Why Should I Learn BPMN?

Part 2 of The Complete Guide to BPMN 2.0

by Gregor Polančič

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Business Processes are Everywhere
Each company produces something or provides a service
Therefore each company runs processes

User
Sales Quality assurance
Shipping

User request received

Engineering

User request analyzed

Marketing
Customer service

User request rejected

Manufacturing

Packaging
User request approved

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Core Business, Core Process. What Else?
In every company there are three basic process types:

Management
Processes
Chief information officer Chief operation officer Chief finance officer

Core
Operational
Processes

Supporting
Processes
IT support Finance Marketing

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Business Processes Involve People

Customers
 Require/buy process outcomes
(products or services)

Employees
 Produce the outcomes of a process
(products or services)
 Plus those who manage work
 Plus those who support work

Business Partners
 Support or require processes,
services or products

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Business Processes Also Require Management
Processes are company assets – therefore they need care

Processes need to be continuously improved

Employees + IT take care of processes

Act
Plan
User

User request received

User request analyzed

User request rejected

User request approved

Check Do
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Processes Must Be Communicated
Organizations need a language to
effectively communicate a process

Natural Language
+ Commonly understood
- Imprecise

Domain Language
+ Dedicated and expressive
- Not commonly understood

Graphical Language
+ A picture is worth a thousand words
- Can lead to misinterpretation

Formal Language
+ Precise, verifiable
- Complex, difficult to learn and use
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Who Benefits From BPMN?
Using BPMN, the same
process can be represented
in different ways

Different levels of abstraction (detail)

 Processes map
 Top-level view of a process
 Detail-view of a process

Different types of BPMN models

 Internal processes
 Business to business
collaborations
 Collaborations with customers
or business partners
 Conversations between
companies

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Employees and BPMN Models
Process participants are employees who are
involved in the development of a product or a service

BPMN can guide them through their tasks

 “Who does what” in a process
 Dependencies between tasks
 Information flows

A RACI view of BPMN

 Who is responsible for a task
 Who approves a task
 Who is consulted about a task
 Who is informed about a task RACI table

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Benefits of Standardized Process Modeling
BPMN models can also be useful to customers

They require product or services.

Models provide instructions to customers for getting things done.
This is common in government-to-citizen processes (G2C).

A common question
“What do I need to do and in which
order to achieve my objective?”
(e.g. getting a visa or building permit)

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Management & BPMN Models
BPMN models are
useful to different
levels and types of
management

They provide an
overview of processes
running in a company

They show
interdependencies and
information exchange
between processes

They show the

company's interactions
with customers as well
as other companies

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Process Analysts & BPMN Models
Process analysts are involved in the continuous improvement of a
company's processes.

They can be in-house or “AS-IS” Model “TO-BE” Model

external consultants

Modeling of current
processes:
“AS-IS” models

Analysis of
“AS-IS” models

Improving current
processes:
“TO-BE” models

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Process/IT Engineers & BPMN Models
Process or IT Engineers
They are software
developers

They provide software

support for processes
 Information support for
human activities
 Completely automated
activities

BPMN models help them by:

 Representing
specifications for a
process-oriented OR
application (GOOD)
Computer Assisted Automated Process
 Being deployed on a Process Activities Activities
process engine (BETTER)

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Process Owners & BPMN Models
A process owner/maintainer is a head of a division.

They take care of a process

 Manage stakeholders involved in a process
 Allocate other resources when needed

They monitor process effectiveness

 Improve the quality and
consistency of process results

They ensure process efficiency

 Optimization of process resources

These activities can be based on BPMN models

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A Business/Process Communication Language
To be effective…
All process-related stakeholders MUST communicate and
collaborate around processes using a common “language”

All participants MUST interpret BPMN elements and

respective models in the same way

Recommendations for effective BPMN-based communication:

 100% compliance with BPMN specification
 100% use of BPMN-compliant tools
 100% Standards-based education and training

Standardization Enables
Communication
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 More Interactive Online Training Solutions
BPMN Training
Learn BPMN wherever you are, whenever you want with
our online training solutions.

All you need is an internet-ready device and an internet

connection!

A Step-by-Step Approach Interactive Learning

Allowing standardization and depth of Multimedia tutorials, exercises and quizzes
knowledge for all students

Accessibility Multi-Platform
Access courses globally and at any time, Learn on your PC, Laptop or iPad.
to allow maximum flexibility for large All you need is an internet connection
organizations

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