From BPMN process models to DMN decision models

The interplay between process and decision models plays a crucial role in business process management, as decisions may be based on running processes and affect process outcomes. Often process models include decisions that are encoded through process control flow structures and data flow elements, thus reducing process model maintainability. The Decision Model and Notation (DMN) was proposed to achieve separation of concerns and to possibly complement the Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) for designing decisions related to process models. Nevertheless, deriving decision models from process models remains challenging, especially when the same data underlie both process and decision models. In this paper, we explore how and to which extent the data modeled in BPMN processes and used for decision-making may be represented in the corresponding DMN decision models. To this end, we identify a set of patterns that capture possible representations of data in BPMN processes and that can be used to guide the derivation of decision models related to existing process models. Throughout the paper we refer to real-world healthcare processes to show the applicability of the proposed approach

Modeling, Executing and Monitoring IoT-Driven Business Rules in BPMN and DMN: Current Support and Challenges

The involvement of the Internet of Things (IoT) in Business Process Management (BPM) solutions is continuously increasing. While BPM enables the modeling, implementation, execution, monitoring, and analysis of business processes, IoT fosters the collection and exchange of data over the Internet. By enriching BPM solutions with real-world IoT data both process automation and process monitoring can be improved. Furthermore, IoT data can be utilized during process execution to realize IoT-driven business rules that consider the state of the physical environment. The aggregation of low-level IoT data into processrelevant, high-level IoT data is a paramount step towards IoT-driven business processes and business rules respectively. In this context, Business Process Modeling and Notation (BPMN) and Decision Model and Notation (DMN) provide support to model, execute, and monitor IoTdriven business rules, but some challenges remain. This paper derives the challenges that emerge when modeling, executing, and monitoring IoT-driven business rules using BPMN 2.0 and DMN standards

Optimizing Player Management Processes in Sports: Translating Lessons from Healthcare Process Improvements to Sports

Typical player management processes focus on managing an athlete's physical, physiological, psychological, technical and tactical preparation and performance. Current literature illustrates limited attempts to optimize such processes in sports. Therefore, this study aimed to analyze the application of Business Process Management (BPM) in healthcare (a service industry resembling sports) and formulate a model to optimize data driven player management processes in professional sports. A systematic review, adhering to PRISMA framework was conducted on articles extracted from seven databases, focused on using BPM to digitally optimize patient related healthcare processes. Literature reviews by authors was the main mode of healthcare process identification for BPM interventions. Interviews with process owners followed by process modelling were common modes of process discovery. Stakeholder and value-based analysis highlighted potential optimization areas. In most articles, details on process redesign strategies were not explicitly provided. New digital system developments and implementation of Business Process Management Systems were common. Optimized processes were evaluated using usability assessments and pre-post statistical analysis of key process performance indicators. However, the scientific rigor of most experiments designed for such latter evaluations were suboptimal. From the findings, a stepwise approach to optimize data driven player management processes in professional sports has been proposed

Aplicação integrada das técnicas de modelagem BPMN e DMN em um processo administrativo de uma instituição federal de ensino superior

The Business Process Management (BPM) principles and practices that guide organizations in managing their processes can also be used in administrative processes. The management of processes has as a fundamental part the explanation of the same, allowing a knowledge of its essential elements. This explanation can be performed using modeling tools. The Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) and Decision Model and Notation (DMN) modeling techniques, applied in an integrated manner, allow decision-aware business processes to be designed, separating process logic from decision logic. The objective of this work was the construction of process and decision models, from the integrated application of BPMN and DMN modeling techniques in an administrative process of a Federal Institution of Higher Education (IFES). A Literature Review was presented in order to portray the state of the art of the subject in question. The method used in this research was modeling, applying the problemsolving diagram through the construction of models, with the adoption of the shortcut called Loop I - II - III - I. The research cycle was carried out three times in a way sequenced, the first cycle being for process modeling and the others for decision modeling at the requirement and logic level. The integrated use of the techniques resulted in independent and complementary process and decision models, which allow the elaboration of flexible documents, which are easy to maintain and which provide knowledge management aimed at the interested party and their area of expertise. The models portray the process and decisions as they are, enabling the analysis of improvements, standardization of procedures, employee training, knowledge management and auditing in the development of activities. This research contributes to the literature, since only 04 studies were identified referring to the integrated use of modeling techniques in administrative processes, and none of them dealt specifically with the referred processes belonging to an IFES. The research collaborated in a practical way by building models that allowed the analysis and projection of improvements to the process and decisions, even enabling the construction of a model of the future state (to be). It also collaborated, proposing a roadmap for the integrated application of BPMN and DMN modeling techniques, so that it can be replicated in other administrative processes in an IFES. And, finally, it collaborated by specifying its limitations and proposing recommendations for future work.Os princípios e práticas do Business Process Management (BPM) que orientam as organizações na gestão de seus processos também podem ser utilizados em processos administrativos. O gerenciamento de processos tem como parte fundamental a explicitação dos mesmos, possibilitando um conhecimento de seus elementos essenciais. Esta explicitação pode ser realizada por meio de ferramentas de modelagem. As técnicas de modelagem Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) e Decision Model and Notation (DMN), aplicadas de forma integrada, permitem que sejam desenhados processos de negócios conscientes de decisão, separando-se a lógica do processo da lógica de decisão. O objetivo deste trabalho foi a construção de modelos de processo e decisão, a partir da aplicação integrada das técnicas de modelagem BPMN e DMN em um processo administrativo de uma Instituição Federal de Ensino Superior (IFES). Foi apresentada uma Revisão da Literatura a fim de retratar o estado da arte do tema em questão. O método utilizado nesta pesquisa foi a modelagem, aplicando-se o diagrama de resolução de problema através da construção de modelos, com a adoção do atalhado denominado Loop I – II – III – I. Realizou-se o ciclo de pesquisa três vezes de forma sequenciada, sendo o primeiro ciclo para modelagem de processo e os demais para a modelagem de decisão no nível requisito e lógica. O uso integrado das técnicas resultou em modelos de processo e decisão independentes e complementares, que permitem a elaboração de documentos flexíveis, de fácil manutenção e que proporcionam uma gestão do conhecimento direcionada ao interessado e sua área de atuação. Os modelos retratam o processo e as decisões como estão (as is), possibilitando a análise de melhorias, a padronização dos procedimentos, o treinamento de servidores, a gestão do conhecimento e a auditoria no desenvolvimento das atividades. Esta pesquisa contribui com a literatura, visto que foram identificados apenas 04 estudos referentes ao uso integrado das técnicas de modelagem em processos administrativos, sendo que nenhum deles tratava especificamente dos referidos processos pertencentes a uma IFES. A pesquisa colaborou de forma prática construindo modelos que permitiram a análise e projeção de melhorias ao processo e as decisões possibilitando, inclusive, a construção de um modelo do estado futuro (to be). Colaborou ainda, propondo um roteiro para a aplicação integradas das técnicas de modelagem BPMN e DMN, para que possa ser replicado em outros processos administrativos em uma IFES. E, por fim, colaborou especificando suas limitações e propondo recomendações para trabalhos futuros

Modelagem de processos e decisões: um estudo aplicado ao processo de tratamento medicamentoso de oncologia

This research proposes the study of a health area process through the modeling of processes and decisions. The modeling of processes and decisions applied to the health area can help in several factors, including the verification of control and traceability points, which reduce the risks to the patient's health and increase the quality of the service provided. The main objective of this research is to describe the logic of an oncology drug treatment process, from end to end, in order to indicate its control points and describe the logic of the decisions made in critical points of this process. The research also presents some specific objectives that are detailed in the introduction. In the theoretical foundation, the terms used during the research are clarified, in order to research the themes related to the modeling of processes and decisions, as well as their relationship in the health area. For the scientific conduct of this research, the modeling method will be used. This paper presents the creation of business process and decision models related to drug treatment in oncology through the use of Business Process Model and Notation and Decision Model and Notation. In addition, it aims to highlight the control points mapped in the process and address them using the 5W1H tool. The model created in BPMN will be exposed to the application of some comprehensibility guidelines, evaluating which ones were followed by the model and the work that was done to adapt the model to comply with others. It is intended to apply a method of verification and validation of diagrammatic models which is still under development and will be detailed during this research. Finally, this work concluded that the BPMN notation was effective in mapping the cancer treatment process, demonstrating the already established control points and the risks at certain points in the process. Also, the application of the DMN notation and its relationship with the BPMN notation was discussed, which showed the difficulty in applying it in processes where the decision has a high level of personalization.Esta pesquisa propôs o estudo de um processo da área da saúde por meio da modelagem de processos e de decisões. A modelagem de processos e de decisões aplicada à área da saúde pode auxiliar em diversos fatores, incluindo a verificação de pontos de controle e de rastreabilidade, os quais diminuem os riscos para a saúde do paciente e aumenta a qualidade do serviço prestado. O objetivo principal desta pesquisa foi descrever a lógica de um processo de tratamento medicamentoso de oncologia, de ponta a ponta, de modo a indicar os seus pontos de controles e descrever a lógica das decisões realizadas em pontos críticos deste processo. A pesquisa também apresentou alguns objetivos específicos que são detalhados na introdução. Na fundamentação teórica, os termos utilizados durante a pesquisa foram esclarecidos, de modo que se pesquisou os temas relacionados à modelagem de processos e de decisões, assim como a associação na área da saúde. Para a condução científica desta pesquisa, foi utilizado o método de modelagem. Este trabalho apresentou a criação dos modelos de processo de negócio e de decisões relacionados ao tratamento medicamentoso de oncologia por meio da utilização das notações Business Process Model and Notation e Decision Model and Notation. Além disso, visou destacar os controles mapeados no processo e abordá-los utilizando a ferramenta 5W1H. O modelo criado em BPMN foi exposto à aplicação de algumas diretrizes de compreensibilidade, avaliando quais delas foram seguidas pelo modelo e o trabalho que foi realizado para adaptar o modelo ao cumprimento de outras. Foi aplicado um método de verificação e validação de modelos diagramáticos o qual ainda se encontra em desenvolvimento e será detalhado durante esta pesquisa. Por fim, este trabalho concluiu que a notação BPMN foi eficaz ao mapear o processo de tratamento oncológico, demonstrando os controles já estabelecidos e os riscos detectados no processo. Ainda, foi discutida a aplicação da notação DMN e a sua relação com a notação BPMN, a qual mostrou dificuldade em ser aplicada em processos com decisões altamente personalizadas

Tackling Dierent Business Process Perspectives

Business Process Management (BPM) has emerged as a discipline to design, control, analyze, and optimize business operations. Conceptual models lie at the core of BPM. In particular, business process models have been taken up by organizations as a means to describe the main activities that are performed to achieve a specific business goal. Process models generally cover different perspectives that underlie separate yet interrelated representations for analyzing and presenting process information. Being primarily driven by process improvement objectives, traditional business process modeling languages focus on capturing the control flow perspective of business processes, that is, the temporal and logical coordination of activities. Such approaches are usually characterized as \u201cactivity-centric\u201d. Nowadays, activity-centric process modeling languages, such as the Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) standard, are still the most used in practice and benefit from industrial tool support. Nevertheless, evidence shows that such process modeling languages still lack of support for modeling non-control-flow perspectives, such as the temporal, informational, and decision perspectives, among others. This thesis centres on the BPMN standard and addresses the modeling the temporal, informational, and decision perspectives of process models, with particular attention to processes enacted in healthcare domains. Despite being partially interrelated, the main contributions of this thesis may be partitioned according to the modeling perspective they concern. The temporal perspective deals with the specification, management, and formal verification of temporal constraints. In this thesis, we address the specification and run-time management of temporal constraints in BPMN, by taking advantage of process modularity and of event handling mechanisms included in the standard. Then, we propose three different mappings from BPMN to formal models, to validate the behavior of the proposed process models and to check whether they are dynamically controllable. The informational perspective represents the information entities consumed, produced or manipulated by a process. This thesis focuses on the conceptual connection between processes and data, borrowing concepts from the database domain to enable the representation of which part of a database schema is accessed by a certain process activity. This novel conceptual view is then employed to detect potential data inconsistencies arising when the same data are accessed erroneously by different process activities. The decision perspective encompasses the modeling of the decision-making related to a process, considering where decisions are made in the process and how decision outcomes affect process execution. In this thesis, we investigate the use of the Decision Model and Notation (DMN) standard in conjunction with BPMN starting from a pattern-based approach to ease the derivation of DMN decision models from the data represented in BPMN processes. Besides, we propose a methodology that focuses on the integrated use of BPMN and DMN for modeling decision-intensive care pathways in a real-world application domain

Capturing and modeling complex manufacturing systems: extending and embedding BPMN in DES

Business process models are developed for the purpose of understanding the system behaviour and identifying the possible areas for performance improvement. Among existing process modelling languages, Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) was selected to be assessed and extended, as it is the leading standard for business process modelling. The BPMN is currently gaining great attention in various business practices; it is an easy and flexible way to construct business process models, and thus it was hard to be overlooked by authors who are concerned with improving manufacturing processes. The introduction of BPMN to the manufacturing domain potentially allows all stakeholders to take advantage of the simplicity of this language in gaining full understandings for manufacturing processes through simple representations of the process models. Only limited work can be found addressing the use of BMPN in the modelling of manufacturing systems, and it is still not clear how powerful BPMN is in realizing performance improvements. This work proposes Manufacturing Process Model and Notation (MPMN) as an extension to BPMN; it offers a set of new and adapted notations that represent manufacturing processes. In order to add the ability to optimise or improve the system under study, MPMN is further extended and integrated with a full discrete-event simulation package to be able to easily build and simulate models of manufacturing systems. MPMN simulator is created to be a generic and reusable tool. It has a drag and drop library for non- simulation experts, to model and simulate MPMN models in the ExtendSim environment. This integration is considered a substitution to BPSim, the Business Process Simulation Standard that integrates BPMN and Simulation to model and execute business processes. The MPMN simulator combines both, models that are understood by all stakeholders and a simulation tool that is expressive enough to handle the varying levels of complexity in the manufacturing domain. This will strengthen the analysis and the evaluation of the current and future status of a system under study. The effectiveness of the developed system is demonstrated by application to two case studies covering different industry sectors

ICSEA 2021: the sixteenth international conference on software engineering advances

The Sixteenth International Conference on Software Engineering Advances (ICSEA 2021), held on October 3 - 7, 2021 in Barcelona, Spain, continued a series of events covering a broad spectrum of software-related topics. The conference covered fundamentals on designing, implementing, testing, validating and maintaining various kinds of software. The tracks treated the topics from theory to practice, in terms of methodologies, design, implementation, testing, use cases, tools, and lessons learnt. The conference topics covered classical and advanced methodologies, open source, agile software, as well as software deployment and software economics and education. The conference had the following tracks: Advances in fundamentals for software development Advanced mechanisms for software development Advanced design tools for developing software Software engineering for service computing (SOA and Cloud) Advanced facilities for accessing software Software performance Software security, privacy, safeness Advances in software testing Specialized software advanced applications Web Accessibility Open source software Agile and Lean approaches in software engineering Software deployment and maintenance Software engineering techniques, metrics, and formalisms Software economics, adoption, and education Business technology Improving productivity in research on software engineering Trends and achievements Similar to the previous edition, this event continued to be very competitive in its selection process and very well perceived by the international software engineering community. As such, it is attracting excellent contributions and active participation from all over the world. We were very pleased to receive a large amount of top quality contributions. We take here the opportunity to warmly thank all the members of the ICSEA 2021 technical program committee as well as the numerous reviewers. The creation of such a broad and high quality conference program would not have been possible without their involvement. We also kindly thank all the authors that dedicated much of their time and efforts to contribute to the ICSEA 2021. We truly believe that thanks to all these efforts, the final conference program consists of top quality contributions. This event could also not have been a reality without the support of many individuals, organizations and sponsors. We also gratefully thank the members of the ICSEA 2021 organizing committee for their help in handling the logistics and for their work that is making this professional meeting a success. We hope the ICSEA 2021 was a successful international forum for the exchange of ideas and results between academia and industry and to promote further progress in software engineering research