Workflow Management

Business Processes withInformation Technology

Definition of Business Process

A set of activities that takes one or more types of inputs and turns them into an output of greater value to the customer.

[Hammer]

input

input

output

Definition of Business Process

A specific ordering of work activities across time and place, with a beginning, an end, and clearly-defined inputs and outputs; a structure for action.

[Davenport]

outputinput

input

Order register

Add to order

Check order lineStop orderCredit check

Ship

* for each order line

OKi lager

notOK

Credit manager Order manager

An Informal Workflow

Order register

Add to order

Check order lineStop orderCredit check

Ship

* for each order line

OKi lager

notOK

Credit manager Order manager

An Informal Workflow

Function

Organisational unit

Selection

Parallelism

Application Process

Application Process

Application Process

Application Process

Application Process

Application Process

An event means that an object has taken on a state that affects the process

A function is a task or action performed on an object to support one or more goals

An operator connects functions and events

Application Process

Events trigger functions and are the results of functions.By arranging this event-to-function change in a sequence,so-called event-driven process chains (EPCs) are created.An event-driven process chain (EPC) shows thechronological-logical procedure of a business process.

ARIS method manual

Example of and-split

Example of and-join

Example of and-split

Example of and-join

Example of and-split

Example of and-join

Example of and-split

Example of and-join

Example of or-split

Example of or-join

Example of or-split

Example of or-join

Example of or-split

Example of or-join

An Exercise

When an order arrives, the customer’s credit is checked as well as the availability of the goods. If the customer’s credit is fine and the goods are available, then the order is accepted. Otherwise, it is rejected. Furthermore, the credit check is carried out by the financial department, the goods availability check by the warehouse department, and the order acceptance/rejection is done by the sales department.

Construct an EPC diagram for this case.

Identify the problem!

Identify the problem!

Swimming School Exercise

A student registers at the swimming school. The student willtake one or more swimming lessons followed by an examination.Every lesson has a beginning and an end. A student must have his or her individual teacher during a lesson. Each swimming lesson is followed by another swimming lesson or an individual examination.An examiner is present at the examination, from beginning to end. When a student has completed an examination, three things might happen:1. The student passes and leaves the school2. The student fails, takes additional lessons, and tries again3. The student fails and gives up

a) Model this using an EPC diagram.

A Historical Perspective

Operating System

Application

1970

Application

Operating System

DBMS

Application

Operating System

DBMS UIMS

Application

Operating System

UIMSDBMS WFMS

1980 1990 2000 2010 1960