Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN) model

BPMN models represent the processes or tasks that lead to a business goal of your enterprise.

Overview

A BPMN model is unit of logic that contains the following components:
  • Services, activities, gateways
  • Timer, message, exception events
  • Sequence lines, rules, variables
These components enable you to define the process workflow for users, create logic inside a business process, and integrate with other applications and data sources.

Individuals from various departments are typically involved in developing business processes. Team members can work together to capture the requirements of their business process and to develop the business model and its implementations. For example, you can drag a term into the Glossary Explorer view to create a BPMN element with the same name as the term. Alternatively, you can create a BPMN model element first and later assign a term to the element.

BPMN model elements are displayed in IBM® Rational® Software Architect.

IBM InfoSphere® Information Governance Catalog Business Process Model Integration feature

This feature incorporates business glossary terms into BPMN models.

You can incorporate business glossary terms into BPMN model elements in these ways:
  • You can use a term name as the name of a BPMN model element.
  • You can assign business glossary terms to BPMN model elements.
  • You can use the short and long descriptions of the term in the documentation of the BPMN model element.

You can view and remove existing term assignments in BPMN models. However, you cannot import or export term assignments.

Example

In this example, you integrate your business glossary terms with BPMN modeling elements by using Rational Software Architect.

You want to design a BPMN diagram for a business process model, which includes this flow:
  1. Receive an order for an item
  2. Handle payment for the order
  3. Issue an invoice to the buyer
  4. Ship the item to the buyer
  5. Analyze how the buyer uses the item

In Rational Software Architect, you create a BPMN model element by using a term called Product Usage Analysis Measures. When you drag the term from the Glossary Explorer view to the pool, a BPMN element is created. This new element has the name and description of the term. The following figure displays a business process flow and a new BPMN model element that was created by using a term.

Figure 1. Business process flow and a new BPMN model element
A BPMN model element is created by dragging a term called Product Usage Analysis Measures to the pool