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Business process modeling

Business process modeling

Overview

Business process modeling (BPM) in systems engineering
Systems engineering
Systems engineering is an interdisciplinary field of engineering that focuses on how complex engineering projects should be designed and managed. Issues such as logistics, the coordination of different teams, and automatic control of machinery become more difficult when dealing with large, complex...

 and software engineering
Software engineering
Software engineering is the application of a systematic, disciplined, quantifiable approach to the development, operation, and maintenance of software, and the study of these approaches; that is, the application of engineering to software....

 is the activity of representing processes
Process modeling
The term process model is used in various contexts. For example, in business process modeling the enterprise process model is often referred to as the business process model. Process models are core concepts in the discipline of Process Engineering....

 of an enterprise, so that the current process may be analyzed and improved in future. BPM is typically performed by business analysts and managers who are seeking to improve process efficiency and quality. The process improvements identified by BPM may or may not require Information Technology
Information technology
Information technology , as defined by the Information Technology Association of America , is "the study, design, development, implementation, support or management of computer-based information systems, particularly software applications and computer hardware." IT deals with the use of electronic...

 involvement, although that is a common driver for the need to model a business process, by creating a process master.

Change management
Change management
Change management is a structured approach to transitioning individuals, teams, and organizations from a current state to a desired future state...

 programs are typically involved to put the improved business processes into practice.
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Encyclopedia

Business process modeling (BPM) in systems engineering
Systems engineering
Systems engineering is an interdisciplinary field of engineering that focuses on how complex engineering projects should be designed and managed. Issues such as logistics, the coordination of different teams, and automatic control of machinery become more difficult when dealing with large, complex...

 and software engineering
Software engineering
Software engineering is the application of a systematic, disciplined, quantifiable approach to the development, operation, and maintenance of software, and the study of these approaches; that is, the application of engineering to software....

 is the activity of representing processes
Process modeling
The term process model is used in various contexts. For example, in business process modeling the enterprise process model is often referred to as the business process model. Process models are core concepts in the discipline of Process Engineering....

 of an enterprise, so that the current process may be analyzed and improved in future. BPM is typically performed by business analysts and managers who are seeking to improve process efficiency and quality. The process improvements identified by BPM may or may not require Information Technology
Information technology
Information technology , as defined by the Information Technology Association of America , is "the study, design, development, implementation, support or management of computer-based information systems, particularly software applications and computer hardware." IT deals with the use of electronic...

 involvement, although that is a common driver for the need to model a business process, by creating a process master.

Change management
Change management
Change management is a structured approach to transitioning individuals, teams, and organizations from a current state to a desired future state...

 programs are typically involved to put the improved business processes into practice. With advances in technology from large platform vendors, the vision of BPM models becoming fully executable (and capable of simulations and round-trip engineering) is coming closer to reality every day.

Overview


Business process modeling plays an important role in the business process management
Business process management
Business process management is a management approach focused on aligning all aspects of an organization with the wants and needs of clients. It is a holistic management approach that promotes business effectiveness and efficiency while striving for innovation, flexibility, and integration with...

 (BPM) discipline. Since both business process modeling and business process management share the same abbreviation (BPM), these activities are sometimes confused with each other.

BPM addresses the process aspects of a business architecture
Business architecture
A business architecture is an organizing framework of a business, and the documents and diagrams that describe that structure or the people who help build such a structure, respectively....

, leading to an all encompassing enterprise architecture
Enterprise architecture
The term enterprise architecture refers to many things. Like architecture in general, it can refer to a description, a process or a profession....

. The relationships of a business processes in the context of the rest of the enterprise systems (e.g., data architecture, organizational structure, strategies, etc.) create greater capabilities when analyzing and planning enterprise changes. For example, during a corporate merger it is important to understand the processes of both companies in detail so that management can correctly and efficiently identify and eliminate redundancies in operations.

The graphical representation of business process information has proven effective for presenting it to business stakeholders, including business analysts and system developer
Developer
Developer can refer to:*Software developer, one who programs computers or designs the system to match the requirements of a systems analyst*"Developers, Developers, Developers", a viral video of Steve Ballmer praising software developers...

s. Visual modeling
Visual modeling
Visual modeling is the graphic representation of objects and systems of interest using graphical languages. Visual modeling languages may be General-Purpose Modeling languages or Domain-Specific Modeling languages...

 languages used to represent business processes include Business Process Modeling Notation
Business Process Modeling Notation
Business Process Modelling Notation is a graphical representation for specifying business processes in a workflow.BPMN was developed by Business Process Management Initiative , and is currently maintained by the Object Management Group since the two organizations merged in 2005...

 (BPMN) and the Unified Modeling Language
Unified Modeling Language
Unified Modeling Language is a standardized general-purpose modeling language in the field of software engineering. The standard is managed, and was created by, the Object Management Group....

 (UML
UML
UML can refer to:* Unified Modeling Language, an object modeling and specification language used in software engineering* User-mode Linux, an architectural port of the Linux kernel* University of Massachusetts Lowell, in the United States...

).

Business process modeling has always been a key aspect of business process reengineering
Business process reengineering
Business process reengineering is, in computer science and management, an approach aiming at improvements by means of elevating efficiency and effectiveness of the business process that exist within and across organizations...

 (BPR) and continuous improvement approaches, such as Six Sigma
Six Sigma
Six Sigma is a business management strategy originally developed by Motorola. it enjoys widespread application in many sectors of industry, although its application is not without controversy....

. For routine business activities, BPM tools such as Provision, Intalio, K2 [blackpearl], Axway, Lombardi, Holosofx
Holosofx
Holosofx was a privately held company based in El-Segundo, California, USA, that worked in the field of Business Process Management.IBM acquired Holosofx in 2002.The software department of Holosofx was based in Cairo, Egypt ....

, Holocentric Modeler and TIBCO are used in order to represent a business process, to run a simulation of the process and for communication purposes. For innovative, adaptive, collaborative human work the techniques of human interaction management
Human interaction management
Human Interaction Management is a set of management principles, patterns and techniques complementary to Business process management...

 are required.

History


The classic business process modeling methodologies such as the flow chart, functional flow block diagram
Functional flow block diagram
A Functional Flow Block Diagram is a multi-tier, time-sequenced, step-by-step flow diagram of a system’s functional flow.The FFBD notation was developed in the 1950s, and is widely used in classical systems engineering...

, data flow diagram
Data flow diagram
A data-flow diagram is a graphical representation of the "flow" of data through an information system. DFDs can also be used for the visualization of data processing ....

, control flow diagram
Control flow diagram
Control flow diagram is a diagram to describe the control flow of a business process, process or program.Control flow diagrams were developed in the 1950s, and are widely used in multiple engineering disciplines...

, Gantt chart
Gantt chart
A Gantt chart is a type of bar chart that illustrates a project schedule. Gantt charts illustrate the start and finish dates of the terminal elements and summary elements of a project. Terminal elements and summary elements comprise the work breakdown structure of the project. Some Gantt charts...

, PERT diagram, and IDEF
IDEF
IDEF is a family of modeling languages in the field of systems and software engineering. They cover a wide range of uses, from functional modeling to data, simulation, object-oriented analysis/design and knowledge acquisition. These "definition languages" were developed under funding from U.S...

 have emerged all over the 20th century: The Gantt chart around 1900, the flow charts in the 1920s, Functional Flow Block Diagram and PERT in the 1950s, Data Flow Diagrams and IDEF in the 1970s. IDEF0
IDEF0
IDEF0 is a function modeling methodology for describing manufacturing functions, which offers a functional modeling language for the analysis, development, reengineering, and integration of information systems; business processes; or software engineering analysis.IDEF0 is part of the IDEF family...

 is probably the most common technique of traditional business process modeling. These represent just a fraction of the methodologies used over the years to document business processes. Methods from the new millennium here are Unified Modeling Language
Unified Modeling Language
Unified Modeling Language is a standardized general-purpose modeling language in the field of software engineering. The standard is managed, and was created by, the Object Management Group....

 and the Business Process Modeling Notation
Business Process Modeling Notation
Business Process Modelling Notation is a graphical representation for specifying business processes in a workflow.BPMN was developed by Business Process Management Initiative , and is currently maintained by the Object Management Group since the two organizations merged in 2005...

. The term "business process modeling" itself was coined in the 1960s in the field of systems engineering
Systems engineering
Systems engineering is an interdisciplinary field of engineering that focuses on how complex engineering projects should be designed and managed. Issues such as logistics, the coordination of different teams, and automatic control of machinery become more difficult when dealing with large, complex...

. S. Williams in 1967 published the article "Business Process Modeling Improves Administrative Control." His idea was that techniques for obtaining a better understanding of physical control systems could be used in a similar way for business processes. August Wilhelm-Scheer is regarded as founding the modern Business Process Modeling software industry with the development of the Y-model and the founding of IDS Scheer in the 1980s.

In the 1990s the term "process
Business process
A business process or business method is a collection of related, structured activities or tasks that produce a specific service or product for a particular customer or customers...

" became a new productivity paradigm. Companies were encouraged to think in "processes" instead of "functions" and "procedures". Process thinking looks horizontally through the company for inducing improvement and measurement. Traditional function modeling methods failed to measure and support improvement in cross-function activities, and their tools can depict the complexity and dependency. As complexity grows these cross-functional activities had increased in number and importance. The focus on processes has been described as business process redesign, business process innovation apart from several nicknames, all aiming at improving processes across the traditional functions that comprise a company.

Around the same time (early 1990s) in the field of software engineering the term "business process modeling" was coined as opposed to software process modeling, much more oriented towards the state of the practice. Earlier and new modeling techniques to capture business processes were now called "business process modeling languages." In the Object Oriented approach, it was considered to be an essential step in the specification of Business Application Systems. Business process modeling became the base of new methodologies, that for example also supported data collection, data flow analysis, process flow diagrams and reporting facilities. Around 1995 the first visually oriented tools for business process modeling and implementation were being presented.

Business model



A business model
Business model
A business model is a framework for creating economic, social, and/or other forms of value. The term business model is thus used for a broad range of informal and formal descriptions to represent core aspects of a business, including purpose, offerings, strategies, infrastructure, organizational...

 is a framework for creating economic, social, and/or other forms of value. The term business model' is thus used for a broad range of informal and formal descriptions to represent core aspects of a business, including purpose, offerings, strategies, infrastructure, organizational structures, trading practices, and operational processes and policies.

In the most basic sense, a business model is the method of doing business by which a company can sustain itself. That is, generate revenue. The business model spells-out how a company makes money by specifying where it is positioned in the value chain
Value chain
The value chain, also known as value chain analysis, is a concept from business management that was first described and popularized by Michael Porter in his 1985 best-seller, Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance....

.

Business process


A business process
Business process
A business process or business method is a collection of related, structured activities or tasks that produce a specific service or product for a particular customer or customers...

 is a collection of related, structured activities or tasks that produce a specific service or product (serve a particular goal) for a particular customer or customers. There are three main types of business processes:
  1. Management processes, the processes that govern the operation of a system. Typical management processes include "Corporate Governance
    Corporate governance
    Corporate governance is the set of processes, customs, policies, laws, and institutions affecting the way a corporation is directed, administered or controlled. Corporate governance also includes the relationships among the many stakeholders involved and the goals for which the corporation is...

    " and "Strategic Management
    Strategic management
    Strategic or institutional management is the conduct of drafting, implementing and evaluating cross-functional decisions that will enable an organization to achieve its long-term objectives...

    ".
  2. Operational processes, processes that constitute the core business
    Core business
    The core business of an organization is an idealized construct intended to express that organization's "main" or "essential" activity.The corporate trend in the mid-20th Century of acquiring new enterprises and forming conglomerates enabled corporations to reduce costsfunds and similar investment...

     and create the primary value stream. Typical operational processes are Purchasing
    Purchasing
    Purchasing refers to a business or organization attempting to acquire goods or services to accomplish the goals of the enterprise. Though there are several organizations that attempt to set standards in the purchasing process, processes can vary greatly between organizations...

    , Manufacturing
    Manufacturing
    Manufacturing is the use of machines, tools and labor to make things for use or sale. The term may refer to a range of human activity, from handicraft to high tech, but is most commonly applied to industrial production, in which raw materials are transformed into finished goods on a large scale...

    , Marketing
    Marketing
    Marketing is an integrated communications-based process through which individuals and communities are informed or persuaded that existing and newly-identified needs and wants may be satisfied by the products and services of others....

    , and Sales
    Sales
    A sale is the pinnacle activity involved in selling products or services in return for money or other compensation. It is an act of completion of a commercial activity.A sale is completed by the seller, the owner of the goods...

    .
  3. Supporting processes, which support the core processes. Examples include Accounting, Recruitment
    Recruitment
    Recruitment refers to the process of screening, and selecting qualified people for a job at an organization or firm, or for a vacancy in a volunteer-based some components of the recruitment process, mid- and large-size organizations and companies often retain professional recruiters or outsource...

    , Technical support
    Technical support
    Technical support is a range of services providing assistance with technology products such as mobile phones, televisions, computers, or other electronic or mechanical goods...

    .


A business process can be decomposed into several sub-processes, which have their own attributes, but also contribute to achieving the goal of the super-process. The analysis of business processes typically includes the mapping of processes and sub-processes down to activity level. A business process model is a model
Scientific modelling
Scientific modelling is the process of generating abstract, conceptual, graphical and/or mathematical models. Science offers a growing collection of methods, techniques and theory about all kinds of specialized scientific modelling....

 of one or more business processes, and defines the ways in which operations are carried out to accomplish the intended objectives of an organization. Such a model remains an abstraction and depends on the intended use of the model. It can describe the workflow or the integration between business processes. It can be constructed in multiple levels.

A workflow
Workflow
A workflow consists of a sequence of connected steps. It is a depiction of a sequence of operations, declared as work of a person, a group of persons, an organization of staff, or one or more simple or complex mechanisms. Workflow may be seen as any abstraction of real work, segregated in...

 is a depiction of a sequence of operations, declared as work of a person, work of a simple or complex mechanism, work of a group of persons, work of an organization of staff, or machines. Workflow may be seen as any abstraction of real work, segregated in workshare, work split or whatever types of ordering. For control purposes, workflow may be a view on real work under a chosen aspect.

Business process modeling tools


Business process modeling tools provide business users with the ability to model their business processes, implement and execute those models, and refine the models based on as-executed data. As a result, business process modeling tools can provide transparency into business processes, as well as the centralization of corporate business process models and execution metrics.

Modeling and simulation


Modeling and simulation functionality allows for pre-execution “what-if” modeling and simulation. Post-execution optimization is available based on the analysis of actual as-performed metrics.

Business process modeling diagrams are:
  • Use case diagram
    Use case diagram
    A use case diagram in the Unified Modeling Language is a type of behavioral diagram defined by and created from a Use-case analysis. Its purpose is to present a graphical overview of the functionality provided by a system in terms of actors, their goals , and any dependencies between those use...

    s created by Ivar Jacobson
    Ivar Jacobson
    Ivar Hjalmar Jacobson is a Swedish computer scientist, known as major contributor to UML, Objectory, RUP and aspect-oriented software development.- Biography :...

    , 1992. Currently integrated in the UML
    UML
    UML can refer to:* Unified Modeling Language, an object modeling and specification language used in software engineering* User-mode Linux, an architectural port of the Linux kernel* University of Massachusetts Lowell, in the United States...

  • Activity diagram
    Activity diagram
    Activity diagrams are diagram technique showing workflows of stepwise activities and actions, with support for choice, iteration and concurrency. In the Unified Modeling Language, activity diagrams can be used to describe the business and operational step-by-step workflows of components in a system...

    s, also currently adopted by UML


Some business process modeling techniques are:
  • Business Process Modeling Notation
    Business Process Modeling Notation
    Business Process Modelling Notation is a graphical representation for specifying business processes in a workflow.BPMN was developed by Business Process Management Initiative , and is currently maintained by the Object Management Group since the two organizations merged in 2005...

     (BPMN)
  • Cognition enhanced Natural language Information Analysis Method (CogNIAM)
  • Extended Business Modeling Language (xBML)
  • Event-driven process chain
    Event-driven process chain
    Event-driven Process Chains are a business process modelling technique, mainly used for analysing processes for the purpose of an enterprise resource planning implementation.- Overview :...

     (EPC)
  • IDEF0
    IDEF0
    IDEF0 is a function modeling methodology for describing manufacturing functions, which offers a functional modeling language for the analysis, development, reengineering, and integration of information systems; business processes; or software engineering analysis.IDEF0 is part of the IDEF family...

     used since early 1990s
  • Unified Modeling Language
    Unified Modeling Language
    Unified Modeling Language is a standardized general-purpose modeling language in the field of software engineering. The standard is managed, and was created by, the Object Management Group....

     (UML), extensions for business process such as Eriksson-Penker's

Programming languages tools for BPM


BPM suite software provides programming interfaces (web services, application program interfaces (APIs)) which allow enterprise applications to be built to leverage the BPM engine.

Programming languages that are being introduced for BPM include:
  • Architecture of Integrated Information Systems
    Architecture of Integrated Information Systems
    ARIS is an approach to enterprise modeling. It offers methods for analyzing processes and taking a holistic view of process design, management, work flow, and application processing....

     (ARIS) supports EPC,
  • Business Process Execution Language
    Business Process Execution Language
    Business Process Execution Language , short for Web Services Business Process Execution Language is an OASIS standard executable language for specifying interactions with Web Services...

     (BPEL),
  • Web Services Choreography Description Language (WS-CDL
    WS-CDL
    The Web Services Choreography Description Language is a W3C candidate recommendation. It is a language for describing how peer-to-peer participants collaborate...

    ).
  • XML Process Definition Language (XPDL
    XPDL
    The XML Process Definition Language is a format standardized by the Workflow Management Coalition to interchange Business Process definitions between different workflow products, ie between different modeling tools and management suites....

    ),

Other technologies related to business process modeling include model-driven architecture
Model-driven architecture
Model-driven architecture is a software design approach for the development of software systems. It provides a set of guidelines for the structuring of specifications, which are expressed as models. Model-driven architecture is a kind of domain engineering, and supports model-driven engineering of...

 and service-oriented architecture
Service-oriented architecture
In computing, service-oriented architecture provides a set of principles or governing concepts used during phases of systems development and integration. Such an architecture will package functionality as interoperable services...

.

Business reference model



A business reference model
Business reference model
Business reference model is a reference model, concentrating on the functional and organizational aspects of the core business of an enterprise, service organization or government agency....

 is a reference model, concentrating on the functional and organizational aspects of an enterprise
Business
A business is a legally recognized organization designed to provide goods and/or services to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, most being privately owned and formed to earn profit that will increase the wealth of its owners and grow the business itself...

, service organization or government agency
Government agency
A government agency is a permanent or semi-permanent organization in the machinery of government that is responsible for the oversight and administration of specific functions, such as an intelligence agency. There is a notable variety of types of agency...

. In general a reference model
Reference Model
A Reference model in systems and software engineering is a model of something that embodies the basic goal or idea of something and can then be looked at as a reference for various purposes.- Overview :...

 is a model of something that embodies the basic goal or idea of something and can then be looked at as a reference for various purposes. A business reference model is a means to describe the business operations of an organization, independent of the organizational structure that perform them. Other types of business reference model can also depict the relationship between the business processes, business functions, and the business area’s business reference model. These reference model
Reference Model
A Reference model in systems and software engineering is a model of something that embodies the basic goal or idea of something and can then be looked at as a reference for various purposes.- Overview :...

 can be constructed in layers, and offer a foundation for the analysis of service components, technology, data, and performance.

The most familiar business reference model is the Business Reference Model of the US Federal Government. That model is a function-driven
Function model
A function model or functional model in systems engineering and software engineering is a structured representation of the functions, activities or processes within the modeled system or subject area....

 framework for describing the business operations of the Federal Government independent of the agencies that perform them. The Business Reference Model provides an organized, hierarchical construct for describing the day-to-day business operations of the Federal government. While many models exist for describing organizations - organizational chart
Organizational chart
An organizational chart is a diagram that shows the structure of an organization and the relationships and relative ranks of its parts and positions/jobs. The term is also used for similar diagrams, for example ones showing the different elements of a field of knowledge or a group of languages...

s, location maps, etc. - this model presents the business using a functionally driven approach.

Business process integration



A business model
Business model
A business model is a framework for creating economic, social, and/or other forms of value. The term business model is thus used for a broad range of informal and formal descriptions to represent core aspects of a business, including purpose, offerings, strategies, infrastructure, organizational...

, which may be considered an elaboration of a business process model, typically shows business data and business organizations as well as business processes. By showing business processes and their information flows a business model allows business stakeholders to define, understand, and validate their business enterprise. The data model
Data model
A data model in software engineering is an abstract model that describes how data is represented and accessed. Data models formally define data elements and relationships among data elements for a domain of interest....

 part of the business model shows how business information is stored, which is useful for developing software code. See the figure on the right for an example of the interaction between business process models and data models.

Usually a business model is created after conducting an interview, which is part of the business analysis
Business Analysis
Business analysis is the discipline of identifying business needs and determining solutions to business problems. Solutions often include a systems development component, but may also consist of process improvement or organizational change. The person who carries out this task is called a business...

 process. The interview consists of a facilitator asking a series of questions to extract information about the subject business process. The interviewer is referred to as a facilitator to emphasize that it is the participants, not the facilitator, who provide the business process information. Although the facilitator should have some knowledge of the subject business process, but this is not as important as her mastery of a pragmatic and rigorous method interviewing business experts. The method is important because for most enterprises a team of facilitators is needed to collect information across the enterprise, and the findings of all the interviewers must be compiled and integrated once completed.

Business models are developed as defining either the current state of the process, in which case the final product is called the "as is" snapshot model, or a concept of what the process should become, resulting in a "to be" model. By comparing and contrasting "as is" and "to be" models the business analysts can determine if the existing business processes and information systems are sound and only need minor modifications, or if reengineering is required to correct problems or improve efficiency. Consequently, business process modeling and subsequent analysis can be used to fundamentally reshape the way an enterprise conducts its operations.

Business process reengineering



Business process reengineering
Business process reengineering
Business process reengineering is, in computer science and management, an approach aiming at improvements by means of elevating efficiency and effectiveness of the business process that exist within and across organizations...

 (BPR) is an approach aiming at improvements by means of elevating efficiency and effectiveness of the processes
Business process
A business process or business method is a collection of related, structured activities or tasks that produce a specific service or product for a particular customer or customers...

 that exist within and across organizations. The key to business process reengineering is for organizations to look at their business processes from a "clean slate" perspective and determine how they can best construct these processes to improve how they conduct business.

Business process reengineering (BPR) began as a private sector technique to help organizations fundamentally rethink how they do their work in order to dramatically improve customer service, cut operational costs, and become world-class competitors. A key stimulus for reengineering has been the continuing development and deployment of sophisticated information systems and networks. Leading organizations are becoming bolder in using this technology to support innovative business processes, rather than refining current ways of doing work.

Business process management


Business process management
Business process management
Business process management is a management approach focused on aligning all aspects of an organization with the wants and needs of clients. It is a holistic management approach that promotes business effectiveness and efficiency while striving for innovation, flexibility, and integration with...

 is a field of management
Management
Management in all business and human organization activity is simply the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives. Management comprises planning, organizing, staffing, leading, directing, facilitating and controlling or manipulating an organization or effort for...

 focused on aligning organizations with the wants and needs of clients. It is a holistic management
Holism
Holism is the idea that all the properties of a given system cannot be determined or explained by its component parts alone...

 approach that promotes business effectiveness and efficiency while striving for innovation, flexibility and integration with technology. As organizations strive for attainment of their objectives, business process management attempts to continuously improve processes - the process to define, measure and improve your processes – a "process optimization" process.

See also

  • Business architecture
    Business architecture
    A business architecture is an organizing framework of a business, and the documents and diagrams that describe that structure or the people who help build such a structure, respectively....

  • Business model
    Business model
    A business model is a framework for creating economic, social, and/or other forms of value. The term business model is thus used for a broad range of informal and formal descriptions to represent core aspects of a business, including purpose, offerings, strategies, infrastructure, organizational...

  • Business plan
    Business plan
    A business plan is a formal statement of a set of business goals, the reasons why they are believed attainable, and the plan for reaching those goals. It may also contain background information about the organization or team attempting to reach those goals....

  • Business process illustration
    Business process illustration
    In order that business processes can be improved they must first be illustrated. The hardest task in business process mapping is getting everyone to agree what the process looks like. The starting point is an illustration of the process. The production of a process illustration is an iterative...

  • Business process mapping
    Business Process Mapping
    Business process mapping refers to activities involved in defining exactly what a business entity does, who is responsible, to what standard a process should be completed and how the success of a business process can be determined. Once this is done, there can be no uncertainty as to the...

  • Capability Maturity Model Integration
    Capability Maturity Model Integration
    Capability Maturity Model Integration CMMI is a process improvement approach that provides organizations with the essential elements of effective processes that ultimately improve their performance...

  • Enterprise architecture
    Enterprise architecture
    The term enterprise architecture refers to many things. Like architecture in general, it can refer to a description, a process or a profession....

  • Enterprise integration
    Enterprise integration
    Enterprise integration is a technical field of Enterprise Architecture, which has solutions for system interconnection, electronic data interchange, product data exchange and distributed computing environments....

  • Enterprise modeling
    Enterprise modelling
    Enterprise modelling is the abstract representation, description and definition of the structure, processes, information and resources of an identifiable business, government body, or other large organization....

  • Extended Enterprise Modeling Language
    Extended Enterprise Modeling Language
    Extended Enterprise Modeling Language in software engineering is a modelling language used for Enterprise modelling across a number of layers.-Overview:...

  • Generalised Enterprise Reference Architecture and Methodology
    Generalised Enterprise Reference Architecture and Methodology
    Generalised Enterprise Reference Architecture and Methodology is a generalised Enterprise Architecture framework for enterprise integration and business process engineering. It identifies the set of components recommended for use in enterprise engineering.This framework is developed in the 1990s...

  • Integrated business planning
    Integrated business planning
    Integrated business planning refers to the technologies, applications and processes of connecting the planning function across the enterprise to improve organizational alignment and financial performance...

  • Model Driven Engineering
  • OBASHI
    OBASHI
    The OBASHI methodology provides a framework and method for capturing, illustrating and modeling the relationships, dependencies and dataflows between business and Information technology assets and resources in a business context....

  • Object Process Methodology
    Object Process Methodology
    Object Process Methodology is an approach to designing information systems by depicting them using object models and process models. OPM was founded by Dov Dori, researcher at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, in 2002.-Language design:...

  • Process architecture
    Process architecture
    Dualistic Petri nets are a process-class variant of Petri nets.Like Petri nets in general and many related formalisms and notations, they are used to describe and analyze process architecture.-Process Modeling with dPNs :...

  • Process modeling
    Process modeling
    The term process model is used in various contexts. For example, in business process modeling the enterprise process model is often referred to as the business process model. Process models are core concepts in the discipline of Process Engineering....

  • SAP Solution Manager
    SAP Solution Manager
    SAP Solution Manager is a software tool, content and gateway to create, operate, manage and monitor management solutions over time.- Overview :...

  • Workflow
    Workflow
    A workflow consists of a sequence of connected steps. It is a depiction of a sequence of operations, declared as work of a person, a group of persons, an organization of staff, or one or more simple or complex mechanisms. Workflow may be seen as any abstraction of real work, segregated in...

  • Zachman Framework
    Zachman framework
    The Zachman Framework is an Enterprise Architecture framework for enterprise architecture, which provides a formal and highly structured way of viewing and defining an enterprise....


Further reading


External links