Erweiterung einer Modellierungsmethodik für serviceorientiertes Geschäftsprozessmanagement

The introduction of service-oriented architectures (SOA) in the enterprise context promises many advantages. For example, by composing existing services new capabilities can be provided quickly allowing a fast and agile reaction to changing market conditions. In order to support companies in a successful adoption of SOA, service-orientation must be integrated in their enterprise architecture. Many companies made high investments in the past modelling their enterprise architecture based on different modelling methods. The introduction of SOA is fostered if existing models can be reused and investments are preserved. Therefore, existing modelling methods must be extended by service-oriented concepts. This thesis extends the modelling method ARIS with concepts for service-oriented business process management. It contributes a graphical modelling language, which is tightly integrated with the existing ARIS modelling method. Besides a modelling language, a modelling method also consists of algorithms and applications using the content captured in the models. Therefore, this thesis develops three distinct applications based on the contributed modelling language. First, service discovery enables identifying services needed for business process automation. Second, the automated EPC to BPEL model transformation allows transforming a business process into an executable service orchestration. Third, semantic business process management formalises enterprise models so that they are machine processable. To evaluate the usefulness of the designed modelling language and the developed applications, two empirical case studies are conducted. The first case study evaluates the modelling language together with the applications service discovery and process transformation. The second case study evaluates the application semantic business process management. Both case studies demonstrate the usefulness and relevance of the modelling language as well as its applications. Hence, companies introducing service-oriented concepts can use the extended ARIS modelling method to document and analyse their service-oriented enterprise architecture.Serviceorientierte Architekturen (SOA) versprechen diverse Vorteile bei der Anwendung im Unternehmenskontext. So können z.B. durch Kombination unabhängiger Services neue Dienste kurzfristig bereitgestellt werden, was zu einer höheren Flexibilität und Agilität des Unternehmens führt. Damit Unternehmen das SOA-Konzept erfolgreich umsetzen können, muss die Serviceorientierung in die Unternehmensarchitektur integriert sein. Viele Unternehmen haben in der Vergangenheit bereits in die Modellierung ihrer Unternehmensarchitektur auf Basis verschiedener Modellierungsmethodiken investiert. Damit das SOA-Konzept auf breite Akzeptanz stößt, müssen die vorhandenen Modelle wiederverwendet werden. Dies wird erleichtert, wenn existierende Modellierungsmethodiken um serviceorientierte Modellierungskonzepte erweitert werden. In der vorliegenden Arbeit wurde die Modellierungsmethodik ARIS um Modellierungskonzepte für serviceorientierte Unternehmensarchitekturen erweitert. Dazu wurde eine konkrete grafische Modellierungssprache entwickelt und in ARIS integriert. Da eine Modellierungsmethodik neben einer Modellierungssprache auch Algorithmen und Verfahren zur Auswertung der erstellten Modelle umfasst, wurden in der vorliegenden Arbeit drei Anwendungen entwickelt. Mit der Servicesuche können zur Geschäftsprozessautomatisierung benötigte Services automatisch identifiziert werden. Mit der Geschäftsprozesstransformation können als EPK-Modell vorliegende Geschäftsprozesse automatisch in eine Serviceorchestrierung auf Basis von BPEL überführt werden. Mit dem semantischen Geschäftsprozessmanagement werden Geschäftsprozesse soweit formalisiert, dass sie durch maschinelle Verfahren auswertbar sind. Um die Nützlichkeit und Relevanz der Modellierungsmethodik samt der entwickelten Anwendungen zu evaluieren, wurden zwei empirische Fallstudien durchgeführt. In der ersten Fallstudie wurde die entwickelte Modellierungssprache sowie die Anwendungen Servicesuche und Geschäftsprozesstransformation untersucht. In Fallstudie zwei wurde die Anwendung semantisches Geschäftsprozessmanagement evaluiert. Beide Fallstudien haben die Nützlichkeit und Relevanz der Modellierungsmethodik und der Anwendungen bestätigt. Damit können Unternehmen auf Basis der in dieser Arbeit entwickelten Erweiterung von ARIS ihre serviceorientierte Unternehmensarchitektur dokumentieren und auswerten

The Repercussions of Business Process Modeling Notations on Mental Load and Mental Effort

Over the last decade, plenty business process modeling notations emerged for the documentation of business processes in enterprises. During the learning of a modeling notation, an individual is confronted with a cognitive load that has an impact on the comprehension of a notation with its underlying formalisms and concepts. To address the cognitive load, this paper presents the results from an exploratory study, in which a sample of 94 participants, divided into novices, intermediates, and experts, needed to assess process models expressed in terms of eight different process modeling notations, i.e., BPMN 2.0, Declarative Process Modeling, eGantt Charts, EPCs, Flow Charts, IDEF3, Petri Nets, and UML Activity Diagrams. The study focus was set on the subjective comprehensibility and accessibility of process models reflecting participant's cognitive load (i.e., mental load and mental effort). Based on the cognitive load, a factor reflecting the mental difficulty for comprehending process models in different modeling notations was derived. The results indicate that established modeling notations from industry (e.g., BPMN) should be the first choice for enterprises when striving for process management. Moreover, study insights may be used to determine which modeling notations should be taught for an introduction in process modeling or which notation is useful to teach and train process modelers or analysts. \keywords{Business Process Modeling Notations, Cognitive Load, Mental Load, Mental Effort, Human-centered Desig

The application of the unified modelling language and soft systems metholdology for modelling the production process in an aluminium plant.

Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2003.This research explores the combined use of soft systems methodology (SSM) and UML based business process modelling (BPM) techniques. These two techniques are integrated to provide a framework for the analysis and definition of suitable business process models. Such integration better supports developers following objectoriented (00) approaches than traditional business process modelling. The thesis describes the importance and difficulties in getting development proj ects aimed at the correct needs. We provide an overview of current business process modelling practices. From this it is argued that current practices show two major weaknesses. Firstly, the modelling language that is used is not a current standard amongst developers who now expect 00 and UML based approaches. Secondly, the techniques used do not emphasise analysis, often resulting in a lack of appreciation of the problem. In order to deal with these inadequacies, the thesis critically examines suitable techniques that can be used to analyse and model business processes to support the developer's requirements. The examination of SSM reveals that the technique does deal with the analysis limitations of current business process modelling techniques. SSM has been linked to information systems provision by previous researchers. Unfortunately the examination ofthese research attempts shows that the linking is conducted in an ad-hoc manner with no underlying theoretical basis or emphasis on business process modelling. We show how soft systems methodology techniques can be married with Eriksson and Penker (2000) UML business process modelling techniques following Mingers (2001) multi-methodology framework in a way that can over come these difficulties. This combined business analysis and modelling technique is applied to the production process in an aluminium rolling plant. Based on the experiences at one site, the integrated approach is able to deal with the complexities caused by multiple stakeholders, and is able to provide a UML representation of the required business process to guide developers

Possibility of Applying Business Process Management Methodology in Logistic Processes Optimization

Raising the service level and developing new logistic services require better understanding of logistic processes and possibilities of optimization. Different methodologies have been used for that purpose, while the application of Business Process Management (BPM) methodology is outlined in this paper. Identifying parts of logistic processes that could be optimized is facilitated by applying BPM methodology. It also enables more accurate quantification of impacts of the changes introduced in a particular process or activity on the processes as a whole and to other interacting processes. The application of BPM methodology is demonstrated in the case study, where a solution for logistic processes optimization is suggested and the prospective outcomes are simulated. The results of the logistic process comparative analysis have indicated a synergic effect of different improvements in sub-process on the effectiveness of the process as a whole, both on the operative and managerial level. The respective changes in workload distribution among interacting logistic processes have been quantified according to the same methodology.</p

Using Insights from Cognitive Neuroscience to Investigate the Effects of Event-Driven Process Chains on Process Model Comprehension

Business process models have been adopted by enterprises for more than a decade. Especially for domain experts, the comprehension of process models constitutes a challenging task that needs to be mastered when creating or reading these models. This paper presents the results we obtained from an eye tracking experiment on process model comprehension. In detail, individuals with either no or advanced expertise in process modeling were confronted with models expressed in terms of Event-driven Process Chains (EPCs), reflecting different levels of difficulty. The first results of this experiment confirm recent findings from one of our previous experiments on the reading and comprehension of process models. On one hand, independent from their level of exper-tise, all individuals face similar patterns, when being confronted with process models exceeding a certain level of difficulty. On the other, it appears that process models expressed in terms of EPCs are perceived differently compared to process models specified in the Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN). In the end, their generalization needs to be confirmed by additional empirical experiments. The presented expe-riment continues a series of experiments that aim to unravel the factors fostering the comprehension of business process models by using methods and theories stemming from the field of cognitive neuroscience and psychology