Business Process Model and Notation

Business Process Model and Notation
Mikelo Skarabo · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Name	Business Process Model and Notation
Developer	Object Management Group
Released	2004
Genre	Modeling language

Business Process Model and Notation is a graphical notation for specifying business process workflows used to model operational procedures across organizations and projects. It provides a standardized set of symbols and semantics intended for interchange between analysts, architects, and automated platforms in contexts ranging from Accenture engagements to SAP SE implementations and Siemens operational design. The notation aims to bridge communication among stakeholders such as Ernst & Young, Deloitte, Capgemini, IBM consultants, and product teams at Microsoft and Oracle Corporation.

Overview

BPMN defines a visual vocabulary and execution semantics that enable stakeholders across PricewaterhouseCoopers, KPMG, McKinsey & Company, and Boston Consulting Group to represent processes for automation on platforms from Red Hat to TIBCO Software and Camunda. Its constructs—events, activities, gateways, and flows—support collaboration among practitioners at Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, HSBC, General Electric, and Procter & Gamble for tasks such as process optimization, regulatory compliance with Sarbanes–Oxley Act, and digital transformation initiatives aligned with TOGAF and ITIL. BPMN is often used alongside modeling artifacts from UML and data models produced by Oracle Corporation or SAP SE.

History and Development

BPMN originated within the Business Process Management Initiative and later moved under the stewardship of the Object Management Group (OMG), an organization also responsible for standards like UML and CORBA. Early contributors included consultants and vendors from IBM, Microsoft, BEA Systems, BPM Partners, and Fujitsu, reflecting cross-industry interest from Toyota, Ford Motor Company, Boeing, and Airbus. Subsequent revisions responded to demands from regulators and enterprises such as European Commission initiatives and United States Department of Defense procurement programs. Major milestones link to events and efforts by standards bodies including ISO committees and industry consortiums like OASIS.

Notation and Elements

BPMN’s core palette comprises elements analogous to constructs in UML: start and end events, tasks and subprocesses, and gateways for divergence and convergence used by teams at Amazon (company), Walmart, Alibaba Group, and eBay. Pools and lanes enable cross-organizational modeling applicable to supply chains run by Maersk, DHL, UPS, and FedEx. Message flows and sequence flows support integration scenarios encountered by SAP SE integrators, Salesforce architects, and Workday consultants. Advanced artifacts such as message events, timer events, error events, and compensation events assist in designing solutions for Bank of America, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, and Barclays.

Methodology and Modeling Practices

Best practices link BPMN modeling to frameworks like TOGAF, PRINCE2, COBIT, and Six Sigma deployments at Siemens and General Motors. Analysts from Accenture and Deloitte commonly employ technique integration with UML sequence diagrams and ER model outputs used by Oracle Corporation DBAs. Governance activities coordinate with compliance programs tied to laws such as Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and standards from ISO working groups. Process discovery efforts often combine BPMN with event logs analyzed using platforms from Splunk and Tableau as executed in projects for Netflix and Spotify.

Tooling and Software Support

A broad ecosystem supports BPMN with modeling and execution engines from vendors and open-source projects like Camunda, BonitaSoft, Red Hat, Appian, Pega Systems, and Bizagi. Integrated development environments and plugins appear in Eclipse Foundation projects and IntelliJ IDEA extensions used by Atlassian teams. Interoperability is sought through XPDL and interchange formats championed by Xerox partners and consulting arms of Accenture and Capgemini; runtime integration connects to Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform services used by Airbnb and Uber Technologies.

Standardization and Governance

OMG governs BPMN releases, with technical committees drawing participation from IBM, Oracle Corporation, SAP SE, Microsoft, Fujitsu, and academic contributors from institutions such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, and University of Cambridge. Compliance testing and conformance profiles are influenced by interoperability events attended by Red Hat, Camunda, and TIBCO Software. International alignment efforts interact with ISO and regional standards bodies; legal and procurement considerations engage authorities including European Commission and national ministries in Japan and Germany.

Adoption and Industry Applications

BPMN is used across sectors by organizations such as General Electric in manufacturing, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson in pharmaceuticals, Coca-Cola and PepsiCo in consumer goods, and Walmart and Target Corporation in retail. Financial services adoption by JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, and UBS supports compliance and straight-through processing, while telecommunications firms like AT&T and Verizon Communications apply BPMN to service orchestration. Public sector use appears in programs run by United Nations, World Bank, United States Department of Health and Human Services, and municipal governments in London and Singapore for citizen services and process modernization.

Category:Modeling languages