BPMN for Business Analysts (Vliegenthart)

Question 1

What are the (4) basic elements in (the vocabulary of) BPMN 2.0 Level 1

Answer 1

Activity
Gateway
Event
Sequence flow

Question 2

What are activities in BPMN + (sub)types + notation

Answer 2

Only flow objects that represent work in the process
Only object with a performer (person or system)
Two types:
- Task: atomic activity; no internal sub-parts known to the model
User task
Service task
Generic task
- Subprocess (+): compound; can be expressed as a process
Noun + Verb
Task types can be filtered
Process optimization: look at user tasks?

Question 3

What are gateways in BPMN + types + notation?

Answer 3

Controls process flow
Routing logic
Does not perform work
Can test a decision
Diamond
Types: XOR; Parallel gateway

Question 4

What are events in BPMN + types + notation?

Answer 4

Marks start or end of process
Level 2: how a process responds to a signal
Types: Start - End - Intermediate
cf pic: event types; only border type changes meaning of event

Question 5

What is a pool in BPMN + uses & limitations?

Answer 5

Container for a BPMN process
Outside the pool = outside the process
Sequence flow can not cross the boundaries of the pool; if you do need to link outside the pools, instead, use a message flow: exchange between two pools or processes, incl synchronization
Pool is a graphical representation of a ??participant in a collaboration??, a pattern and message flow
Pool name: after the end-to-end process it represents, NOT organization that performs it
Pool drawing: optional if only one process on canvas; obligatory if multiple processes on canvas
eg: Order fulfillment (noun)
Pool might have only one lane - delete second lane in Lucidchart

Question 6

What are lanes in BPMN + uses & limitations?

Answer 6

Lane: sub-partition in a pool, used to categorize and organize activities of a process; most commonly, lane represents org role
- Subdivisions of a process
- No naming conventions
- Categorization at will
- Possible: multiple alternative lane sets in one process ???
- Only apply to activities
- Human and tech activities
Don’t use lanes in top level diagram ??? top level diagram: brief overview of entire end to end process

Question 7

What are subprocesses in BPMN + uses & limitations?

Answer 7

Compound activities; composed of multiple flow objects
Nested: parent - child - grandchild
<b>Is activity and process at same time</b>; unexpanded subprocess looks like activity in top level diagram
Open subprocess in same canvas?
Depends on tool
If complex: use hyperlink canvas or (separate) child level canvas
Features:
Subprocesses are immediately triggered
Child level diagrams: Should not contain specific trigger (???event??? cf diagram in slides =! “unspecified start event”(no label))
Sequence flows cannot cross parent-child lines

Question 8

How is an XOR Gateway otherwise called?

Answer 8

Exclusive data based gateway

Question 9

What is a Parallel gateway?

Answer 9

• A gateway
• Doesn’t evaluate any conditions or events
• Represents two concurrent tasks in a process flow
• Sequence flow at parallel gateway -> two or more concurrent paths activated
• If two sequence flows arrive (join) at parallel gateway: both should be completed before flow can go on

Question 10

What is a Black box pool + uses & limitations?

Answer 10

To visualize actors that do interact with the process (eg customer), but are no member of the process provider’s organization; requester should have no defined role in the process; if requester does have defined role: lane instead of black box
Always above the internal process pool

Question 11

What is a Message flow + uses & limitations + notation?

Answer 11

A (message) interaction with an external entity
Can cross borders of pool
Dashed + open arrow + open circle

Question 12

What is a Message trigger?

Answer 12

A starting event
Starts a process when an external request is received
Only in top level diagram??
Envelopke

Question 13

What is a Message end event trigger?

Answer 13

When an internal process ends and should result in message to external pool
Zwart envelopke

Question 14

How can a process be started in BPMN?

Answer 14

Manually (by a non-event = generic event)
External trigger: message trigger event
Timer trigger: only on top level diagrams
When sequence flow arrives at non trigger

Question 15

What is the difference between a none event in the top diagram and a none event in child diagram?

Answer 15

Parent: start manually
Child: start immediately when sequence flow arrives at non trigger

Question 16

What are the end event types in BPMN 2.0 Level 1?

Answer 16

None end event
Terminate end event: only in scenarios with parallel paths
Message end event

Question 17

What are Data objects in BPMN + uses + limitations + notation?

Answer 17

Show how data is handled in / flows through the process: data association flow; does not affect the sequence flow in a process
Data objects: Digital and physical
Notation: Page
Data objects only available during a process instance -> data object is not stored after a process is finished
eg: claim details - cf pic - after process finished, claim details no longer available

Question 18

What are Datastores in BPMN + uses + limitations + notation?

Answer 18

IF you want to store data in a more permanent way
External to the process
Physical and digital
Permanently available
DB icon

Question 19

What are Call activities in BPMN?

Answer 19

Reusable activity type
A subprocess when a process arrives at a call activity
External to the diagram - stored in different place, vrgl data store
Actual process steps not part of the diagram, external to the diagram -> you can call the activity from the external reference without specifying a subprocess in a diagram -> reuse building blocks or subprocesses

Question 20

What are the (3) kinds of flows / connectors in BPMN?

Answer 20

Sequence flow
Message flow
Data association

Question 21

What are the (3X2) high-level phases of a good Business Analysis?

Answer 21

* High-level business process
Scope
Map
Improve & discuss
* Subprocesses
Scope
Map
Improve & discuss

Question 22

What are the questions you should answer in the scoping phase of a Business Analysis?

Answer 22

• What does the process represent?
• What does a process instance represent?
• When is a process started? By whom?
• High-level activities that compose the parent level diagram (max 12)
• Important end states of each subprocess and of process as a whole