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Enterprise, Business-Process and Information Systems Modeling

11th International Workshop, BPMDS 2010, and 15th International Conference, EMMSAD 2010, held at CAiSE 2010, Hammamet, Tunisia, June 7-8, 2010. Proceedings

herausgegeben von: Ilia Bider, Terry Halpin, John Krogstie, Selmin Nurcan, Erik Proper, Rainer Schmidt, Roland Ukor

Verlag: Springer Berlin Heidelberg

Buchreihe : Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing

Enthalten in: Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" , Springer Professional "Technik" , Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

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Über dieses Buch

This book contains the proceedings of two well established scienti?c events held in connection with the CAiSE conferences relating to the areas of enterprise, business-processes, and information systems modeling: – The 11th International Workshop on Business Process Modeling, Devel- ment and Support (BPMDS 2010); – The 15th International Conference on Exploring Modeling Methods for S- tems Analysis and Design (EMMSAD 2010). The two events are introduced brie?y below. BPMDS 2010 BPMDS 2010wasthe 11th in a seriesof workshopsthat havesuccessfully served as a forum for raising and discussing new ideas in the area of business process development and support. The BPMDS series has produced 10 workshops from 1998 to 2009. Eight of these workshops, including the last seven (BPMDS 2003–BPMDS 2009) were held in conjunction with CAiSE conferences. The BPMDS workshops focus on topics relating to IT support for business processes, which addresses key issues that are relevant to the continuous development of information systems theory. The continued interest in these topics within the industrial and academic IS communities is re?ected by the success of the last BPMDS workshops and the emergence of new conferences devoted to this theme. Previous BPMDS workshops focused on the di?erent phases in the business processlife-cycleaswellasthedriversthatmotivateandinitiatebusinessprocess design and evolution.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Frontmatter

BPMDS 2010

State-Oriented Perspective

In Search of the Holy Grail: Integrating Social Software with BPM Experience Report

Abstract

The paper is devoted to finding a view on business processes that helps to introduce into business process support systems a notion of shared spaces widely used in social software. The paper presents and analyses the experience of the authors from a number of development projects aimed at building business process support systems. The authors define a role that shared spaces can play in business process support and set some requirements on the shared space structure based on this role. They then analyze their projects in order to show how these requirements can be met and describe what practical results have been achieved in each project.

Ilia Bider, Paul Johannesson, Erik Perjons

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall, Can I Count on You at All? Exploring Data Inaccuracy in Business Processes

Abstract

Information systems in general and process aware information systems in particular support the execution of business processes. This support is based on the assumption that the information system truly reflects the state of the domain where the process takes place. Based on this assumption, humans do not need to directly “sense” the state of affairs. Rather, decisions are made based on the state as reflected in the information system. This paper explores the situation where this assumption does not hold, namely, the situation of data inaccuracy. In particular, it formalizes data inaccuracy and addresses three questions: (a) how is data inaccuracy manifested in a process? (b) what are the expected results of data inaccuracy? (c) how can robustness to data inaccuracy be increased? The understanding gained with respect to these questions should form a basis for designing processes to be more robust, avoiding problems due to data inaccuracy.

Pnina Soffer

Service Provision as a Perspective

Ontology Driven Government Services Inventory and Business Process Management

Abstract

In this paper, the experience obtained in the e-government project of Turkey is described, which consisted of three parts: inventorying all services and processes in all governmental agencies; modeling several of the processes identified with the help of Extended Event Driven Process Chain technique; and execution via transforming the model to a Business Process Management tool that allowed business activity monitoring. Due to size of the project, and the limitation of the paper, main focus will be on the inventorying. The paper first discusses the ontology design for Public Services in Turkey and the process of developing the ontology based services inventory management, as the basis for e-Government gateway. Then the discussion follows on how this ontology can establish the basis for the service-based process design and finally the pilot implementation for the selected citizen-centric processes is presented.

V. Necati Sönmez, Mustafa Canlı, Selim Gökçe, Mikail Ünver, A. Nusret Güçlü

A Service-Oriented View on Business Processes and Supporting Applications

Abstract

Even if SOA has received much attention, there is still no common definition of what a SOA is or what a SOA should provide for business. In this paper, we have therefore introduced a conceptual model on service orientation that explains the impact of service orientation on business processes and supporting applications. We consider this consolidation as an essential step for establishing methods for a better business IT alignment as well as more systematic and integrated business and software engineering in the context of service-oriented enterprises.

Sebastian Adam, Matthias Naab, Marcus Trapp

Perspectives for Moving Business Processes into the Cloud

Abstract

Moving business processes into the cloud means that the business processes are no longer supported on premise but using a set of cloud services. Cloud services allow to highly reduce upfront investments, change to a “pay-as-you-grow” model and to flexibly react to changes in demand. However, to leverage the benefits of cloud services it is necessary to appropriately integrate the definition of cloud services into business process models. Therefore, three perspectives for defining cloud services are introduced. The functional perspective describes clouds services as the exchange of sub-services between service provider and consumer. The non-functional perspective describes cross-cutting, quality oriented properties of the cloud services. Meta-services as third perspective are used to capture functionality beyond the standard operation of a service, e.g. in the case of service failure.

Rainer Schmidt

Knowledge Sharing and Collaboration as Perspectives

Viewpoints Reconciliation in Services Design: A Model-Driven Approach for Highly Collaborative Environments

Abstract

In highly collaborative business contexts, services design is even more important than in other contexts, as services are more complex and involve multiple and composed services. Such contexts are ideal for service composition and thus service reuse. This paper presents an ongoing research project whose goal is to support the design of such services by reconciling different viewpoints, following a model-driven approach. It focuses on the so-called “transactional aspects” of the service design, corresponding to the processes realizing the service and showing services compositions between the involved parties. It is applied to a case study in the construction sector.

Sophie Ramel, Sylvain Kubicki, Alain Vagner, Lucie Braye

Towards Extending BPMN with the Knowledge Dimension

Abstract

At the root of the success of modeling, design, reengineering, and running business processes is effective use and support of organizational knowledge. Therefore, the relationships between a business process and organizational knowledge should be clearly documented. Several methods have already been elaborated that introduce the process dimension into knowledge management or a knowledge concept into business process modeling. However, the usability of these methods is restricted either by applicability only to knowledge-intensive processes or by relying on sophisticated or uncommon modeling techniques. Building on the experience accumulated by researchers working at the intersection of business process modeling and knowledge management, this paper proposes to extend the well-known Business Process Modeling Notation with the knowledge dimension so that using a common modeling technique it would be possible to relate different forms of knowledge, information and data to the business process model. The approach is demonstrated by a case study from a data base integration project at the Bioinformatics Company.

Inese Supulniece, Ligita Businska, Marite Kirikova

Perspectives for Integrating Knowledge and Business Processes through Collaboration

Abstract

Collaboration is now playing a greater role in business processes, where knowledge workers leverage knowledge to develop innovative products and services. Such business processes go beyond the goal of simply achieving a well defined outcome at minimum cost using well defined tasks. They place more emphasis on collaboration and knowledge sharing and ways to change processes as collaboration evolves. The paper calls for greater emphasis on perspectives other than process flow in process design. These are knowledge, social structure, business activity, organization and technology. The paper describes process design ways to combine these perspectives into a holistic model and converting the model a collaborative infrastructure that allows users to align collaborative technologies to their collaboration.

I. T. Hawryszkiewycz

‘Fine-Tuning’ as a Perspective: Scheduling, Configuration and Efficiency

Workflow Time Patterns for Process-Aware Information Systems

Abstract

Formal specification and operational support of time constraints constitute fundamental challenges for any process-aware information system. Although temporal constraints play an important role in the context of long-running business processes, time support is limited in existing process management systems. By contrast, different kinds of planning tools (e.g., calendar systems, project management tools) provide more sophisticated facilities for handling task-related time constraints, but lack operational support for business processes. This paper presents a set of time patterns to foster systematic design and comparison of the different technologies in respect to the time perspective. These time patterns are all based on empirical evidence from several large case studies. Their widespread use will contribute to further maturation of process-aware information systems and related evaluation schemes.

Andreas Lanz, Barbara Weber, Manfred Reichert

On the Suitability of Aggregated and Configurable Business Process Models

Abstract

Reference models play an important role for specifying knowledge about a certain business domain that is general enough to be applicable for a wide set of companies. Still, it is understood that reference models need to be adapted in order to also reflect individual characteristics of a company. This adaptation turns out to be quite labor-intense. Concepts such as configurable process modeling languages have been proposed to simplify this adaptation. Competing languages have been designed to facilitate the actual act of adapting reference models, namely configurable EPCs (C-EPCs) and aggregated EPCs (aEPCs). In this paper we discuss the ease of use of these languages from an analytical perspective. Based on a mapping from C-EPCs to aEPCs we identify complexity issues and comparative advantages. It turns out that C-EPCs appear to be better suited to capture complex configuration options in a compact way.

Thomas Baier, Emilian Pascalau, Jan Mendling

Identifying Drivers of Inefficiency in Business Processes: A DEA and Data Mining Perspective

Abstract

Measuring the performance of business processes in the financial services sector can be tackled from different perspectives. The viewpoint of efficiency is one of them. This paper focuses on the analysis of process efficiency and proposes a new methodology for measuring process efficiency and for further identifying drivers of process inefficiency. It is suitable for a specific perspective on process efficiency. The methodology is based on Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and methods from Data Mining. It aims to find strong association rules between process transactions’ characteristics and inefficiency values. This approach enables the identification of drivers of inefficiency from a (large) dataset of transactions without any prior assumptions about potential determinants of inefficiency. The methodology is applicable to business processes supported by workflow management systems and it can serve as the basis for an add-on system allowing structural analysis of process inefficiency and its drivers.

Anne Dohmen, Jürgen Moormann

Integrating Multiple Perspectives

An Enterprise Architecture Framework for Integrating the Multiple Perspectives of Business Processes

Abstract

Existing business process design strategies do not address the full breadth and depth characteristics of business processes. Multiple perspectives of business process design must be supported and integrated. Enterprise architecture frameworks provide a useful context to define and categorise these multiple perspectives. Levels of abstraction of business, systems and technology represent the lifecycle phase ranging from business requirements definition through to execution. Different deliverables are relevant to each level of abstraction. The business architecture consists of a set of modeling perspectives (process, activity, resource and management) that represent types of business requirements. The technology architecture defines a classification of execution architectural styles. The systems architecture consists of a meta-model that defines the fundamental concepts underlying business requirements definition facilitating the integration of multiple modeling perspectives and mapping to multiple execution architectural styles, thereby facilitating execution of the business requirements.

Eng Chew, Michael Soanes

An Interperspective-Oriented Business Process Modeling Approach

Abstract

In this paper, we propose a business process modeling approach based on the concept of process environment, by using a set of observers. The execution conditions of a task are linked to the environment rather than a predefined order between tasks. Relying on the environment and the tasks, a formal definition of a business process is given. The modeling proposal presented in this paper is used to address three non dominant perspectives: context, semantics and goal; along with the usual control-flow perspective.

Marcel Fouda Ndjodo, Priso Essawe Ndedi, Roger Atsa Etoundi

EMMSAD 2010

An Indexing Structure for Maintaining Configurable Process Models

Abstract

During the business process modeling phase, different environments and languages have been proposed. All of them are trying to narrow the communication gap between both business and IT users or making modeling task as optimal as possible. From these perspectives, we prioritize assisting business users to express in an efficient and easy way their requirements (i.e., defining their business process models). In this context, reusing existing process models is well supported and preferred rather than modeling from scratch. Configurable business process models aim at merging different process variants into a single configurable model. In this paper, we define an indexing structure to represent configurable process models. We give a set of structuring principles and we show how to maintain this structure when adding a new variant. We adopt a hierarchical representation of business goals variations. The contribution of our structure is that it allows for modularity handling.

Wassim Derguech, Gabriela Vulcu, Sami Bhiri

A Meta-language for EA Information Modeling – State-of-the-Art and Requirements Elicitation

Abstract

Enterprise architecture (EA) management has not only recently gained importance as means to support enterprises in adapting to a changing market environment and in seizing new business opportunities. This twofold role of EA management in transforming enterprises is connected to describing the current state as well as future states of the EA. Although different information models for the description of these states have yet been proposed in literature, no ‘standard’ information model exists, and the plurality advocates for the idea that such models are enterprise-specific design artifacts.

In this paper, we explore the fundamentals of EA information modeling, namely the meta-languages underlying today’s models, and analyze their diversity. Based on the analysis, we elicit requirements for a “unifying” meta-language. By showing that multi-purpose modeling facilities, as the OMG’s UML, fail to fully satisfy these requirements, we establish a future field of research – a meta-language for EA information modeling.

Sabine Buckl, Florian Matthes, Christian M. Schweda

Playing ArchiMate Models

Abstract

This paper concerns the application of a gaming approach to the validation of ArchiMate models, with the aim of enhancing validation, by non-architects, beyond mere reading of the model. The game offers a guided process for systematic exploration of ArchiMate models, and for systematically raising questions about them. The development process and the design principles behind the game are discussed, as well as the information transformation involved in creating a model-specific game from an ArchiMate model. The game has been evaluated through application in a small real life case. We discuss the influence of our approach to model understanding by the players, and the conceptual merits and flaws of the game.

Jos Groenewegen, Stijn Hoppenbrouwers, Erik Proper

Supporting Layered Architecture Specifications: A Domain Modeling Approach

Abstract

Software architectural patterns help manage complexity through abstraction and separation of concerns. The most commonly used architectural patterns are layered architectures, which benefit from modularity and reuse of layers. However, they lack in supporting changes, as there is a need to do a substantial amount of rework on the layers in order to incorporate changes. Furthermore, the comprehension of specifications which are based on a layered architecture can be difficult. In order to address the aforementioned limitations, we adopt a domain engineering approach called Application-based Domain Modeling (ADOM). Using ADOM, we refer to each layer as a separate domain model, whose elements are used to classify the application model elements. Consequently, the application model is represented in a unified form, which incorporates information from all of the layers. This allows performing changes in the model, without creating cascades of changes among the layers’ models in order to synchronize them.

Jenny Abramov, Arnon Sturm

A Model Based Framework Supporting ITIL Service IT Management

Abstract

The implementation of an adequate business management system for information technologies (IT) requires recognition of business needs, current level of maintenance, better insights into available approaches and tools, as well as their interoperability and integration. The approach we are proposing in this topic aims the reusing and the extension of CIM (Common Informational Model), a standard Model in System Management domain, for designing the ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) processes. According to ITIL, the CMDB (Configuration Management Database) forms the basis for effective and efficient IT Service Management. We will present how core processes correlate to each other and point out the challenge of setting up a CMDB. We also present the key requirements for designing CMDB with using the MDA (Model Driven Architecture) approach and focus in the PIM (Platform Independent Model) phase. In order to ensure a well-founded business management of ITIL CMDB and the different dependencies between processes, a static view must be provided with a behavior view. Our approach of the behavior modeling is based upon the integration of statechart diagrams UML2.0 in the CIM model.

Manel Jelliti, Michelle Sibilla, Yassine Jamoussi, Henda Ben Ghezala

A Structured Evaluation to Assess the Reusability of Models of User Profiles

Abstract

In the creation of an adaptive mobile personalisation system it is useful to investigate whether existing models are applicable. Such models are usually structured as ontologies. We view existing ontologies from a reuse perspective, and have chosen to specialise the SEQUAL quality framework for evaluation of existing models. SEQUAL has previously been used for the evaluation of modelling languages and approaches, including the evaluation of ontologies. Using the semiotic quality categories in SEQUAL, an evaluation has been made of potential ontologies. The result of the evaluation is that none of the evaluated ontologies satisfies requirements as models that can be reused or built on, and the profile ontology has been created from scratch.

Lillian Hella, John Krogstie

Distribution of Effort among Software Development Artefacts: An Initial Case Study

Abstract

Model-driven development aims at increasing productivity by raising the abstraction level of software specifications and introducing automated transformations for replacing lower level specifications. To assess benefits of replacing a legacy development process with a model-driven approach, one needs to establish a baseline of the current process with respect to the effort invested in the development artefacts. In this paper we report on an initial case study in which we investigate the main artefacts in the analysis and design phase with respect to required effort and perceived importance. We studied a non-model driven development of software based automotive functionality and our initial results show that a few artefacts receive the majority of effort, and that the artefacts that receive the most effort are not the most important ones. The initial results indicate that the distribution of effort between models and other artefacts is similar to that of model-driven projects in spite of the project being perceived and characterized as code-centric.

Niklas Mellegård, Miroslaw Staron

FORML 2

Abstract

A conceptual schema of an information system specifies the fact structures of interest as well as the business rules that apply to the business domain being modeled. These rules, which may be complex, are best validated with subject matter experts, since they best understand the business domain. In practice, business domain experts often lack expertise in the technical languages used by modelers to capture or query the information model. Controlled natural languages offer a potential solution to this problem, by allowing business experts to validate models and queries expressed in language they understand, while still being executable, with automated generation of implementation code. This paper describes FORML 2, a controlled natural language based on ORM 2 (second generation Object-Role Modeling), featuring rich expressive power, intelligibility, and semantic stability. Design guidelines are discussed, as well as a prototype implemented as an extension to the open source NORMA (Natural ORM Architect) tool.

Terry Halpin, Jan Pieter Wijbenga

Specifying Structural Properties and Their Constraints Formally, Visually and Modularly Using VCL

Abstract

The value of visual representations in software engineering is widely recognised. This paper addresses the problem of formality and rigour in visual-based descriptions of software systems. It proposes a new language, VCL, designed to be visual, formal and modular, targeting abstract specification at level of requirements, and that aims at expressing visually what is not visually expressible using mainstream visual languages, such as UML. This paper presents and illustrates VCL’s approach to structural modelling based on the VCL notations of structural and constraint diagrams with a case study. VCL’s contributions lie in its modularity mechanisms, and the support for two alternative styles of visual constraint modelling (one closer to set theory expressions and based on Euler diagrams, the other closer to predicate calculus and based on object graphs).

Nuno Amálio, Pierre Kelsen, Qin Ma

Configuring the Variability of Business Process Models Using Non-Functional Requirements

Abstract

The existence of variations in the organizational environment makes the configuration of business process models a complex activity, even for experienced business analysts. The increasing adoption of business processes models by software engineers as a input for requirements analysis strengthens the importance of adressing this issue. The challenge is to configure business processes to fit the organization better. We propose an approach that combines variability analysis and non-functional requirements to drive the configuration of a business process. Applying this approach we can analyze variability in the model in order to assess the impact of the choices on the process quality constraints - the non-functional requirements. Moreover, it provides a rationale for the selection of a specific configuration.

Emanuel Santos, João Pimentel, Jaelson Castro, Juan Sánchez, Oscar Pastor

A Business Process Metadata Model for a Process Model Repository

Abstract

Today reuse of business process models is becoming increasingly important. One of the proven solutions for reusing business process models is the use of repositories. Repositories should have process models and process metadata that can help users in searching, understanding, and interpreting process models. The purpose of this paper is to propose a Business Process Metadata Model (BPMM) that would facilitate a) locating process models, b) understanding and/or interpreting process models, and c) navigating a process model repository. In order to evaluate the BPMM, an empirical study is conducted to measure consistency and correctness of annotating business processes by using BPMM.

Mturi Elias, Khurram Shahzad, Paul Johannesson

Exploring Intuitive Modelling Behaviour

Abstract

Understanding modelling behaviour is an important step towards situated modelling support, especially when aiming to actively involve the domain expert in modelling without expert interventions. In search for a hypothesis on which modelling acts humans exhibit naturally, this paper presents an exploratory study into the modelling approaches intuitively taken by people trained in modelling as opposed to people not trained in modelling. Participants were asked to create a concept map of either a familiar or unfamiliar knowledge domain.

Analysis shows that there are differences between the approaches novice and expert modellers follow, the decisions they make in representing an aspect or not, and the level of abstraction they choose.

Ilona Wilmont, Sjaak Brinkkemper, Inge van de Weerd, Stijn Hoppenbrouwers

Co-evolution of (Information) System Models

Abstract

Information systems’ modelling is based on separation of concern such as separation into facets or viewpoints on the application domain from one side and separation of aspects (structuring, functionality, interactivity, distribution, architectural components) from the other side. Facets and aspects are typically specified through different models that must be harmonised and made coherent. Such varieties of models are difficult to handle, to evolve, to maintain and to use. Most design methodologies adopt the master-slave principle in order to handle the coherence of such model assemblies by assigning one model to be the master and mapping the master to slave models. Moreover, these models diagrams are typically not developed from scratch. They are incrementally completed step by step depending on the modelling methodology. Models evolve during development and are not independent, are interrelated, and in most applications also intertwined. Their interrelationships are often not made explicit and impose changes resulting in inconsistencies to other models due to the variety of models.

Therefore, this paper introduces the theory of model suites as a set of models with explicit associations among the models. Model suites are based on explicit controllers for maintenance of coherence, apply application schemata for their explicit maintenance and evolution, use tracers for establishment of their coherence and thus support co-evolution of information system models. The excitability is captured by integrating model suites and MetaCASE formalisms, exploring the (modelling) method engineering and tool generation required for multi-model development.

Ajantha Dahanayake, Bernhard Thalheim

Process Line Configuration: An Indicator-Based Guidance of the Intentional Model MAP

Abstract

Variability has proved to be a central concept in different engineering domains to develop solutions that can be easily adapted to different organizational settings and different sets of customers at a low price. The MAP formalism has a high level of variability as it is expressed in an intentional manner through goals and strategies. However, a high level of variability means a high number of variation points. A process customization is then required to offer a better guidance. The Product lines have appeared with this management of variability and customization. Furthermore, we propose the Process line concept to represent the processes that may be customized to a given project. Our goal is to enhance the Map guidance by specifying the MIG (Map Indicator-based Guidance) approach. We suggest several guidance approaches based on an indicators’ typology. We illustrate our proposal with an example from the requirement engineering field.

Rébecca Deneckère, Elena Kornyshova

Backmatter

Titel: Enterprise, Business-Process and Information Systems Modeling
herausgegeben von: Ilia Bider
Terry Halpin
John Krogstie
Selmin Nurcan
Erik Proper
Rainer Schmidt
Roland Ukor
Verlag: Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Electronic ISBN: 978-3-642-13051-9
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-13050-2
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-13051-9