Business Process Management / BPMN / Corporate Automation
Why Automating Individual Operations is No Longer Enough
Over the past two decades, businesses have actively implemented information systems to automate finance, procurement, sales, production, and document management. ERP systems handle business operations, CRM systems help organize customer interactions, and electronic document management systems allow for the management of corporate documents. However, the presence of such systems does not guarantee the efficiency of business processes.
For example, equipment procurement might start with a request in ERP, continue with financial department approval via email, be transferred to the document management system for contract ratification, and conclude with the registration of delivery in the warehouse complex. Each individual system performs its functions, but manual operations, informal agreements, and delays remain between them.
Management often lacks the ability to determine at which specific stage a request is, who is responsible for its execution, and why the process is taking longer than the established regulations. In such conditions, Business Process Management (BPM) is becoming increasingly important – a systematic approach to designing, executing, monitoring, and improving enterprise business processes.
Unlike the automation of individual workstations, BPM views a process as a sequence of interconnected actions with a defined goal, participants, information resources, and outcome. The technological foundation of many BPM solutions is the BPMN standard – Business Process Model and Notation, which allows for the formal description of the sequence of operation execution.
From Process Description to Automated Execution
Traditionally, business processes are documented using regulations, text instructions, and graphical diagrams. Such documents help define responsibilities, but do not ensure procedure execution on their own.
For example, an internal regulation may require that a purchase request exceeding a certain amount must undergo additional approval from the Chief Financial Officer. However, if the corresponding rule exists only in a text instruction, its execution depends on employee attentiveness.
A BPM system allows formalizing a rule and incorporating it into an executable process. After a request is created, the software platform checks the amount, determines the necessary approval route, creates a task for the responsible user, and monitors the outcome.
Modeling, Execution, and Monitoring
In BPM, it is advisable to distinguish between three interconnected functions.
Modeling defines the sequence of actions, participants, transition conditions, and expected outcomes. Execution ensures that a specific process instance goes through defined stages.
Monitoring allows for analyzing the status of operations, identifying delays, and evaluating efficiency. For example, a company might establish that standard contract approval should be completed within three business days.
The BPM platform records the actual time taken to complete stages and helps pinpoint where delays occur. This creates a foundation for improving organizational procedures based on real metrics.
BPMN 2.0 as a Standard for Business Process Description
One of the main obstacles to BPM development for a long time was the dependence of process models on specific software platforms. Different systems used their own graphical notations and methods for describing logic.
BPMN aims to create a common modeling language understandable to business analysts, architects, and developers. The BPMN 2.0 standard was formally published by the Object Management Group in January 2011. In January 2014, the BPMN 2.0.2 revision was adopted, available as of November 2015.
A key feature of BPMN 2.0 is its support for not only graphical representation but also a formalized process model and XML serialization. This allows the model to be used as a basis for execution in a BPM engine.
However, the support for the standard varies across different products. When choosing a platform, it is necessary to verify the specific BPMN elements it can execute.
Key BPMN Elements
BPMN uses several groups of graphical elements.
Events
Events define moments that affect the process flow. Start Event denotes its beginning, End Event – its completion.
Intermediate Event allows describing events that occur during execution. For example, a process can be triggered by receiving an application, wait for an external message, or complete after confirming delivery.
Specific event types are related to time, messages, errors, and other conditions.
Activities — Operations
Activities describe the work performed within a process. BPMN distinguishes between tasks and subprocesses.
User Task involves human participation, for example, contract approval. Service Task can be used for an automated operation, for example, calling an ERP via a web service.
Script Task describes the execution of a program script within the process engine environment. A subprocess allows grouping several operations into a logically separate part of a process.
Gateways — Branching
Gateways define the order of transitions between operations. An Exclusive Gateway is used to select one route based on conditions.
A Parallel Gateway allows launching multiple parallel branches. An Inclusive Gateway allows executing one or more branches according to defined rules.
For example, a purchase request may simultaneously require review by the legal department and the information security service. Parallel execution can reduce the overall approval time if operations are independent of each other.
Pools and Lanes
Pools and Lanes are used to represent process participants and distribute responsibility. A Pool can describe a separate organization or an independent participant in an interaction.
Lanes allow grouping tasks within a process, for example, by departments or roles. At the same time, it should not be assumed that a Lane automatically defines user rights in a BPM system. Specific task assignment rules are implemented by the corresponding platform.
Example of procurement process modeling
Let’s consider a hypothetical company that wants to automate procurement approvals. The process begins after a request is created by an employee.
The system checks the completion of mandatory fields and determines the need for additional financial approval.
- Start: new request
- Attribute check
- Automated task
- Has the established limit been exceeded?
- Conditional branching
- Yes
- CFO approval
- No
- Proceed to order creation
- Create order in ERP
- Process completion
Simplified logical diagram; a full BPMN model additionally defines alternative completions, deviations, errors, and responsible participants. In a real process, it is also necessary to provide for returning the application for revision, refusal of approval, and ERP unavailability.
The handling of such exceptional situations often determines the quality of automation. If a model describes only the ideal sequence, it may work during testing but cause difficulties in real-world operation.
BPM Engine: Model Execution
A graphical BPMN model by itself does not provide automation. Execution requires a software platform that interprets the model, creates process instances, and coordinates tasks.
Such a component is called a Process Engine or Workflow Engine.
Camunda BPM
Camunda BPM is one of the platforms that support BPMN 2.0 execution. In May 2015, version Camunda BPM 7.3 was released, which includes improved mechanisms for process instance management, authorization, and task user interface customization.
The platform uses Java and can integrate with enterprise applications.
Camunda Modeler is used to create process models, and the Process Engine ensures their execution.
Tasklist allows users to work with tasks, and Cockpit enables analysis of execution and incidents.
Activiti
Activiti is an open-source BPM engine for the Java environment. In July 2015, version Activiti 5.18.0 was released, available for use as of November.
The platform supports execution of BPMN processes, user task management, integration with Java applications, and storage of process states in a relational DBMS.
Activiti can be used as an embedded component of an application system or as a standalone process service.
jBPM
jBPM is another open-source engine for process automation in a Java environment. In September 2015, jBPM version 6.3.0 was released.
The platform supports BPMN 2.0, user tasks, process variables, and interaction with other enterprise automation components.
IBM Business Process Manager
For large enterprise environments, IBM Business Process Manager can be used. IBM BPM version 8.5.6 became available in March 2015.
The platform offers tools for modeling, execution, monitoring, and management of processes.
For enterprises with developed IBM infrastructure, its use can ensure integration with existing corporate systems.
The choice between these platforms should consider requirements for integration, scaling, development, and long-term support.
Human and automated services in a single process
One of the main advantages of BPM is the ability to combine employee operations with information system calls. For example, contract approval may include counterparty verification in MDM, determination of financial terms in ERP, and custom approval by the legal department.
The BPM engine coordinates the sequence of operations and controls the process status. However, it does not necessarily have to store all corporate data itself.
A more rational model might be one in which the process engine stores identifiers and service variables, while the main information remains in the respective systems. For example, a document is stored in the EDM, a financial transaction in the ERP, and the BPM engine controls the approval process.
This reduces information duplication and facilitates its lifecycle management.
Business Rules and Process Routing
Not all process conditions are best hardcoded into the program code. For example, a company may regularly change financial approval limits or the rules for determining the responsible department.
For simple conditions, BPMN supports conditional transitions. More complex rules can be implemented through external services or specialized Business Rules Management systems.
It is important to separate the process sequence description from the decision-making rules for individual decisions. This allows business conditions to be changed without necessarily re-engineering the entire process model.
At the same time, any change in rules must undergo appropriate testing and approval.
BPM Efficiency Monitoring
After implementing a process engine, the enterprise gains the ability to collect execution statistics. For each process instance, it is possible to record the start date, duration, current stage, responsible participants, and outcome.
For example, the average contract approval time may be four business days. However, the average metric does not explain the reasons for delays.
It is necessary to determine the duration of individual stages, the number of returns for rework, and the frequency of exceptional situations.
BPM platform monitoring tools and corporate analytical tools can be used for this purpose.
Process execution data can be transferred to DWH for further analysis.
Organizational Aspects of Implementation
BPM should not be considered a purely technological project. Before automating a process, it is necessary to define its actual boundaries, participants, and expected outcome.
Often, companies try to transfer existing regulations to a BPM system without prior analysis. In such a case, automation only reinforces inefficient procedures.
Therefore, it is advisable to start with an As-Is process survey – its actual state. After this, a To-Be model is formed, which defines the desired workflow.
Improvements may include eliminating unnecessary approvals, parallel execution of independent actions, and automating checks.
It is also important to appoint a Process Owner – the owner of the business process, who is responsible for the rules and results of its execution.
Practical Role of Intecracy Group Competencies
Business process automation requires a combination of information management, application integration, and infrastructure. Distributed organizations can also use cloud or hybrid infrastructure.
At the same time, decisions regarding the structure and rules of the business process should be made by the enterprise, and the technological platform should ensure their execution.
Practical Implementation Guidelines
Business Process Management allows enterprises to move from automating individual operations to the managed execution of end-to-end business processes. BPMN 2.0 provides a standardized modeling language, and process engines allow the implementation of corresponding models in information systems.
However, the success of BPM depends not only on the choice of software. Necessary analysis of existing procedures, clear division of responsibility, integration with corporate data, and continuous performance monitoring.
Separating business rules from technical implementation is particularly important.
The value of BPM lies not in the number of automated approval workflows, but in the enterprise’s ability to ensure transparent, predictable, and measurable execution of business processes.
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