Business process diagrams
A simple process represents the internal processes that occur within one organizational unit or business entity. These are sometimes referred to as workflow processes. In web services, they are referred to as orchestration of services. If swimlane notation is used, the process is contained within a single pool, which is assumed and therefore not shown in the diagram. Simple processes can include multiple lanes to represent roles or internal participants in the process.
A business-to-business process represents global processes that span more than one organizational unit or business entity. This process is represented by multiple swimlane pools. Message flows connect the activities across the pools.
For details about how to create a simple process representation, see Getting started with business process diagrams.
Business process elements
- "Swimlane" dividers: Group the activities of participants, roles, and systems. These divisions include pools and lanes.
- Flow objects: Identify the main graphical elements that define the behavior of a business process. These objects include events, activities (tasks and subprocesses), data objects, and gateways.
- Connectors: Connect flow objects. These elements include sequence flows, message flows, and associations.
- Annotations: Add supportive elements that add information to the diagram.
For detailed descriptions of the available process elements, see Business process elements.
Business rules
A business rule is a policy, constraint, or required operation that applies to a specific set of business conditions or dependencies. An example of a business rule for a bank is that a credit check is not required when an existing customer opens an account.
Business rules can be described in documents. Individual rules can be linked to elements in business process diagrams or use case diagrams, which show the rule in the context.