Business Process Management

Question 1

Stages of BPM lifecycle

Answer 1

1 Envision

• business goals documented
• problem defined
• KPIs and Critical Success Factors defined
• vision for BPM solution developed

2 Assess

• The current state of the enterprise is analysed further.
• What is required for the vision? How does the organisation need to change?
• Vision is reevaluated to make it realistic
• Definition of IT strategy & execution plan of business transformation may be included

3 Define

• Design and management
• Processes can be simulated to identify potential bottlenecks.

4 Execute

• Processes & IT architecture are built, integrated, assembled, deployed, and monitored.

5 Optimise

• Optimise to meet KPIs

Question 2

Envision in detail

Answer 2

Question 3

Benefits of BPM

Answer 3

• visibility of a company’s activities
• identify bottlenecks
• optimisation identification
• reduced lead times
• better definition of roles in company
• standardised, all stakeholders understand
• graphical form allows easy process visualisation & development
• good tool for fraud prevention, auditing and assessment of regulation compliance

Useful in GLOBALISATION (more information, complexity, demand, less time, …)

Question 4

Definition of Business process modelling (BPM)

Answer 4

• a field in operations management / systems engineering
• represents processes of an enterprise
• aims to analyse, manage, and optimise processes
• thereby, improving corporate performance
• standardised by the Object Management Group (OMG)

Question 5

Corresponding vs. Abstract Models

Answer 5

Corresponding models have structures / elements correspond (under some rules) to something which they model.

Abstract models are removed in some way from that which they model. They represent only some aspects.

Question 6

Four Element Categories

Answer 6

1. Flow objects

• Small set of core elements to minimise the number of shapes modellers have to learn.

2. Connecting objects

• Joins the flow objects together.

3. Swim-lanes and Pools

• Partitions activities according to who is doing them.

4. Artefacts

• Attaching files or systems to parts of the process

Question 7

Answer 7

Question 8

Answer 8

Question 9

Answer 9

Gateways are used to control the divergence and convergence of a sequence flow.

Control-Flow Patterns with Gateways:

Question 10

Answer 10

Question 11

Answer 11

Question 12

What are Inclusive Gateway and how to represent them?

Answer 12

Choose 1 or more pathways

Question 13

Function of a Complex Gateway

Answer 13

Used whenever it’s not possible to map one the process logic using one of the other gateways.

Question 14

Represent Subprocesses

Answer 14

A sub-process contains a series of tasks

• subprocess in BPMN can grouped together — thats a particular service, surrounded by dotted line

Question 15

Rework and Repetition in BPMN

Answer 15

Often in a process something has to be checked.

• If an error is found then part of the process must be repeated.

Question 16

repeating tasks and repeating subprocesses in BPMN

Answer 16

Question 17

repeating a task or sub-process in parallel

Answer 17

Question 18

Artifacts in BPMN

Answer 18

Question 19

Artifact Groups in BPMN

Answer 19

Question 20

Connecting Objects in BPMN

Answer 20

Question 21

Pool vs. Swimlanes

Answer 21

Pools

• Activities within Pools are considered self-contained processes.
• The sequence flow may NOT cross the boundary of a pool.
  
  • Messages between the pools must be used instead.

Swimlanes

• Swimlanes organise activities into separate visual compartments or categories.
  
  • Each category or compartment might represent a different functional capability or responsibility.
• Processes can traverse Swimlanes

Question 22

Communication between Pools in BPMN

Answer 22

a dashed line

Question 23

3 BPM tools

Answer 23

Process mapping

• The use of a flowchart to document the process incorporating process activities and decision points.

Business process simulation

• The use of computer software, in the context of a process-based change, that allows operation of a business to be simulated.

Business activity monitoring (BAM)

• Software that is designed to monitor, capture and analyse business performance data in real time and present them visually in order that rapid and effective decisions can be taken.

Because of the simple rules, tools can easily check whether the diagram is logically correct.

Question 24

BPM in the organsiational context

Answer 24

• Effective BPM drives business agility
• It complements to SOA.

BPM aims to develop and execute on a perpetual value-generation cycle, where value is realised by continuous process improvement in an effort to sustain market competitiveness and dominance.

BPM, by using business processes as the fundamental construct, strives to maximise overall bottom line by integrating verticals and optimising core work.

BPM provides the platform that enables the business functions embedded within applications and systems to interact and integrate at a level higher than application-to-application and data integration. This collaboration platform shields customers, suppliers, and trading partners from the technology dependencies of an enterprise’s application portfolio, and provides an orchestration substrate to execute and manage end-to-end business processes.