What is BPMN?
Part 3 of The Complete Guide to BPMN 2.0
by Gregor Polančič
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What is BPMN?
Business Process Modeling ‘Model’ and ‘Notation’
Business Process
A collection of related, structured
activities or tasks that produce a
specific service or product for a
particular customer
User Request Business Process Process Outcome
Model
“Content”
A representation of a
business process
Notation
A set of elements (language)
“Alphabet”
+ rules used for representing
a business process in a
business process model Task
(diagram)
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Primary Goal of BPMN
BPMN 2.0 specification, 1st chapter, 1st paragraph:
The primary goal of BPMN is to provide a notation that is readily
understandable by all business users /…/. Thus, BPMN creates
a standardized bridge for the gap between the business process
design and process implementation.
Real-World Process BPMN Model
User User Request
Business Users
Received
User Request Analyzed
Business Process
Designing
User Request User Request Process
Approved Rejected Implementation
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Why BPMN?
Standardized
Standardization enables
The de-facto standard in process modeling communication.
Open
Created and controlled in an open and fair Openness enables
transparency and
process democracy.
Simple & Complete
Can be used in a simple or detailed way Simplicity and learnability
enable acceptance and
popularity.
Learnable
Based on previous notations
Interoperability enables
humans and IT tools
Interchangeable collaboration.
Capable of being interchanged between IT
solutions
Automation improves
process efficiency and
consistency.
Executable
Capable of being automated
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A BPMN 2.0 Model Example
A worker performs his or her work
and if a problem occurs, he or she
calls the help-desk center.
The help-desk center receives the
call and tries to solve the problem.
If no solution is found in the
database, an expert is involved.
An expert interrupts his or her
current work in order to find a
solution, which is afterwards
returned to the help-desk center.
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Main Types of BPMN 2.0 Models
Process models - represent a specific process in an
organization as a graph of Flow elements.
Collaboration models – represent
interactions between two or more processes.
Choreography models – represent interactions
between processes interactions and message flows.
Conversation models – represents
conversations between participants.
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BPMN 2.0 Process and Collaboration Models
Most common in BPMN
Supported by the majority of BPMN
tools
Used for modeling
Private or internal processes
Public processes
Collaborative processes
Use a common set of BPMN elements
on three “precision” levels
Basic or descriptive
Analytic
Executable
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Descriptive Set of BPMN Elements
Used to create process models which are readily
understood
by almost any business person
and supported by almost all
BPMN tools.
Suited for high-level
process modeling.
Should be comfortable for analyst that have used
“flowcharts”
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BPMN Activities by Example
An activity is a generic type of work that an individual or company performs
Atomic (task)
A solid arrow
defines the Atomic activity or Task
sequence of
process elements
Compound (process, sub-process) uses a “+” sign
Compound activity
or Sub-process
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BPMN Gateways by Example
A gateway is used to split or merge multiple process flows. Thus it determines
branching, forking, merging and joining of business process paths.
Forking process flow Alternative process flow
with a Gateway Yes
Alternative process flow
No
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BPMN Events by Example
An event is something that “happens” in the process.
Basic (descriptive) events can start a process, and also occur at the end of a process
The complete BPMN offers a rich set of events, including intermediate events, which
“happen” within a process
“Negative” “Positive”
process end process end
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The Remaining Types of Elements
Swim lanes (e.g. a pool) are used to define and organize processes
Artifacts (e.g. a data object or document) are used to provide additional information
about processes
Dotted arrows define the flow of information
Order
Available?
A ‘pool’ defines A dotted arrow defines
boundaries of a A ‘data object’ defines information the information flow
process which is managed within a process,
such as a process
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