A brief history of BPMN #
BPMN = Business Process Model and Notation (originally developed by Business Process Management Initiative - BPMI)
BPMN 2.0 was released in January 2011 by OMG (Object Management Group) after it’s merger with BPMI.
The latest version is BPMN 2.0.2, published in January 2014.
What is BPMN 2.0? #
Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) 2.0 is an industry standard for business process modeling that provides a graphical notation for specifying business processes in a Business Process Diagram based on a flowcharting technique.
The primary goal of BPMN is to provide a notation that is readily understandable by all business users, from the business analysts that create the initial drafts of the processes, to the technical developers responsible for implementing the technology that will perform those processes, and finally, to the business people who will manage and monitor those processes. Thus, BPMN creates a standardized bridge for the gap between the business process design and process implementation. (Courtesy: OMG)
Scope and Usage of BPMN 2.0 #
BPMN is constrained to support only the concepts of modeling that are applicable to Business Processes only.
BPMN can be used to model the following types of processes:
- Private Business Processes
- Public Processes
- Choreographies - a procedural contract between interacting participants
- Collaborations - interaction between two or more business entities
A business analyst should understand the business process and create a process model using BPMN elements as described below.
BPMN 2.0 Elements #
This provides a small set of notation categories so that the reader of a BPMN diagram can easily recognize the basic types of elements and understand the diagram.
The five basic categories of elements are:
- Flow Objects - Events, Activities, Gateways
- Data - Data objects, data inputs, data outputs, data stores
- Connecting Objects - Sequence flow, message flow, association, data association
- Swimlanes - Pools, lanes
- Artifacts - used to provide additional information about the process through grouping and text annotations
Example of Business Process Model diagram created using BPMN 2.0 #
Order Fulfillment Process
