 Lecture Notes (Marlon Dumas 2016) 7
Flow Objects
• Events
• Activities BPM Notation: Flow Objects: Events
• Gateways

• Represented with a circle

• Denotes something that happens (rather than Activities which are
something that is done).
• Icons within the circle denote type of event (e.g. envelope for message,
clock for time).
• Events are also classified as
– Catching (ie catch an incoming message to Start process) or
– Throwing (ie throw a message at End of process).
• Types: Start, Intermediate, End

Lecture 3: Business Process Modelling CA4101 Lecture Notes (Martin Crane 2016) 8
Flow Objects
• Events
• Activities BPM Notation: Flow Objects: Events (/2)
• Gateways
• Start event: triggers process;
– indicated by a single narrow border;
– can only be Catch, so shown with open (outline) icon.
• End event: represents result of a process;
– indicated by a single thick/bold border;
– can only Throw, so shown with a solid icon.
• Intermediate event: something happening btw start & end events;
– indicated by a tramline border;
– can Throw or Catch (using solid/open icons as appropriate)
– eg, task could flow to an event throwing a message to another pool
– & a subsequent event waits to catch the response before continuing.
Lecture 3: Business Process Modelling CA4101 Lecture Notes (Martin Crane 2016) 9
Connecting Objects
• Sequence Flow BPM Notation: Connecting Objects
• Message Flow
• Association
– Sequence Flow:
o represented by a solid line with a solid arrowhead
o used to show order (sequence) that activities will be performed in a BP.
– Message Flow:
o represented by a dashed line with an open arrowhead
o used to show flow of messages btw 2 separate Process
o Participants (business entities/business roles) that send & receive them.
o in BPMN, 2 separate Pools in Diagram will represent two Participants.
– Association:
o represented by a dotted line with a line arrowhead
o used to associate data, text, & other Artifacts with flow objects.
o used to show inputs & outputs of activities..
Lecture 3: Business Process Modelling CA4101 Lecture Notes (Martin Crane 2016) 10
 Order Management Process in BPMN
First Try

This symbol denotes a

break in normal flow

Lecture 3: Business Process Modelling CA4101 Lecture Notes (Marlon Dumas 2016) 11
Flow Objects
• Events
• Activities
A little bit more on Gateways …
• Gateways
• Exclusive Decision / Merge
− Indicates locations within a business process where the sequence flow
can take two or more alternative paths.
− Only one of the paths can be taken.
− Depicted by a diamond shape that may contain a marker that is
shaped like an “X”.
• Parallel Fork / Join
− Provide a mechanism to synchronize parallel flow and to create
parallel flow.
− Depicted by a diamond shape that must contain a marker that is
shaped like a plus sign.
Lecture 3: Business Process Modelling CA4101 Lecture Notes (Marlon Dumas 2016) 12
 Revised Order Management Process

Lecture 3: Business Process Modelling CA4101 Lecture Notes (Marlon Dumas 2016) 13
 What’s wrong with this model?

Lecture 3: Business Process Modelling CA4101 Lecture Notes (Marlon Dumas 2016) 14
 BPMN Gateways
Exclusive (XOR) Parallel (AND) Inclusive (OR)
• Exclusive decision • Parallel split • Inclusive decision
take one branch take all branches take one or several
• Exclusive merge • Parallel join branches
Proceed when one depending on
branch has
proceed when all
incoming branches conditions
completed
have completed • Inclusive merge
proceed when all
active incoming
branches have
completed

Lecture 3: Business Process Modelling CA4101 Lecture Notes (Marlon Dumas 2016) 15
 Example: OR gateways

Lecture 3: Business Process Modelling CA4101 Lecture Notes (Marlon Dumas 2016) 16
 How can we fix this model?

Lecture 3: Business Process Modelling CA4101 Lecture Notes (Marlon Dumas 2016) 17
 BPMN Exercise To-Do Exercise 1:
Simplified Insurance Claim Registration
1. When a claim is received, it is first checked whether the
claimant has a valid insurance policy. If not, the claimant is
informed that the claim is rejected due to an invalid policy.

2. Otherwise, the severity of the claim is evaluated. Based on the

outcome (simple or complex claims), relevant forms are sent to
the claimant. Once the forms are returned, they are checked for
completeness.

3. If the forms are complete, the claim is registered in the Claims

Management system and the evaluation of the claim may start.
Otherwise, the claimant is asked to update the forms. Upon
reception of the updated forms, they are checked again.
Lecture 3: Business Process Modelling CA4101 Lecture Notes (Marlon Dumas 2016) 18
 Process Modelling Viewpoints
Organization
Who?

What?
Function When?
Process

Which?

Data / Service / Product

Lecture 3: Business Process Modelling CA4101 Lecture Notes (Marlon Dumas 2016) 19
Grouping Objects
• Pools
• Swimlanes
Organisational Elements in Process Models
Two basic abstractions:
• Resource: Human actor/equipment (e.g. printer) needed for an activity
• Resource class: Resource set sharing characteristics, e.g. Clerk, Manager
A resource class may be a:
• Role (skill, competence, qualification)
Classification based on what a resource can do or is expected to do.
• Group (department, team, office, organizational unit)
Classification based on the organization’s structure.
In BPMN resource classes are captured using:
• Pools – independent organizational entities, e.g.
– Customer, Supplier, East-Tallinn Hospital, Tartu Clinic
• Lanes – resource classes in same org space & sharing common systems
– Sales Department, Marketing Department
– Clerk, Manager, Engineer
Lecture 3: Business Process Modelling CA4101 Lecture Notes (Marlon Dumas 2016) 20
Grouping Objects
• Pools
• Swimlanes
Lanes and Pools – Notation

Lecture 3: Business Process Modelling CA4101 Lecture Notes (Marlon Dumas 2016) 21
Grouping Objects
• Pools
• Swimlanes Order Management Process with Pools
Customer

Place
Make
purchase
payment
order

Invoice

Order Rejection Notification Shipment notification

Purchase Order confirmation

order notification Send invoice

Confirm order
Supplier

Check stock
Ship goods
availability

Reject order

Lecture 3: Business Process Modelling CA4101 Lecture Notes (Marlon Dumas 2016) 22
Grouping Objects
• Pools Order Management Process with Lanes
• Swimlanes

Lecture 3: Business Process Modelling CA4101 Lecture Notes (Marlon Dumas 2016) 23
Grouping Objects
• Pools
• Swimlanes BPMN To-Do Exercise 2: Lanes, Pools
• Claims Handling process at a car insurer
– A customer submits a claim by sending in relevant documentation.
– Customer Service department checks the documents for completeness
and registers the claim.
– Claims Handling department picks up the claim and first checks the
insurance policy.
– Then, an assessment is performed.
– If the assessment is positive, a garage is phoned to authorise the
repairs and the payment is scheduled (in this order).
– In any case (whether the outcome is positive or negative), an e-mail is
sent to the customer to notify the outcome.

Lecture 3: Business Process Modelling CA4101 Lecture Notes (Marlon Dumas 2016) 24
Artifacts
• Data Objects
• Data Stores
BPM Notation: Artifacts
• Annotations
– BPMN allows modelling tools flexibility to extend basic notation and
permits adding extra context for a specific modelling situation.
– Can add Artifacts as needed but currently BPMN pre-defines three:
1. Data Objects:
o mechanism to show how data is required or produced by activities.
o connected to activities through Associations.

2. Groups:
o shown as a rounded corner rectangle drawn with a dashed line
o used to document /analyse, but does not affect Sequence Flow.
o used to organize & categorize activities.

3. Annotations:
o shown as open rectangle containing annotation text.
o allows for extra textual info for reader of a BPMN Diagram
Lecture 3: Business Process Modelling CA4101 Lecture Notes (Martin Crane 2016) 25
Artifacts
• Data Objects
• Data Stores
BPM Notation: Artifacts Example
• Annotations
– A Segment of a Process with Data Objects, Groups, and
Annotations

Note the use of a swimlane

For a Computing Resource.

Lecture 3: Business Process Modelling CA4101 Lecture Notes (Martin Crane 2016) 26
Artifacts
• Data Objects
• Data Stores Order Processing Example with Artifacts
• Annotations

Lecture 3: Business Process Modelling CA4101 Lecture Notes (Marlon Dumas 2016) 27
Artifacts
• Data Objects
• Data Stores
• Annotations
BPMN To-Do Exercise 3: Artifacts
When a claim related to a major car accident is evaluated, a clerk first
retrieves the corresponding car accident report in the Police Reports
database. If the report is retrieved, it is attached to the claim file. The
claim file and the police report serve as input to a claims handler who
calculates an initial claim estimate. Then, an “action plan” is created
based on a “checklist”. Based on the action plan and the initial claims
estimate, a claims manager negotiates a settlement with the customer.
After this negotiation, the claims manager makes a final decision,
updates the claim file to record this decision, and sends a letter to the
claimant to inform him/her of the decision.

Please depict all relevant documents in the model.

Lecture 3: Business Process Modelling CA4101 Lecture Notes (Marlon Dumas 2016) 28
 BPMN Main Elements - Recap

Connections Swimlanes

Flow Objects Artifacts

Data
Store
Group

Lecture 3: Business Process Modelling CA4101 Lecture Notes (Marlon Dumas 2016) 29
 BPMN Flow Elements – Recap

Lecture 3: Business Process Modelling CA4101 Lecture Notes (Marlon Dumas 2016) 30
 BPM Notation: Example 1: Swimlanes
– Pools are used when diagram involves 2 separate business entities or
participants & are physically separated in the diagram.
– The activities in separate Pools are considered self-contained Processes.
o Sequence Flow may not cross a Pool boundary.
o Message Flow defined as the way to show comms between 2 participants,
o thus, must connect between 2 Pools (or the objects in the Pools).

Lecture 3: Business Process Modelling CA4101 Lecture Notes (Martin Crane 2016) 31
 BPM Notation: Example 2: Swimlanes
• The BPMN Diagram below shows a more pedantic form of 1
• In this, the interaction between Patient & Doctor's Office is by means of
requests which have to take the form of messages.

Lecture 3: Business Process Modelling CA4101 Lecture Notes (Martin Crane 2016) 32
 Example 3: Buying a Book

(a) Some conversation

between 2 pools

(b) A more complex version

of (a) involving more interplay
in one pool

Lecture 3: Business Process Modelling CA4101 Lecture Notes (Martin Crane 2016) 33
 Example 4: Hospital Admission
Note the way that Registration
Details are handled. This could
also be done using a data object
representing the patient’s details:

Lecture 3: Business Process Modelling CA4101 Lecture Notes (Martin Crane 2016) 34
 Example 5: Applying for Leave

Note the tic to represent

default option
Lecture 3: Business Process Modelling CA4101 Lecture Notes (Martin Crane 2016) 35
 Example 6: The Bank Robber

Note the inclusive gateway.

This is used to represent a
decision where one, some or
all options are valid.

Note the new intermediate

event representing an error
or exception

Lecture 3: Business Process Modelling CA4101 Lecture Notes (Martin Crane 2016) 36
 Example 7: Buying an MP3 at An Argos
Store
Note the new intermediate
event representing an error
or exception

Note the intermediate

timer event

Note the parallel gateway

representing all sequences
happening
Lecture 3: Business Process Modelling CA4101 Lecture Notes (Martin Crane 2016) 37
 Example 8: An Ebay Auction
• “Draw a BPMN diagram for an online auction purchase process. Your
diagram does not need to include the “make-offer” components, but
should include components for “buy-it-now” and “bid”. Identify the
different categories of BPMN elements in your diagram.”

Lecture 3: Business Process Modelling CA4101 Lecture Notes (Martin Crane 2016) 38
 Example 9: Client Getting Quotes
(More Complex Stuff)
Note the parallel splitting &
complex merging
gateways representing
some sequences happening
and some not.

Note the ‘terminate’

End event meaning
“Stop everything”

her
Lecture 3: Business Process Modelling CA4101 Lecture Notes (Martin Crane 2016) 39
 Exercise

Check also the self-test quiz available at:

http://www.proprofs.com/quiz-
school/story.php?title=essentials-of-process-
modeling

Lecture 3: Business Process Modelling CA4101 Lecture Notes (Marlon Dumas 2016) 40
 References

• “Introduction to BPMN”, Stephen A. White, IBM Corporation,

available to download on http://www.bpmn.org/

• “BPMN and Business Process Management: Introduction to the New

Business Process Modeling Standard” Martin Owen and Jog Raj,
Popkin Software available to download on
http://www.bpmn.org/

• “Process Management, A Guide for the Design of Business

Processes”, By Jorg Becker, Martin Kugeler, Michael Roseman,
Springer Verlag

Lecture 3: Business Process Modelling CA4101 Lecture Notes (Martin Crane 2016) 41