Update on BPMN Release 2.0Update on BPMN Release 2.0Conformance Classes, Diagram Interchange and other TopicsFebruary 3, 2010

Presented by:

Robert ShapiroChairman, WfMC Conformance Working GroupManager, ProcessAnalytica LLCSenior Vice President, Research, Global 360Member, OMG BPMN 2.0 Finalization Task Force

About Today’s Speaker:

Robert ShapiroWfMC Chair: Conformance and XPDLVice Chair: Technical CommitteeManager: ProcessAnalytica LLCSenior Vice President, Global 360

Robert Shapiro created the first open-architecture object-oriented graphical modeling toolkit for process modeling. It was the platform for Design IDEF in support of SADT (Structured Analysis and Design Technique) and used to build the first version of CPN (Colored Petri Net) modeling and simulation technology.

Robert Shapiro is founder and manager of Process Analytica. He is Senior Vice President: Research, for Global 360. He founded Cape Visions (acquired in 2005) where he directed the development of Analytics and Simulation software used by FileNet/IBM, Fujitsu, PegaSystems and Global 360 Business Process Management products

Prior to founding Cape Visions, as founder and CEO of Meta Software Corporation, he directed the implementation of a unique suite of graphical modeling and optimization tools for enterprise-wide business process improvement.

Products based on these tools are used by Bank America, Wells Fargo, JPMChase and other major banks to optimize their check processing and Lock Box operations.

As a participant in the Workflow Management Coalition and chair of the working groups on conformance and process definition interchange, he plays a critical role in the development of international standards for workflow and business process management. He has been instrumental in the creation and evolution of XPDL and BPMN.

He was awarded the Workflow Management Coalition's Excellence Award at the AIIM 2000 Show in New York for his work completing the specifications for workflow process definition interchange. In 2005 he was awarded the Marvin L Manheim Award for outstanding contributions in the field of workflow.

Today’s Agenda

• Current State of the BPMN 2.0 release.

• Conformance Sub-classes for BPMN 2.0

Process Modeling.

• Diagram Interchange Status Report.

• Recent Work on XPDL 2.2

• Predictions for 2010

• What you can Do.

WfMC WfMC

BPMIBPMI

OMGOMG

Standards Timeline - Releases

WPDLWPDL

XMLXML

BPMN 1.0BPMN 1.0

XPDL 2.0XPDL 2.0 XPDL 2.1XPDL 2.1

1994 . . 1998 . 2000 2001 2008 201020072006 20092004 20052002 2003

XPDL 1.0

XPDL 1.0

BPMN 1.0BPMN 1.0 BPMN 1.2

BPMN 1.2

BPMN 1.1

BPMN 1.1

BPMN 2.0

RefModel

RefModel

XPDL 2.2

BPMN2FTF Open Issues (1/27/2010)

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When will BPMN2.0 be Finalized?

• As can be seen from the Open Issues list, there is much work to be done before the FTF can complete it’s work.

• It is likely that some significant issues will have to be deferred to a subsequent revision.

• Some simplifications are in progress.

– Collaboration and Conversation diagrams are being combined.

– Work on SOAML may lead to some minor changes in the BPMN2.0 spec, but actual integration work will not be part of the current FTF.

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Big diagram

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Why Do We Need Sub-classes

• There are more than 100 graphical elements in BMPN 2.0.

• Most BPMN modeling tool vendors will not support all of these symbols with their required attributes.

• If vendors make arbitrary choices about which elements to support, models will not be portable between Tools.

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Conformance Sub-Classes

• Spreadsheet of Visual elements indicating sub-class members.

– BPMN Users Group | Google Groups

• SIMPLE Persona and example.

– Only eight elements.

• DESCRIPTIVE Persona and example.

– Contains SIMPLE. 21 Elements

• DODAF Persona.

– Contains DESCRIPTIVE. 50 elements of the 100 in the Complete Specification.

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Sub-Classes within Process Modeling

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SIMPLE

sequenceFlowTask (none)subProcess(embed)exclusiveGatewayparallelGatewaystartEvent (none)endEvent (none)

DESCRIPTIVE

PoolLanemessageFlowuserTaskserviceTaskRe-Usable subProcessdataObjectdataInputdataOutputtextAnnotationAssociationdataAssociationdataStoremessageStartEventmessageEndEventtimerStartEventterminateEndEvent

DODAF

Plus 29 elements

COMPLETE

Plus 50 elements

SIMPLE Persona

• A common situation for use of the SIMPLE class is process capture.

– A business analyst is sitting in a room with a group of process owners.

– The session is attempting to map out a currently deployed set of processes that have never been suitably documented.

– Technology for such a session may range from a low-tech whiteboard to a laptop and projector.

– A process map is drawn by the business analyst as the process owners describe their operations step by step.

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Simplest Diagram

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Simplest Diagram with 4 Element Types

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StartEvent

EndEvent

SubProcess

SequenceFlow

Routing Logic and Tasks

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Using Parallel Gateway and Task Activity

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Parallelgateway

Task

Expanded SubProcess

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Expanded SubProcess

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SubProcess(expanded)

Exclusive GateWay

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Exclusive GateWay

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Exclusivegateway

BPMN2.0 SIMPLE Class Example

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StartEvent

EndEvent

Task

SubProcess(expanded)

SubProcess

Exclusivegateway

Parallelgateway

SequenceFlow

Every Vendor can support SIMPLE

• UI that allows the user to designate his or her persona

• This would select a pallet of shapes appropriate.

• In the process capture persona only eight symbols.

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DESCRIPTIVE Persona

• A common situation for use of the descriptive class is fleshing out the details omitted in a process capture session.

– Using elements familiar from traditional flowcharting, the business modeler

• extends the routing logic to include the more critical exceptions (such as time-outs) and special cases,

• adds information about resource or role requirements for performing activities,

• adds some basic information about data flow

• and provides an overview of communications between participants/processes pertaining to the start and end of processes.

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BPMN 2.0 DESCRIPTIVE Class Example

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Pool

Lane

MessageFlow

Message Start Event

Message End Event

UserTask

DataObject

Sub Process(Collapsed)

ServiceTask

DataAssociation

Call Activity(Collapsed)

TextAnnotation Association

BPMN 2.0 DESCRIPTIVE (page 2)

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DataStore

Other elements in DESCRIPTIVE:•DataInput & DataOutput•Timer StartEvent•Terminate EndEvent

A Total of 21 element.

DODAF

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Enterprise Architecturebased on Design Primitives and Patterns

Guidelines for the Design of Business Process Models(DoDAF OV-6c) using BPMN

Roadblocks

• Enterprise Architecture (EA) is a key enabler of enterprise business process integration.

• While Architecture Frameworks such as DoDAF exist to guide the development of consistent architecture artifacts, significant roadblocks still exist for effective architecture development, adoption, integration, and federation.

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Lack of Uniform Representation

• Many of these roadblocks result from the lack of uniform representation for the same semantic content.

• Architects use different methodologies to develop models

• These models are represented using different modeling languages and created using different modeling tools.

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Different Modeling Styles

• Even within a single methodology there may exist a variety of different modeling styles, techniques, and practices for similar content.

• Moreover, enterprise architecture is necessarily created by different organizations and disciplines.

• These in turn employ different terminologies that lead to different perceived business processes.

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Need Standard Formats for Diagrams

• Standard formats for diagrams

• Standard data formats for the exchange of these diagrams

• Standard formats for data that moves within and between the architectures that diagrams represent.

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DODAF Approach

• The proposed solution is a set of architectural primitives (the DODAF sub-class) and corresponding design patterns.

• These primitives and patterns provide a core set of ‘building block’ modeling elements founded in the well-defined semantics of the DoDAF Meta Model (DM2).

• These building blocks are accompanied by a recommended set of modeling techniques aimed at covering the different views on an Enterprise Architecture.

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DODAF BPMN PRIMITIVES

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Design Patterns in Context

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DODAF SubClass in BPMN Spec

• The Primitives/Lexicon Project has two core deliverables:

– A Core Ontology of Architectural Primitives (PrOnto) providing the basic vocabulary / lexicon of model elements

– Well-documented guidelines for modeling with Primitives (PriMo) delivering a comprehensive methodology for consistent model development.

– Next Release will include approximately 50 primitives.

– The primitives in the release define the DODAF subclass for the revised BPMN 2.0 specification.

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SerializedBPMN

Diagram

XML Schema(XSD)

ToolA

ToolB

Schema is neededto clarify if the document is writtencorrectly or not.

But BPMN 2.0specificationhas no XSDschema included!

It is essential that theFinalization TaskForce product a revised specificationthat includes a completeXSD for BPMN diagrams!

?

Diagram Interchange

Redundancy Issues

• Discussion of early proposal for BPMNDI.

– At WfMC Maidenhead conference an early proposal for an xsd for DI (submitted by Bruce Silver) led to a discussion about redundancy between the semantic schema and the DI schema.

– Subsequent discussion in the OMG BPMN 2.0 FTF led to common agreement on elimination of redundancy.

– Further work by Silver and Scott Schanel led to a new proposal eliminating redundancy.

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BPMN 2.0SPEC

XSD forDI by

B. Silver

Proposal for eliminationof redundancy

(Silver / Schanel)

Redundancy Issues

Deriving an XSD from the Metamodel

• Work continues on basing the BPMN DI on the work of the OMG Diagram Interchange group.

– Maged Elaasar continues work on a metamodel and automatic generation of a BPMN DI schema.

– Elaasar and Denis Gagne are now trying a bottom-up approach building an XSD by hand that is closely alligned with the metamodel. The first version has been posted on the FTF wiki.

– Incorporating some ideas from the Silver/Schanel proposal, the Elaasar/Gagne XSD appears to be quite simple. It is being tested against a range of examples.

– There remain many details to be discussed.

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BPMN 2.0SPEC

metamodel for BPMNDI schema(Elaasar)

XSD for DI(Elaasar / Gagne)

Proposal for eliminationof redundancy

(Silver / Schanel)

Deriving an XSD from the Metamodel

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Shape+content(Plane)

Id of element in semantic.xsd

First Version of BPMN:DI XSD

Recent Work on XPDL 2.2 Schema

• .Scope:

– The XPDL 2.2 schema effort is focused on only covering the Process Modeling Conformance class of the BPMN 2.0 specification.

• Thus the XPDL 2.2 schema will offer a serialization and interchange transport for BPMN 2.0 Process Diagrams, Collaboration Diagrams and Conversation Diagrams including their layouts.

• Goal:– The XPDL 2.2 schema is backward compatible with the XPDL 2.0 and

XPDL 2.1 schemas. This backward compatibility also extends to XPDL 2.1 schema’s capability to serialize BPMN 1.2 drawings.

• Availability:– Available as of December 2009. Version bpmnxpdl_39.xsd.

– BPMN Users Group | Google Groups

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BPMN 2.0diagram

asXPDL

XPDL 2.2Schema(XSD)

ToolA

ToolB

Good for BPMN 2.01) process diagrams2) collaboration diagrams--- including layouts !

XPDL 2.0Schema(XSD)

XPDL 2.1Schema(XSD)

compatible

Already available:Dec 2009 as

bpmnxpdl_39.xsd

Recent Work on XPDL 2.2 Schema

Recent Work on XPDL 2.2 Specification

• There is now available a first version of the XPDL 2.2 specification, based on bpmnxpdl_39.xsd.

• If you want to work on a problem area please let Robert Shapiro know. Any comments will be appreciated.

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2010Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sep Aug

Feb 8:Documents availablefor review by WfMCmembers

March 8:Documents availablefor public review

April:Vote to approveor reject XPDL 2.2release.

XPDL Time Line

Predictions for 2010

• Many tool vendors will release versions of BPMN 2.0 modelers before the OMG FTF completes the specification.

– There will be several high quality modelers that are entirely web-based.

• Web-based facilities for converting XPDL and BPMN models will be available:

– Support for conversion between different versions and tools; also between XPDL and BPMN serializations.

• See http://www.businessprocessincubator.com/

• Work will proceed on the standardization of simulation scenarios for BPMN.

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What You Can Do

• If you care about:– the ease of use of BPMN for a wide audience, including

process capture and high level modeling, not just modeling for execution.

– the ability to move process models from tool to tool and/or vendor to vendor.

• Encourage the OMG BPMN Finalization Task Force to:– Include Process Modeling conformance subsets in the

specification

– Create an XSD that is easy to work with and specifically designed to support the complete serialization of BPMN2.0 models, including all graphical details.

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Process Thought Leadership