Management of IT Environment (3) Modelling of business processes Karol Furdík

Management of IT Environment (3)
Riadenie IT prostredia
Modelling of business processes
Karol Furdík
Department of Cybernetics and AI, FEI TU Košice
Management of IT Environment (3)
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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:

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.

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.

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.

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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