a virtual test environment for business processes

8/3/2019 A Virtual Test Environment for Business Processes

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know ledge in the form of methods and rules can be usedto suggest new solutions and to identify related goals[ Y M 9 5 ] [ Y M 9 6 ] .4 . O n g o i n g W o r kTh e modelling o f strategic actor relationships iscom plem entary to other types of enterprise modellingtechniques. Efforts are under way to relate the i*frame wo rk to other mod els [Yu95b], and in particular, toagent-oriented specification languages and pro ces ssimulation languages [YDD M95] [YML96]. B y dealingwith strategic issues explicitly, i* modelling bridgesbusiness redesign and information s yste ms engineering[Yu97]. i* has also been found to be useful in otherapplication contexts, fo r example, in softw are proce ssmodelling [BMSB95].

R e f e r e n c e s[BM SB95] L. Briand, W . Melo, C. Seaman and V. Basil i,Characterizing and Assessing a Large -Scale Softw areMaintenance Organization, Proc. 17th Int. Conf. SoftwareEngineer ing. Seattle, WA. 1995.[CL90] P.R . Cohen and H. J. Levesque, Intention i sChoice with Commitment, Artif . InteU., 42 (3), 1990.[HC93] M. Ham mer and J . Champy, R eeng ineer ing theC or por a tion : A Mani f e s to fo r B us ine s s R evo lu t ion ,HarperBusiness, 1993.[MBJK 91] J . Mylopoulos, A. Borgida , M . Jarke , M .Koubarakis, Telos: Representing Kn ow ledge abou tInformation Systems, ACM Trans . Info . Sys . , 8 (4), 1991.[MCN92] J . Mylopo ulos, L . Chung, B. Nixon,Representing and Us ing Non-F unctional R equirements: A

Process-Oriented Approach, IEEE Trans . Sof t . Eng. , 18(6), June 1992.[Yu95a] E. Yu, Mode l l ing S t r a teg ic R e la t ionsh ips fo rP r oces s R eeng ineer ing , Ph.D. thesis, also Tech. Repo rtDK BS-TR -94-6, Dept. o f Com puter Science, Universi tyof Toronto, 1995.[Yu95b] E. Yu, M odels for Supporting the Redesign ofOrganizational Work, Proc. Conf . on Organizat ionalC o m p u t in g S y s te m s ( C 0 0 C S ' 9 5 ) , Milpitas, California,August 1995, pp. 225-236.[YM95] E. Yu and J . My lopoulos, From E-R to 'A-R ' - -Mo delling Strategic Ac tor Relationships for Bus inessProc ess Reengineering, Int. Jou rnal o f ln te l l igen t andCooperat ive Information Sys tems , vol. 4, no. 2 & 3, 1995,pp. 125-144.[YDD M95 ] E. Yu, P. Du Bois, E . Dubois and J .Mylopo ulos, From O rganiza tion Mo dels to SystemRequirements -- A 'Cooperating Agents' Approach, P r oc .3rd Int . Conf . on Cooperat ive Information S ys tems(C oop lS -95) , Vienna, Austria, M ay 1995, pp. 194-204.[YM96] E. Yu, J . Mylopo ulos, Using Goals , Rules, andMethods T o Support Reasoning in Business ProcessReengineering, Int. Jou rnal o f Inte l l igent Sys tems inA ccoun t ing , F inance and Man agemen t , vol. 5, pp . 1-13.[YML96] E. Yu, J . M ylopoulos and Y. Lesperance , AIMo dels for Business P rocess Reengineering, I E E E E x p e r t,Aug ust 1996, pp. 16-23.[Yu97] E. Yu, Tow ards Mod el l ing and ReasoningSupport for Early-Phase Requirements Engineering, P r oc .IE E E Int . Symp . on R equ i r emen t s E ng ineer ing (R E '97) ,Anapolis, Maryland, US A, Jan. 1997.

A V i r t u a l T e s t E n v i r o n m e n t f o r B u s i n e s s P r o c e s s e sH enry M . Franken M .Sc . P h .D .Telemat ics Research CentreP .O . Bo x 589 750 0 AE E nschede T he N et her landsH.F rank en @ trc.nl web-site: http: / /ww w.trc.nlA b s t r a c tThe cur r en t paper de s c r ibe s a ma jor r e s earch pr o jec t onknow ledge , me thods a nd ( s o f tw ar e ) too ls to t e s t andredes ign bus iness proce sses in a sys tematic fashion. Thepr o jec t u s e s the fo l low ing appr oach: c r ea te a mo de l fo ran al ternat ive, new ly se t-up bus iness process containing ahigh real i ty leve l . Analys is and tes t ing of th is mo del is

done 'o f f - line ' , separate ly fro m the ac tual bus inessmanagemen t . The pr o jec t deve lops know ledge , me thodsand ( s o f tw ar e ) too l s fo r the mode l l ing o f s uch a t e s tpr oces s, t he ana ly s i s and m an ipu la t ion o f t h i s mode l an dthe prepa rat ion of i t s in troduction. Wh ils t the bus inessproc ess to be replaced cont inues undisturbed, a newbus iness process is be ing des ign ed in the tes tenvironment . The bus iness proc esses o f in teres t are so-

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called data-intensive and can be found in service-organisations such as banks, pension and insurancecompanies, and government institutions. In the projectmajor service-organisations participate. The project hasbeen set up by the Telematics Research Centre (TRC) inEnschede, the Netherlands, in co-operation with ABP (a

"large Dutch pension company), ING Group, the Dutch taxdepartment and IBM, and is also subsidised by the DutchMinistry of Economic Affairs.I n t roduct ionDesp i t e l a rg e i n v es tmen t s mad e i n t ech n o lo g y an dso f tware t o su p p o r t b u s in ess p ro cesses , i t i s q u i te co m m o nth a t co mp an ies d o n o t su cceed t o ex t r ac t a l l o f t h e irb en ef i ts . Au to ma t io n can ev en h av e a n eg a t i v e in f l u en ceo n t h e q u a l i t y o f t h e se rv i ce o r p ro d u c t s p ro v id ed t ocu s to mers . Th e r easo n mo s t l y h eard i s t h a t ' t h e so f tware i so b v io u s ly n o t r e l i ab l e ' . T h i s i s a p o ss ib i li t y b u t u su a l l yth e re i s a d eep er cau se .

Of t en t h e b u s in ess p ro cesses t h emse lv es a r e n o tfu n c t i o n in g p ro p er ly o r t h e p ro ced u res a r e o u t o f d a t eco m p ared t o n ew p o ss ib i li t ie s , ch an g ed cu s to m erex p ec t a t i o n s , ex ag g era t ed co s t s , g ro win g c o mp e t i t i o n an dnew leg is lat ion .

Ov e r t h e p as t y ea r s , t h ese d ev e lo p m en t s h av e l a rg e lyin c reased t h e n eed fo r co n t i n u o u s r en ewal o f b u s in essp ro cesses . On t h e o n e h an d , t h i s r en ewal a l l o wsan t i c ip a t i n g fo r ex amp le t h e g ro win g co mp et i t i o n , sh o r t e rp ro d u c t i o n cy c l es an d mo re d em an d in g cu s to mers , an d o nth e o th e r h an d o f f e r s t h e o p p o r tu n i t y t o fu l l y ex p lo i tmo d ern i n fo rmat io n t ech n o lo g y an d t e lemat i cs .

In a lmo s t a l l cases , t h i s imp l i es t h e r ed es ig n o f th eb u s in ess p ro cess . Th e n e ed fo r s t ru c tu ra l r en ewalth e re fo re i n v o lv es t h e d eman d fo r k n o wled g e , m eth o d san d t o o l s t o t e s t an d r ed es ig n b u s in ess p ro cesses i n asy s t emat i c f ash io n. Th e Tes tb ed p ro j ec t s t a r t ed i n Ap r i l1 9 9 6 to mee t t hi s d eman d . T es tb ed s t an d s fo r ' t e s ten v i ro n m en t fo r t h e o f f - l in e an a ly s is an d r ed es ig n o fb u s in ess p ro cesses ' . I n mo re i n t e rn a ti o n a l t e rmin o lo g y i ti n v o lv es k n o wled g e , me th o d s an d t o o l s fo r Bu s in essP ro cess Red es ig n (BP R) .T h e o b j e c t i v e sTh e main o b j ec t i v es o f t h e Tes tb ed p ro j ec t i n v o lv e t h ed ev e lo p m en t , ap p l i ca ti o n an d d i s semin a t i o n o fk n o wled g e , meth o d s an d t o o l s fo r o f f -l i n e an a ly s i s an dred es ig n o f b u s in ess p ro cesses . Th i s co m es d o w n to :

Crea t i n g a l ea rn in g en v i ro n m en t fo r t h in k in g in t e rmso f cu s to mer -o r i en t ed b u s in ess p ro cesses ;

Dev e lo p in g an d ap p ly in g a u se r -o r i en t ed a r sen a l o fk n o wled g e , m eth o d s an d t o o l s fo r t h e ( r e )d es ig n o f(data- in tensive) business p rocesses;

Des ig n in g a ' f r am ew o rk o f b u i l d in g b lo ck s ' to a l l o wclea r mo d e l l i n g o f t h e es sen ce o f b u s in ess p ro cessesa t v a r i o u s l ev e l s o f d e t a il an d f ro m d i f f e r en tv i ewp o in t s ;

Dev e lo p in g meth o d s fo r t h o ro u g h an d r e l i ab l ean a ly s i s an d o p t imi sa t i o n o f b u s in ess p ro cesses i nad v an ce , s ep ara t e ly f ro m th e ex i s t i n g p ro cesses ;

Dev e lo p in g so f tware t o o l s t h a t s imp l i fy th eap p l i ca t io n o f t h e d ev e lo p ed k n o wled g e an d meth o d s ;

S t imu la t i n g t h e fu l l ex p lo i t a t i o n o f mo d ernin fo rmat io n t ech n o lo g y an d t e l emat i cs i n n ewb u s in ess p ro cesses ;

Publ ish ing the resu l t s .T h e c o n s o r t i u mT h e T e s t b e d p r o j e c t h a s b e e n s e t u p b y t h e T e l e m a t i c sResearch Ce n t r e (TRC ) i n En sch ed e , t h e Ne th er l an d s , i nco -o p era t i o n wi th AB P (a l a rg e Du tch p en s io n co m p an y ) ,I N G G r o u p , t h e D u t c h t ax d e p a r t m e n t a n d I B M , a n d i sa l so su b s id ised b y t h e Du tch M in i s t ry o f Eco n o m icAffai rs .Th e co n so r t i u m i s o p en fo r p a r t i c i p a t io n o f o th e r p a r t n e rs .In v i ew o f th e n a tu re o f t h e p ro j ec t an d t h e co m p o s i t i o n o ft h e co n so r t i u m, p a r t i cu l a r l y co mp an ies an d o rg an i sa t i o n swi th d a t a - i n t en s iv e b u s in ess p ro cesses w i l l b e t h e f i r s t tob en ef i t .From 'on the f l y ' to 'o f f - l ine 'A b u s in ess p ro cess co m p r i ses t h e lo g i ca l n e two rk o fac t i v it i e s i n v o lv ed b e t w e e n t h e d e m a n d o f a s e r v i c e orp ro d u c t an d i t s p ro v i s i o n ; i n sho r t : f r tm th e cu s to me r t6th e cu s to mer .

In d a t a - i n t en s iv e o rg an isa t i o n s , su ch as i n su ran ceco mp a n ies , b an k s , g o v ern m en t i n s ti t u ti o n s an d p en s io nco mp an ies , t h ese p ro cesses a r e p a r ti cu l a r l y co mp lex an dd i f f i cu l t t o ch an g e ' o n t h e f l y ' . M an a g in g ch an g e ma yev en b e d o n e b u t ach i ev in g th e d es i r ed imp ro v em en t is anen t i rely d i f fere n t issue. I t o f ten tu rns ou t thatex p er ime n t in g wi th in t h e ex i s t in g p ro cesses i s r isk y . Animp ro v em en t a t lo ca t i o n A o f t en p ro v es t o b e ad e t e r i o ra t i o n wh en ap p l i ed a t l o ca t i o n B . Th e Tes tb e dp ro j ec t s t a rt s f ro m an en t i r e l y d i f f e r en t ap p ro ach : c r ea t e amo d e l fo r an a l t e rn a ti v e , n ewly se t -u p b u s in ess p ro cess

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c o n ta in in g a h ig h r e a li t y l e v e l . A ' s h a d o w b u s in e s sp ro c e s s ' ~ in d a n in t ro d u c t io n m o d e l .

T h e a n a ly s i s a n d t e s t in g o f th i s m o d e l i s d o n e ' o f f - l i n e ' ,s e p a ra t e ly f ro m th e a c tu a l b u s in e s s m a n a g e m e n t . T e s tb e dd e v e lo p s k n o w le d g e , m e th o d s a n d ( s o f tw a re ) t o o l s fo r t h em o d e l l in g o f s u c h a t e s t p ro c e s s , t h e a n a ly s i s a n dm a n ip u la t io n o f th i s m o d e l a n d th e p re p a ra t io n o f it sin t ro d u c t io n . W h i l s t t h e b u s in e s s p ro c e s s to b e r e p la c e dc o n t in u e s u n d i s tu rb e d , a n e w b u s in e s s p ro c e s s i s b e in gd e s ig n e d in th e te s t e n v i ro n m e n t . T h e s t a r t i n g p o in t fo rs u c h a d e s ig n in c lu d e s th e e x p e c ta t io n s o f t h e c u s to m e r .

l im i t e d . H o w e v e r , m o d e rn b u s in e s s p ro c e s s e s in d a t a -in t e n s iv e c o m p a n ie s a n d in s t it u t io n s in c lu d e a m a s s iv ea m o u n t o f c o m p l e x a n d m u t u a l l i n k s. T h i s i s w h e r e t h el a c k o f a s y s t e m a t i c a p p ro a c h fo r ( r e )d e s ig n w i l le v e n tu a l ly s t i n g . S t a g n a t io n a n d f ru s t r a t io n j e o p a r d i s e th ec o n t in u i ty .

P a r t i c u la r ly w h e n n e c e s s a ry c h a n g e s c o m e u p a t a n e v e rin c re a s in g p a c e , t h e v u ln e ra b i l i t y o f t h e s e o rg a n i s a t io n sa p p e a r s . O n ly a d e d ic a t e d a n a ly s i s a n d ( r e )d e s ig n m e th o dc a n o f fe r t h e r e q u i re d in s ig h t i n th i s m a t t e r . H e re l i e s t h ec o n s id e ra b le s t r a t e g ic im p o r t a n c e o f t h e T e s tb e d p ro je c t .

T h e e n g in e e r in g o f th e n e w p ro c e s s c a n b e r a d ic a l lyd i f f e re n t f ro m th e e x i s t in g p ro c e s s , p a r t i c u la r ly e n a b le d b yth e in t ro d u c t io n o f n e w t e c h n o lo g ie s , s u c h a s t e l e m a t i c s .H o w e v e r , b e fo re th e o ld p ro c e s s i s r e p la c e d , t h em a n a g e m e n t c a n t e s t a n d a s s e s s th e n e w p ro c e s s a t a nu n p re c e d e n te d l e v e l a n d s c a le .

T h e s t e p w is e in t ro d u c t io n o f t h e n e w p ro c e s s c a n a l s o b ep re p a re d b y u s in g m o d e l s . B e s id e s , s im u la t io n a n da n im a t io n o f t h e s e m o d e l s a re q u i t e s u i t a b le fo r t h et r a in in g o f s t a f f. T e s tb e d th u s o f fe r s t h e p o s s ib i l i t y toim p ro v e th e e f f e c t iv e n e s s a n d e f f i c i e n c y to a y e tim m e a s u ra b le d e g re e . F in a l ly , T e s tb e d c l e a r ly s h o w sth e s e im p ro v e m e n t s b e fo re th e a c tu a l i n t ro d u c t io n o f t h en e w p ro c e s s .R e n e w a l a n d r e d e s ig n o f b u s in e s s p ro c e s s e s c a n th u s b ep re p a re d in a w e l l -d e f in e d m a n n e r w i th o u t j e o p a rd i s in gth e c o n t in u i ty o f t h e c u r re n t b u s in e s s a f f a i rs . In th i s w a y ,T e s tb e d t a k e s a s t i n g o u t o f t h e r e d e s ig n o f b u s in e s sp ro c e s s e s .

F r o m f u n c t i o n s to p r o c e s s e sI n o u r m o d e r n w o r k e n v i r o n m e n t a s h i f t i s t a k i n g p l a c ef r o m m a n a g i n g f u n c ti o n s t o m a n a g i n g p r o c e ss e s . T h i sh o l d s t r ue f o r b o t h c o m p a n i e s a n d g o v e r n m e n t .

T ra d i t io n a l ly , t h e w o rk i s o rg a n i s e d a ro u n d a n u m b e r o ffu n c t io n a l d e p a r tm e n t s . N o w a d a y s , t h e c u s to m e r i s t h em a in fo c u s a n d th e w o rk i s s t ru c tu re d o n th e b a s i s o f t h elo g ic a l n e tw o rk o f a c t iv i ti e s i n v o lv e d b e tw e e n th e d e m a n dfo r a s e rv ic e o r p ro d u c t a n d i t s p ro v i s io n . T h a t i s w h a t t h em o d e rn (b u s in e s s ) p ro c e s s i s a ll a b o u t .

P ro c e s s e s a re m o re c o m p le x in n a tu re . T h e c u r re n tp ro c e s s e s a re u s u a l ly g ro w n h i s to r i c al ly . T h e l a c k o f as y s t e m a t i c a p p ro a c h i s t y p ic a l fo r t h i s d e v e lo p m e n t . Ins im p le b u s in e s s p ro c e s s e s th e r i sk s in v o lv e d m a y re m a in

T e s tb e d w i l l p ro v id e th e m e a n s to a l lo w fo r t h e r e g u la rtu n in g o f b u s in e s s p ro c e s s e s to th e ' r a i s o n d ' E t re ' o f ac o m p a n y o r in s t i tu t io n . Wi th o u t i n f lu e n c in g th e a c tu a ld a i ly ro u t in e , i t o f f e r s a t e s t e n v i ro n m e n t th a t a l lo w s a no rg a n i s a t io n to c h e c k h o w i t c a n :- o p e ra t e in a m o re c u s to m e r -o r i e n te d w a y ,- o f fe r i t s p ro d u c t s a n d s e rv ic e s in a m o re r e l i a b le w a y ,- m a k e b e t t e r u s e o f t h e a v a i l a b le r e s o u rc e s ,- o p e ra t e in a m o re f l e x ib l e w a y .T h e s u c c e ss o f o r g a n i s a ti o n s - w h e t h e r c o m m e r c i a l o rn o n - c o m m e r c i a l - d ep e n d s e v e r m o r e c l e a r ly o n t h ed e g re e in w h ic h th e i r b u s in e s s p ro c e s s e s m e e t t h e s eo b je c t iv e s . T h e q u a l i ty o f s o c ia l s e rv ic e s a n d t a s k s in ag re a t n u m b e r o f a re a s i s a t s ta k e , s u c h a s th e c o n t ro l o ft r a n s fe ra b le m o n e y s t r e a m s , n e g o t i a t in g in s u ra n c e s ,p ro v id in g s o c ia l s e c u r i ty a l lo w a n c e s a n d c o l l e c t in g t a x e s .

J o i n t a p p r o a c hH ig h b u i ld in g s n e e d d e e p fo u n d a t io n s . T h a t w i s d o mc e r t a in ly h o ld s fo r t h e ( r e )d e s ig n o f b u s in e s s p ro c e s s e s .H o w e v e r , t h i s h a s n o t y e t t a k e n p l a c e to a s u f f i c ie n te x te n t . T h e r e a s o n fo r t h i s i s u n d e r s t a n d a b le .

T h e r e q u i re d e f fo r t d e f i e s t h e e l a s ti c i ty a n d k n o w le d g eb a c k g r o u n d o f i n d iv i d u a l c o m p a n i e s . F r o m t h a tp e r s p e c ti v e , th i s m i s s i o n c a n b y m e t a p h o r b e c o m p a r e dw i th th e d e s ig n o f a n a e ro p la n e s e a t in g o n e th o u s a n dp a s s e n g e r s o r t h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f a n a l t e r n a ti v e e n e r g ys o u rc e . T h i s a l s o r e q u i re s e f fo r t s t h a t o u t r a t e t h e c a p a c i tyo f a n in d iv id u a l p ro d u c e r o r s u p p l i e r .

T e s tb e d i s a n in -d e p th p ro je c t t h a t w i l l p ro v id e d e d ic a t e dk n o w le d g e , m e th o d s a n d to o l s fo r t h e ( r e )d e s ig n o fb u s in e s s p ro c e s s e s . A jo in t a p p ro a c h i s t h e b e s t k e y tos u c c e s s . T h e T e s tb e d p ro je c t h a s b e e n s e t u p b y th eT e l e m a t i c s R e s e a r c h C e n t r e ( T R C ) i n c o - o p e r a t i o n w i t hA B P ( a l a r g e D u t c h p e n s i o n c o m p a n y ) , I N G G r o u p , t h e

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Special Issue: Enterpr ise M odel l ing P apers

Dutch t ax depa r tm en t and IBM , and i s a l s o s ubs id i s ed bythe Du tch M in i s t ry o f E conomic A f fa i r s. T es tbed i s t hussupported b y representa t ives o f a l l in teres ted part ies :p r iva te s ec to r , knowled ge in s t i tu t e s and gove rnm en t .W e em phas i s e tha t the deve lopm en t and app l i cab il i t y o fth i s knowledge , me thod s and too l s w i l l be con t ro l l ed andas s e s sed f rom the rea l - l if e deman ds du r ing the en t i re f iveyea r du ra t ion o f the p ro jec t . T he approach w i l l , howeve r ,be fund amen ta l i n na tu re and the re fo re no t on ly requ i resthe comm i tmen t o f compan ie s bu t a l s o the inpu t o f s eve ra lsc ient i f ic d isc ipl ines .

T RC i s p re -eminen t ly equ ipped to p rov ide th i s neces s a rys c ien ti f i c inpu t and has p rov en to be capab le o fs t ra teg ica l ly c lus t e r ing expe r i ence , com mi tm en t andknow ledge o f p r iva te s ecto r , s c ience and gove rn men t fo rthe ben efi t of i t s projec ts .D a t a - in t e n s iv e p r o c e s s e s b e n e f it f ir s tT he t e s t env i ronmen t w i l l f ir s t o f a l l be de s igna ted fo rbus iness processes as they take place in da ta- in tens iveo rgan i s a tions . E xample s o f s uch o rgan i s a t ions inc ludebanks , pens ion and in s u rance compan ie s , and gove rnm en tins t i tu t ions . These o rganisa t ions are part icular ly he lpedwi th the fu l l exp lo it a t ion o f m ode rn in fo rm a t iontechno logy and t e l ema t i c s to e f fec t ive ly eng inee r the i rp r imary bus ine s s p roces s es , t he rea l i s a tion o f w h ich w i l lr equ i re ma jo r changes . I f t he s e changes a re in t roduced 'onthe f ly ' , t ha t o rgan i s a t ion can be c r ipp led in a re l a t ive lys hor t t ime . T h i s r i s k can be cons ide rab ly lowered by

app ly ing the knowledge , me thod s and too l s p rov ided inthe T es tbed p ro jec t.F o u r a s p e c t sIn s ho r t , t he fo l lowing fou r a s pec t s w i l l be addre s s ed inthe T es tbed p ro jec t. A s ound inventory of rea l - l if e needs and g radua lapp l i ca tion o f the knowledge , m e thods and ( s o f twa re )

too l s to be deve loped , pa r t ly ba s ed on p i lo t s tud ie s . T h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f a ramework cons i s t ing o f

bu i ld ing b locks , bu i ld ing ru le s and s t ruc tu r ingpr inc ip le s fo r mak ing m ode l s o f bus ine s s p roces s e s .

T he de f in i t ion o f a common language tha t is arep re s en ta tion o f the a fo rem en t ioned f ramework . T h i sl anguage w i l l a l low a c l ea r de f in i t ion o f andcomm unica t ion rega rd ing the mode l s . T h i s languagecan a l s o be fed in to the com pute r fo r ana lys i spurposes .

T h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f d e d i c a te d knowledge, methodsand pow er fu l ( s o f twa re ) tools fo r the mode l l ing ,ana lys i s and redes ign o f bus ine s s p roces se s ba s ed o nthe p rev ious ly deve loped m ode l l ing f ramework andt h e c o m m o n l a n g u a g e.

T hes e a s pec t s w i l l a l l be addre s s ed in each s ix m on thcyc le o f the p ro jec t . T he e f fo r t pe r a s pec t chan ges pe rcycle , as indica ted in f igure 1 .T he p ro jec t cons i st s o f two cons ecu t ive s t ages o f th reeand tw o yea rs and thus l a s t s f ive yea rs in to t a l .

I n v e n t o r y &a p p l i c a t i o nM o d e l l i n gf r a m e w o r kC o m m o nl a n g u a g eM e t h o d sa n d t o o l s

Y e 1 Y e a r 2, . . / , . - . . . , . . . . . . , . .

Y e a r 3

7'f

//: ) I 1

, /

Y e a r 4 Y e a r s

/ ///

Figure 1: four aspects of the Testbed pr oject

6 6 S I G G R O U PBu l le t in , Vo l . 18 , N o . 1 (Ap r i l 1997)


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Special Issue: Enterpr ise Mod el l ing Pap ers

Dur ing the execu t ion o f the p ro jec t con t inuous feedbacktakes place resul t ing in useful in term edia te de l iverables .T he e f fec t o f the s e in t e rm ed ia te res u l t s i s a l s o re in fo rcedby p rov id ing re l evan t works hops and t ra in ing . T h i sensures tha t the part ic ipants in the projec t gradu al ly ge tacqua in ted w i th a l e a rn ing env i ronm en t fo r th ink ing int e rms o f cus tomer -o r i en ted bus ine s s p roces s e s.The u ser can eas i ly apply the in te l lec tual resul tsdeve loped wi th in T es tbed by m eans o f the s o f twa re too l s ,wh ich he / s he can us e am ong o the rs to de f ine thee f fec t ivenes s o f the cu r ren t p rocess e s , deve lop new, morecus tomer -o r i en ted bus ine s s p roces s e s and com pareal ternat ives . Step by s tep, handl ing Tes tbed for the re-eng inee r ing o f bus ine s s p roces s e s w i l l become a na tu ra lprocess for a l l invo lved part ies .

Bas ed on th i s f eedback any fu r the r deve lopmen t i sad jus ted , i f neces s a ry . T h is gua ran tee s a p e rmanen tconnec t ion w i th rea l - l if e demands . Fu r the rmore , a s muchas i t i s poss ible and for a l l aspects , Tes tbed u ses s ta te-of-the -a r t knowledge , m e thods and too l s a s they a re a l readyava i l ab le in the m arke t and w i th the invo lved pa r ti e s .A n e w a p p r o a c h f o r a n e w m i ll e n n i u mT hanks to the cyc l i c s e t -up o f the p ro ject , t he invo lvedpa r t ie s c an g radua l ly comm and the requ i red knowledge ,me thods and too l s wh ich w i l l a llow them to regu la r lya s s es s com plex bus ine s s p roces s e s rega rd ing func t iona lqual i ty , re l iabi l i ty and e ff ic iency . In the process , aknow ledge ba s e w i l l a r i se in the a rea o f r edes ign o fbus iness processes . During the projec t , the involvedpa r t ie s inco rpora te the T es tbed env i ronm en t in to the i rbus ine s s man agem en t and thus acqu ire a pe rmanen tv i r tua l t e s t env i ronmen t fo r bus ine ss p roces se s .T he T es tbed p ro jec t o f fe r s a rad ica l ly d i f fe ren t app roachfo r an t i c ipa t ing a chang ing env i ronm en t on the one handand us ing advanced in fo rma t ion t e chno logy and t e l ema t i c son the o the r ; a new approach fo r a new mi l l enn ium.R e l e v a n t l i te r a t u r eBaum D. (1995) T he r igh t too l s fo r cod ing bus ine s s ru les ,Datamation, March, pp. 36-38.

Davenp or t T . H . and Shor t J . E . (1990) T he new indus t r i a leng inee r ing : in fo rma t ion t e chno logy and bus ine ss p roces sredes ign , S loan M an agem en t Rev iew , Vo l . 31 , No . 4 , 11 -27.E a r l , M . J . (1994) T he n ew and the o ld o f bus ine s s p roces sredes ign ' , J ou rna l o f S t ra t eg ic In fo rm a t ion Sys tems , Vo l .3, No. 1, 5-22.Franken H . M . , Weg e r de M . K. , Qua r t e l D . A . C . and P i resL.F. (1996a) O n engineerin g support for bus iness processmode l l ing and redes ign . P roceed ings o f the In te rna t iona lWo rks hop M ode l l ing T echn iques , Bus ines s P rocess R e -eng inee r ing and Benchm ark ing , Bordeaux , F rance , 81 -98 .Franken H . M . , J onke rs H .J . and W ege r de M . (1996b)Deve lop men t a s pec ts o f bus ine s s p roces se s : de l ive rab le .3 .5 in the 'P l a t inum p ro jec t ' , T e lema t i c s Res ea rch Cen t re ,T he N e the r lands .Ham mer M . (1990) Reeng inee r ing work : don ' t au toma te ,obl i te ra te , Harvard Bus iness Review, July-Augus t , 104-112.Ha l l G . H . , Ros en tha l J . , W ade J . (1993) H ow to m akereeng inee r ing rea lly work , Ha rva rd B us ines s Rev iew ,Novem ber -December , 119-131 .J acobs on I . , E r i c s s on M . and J acobs on A . (1995) T heob jec t Advan tage , Bus ines s P roces s Reeng ineen ng wi tho b j ec t t e c h n o l o g y , A C M B o o k s .J a rzabek S . and L ing T .W. (1996) M ode l -ba s ed s uppor tfo r bus ine s s re -eng inee ring , In fo rma t ion and Sof twa reTechnology, Vol . 38, 355-374.J onke rs H . and Franken H . M . (1996) Quan t i t a tivemo de l l ing and ana lys i s o f bus ine s s p rocess e s , i n A . G .Bruzzon e and E . J . H . K e rckhof f s (eds. ) , S imula t ion inIndus t ry : P roc . 8 th E uropean S im ula t ion Sympo s ium, Vo l .I , Geno a, I ta ly , pp. 175-179.Kap lan R . B . and M u rdock L . (1991) Core p roces sredes ign, The Mckinsey Quarter ly , No. 2 . pp. 27-43.

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a virtual test environment for business processes

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