My presentation at the Building Business Capability (BBC) 2011

1. BPM Standards
What is new in BPMN 2.0 and XPDL 2.2
Denis Gagné, Trisotech
BPMN 2.0 FTF Member
BPMN 2.1 RTF Member
XPDL 2.2 and 3.0 Co-Editor

2. Table of Content
Introduction
Standards 101
BPMN
XPDL
Conclusion

3. Introduction

4. Business Process Conundrum
Processes are the central nervous system
of organizations and yet they are not
always clearly understood, defined,
documented, communicated or optimized.

5. Processes as Assets
Once articulated Processes become
Assets
Using Process Diagrams
Unambiguous Description
Understood by everyone
One can increase its value (and making it
enduring) by ensuring universality via
open standards

6. Global Benefits of BPM Standards
To increase, stimulate, facilitate:
Understanding
Adoption
Interoperability
Migration
Cost Reduction
Soundness
- R Khan, What Standards really Matter for BPM, BPTrends May 2005

7. Our Focus for this session:
Process Modeling

8. Caveat:
Model with a Purpose
Visualizing Structuring / Enacting /
Analyzing Automating
If your goal is:
Structuring the Monitoring
Call for actions,
process, Allocating commitment,
Interaction &
resources, Estimating, Assessing progress,
commitment,
Improving, Controlling
Customized view
Optimizing compliance
Diagramming Modeling
Informative Descriptive Prescriptive
Uniform Unique
Interpretation Semantic
Serving to describe or
Imparting knowledge, Giving instructions,
Aim to be: Instructing,
characterize by
Being directive
description, Supports
Interpreting, (Flexible guidance vs
interpretation
Enlightening Strict enforcement)

9. Standards 101

10. Setting the Context
Workflow Reference Model
Process Definition
tool
Administration &
Monitoring tool Enactment Engine Other
Engines
Client Worklist Tool Invoked
Apps Handler Agents Apps

11. Some Concepts and Terms
Meta-model Notation
underlying computer- Notational symbols
interpretable and graphical
representation representation
Standard
Abstract Reference Concrete
Syntax Syntax
instance instance
Your Work Reference Interchange
Model Diagram
Format
electronic file format that eases
• Process diagrams can be considered like pictures of the process model. the safeguard and transfer of
• Many diagrams (or pictures) of the same process model are possible, each this data between different
showing or hiding various aspects of the process model details. tools

12. What is what
Process Definition
tool
Administration &
Monitoring tool Enactment Engine Other
Engines
Client Worklist Tool Invoked
Apps Handler Agents Apps

13. Two Stacks
Process Definition Notation
tool
Interchange Format
Enactment Engine Meta-model

14. Business Process Model
and Notation

15. What is BPMN?
What is BPMN?
Business Process Model and Notation
BPMN is a standard published by the Object Management Group
(OMG).
Why BPMN matters?
Universal graphical notation for drawing business processes
Readily understandable by business stakeholders
Aim to bridge the gap from modeling to subsequent implementation
Current Status
BPMN 2.1 Revision Task Force (RTF)
Still gathering feedback

16. BPMN as a Notation
Simple to learn yet powerful enough to depict the potential
complexity of most processes.
Bridges the communication gap that exists between
Business, Engineering, Manufacturing, etc. and IT.
Provides organizations with the capability of defining,
understanding and even executing their processes through
diagrams.
Widely accepted and widely supported.

17. Basic Elements of BPMN
Event
Activity
Gateway
Flow

18. Process:
Engineering Change Management (ECM)

19. Expectations
Unique
interpretation
Universal File
Understanding Interchange
Model-once-
open-
anywhere

20. New in BPMN 2.0
Some new concepts and constructs
A graphical notation for modeling interactions (adding
choreographies and conversations)
Better standard conformance specification along with
conformance sub-classes
A meta-model and accompanying interchange formats both
XMI and XSD based
A diagram definition model and accompanying interchange
formats both XMI and XSD based
An explicit execution semantics
A mapping from a BPMN subset to WS-BPEL

21. BPMN Timeline - Releases
1994 1998 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
BPMI
BPMN 1.0
XML
BPMN BPMN
BPMN 1.0 BPMN 2.0
1.1 1.2
- Adapted from R. Shapiro, WfMC

22. Expressiveness of Intent
A wide collection of constructs are available in BPMN
allowing:
Diagramming to communicate or Modeling for execution
Capturing Internal Processes or Collaborations with Partners

23. i.e. New in Tasks
Service Uses some sort of service, which could be a Web service
or an automated application.
Send Send a message to an external participant.
Receive Wait for a message from an external participant.
User Where a human performer performs the task with the
assistance of a software application.
Manual Performed without the aid of any business process
execution engine or any application.
Business Rule Provides a mechanism to transmit input to a Business
Rules Engine and get output generated.
Script Task executed by a Business Process Engine (script
defined in a language interpreted by the engine).

24. Expressiveness
A wide collection of constructs
are available in BPMN
You can be as precise as
required by your context
336 Possible Depiction
Permutations
just for tasks

25. BPMN Best Practice
Use limited vocabulary according to purpose and context
Sub classing the language
Official Sub Classes: Conformance sub classes of the spec
Your Own (Organizational) Sub Classes: Modeling Guidelines
Caveats: Within the specified semantics

26. Sample of new
BPMN 2.0 constructs

27. Re-Use
Call Activity
Calling a Global Task
Calling a Global Process

28. Non-Interupting Events
The notion of non-interrupting is introduced in BPMN 2.0 and is
depicted by having the event border being dashed line.
Simply put a non-interrupting event allow the normal flow to continue
while the event is handled
Two types of events can be non-interrupting:
The Start events in the context of an event sub-process, and
Intermediate boundary events.
Start Intermediate End
Top Level Event Sub- Event Sub-Process Sequence Flow Sequence Flow Activity Boundary Activity Boundary
Process Process Non-interrupting Catching Throwing Interrupting Non-interrupting
Interrupting

29. Reacting to Events
Event Sub-Process
 Specialized Sub-Process used
within a Process or a Sub-
Process.
 Implement answer to a throw
Intermediate or End Event.
 It is not part of the normal flow
of its parent.
 It may or may not occur when
the parent Process is active.
 It may occur many times.

30. Modeling Interactions
Collaboration Conversation Choreography

31. Data Modeling
Data Object Data Input Data Output
Data Store Data Association

32. BPMN 2.0 Post Mortem
Complexity has increased – Yes but
Ensuring expressiveness is always more complex
Ensuring executability is always more complex
Manage this complexity
According to your purpose
By sub classing (using a subset)

33. XML Process Definition Language

34. What is XPDL?
What is XPDL?
XML Process Definition Language
Is a standard Published by the Workflow Management Coalition
Why XPDL matters?
Meant for interchange from inception
Internal model of many existing BPM tools
Backward compatibility of BPMN 1.2
Current Status
XPDL 2.2 in Final Revision
XPDL 3.0 initiated

35. XPDL Timeline - Releases
1994 1998 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
WPDL XPDL 1.0 XPDL 2.0 XPDL 2.1
XML BPMI
BPMN 1.0
BPMN BPMN
BPMN 1.0 BPMN 2.0
1.1 1.2
- Adapted from R. Shapiro, WfMC

36. Scope of XPDL 2.2
The XPDL 2.2 effort is focused on only covering a subset of the
Process Modeling Conformance class of the BPMN 2.0 specification.
Thus the XPDL 2.2 schema will offer a serialization and interchange
transport for BPMN 2.0:
Process Diagrams, and
Collaboration Diagrams (Without Conversation)
(i.e. what was possible in BPMN 1.2)

37. Scope of XPDL 3.0
The XPDL 3.0 effort is focused on covering the complete BPMN 2.0
specification.
Thus the XPDL 3.0 schema will offer a serialization and interchange
transport for BPMN 2.0:
Process Diagrams,
Collaboration Diagrams,
Conversation Diagrams,
Choreography Diagrams
And all attributes.

38. Conclusion
BPM standards are enablers not silver bullets
BPM standards are evolving and adapting to the need of
the BPM ecosystem
BPM standards can increase, stimulate, facilitate:
Understanding
Adoption
Interoperability
Migration
Cost Reduction

39. Business Process Incubator
www.BusinessProcessIncubator.com