Management of IT Environment (3)
Riadenie IT prostredia
Modelling of business processes
Karol Furdík
Department of Cybernetics and AI, FEI TU Košice
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Lecture content
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Definitions of basic terms
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processs, business process, a model, modelling,...
Ways of BP modelling
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hierarchical process diagram, process threads diagram
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approaches, formalisms: UML, BPMN
BPMN
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characteristics, history
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BPMN elements: activities, events, gateways, connectors, ...
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Examples
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References
Management of IT Environment (3)
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Def.: Process, business process and its types
Process - an unifying principle that acts in various systemic contexts.
(K. L. von Bertalanffy, philosophical-cybernetic def. Example: process of feedback)
Business process (BP):
 A set of structured and temporally connected activities or tasks that are
employed in an organisation/enterprise for producing a certain service
or product (i.e., activities are goal-oriented) for a particular customer.
Types of business processes:

1. Management processes

2. Operational processes

3. Supporting processes
Strategic
planning
Top
management
planning
Managerial
control
Control of
actions
control
Middle
management
Operational
management
actions/ services
feedback
Information flow in an enterprise.
Ref: Mihók, Révészová: IS pre ekonómov. EkF TU Košice, 2006
Management of IT Environment (3)
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Def.: Model, BP modelling
Model:
 a (formal) representation of a domain, part of reality, or a system,
which enables investigating relevant events, relationships, and
processes ongoing in the domain/system more easily - in comparison
with investigation these events in a real world environment.
 Consequence: model does not match the reality; it expresses just our
view of the reality in a particular context, from certain perspective.
(cf. L. Wittgenstein, W. V. O. Quine, W. Sellars, ...)
BP modelling:
 a set of activities for representing business processes in a formal way
enabling analysis and further improvement of these processes.
 IT perspective: BP modelling is required as a presumption for
creating and/or modifying information systems in an enterprise.
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BP models and levels of modelling
BP models:

serve for presenting a structured flow of business activities togehter
with all related information.

interpreted models enable to determine the level of fulfilling business
goals by an organisation/enterprise.
Levels of BP modelling:
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Process maps – simple schemas of activity sequences.

Process descriptions – schemas extended on additional descriptive
information (however, not complete enough for executing the
modelled processes).

Process models – schemas extended on all information required for
modelled process execution.
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Ways of BP modelling
BP model formalisms:
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Older – data/control flow diagrams, block schemas of functions, Gantt
diagrams, PERT diagrams, etc.
UML – general modelling formalism, primarily in software engineering
area, but applicable on BP modelling as well.

Various types of process models, for example:

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Hierarchical process diagram,
Process threads diagram
Use case diagram
Interaction overview diagram
Object diagram
BPMN – standardised graphical notation of abstract (i.e., not
executable) BP, suitable for all levels of modelling (process maps,
descriptions, models) and control (planning, design, implementation,
transition, operation, ...).
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Hierarchical process diagram
Taxonomy of business processes:

proces on a higher level is composed
of sub-processes modelled on lower
levels.
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Process threads diagram
Dynamic description of business processes:
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describes events that are launching particular sub-processes, as well
as results of these sub-processes.
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UML - Unified Modeling Language
UML: a modelling language for specification, visualization,
development and documenting of software systems. Can be
applied on business processes as well.
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A set of diagrams enabling an object-oriented design
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Diagrams:
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Use-case diagram
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Class diagram
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State diagram
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Activity diagram
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Sequence diagram
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Interaction diagram
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Component diagram
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Deployment diagram
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BPMN - Business Process Modeling Notation
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Formalism for graphical representation of business processes by
means of a diagram of ordered/structured flow of activities and
related information - Business Process Diagram.
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BPMN is a set of graphical objects and rules defining available
connections between the objects.

BPMN provides a mechanism for generating executable business
processes - BPEL (Business Process Execution Language).
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History & versions of BPMN
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Business Process Management Institute (BPMI, nowadays a part of OMG
consortium, www.omg.org) developed the BPML language (XML-based,
representation of executable BPs). It implied a necessity of a general and easily
understandable graphical notation - BPMN.
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BPML was later replaced by BPEL (currently a standard).
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August 2001: group Notation Working Group, consisting of 35 members,
organisations and individuals.
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BPMN 1.0
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May 2004: BPMN 1.0 specification published.
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February 2006: BPMN 1.0 accepted as OMG standard.
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BPMN 1.1: OMG specification, February 2008.
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BPMN 1.2: OMG specification, January 2009. The last non-executable notation
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BPMN 2.0: released in January 2011: http://www.omg.org/spec/BPMN/2.0/
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Basic elements of BPMN
Flow objects
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BPMN: Poster
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BPMN: Examples (1)
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BPMN: Examples (2)
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BPMN: Examples (3)
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BPMN: Examples (4a)
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BPMN: Examples (4b)
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BPMN: Examples (4c)
Choreography - BPMN 2.0 notation
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BPMN: References
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http://www.bpmn.org, the web of Object Management Group/Business
Process Management Initiative
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tutorials, guidelines, best practices, ...
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http://www.omg.org/spec/BPMN/, specifications
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http://bpm-sme.blogspot.com/2008/03/3-uvod-do-bpmn.html, short
tutorial in Czech

http://www.defm.fmph.uniba.sk/ludia/odrobina/Process_modeling.htm,
brief intro to BPMN in Slovak
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Questions?
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