Chapter 3 Business Process Model Basics

What is a BPM?

You use a Business Process Model to build a BPM. A BPM is a process modeling tool which provides a close description of the business logic and rules from a business partner's point of view using the following diagrams:

Process hierarchy diagram defines the static structure of the model, it contains a set of processes and sub-processes, and their structuration. These objects together form a process hierarchy structure that is a decomposition of top-level business functions in a project.

Example

Business process diagram can be a control flow or data flow diagram that shows interactions between processes, flows, messages and collaboration protocols from one or several start points to several potential end points.

Example

A BPM can be compared to a market place where data or services are exchanged. It usually arises from a compelling business need or opportunity.

The Business Process Model offers the following views that you design using the appropriate process language:

BPM view	Description	Process language
Analysis	It corresponds to the PowerDesigner V9 BPM. It does not include any implementation details and can be used as an input document to do object-oriented analysis.	Analysis
	It is particularly suitable to design the decomposition and choreography of tasks at a business level when you already know which platform you are going to use to execute your processes.	BPMN 1.0
Collaborative	It is particularly suitable to describe the collaborations between partners that are all considered at the same level. It allows you to analyze, design or document Business-to-Business exchanges (B2B).	ebXML 1.01 and 1.04
Executable	It is particularly suitable to design the process internal to an organization. It focuses on the implementation of one side of the collaboration of a collaborative BPM. It can be generated on a BPM engine.	BPEL4WS 1.1 or Sybase Unwired Orchestrator 4.3
	It is particularly suitable for designing the orchestration of Web services without being linked to any platform or language. It cannot be generated on a BPM engine.	Service Oriented Architecture (SOA)
	It is particularly suitable for designing business processes and implement them using Business Process Service in Sybase WorkSpace.	Sybase WorkSpace Business Process 1.0

For more information on the selection of process languages, see section Creating a BPM.

You can implement analysis or collaborative process models using executable process models.

For more information on this kind of implementation, see the "Generating an executable BPM" section in the Generating Other Models from a BPM chapter.

V9 models

Models that you created with PowerDesigner 9 will be automatically linked by default to the Analysis process language.

If a XEM was attached to your model, such as ebXML for example, the model will be automatically linked to the most corresponding process language.