Process Discovery
Friday, March 7th 2008 | Ismael Ghalimi
While I’m putting together the liquid cooling system for my new computer, I’d like to share with you some details about the digital asset management process I am planning to manage with it, using Intalio|BPMS as development platform. Doing what most business analysts do when documenting business processes for the first time, I fired my spreadsheet editor of choice (Google Docs in this particular instance), and started filling cells up with lots of information that only human beings can understand. We’re at the process discovery stage here, and it really does not matter which tool you use for it. Nevertheless, using an online tool such as Google Docs will make it easier to share your ideas and requirements with others, and to track changes over time. So let’s take a look at what we’ve got.
The process overview is available on this public spreadsheet. It outlines a set of high-level activities with their names and descriptions, indicates whether they are automated, semi-automated, or manual, and leaves room for some comments and questions. Down the road, some hyperlinks to blog posts providing more details about them will be added as well. This document will be updated on a regular basis, and will be shared with contributors who want to help with the project.
At this stage of the game, we can already identify which parts of the process will require the most work. They are the ones that need custom connectors to be developed for specific APIs (like the one for controlling the DVD ripping robot), or require some workflow tasks to be managed, using custom user interfaces. We can also see that the definition of loops (we have two of them at the end of the process) is cumbersome, clearly demonstrating the limits of the spreadsheet metaphor when used for process documentation purposes.
This process discovery step is a necessary one, and will allow the definition of a common vocabulary (movie, DVD, cover image, etc.), workflow roles (collection curator, community contributor), and external systems (Salesforce.com movie database, community website). It will also reveals areas of the process that are either ambiguous or require more detailed specification (“Community contributors shall be invited by the collection curator.” — through which process exactly?).
The next step will be to model the process at a high level, using an off-the-shelf process modeling tool. For this purpose, I will use Intalio|Designer, but I will do so before having attended a formal training session. The reason for it is the following: while I have been working for Intalio for over 8 years now, and originally came up with the idea and the name for the Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN), I have never fully read its specification, even less learned the proper way to use it with a process development tool capable of turning pretty pictures into executable code. As a result, I expect this first modeling exercise to produce a process that will look nothing like what I will be capable of doing after having attended the Intalio Traning, and learning more from the gap should be a key benefit of the overall experiment.
Entry filed under: BPM 2.0, Office 2.0
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Why do we need training for BPMN and BPMS?
BPMN is intended to formalise the definition of real world business processes. BPMS implementations take a formal definition of business processes (which should be derivable from the BPMN) and control the flow of information around the process. How difficult can it be to develop design tools to the point that they help the designer think in terms of best practices, and follow the rules of BPMN?
Although there is some good training for process design becoming available, I question how much we should be reliant on it to get to work with a formal language (BPMN), with absolute rules that are intended to describe things that we are familiar with in everyday business. It is not like teaching English to Korean speakers!
I would like Ismael to also consider how the Intalio|Designer toolset could be improved with an autopilot or helper that leads you through the process of designing a process and explains the rules of BPMN as you go.
I try to eliminate this gap in the training course Modelling of Business Processes with Intalio BPM Suite. The core of this course is a systematic approach (procedure, diagramming style, patterns, examples) for the modeling of executable business processes, while BPMN and Intalio|BPMS are just very appropriate tools.
Thanks,
-AS
David,
We found it actually quite challenging to develop the tool you’re talking about, especially when your goal is to have a tool that will be used by business people and technical folks alike. There are also many aspect of BPEL-based process execution, such the definition of correlations, that are quite complex from a technical standpoint, and this is exactly where some training can help.
As far as generic BPMN process modeling is concerned, I agree with you that the need for proper training is lower, and this is precisely why we introduced an online BPMN training for it, which takes only 3 hours of your time, versus the 2 to 3 days of our regular offline training.
Regarding the autopilot you referred to, I could not agree more with the fact that we need such a tool. The challenge will be to develop the proper user interface for it though, for you do not want to end up in a situation where you invested a lot of efforts in developing something that will be no better than Microsoft Office’s old Paperclip, which people hated passionately.
All that being said, I have no idea of what to expect from the Intalio training, and this is precisely why I would like to attend one session. I will make sure to document everything I learned there, and to outline the parts that I could have done without, if any. It’s all about eating your own dog food…
Best regards
-Ismael
Why not use Lombardi Blueprint for the initial (textual) stage?
I’m not working for them, just curious..
Ron,
Good question. A couple of reasons:
1. Most people do this first step with a spreadsheet.
2. It’s too dependent on a non-standard execution platform.
3. I’m nice with my competitors, but not to the point of working for them.
That being said, I like the product’s name. Right on target.
Best regards
-Ismael
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