Modeling for the Masses

Sandy KemsleyBPM analyst/blogger/architect,Kemsley Design Ltd. and www.column2.com

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Why We ModelBusiness Processes

Document current state

Identify opportunities for process improvement• Driven by other requirements, e.g., compliance

• Driven by quality management initiatives

• May result in manual process improvement without automation

Identify opportunities for process automation• What can be automated

• What should be automated

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Putting the “business”back in BPM

Why it’s important to get everyone involved• Business users

• Business analysts

• IT

Direct access to modeling tools allows for capture of “hidden” processes

BPM as the killer app for SOA

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Participatory Culture

Social networking is changing the way that people think about participating

• User-generated content in wikis and blogs

• Collaboration

• Tagging/bookmarking

• RSS feeds and content syndication

• Mashups

Increased user expectations

Commoditization of IT

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Process Thinking

Cross-departmental: looking beyond functional silos

Optimization of end-to-end process cycle rather than local maxima

Focus on creating value for customers/shareholders

Enabling agility: built to change, not built to last

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Modeling Tools

Visio

Modeling-only tools• ARIS

• Proforma

BPMS vendor-provided modeling/design tool• Web-based

• Licensed desktop application

• Free downloadable desktop application

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The Importance of Standards to Modeling

Notation standards:• Shared vision and communication

• Easy transition between tools for users

• BPMN (Business Process Modeling Notation)

Interchange/serialization standards:• Import/export of process models

• XPDL (XML Process Definition Language)

• BPEL (Business Process Execution Language)

• BPDM (Business Process Definition Metamodel)

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From Collaboration to Implementation

Redraw process model in each environment

One-way, one-time export/import from modeling to execution environment

Round-tripping between modeling and execution environments

Shared model