Mini-course at VFU - Architecting modern digital systems - 2

Architecting
digital
systems
Module 2
Business Process Management
Alexander Samarin

© A. Samarin 2018 Architecting digital systems - Module 2 2
Be ready for common
(mis-)understanding

• Organisation functioning can be considered as business
activity flows spanning the applications, employees,
customers and partners within and beyond its boundaries
• Business activity is a unit of work
• Organizations create “big” emergent functionality by
coordinating several “small” existing functionalities
• Business process is an explicitly-defined coordination
for guiding the purposeful enactment of business activities
– Business process is a plan of work with some variations and its
execution with some necessary corrections
• Business Process Management (BPM) is managing
business by/via/using business processes
Definitions

• The business is driven by events
• For each event there is a process to be executed
• Process coordinates execution of activities
• The execution is carried out in accordance with business
rules
Process anatomy (1)

• Each business activity operates with some business
objects
• A group of staff member (business role) is responsible
for the execution of each activity
• The execution of business processes produces audit
trails
• Audit trails (which are very detailed) are also used for the
calculation of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
• There is a goal for each process
Process anatomy (2)

• No explicit separation between “process template” (i.e.
planning of work) with “process instance” (i.e. observed
work)
• Process transforms inputs into output
• Business process is consider as a flowchart ONLY
• Business process equals to BPMN
• End-to-end process can be expressed as a flowchart
• Business process is just an illustration of the real work
• All process models are wrong but some may be useful
Wide-spread misunderstandings about
business processes

• Process template – an abstract description/plan of a
process
• Process instance –
enactment of a process
template
• Different variations of
relationship between
template and instance
Process templates and instances (1)
Templates
and their
versions
Instances

Time
Template v1 Template 3Template v2
Instance 1.1
Instance 1.2
Instance 1.3
Instance 2.4
Instance 2.6
Instance 2.5
Instance 3.7
Instance 3.8
Process templates and instances (2)

Variant 1 – classic (one template is used
for many instances)

Variant 2 – tailoring (a template is
adjusted for each instance)

Variant 3 – reactive (no initial template
and next activity is selected based on
the current situation)

Variant 4 – proactive planning (similar
to variant 3, but a few next activities
[fragment] are executed together)

Variant 5 – scenario-based (similar to
variant 4, but a few scenarios are
considered)
Process fragments are used; those may be patterns

• Coordination between business activities
– In the context of enterprise functioning, business activities must
be coordinated
– Coordination maybe strong (e.g. as in the army) or weak (e.g.
as in an amateurs football team)
– Coordination maybe implicit or explicit
– Coordination maybe declarative (laws) and imperative (orders)
Enterprise as a system of processes

• Orchestration-centric
– temporal-based
– flow-chat-based
– pattern-based
• State-centric
– life-cycle-based
• Decision-centric
– rule-based
– behaviour-based
– managerial
– instinct-based
About coordination techniques (1)

• Various
– resource-based
– goal-based
– event-based

• decomposition cascade
• assembling cascade
• combine cascade

• Based on coordination, let us think about “levels of
cohesion” between activities and thus find out
coordination constructs (in addition to activities)
1. process patterns (coordination within processes)
2. processes
3. cluster of processes (coordination between processes)
4. system of processes (coordination between clusters of processes)
Coordination constructs

• Business case: typical “claim processing” process – claim,
repair, control, invoicing, and assurance to pay
Process fragments – patterns
SI
PAR
SI
IPS
Click for animation

• Business concern: Interactions between two independent
parties – public administration and partner (citizen, local
business, etc.)
• Logic
– partner submits some documents (including forms) to
administration
– administration checks those documents
– administration may request partner to provide more documents or
to carry out some corrections
– administration checks those documents again
– and so on
Process pattern:
Submission Interface (SI)

SI animated diagram
Click for
animation

• Simple event-based (which looks like a state machine)
Coordination between processes (1)

1. state-machine
2. synchronous invocation
3. asynchronous invocation
4. fire and forget
5. parallel processes
6. co-processes (pattern SI)
Coordination between processes (2)

• CLOPs are usually functional processes which are
implemented a particular business function, e.g. Field
Services
• And a “halo” of extra processes
1. monitoring
2. operating
3. management
CLuster Of Processes (CLOP)

Enabler group, supporting group and
customer group of clusters

• Coordination for business objects such as products
– a product life-cycle which requires some future work (e.g. the
technical service of a car after every 20 000 km) – aka scheduling
– the influence of the eco-system on the product, e.g. the end of
support/production for some components of a particular
product
– technology progress, e.g. the availability of a cheaper material
for/component of a particular product
Coordination between CLOPs (1)

• coordination for business objects such as resources
– if a resource is not available then any processes that use that
resource need to wait (in a queue) for it
– a resource requires replenishment if its capacity is below a
defined threshold

• coordination for business objects such as customers
– offering new services and products as the result of field
servicing
– changing of legal conditions (to renegotiate a maintenance
contract)
– marketing campaigns

Implicit coordination between CLOPs (1)

• The life-cycle of all business objects should be considered
as a process
Make relationships between CLOPs
explicit (1)

• An enterprise-wide event dispatcher should be available
explicit (2)

• The explicit link between two CLOPs may be established
via the life-cycles of a few business objects and an
enterprise-wide event dispatcher
explicit (3)

Functional view at a system of processes
(1)

(2)

(3)

document-centric
processes
human-centric
processes
supporting processes
core business processes
lead processes
life-cycle as a process
customer-experience as a process
policy as a process
project as a process
system-of-processes
Iceberg of processes

Modelling demo

• 3 kinds of flow objects
– Activity
– Gateway
– Event
• 3 ways of connecting
– Sequence flow
– Message flow
– Association
• Two types of container
– Pools
– Lanes (swimlanes)
BPMN basic set shapes
conditional sequence flow

Example of unstructured BPMN (1)

Example of workflow-like models

• Diagram is a communication (between people) tool
• Good diagram should be understood in less than 30
seconds
• Processes are better understood by focusing on the
decisions to make, the issues to solve, and the results to
produce, than on the administrative ordering of steps
• Different people in similar situations should produce
similar diagram
Reasons for a diagramming style

• Horizontal vs. vertical timeline
Diagramming style in BPMN (1)
Timeline

Diagramming style in BPMN (5)
P
a
r
t
i
c
i
p
a
n
t
s

• Its purpose is:
– to analyse a building block (what it is supposed to do)
– to synthesise its implementation (how it does this) as explicit
coordination of other building blocks (processes or activities)
• It is iterative: we can apply it until we only have left
indivisible building blocks (i.e. activities)
• Artefacts are constructed recursively, like Russian dolls
The modelling procedure (1)

• It is similar to solving a puzzle: everyone has his/her own
way
• There are a few practical tips
– make the edges first
– group together pieces with a similar colour or pattern
– collect them into clusters
– use the latter as “centres of crystallisation”
– then fill in the rest

• But, there are a few real-life difficulties: you have
– to do many puzzles at the same time
– to use pieces from other puzzles
– to cut new pieces
– to optimise the number of pieces
– to transform some puzzles
– etc.
• It should be a lot of fun!

Four phases

• The purpose
– to analyse a building block as a whole
– to discover its functional characteristics and some related artefacts
• The method
– the business story behind this building block should be carefully
analysed to recognise its artefacts
• Recommendations
– don’t go into excessive detail for each artefact; this can be done
later
– define your list of deliverables
Blackboxing phase

• The purpose
– to analyse a building block from within to determine its internal
structure and its major artefacts
• The method
– determine the main (added-value) steps
– classify artefacts for these steps
– add check-points between steps
• Recommendations
– don’t have more than 7 steps
– avoid loop-back over check-points
– avoid too much detail
Structuring phase (1)

• Steps

• Steps and artefacts

• The purpose
– to synthesize an initial version of the formal coordination: some
kind of process skeleton
• The method
– add intra-step logic
– start formalising the business objects involved
– collect test scenarios
• Recommendations
– consider implementation of human activities as simple forms
Re-construction phase (1)

• The diagram
Re-construction phase (2)

• The purpose
– to enrich the process skeleton by adding more automated
activities
• The method
– add pools
– apply different practical patterns
– use a business rule engine if available
– collect test scenarios
• Recommendations
– work iteratively (step-by-step)
Instrumentation phase (1)

• The diagram
Instrumentation phase (2)

• Adjust the modelling procedure for your needs, e.g.
collection of artefacts during different phases
• Bring downstream information needs upstream
• Ensure 100 % quality at the beginning of the process -
input quality control
• Work collaboratively (business & IT) on each phase
• Try to become “executable” as early as possible
• Automate testing
General recommendations

Five lenses for business processes
Classic values-streams with their phases and main capabilities
(value-streams are, in effect, a sequence of business
transactions)
Clusters as coordination (primarily event-based) of classic
processes, almost no routing logic
Classic processes as coordination of stages (logical
fragments, often process patterns)
Instrumentation with automated activities
L1
Value-
steams
L2 Clusters-of-
processes
L3 Coordination of
fragments
L4 Coordination of activities
L5 Automation of activities and processes
Fragments as coordination of human activities (with
associated roles); use of process patterns

L1
Value-
steams
L2 Clusters-of-
processes
L3 Coordination of
fragments
Combination of modelling approaches
Departmental projects to
implement processes of a
particular business domain
with a BPM-suite tool.
Quick enterprise-wide “landscape”
project to develop L1 and L2
processes and establish common
practices (modelling procedures,
patterns, etc.).

L1
Value-
steams
L2 Clusters-of-
processes
L3 Coordination of
fragments
Events to link not yet executable and
already executable processes
Explicit but not yet executable L2
processes can be used to extract
business events. Some of those events
can initiate explicit and executable
processes L3, L4 and L5.

L1
Value-
steams
L2 Clusters-of-
processes
L3 Coordination of
fragments
Events are very useful
Explicit but not yet executable L2
processes can be used to extract business
events for generating KPIs and for
detecting performance problems
(bottlenecks, etc.) via process mining
techniques.

• Supporting processes (HR, accounting, IT, general
services) are rather typical and straightforward
• Core processes are a potential place for a mixture of
BPM, ACM, decision management and business events
• Enabling processes (they implement common
functionality for core processes) are, usually, in between
• Governance / Leadership processes
• Recommendations
– Use APQC as a checklist for supporting, enabling and G/L
processes
– Concentrate on core processes to understand the coordination
nature of them (flow-charts, scheduling, events, rules, etc.)
Core, enabling and supporting process

Customer example (1)

Customer example (2)

EXAMPLE

• Pierre and Aline are in the situation of divorce. Their son –
Laurent.
• Pierre moves to an address. Aline and Laurent move to
anotehr address. New addresses are announced to OCP
(population department) or AFC ( fiscal department) or,
probably, DIP (education department).
• All these departments exchange addresses.
Example: Moving of a family

• Complexity N*(N-1)/2
Exchange between N sources - problem
OCP AFC
…
…
DIP

• Complexity N
Exchange between N sources - solution
DIPAFCOCP
Coordination process
…

Comparison in 3D

Coordination process (between three
departments – OCP, AFC and DIP)
Click for animation

Execute a request for change (in each source)
Click for animation

Big picture in 3D

Moving a family (1)
OCP
…AFC DIP
Click for animation
Pierre
(father)

Moving a family (2)
OCP
…AFC DIP
Aline
(mother)
Laurent
(son)
AFC_1 DIP_1
Passer auprès
des juristes
Click for animation
Délai_1

Big picture in 3D

Instantiation of change: implicit vs. explicit (e.g.
by e-gov portal)
OCP
…AFC DIP
Explicit
Implicit
OCP
…AFC DIP
Click for animation

Questions?

• An enterprise is a complex, dynamic and adaptive
system; one can improve it by:
– measuring
– observing
– deciding
– implementing
Feedback improvement loop
1
2
3
4

Process improvement disciplines

Process-oriented view of an enterprise
(before BPM)

Process-oriented view of an enterprise
(with BPM)

BPM suite components

• A graphical environment to manipulate with diagrams and
other artefacts
Process designer / modeller

• Management of process templates and instances by a
system administrator
Execution engine console (1)

• Access to audit trail of a process instance
Execution engine console (2)

• Access to BPM for a « normal user »
Worklist (1)

Worklist (2)

• Business Event Management (BEM)
• A business rules engine (BRE) and decision management
• Enterprise content management (ECM) system
• Collaboration facilities
• An Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) to provide a service-
oriented integration layer
BPM suite components (optional)

BPM suite components (extended list)

• Template-based
– static connection of “flow objects” or sequence relationship
(predecessor and successor)
– similar to a river (upstream and downstream)
– process template is an abstract description of a process
© A. Samarin 2015 BPM fundamental - Module 6 102
Four types of coordination logic (1)

• Token-based
– token marks elements which active at a particular time
– dynamic connection of “flow objects” or synchronisation (wait for)
/ chronologic relationship
– similar to a “flock” of ducks (split and join)
– several tokens may co-exist
Click for animationClick for animation

• Event-based
– non-structured synchronisation between tokens
– exchange of messages (signals, errors, etc.)
– exception handling
Click for animation
Wait for (catch) a message event
Generate (throw) a message event

• Instance-based
– process instance is an enactment of a process template
– each instance may have different behaviour of tokens
– process instances may be coordinated via event-based
coordination logic
Click for animation

• Start event produces a token
• End (or finish) event consumes a token
• Intermediate token means that something happened
within a business process engine
Event types
Click for animation

• Too many events details
• Recommendations to use:
– Mainly “message”
– Sometimes “empty”,
“error” and “timer”
Event details
Throw message Catch messageStart message End message
Click for animation

Combination of activities and events (1)
Called “boundary” events - timer

Combination of activities and events (2)
Called “boundary” events - message

• It has at least one activity!
Simplest useful process
Click for animation

• Activity02, Activity03 and Activity04 will be executed in
parallel; the process will only be continued when each of
them is completed
• Logic of tokens is used
Parallel gateway
Click for animation

• A single activity Activity02 or Activity03 or Activity04 will
be executed. The choice is based on the logic defined
within the gateway G01
Exclusive gateway
Click for animation

• Several activities can be executed in parallel
• It covers functionality of parallel and exclusive gateways
Inclusive gateway
Click for animation

Duplications in BPMN standard (1)

• Send an offer to a prosper client and bait for 3 possible
intermediate events
1. Agreed
2. Disagreed
3. No reply for some time then time-out
Exclusive event-based gateway
Short variant

• Process fragment is a compound activity
• Also called “sub-process”
Process fragments

Start and end events within process
fragment maybe omitted

• Repeating conditions may be different in different systems
Repeatable process fragments (1)
Click for animation

• Be explicit within fragments; the exclusive gateway G01
which is used to specify two branches – one to continue
the loop and one to exit it
Repeatable process fragments (2)
Click for animation

• Catching errors and time-outs
Process fragment as logical grouping
Click for animationClick for animation

• Activities B and C are executed in parallel
Process fragment PF00 (sub-process) as
a parallel gateway

• Flow connector represents the sequence of activities
within the same pool
• Message connection represents
the communication between
activities in separate pools
Connectors
Click for animation

• Message flow may be connected to a pool itself
Connecting two pools (1)

Mini-course at VFU - Architecting modern digital systems - 2

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