Business Process Model and Notation

BPMN - Business Process Modeling Notation

Introduction

BPMN is developed by Business Process Management Initiative. 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. Currently, there are scores of process modeling tools and methodologies. BPMN will also advance the capabilities of traditional business process notations by inherently handling B2B business process concepts, such as public can private processes and choreographies, as well as advanced modeling concepts, such as exception handling and transaction compensation.

BPMN Scope

BPMN will be constrained to support only the concepts of modeling that are applicable to business processes. This means that other types of modeling done by organizations for business purposes will be out of scope for BPMN. For example, the modeling of the following will not be a part of BPMN:

• Organizational structures
• Functional breakdowns
• Data models

In addition, while BPMN will show the flow of data (messages), and the association of data artifacts to activities, it is not a data flow diagram.