Business Process Design

Copyright Kemsley Design Ltd., 2007

Business Process Design

Sandy KemsleyKemsley Design Ltd.www.column2.com


Agenda

BPM standards: beyond pretty pictures

BPM and architecture BPM design patterns and principles Integrating business intelligence Integrating business rules


A Brief Review


Process Discovery

Drivers for improvement Analyzing the as-is Discovering improvement

opportunities Think process Process prototyping


Process Modeling

Process types BPM and SOA Simulation and optimization Process modeling standards (BPMN) Modeling for ROI Change management


BPM Standards


BPM notation standards

Shared vision andcommunication between stakeholders

Easy transition between tools for users

BPMN (Business Process Modeling Notation)


BPM interchange standards

Import/export of process models Evolving landscape of standards:

XPDL (XML Process Definition Language)

BPEL (Business Process Execution Language)

BPDM (Business Process Definition Metamodel)


XPDL (WfMC)

Process definition serialization and interchange format

Maintains spatial information Multiple processes per file Allows vendor-specific extensions Includes user interactions


BPDM (OMG)

Process definition serialization and interchange format

Includes choreography Will become part of BPMN in future

version May displace XPDL


BPEL (OASIS)

Web services orchestration languageIn BPM, typically used as interchange

formatIn SOA-related products, also used as

execution language Does not directly translate all BPMN

structures BPEL4People extension proposed


Related standards

BPRI: Business Process Runtime Interface

SVBR: Semantics of Business Vocabulary and Rules

www.column2.com/category/bpmthinktank for more on standards


BPM and Architecture


BPM and Enterprise Architecture 1st generation EA = classification schema 2nd generation EA = business processes as

cornerstone: Start with business strategy Determine goals to implement strategy Determine business processes to meet goals Identify resources to implement processes


BPM and Enterprise Architecture

Where a designer would use a BPMS How a builder would make it work What an owner would see


Zachman Framework

Data

(What)

Function

(How)

Network

(Where)

People

(Who)

Time

(When)

Motivation

(Why)

Scope List of Things

List of Processes

List of Locations

List of Organizations

List of Cycles List of Goals

Business Model

Business Entity Model

Business Process Model

Business Network Model

Business Workflow

Model

Business Event Model

Business Strategy Model

System Model

Logical Data Model

System Process Model

System Network Model

Human Interface

Architecture

System Event Diagram

Business Rule Model

Technology Model

Physical Data Model

Application Structure

Chart

Network Technology

Model

Presentation Architecture

Technology Event

Diagram

Rule Design Model

Components Data Components

Program Components

Network Components

Interface Components

Event Components

Rule Specifications


BPM and SOA

Service A Service B Service C

Service D Service E

LegacySystem

DatabaseERP

System

ProcessStep 1

ProcessStep 2

ProcessStep 3

ProcessStep 4


BPM and SOA together

BPM is the “killer app” for SOA; SOA is the enabling infrastructure for BPMSOA alone only allows you to design

and build a set of servicesBPM alone would require custom

coding for each system integration BPM + SOA orchestrates people and

services into a business process


SOA in process design

Invocation of existing services Design and development of new

servicesWhat new services need to be created

or acquiredWhat legacy functions need to be

wrapped in services


BPM Design Patterns


Initiating processes

Human intervention External event

e.g., content added to repository Invoked as web service


Human-facing steps

Work type:TransactionalCollaborative

Participation frequency:OccasionalHeads-down

Participants outside the firewall Monitoring and governance


System steps

Web service orchestration and legacy application integrationData synchronizationInvoke subprocesses

Content management integration


Role of content

Document-focused: Create, review and approve document Document content does not impact process

flow Usually collaborative

Document-driven: Complete a transaction based on document

content Document content controls process flow


Volume of work

Work assignment methods Work selection methods Granularity and complexity of process

governance


Process complexity

Frequency of process/rule changes Reusable subprocesses Web service and other external calls


BPM Design Principles


Areas of process innovation

Automational Informational Sequential Tracking Analytical

Geographical Integrative Intellectual Disintermediating

Source: Process Innovation, Thomas H. Davenport, 1992


Redesigning for Automation

Automate manual work steps Directly integrate data between

systems Provide process monitoring and

control Automate process statistics gathering

and analysis


Redesigning for Disintermediation

Provide customer self-service to initiate processes

Provide process visibility to customer


Redesigning for Location Independence

Share redundant processes between business units

Identify steps that can be completed in isolation

Automate escalation and handoffs Separate heads-down from interactive

functions


Steps in modeling/design

Define graphical process flow Define parameters of each step

Human-facingSystem (automated)

Define routing Identify process triggers


Define process flow

Graphical map of process Steps for user or automated tasks Routes between steps Parallel and sequential flow


Define step parameters

Data fields, including attachments Human-facing steps:

Participant (individual or role)User interface form/tools

System steps:Web service callSubprocess callOther custom action


Define conditional routing

Split/merge type Merge conditions


Identify process launch triggers

Manual launch External event trigger Invoked as web service


Designing work selection

“Push” work selection Advanced work assignment, e.g.,

skills matrix Search for work Embed in portal Email work assignments


Designing the user interface

Data display and validation Launch other applications Complex routing rules on exit


Designing process management

Work assignment filtering rules/skills matrix

Frequent work reallocation Change work in progress


Integration with legacy systems

Data synchronizationWeb services or custom adapter to

fetch/update data at process stepBatch data upload/download

Process integrationInvoke legacy processWait for return state or allow for

asynchronous rendezvous


Incremental implementation

Step 1: non-integrated BPM Minimal customization Dashboard Provides process governance and

optimization Step 2: integrate critical data

synchronization interfaces Reduces data entry/errors

Step 3: integrate critical external process interfaces Provides overall process governance


BPM and Business Intelligence


What is business intelligence? Information for business decision-making Draw from multiple data sources:

Operational data stores Departmental data marts Enterprise data warehouse

Analytical and presentation capabilities: Reporting Analytics Data mining Predictive modeling


BI in BPM

Use cases for BPM and BI: BI about a process BI triggering/changing a process BI inside a process to automate decisions BI in work environment to provide

information to a person for their decision predictive BI driving process work

BPRI will help close gaps but BPM vendors have incomplete understanding of BI

[Source: BPM Think Tank sessions]


Operational BI

Work in progress (near-real-time) KPIs (historical over time)

VolumesProductivityTime to complete end-to-end processTime to complete by step/user

May require joining with other operational data marts


Strategic BI

Data mining and predictive analytics Scorecards Continuous cycle of performance

improvement:Monitoring and understanding current

performanceOptimizing, planning and forecastingAligning operations with strategic

objectives


BPM and Business Rules


When to use business rules

Operational: Complex work selection Complex routing rules In-flight work modification

Design: Business rules change more frequently than

processes Requirement for highly agile processes

Architectural: Mandate to separate rules from process logic Existing BRE infrastructure


BPM/BR use cases

Determine work selection criteria from skills matrix

Define routing conditions on leaving a step


Summary


Words of advice

Start small Minimize up-front complexity Quicker ROI

Let process specialists drive the process design Users tend to pave the cow paths Technologists tend to ignore inconvenient business

requirements Put as much control as possible with the business

In-flight changes Reporting and analytics


Think about the future

Process syndication for management and visibility

Collaborative discovery/modeling Process instance tagging Lightweight integration and BPM

mashups


Questions?

Sandy KemsleyKemsley Design Ltd.www.column2.com

Business Process Design

Business

process process

process statistics

process visibility

business processes

bpm soa

business rules

business intelligence

business units