BPM Tutorial How to Quickly Create Robust Business Process Models David RR Webber Chair OASIS CAM TC http://drrw.net david@drrw.net July 2004 BPM Tutorial How to Quickly Create Robust Business Process Models Resources: http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/ebXML-BP http://www.visualscript.com Copyright OASIS, 2004

ebXML BPSS – mission profile Ability to create sharable industry process definitions Neutral approach not tied to specific middleware or transport systems Suitable for business analyst designers Support internationally agreed business process definitions and methods Provide the process details to instruct implementation systems Support a variety of modelling methodologies Copyright OASIS, 2004

OASIS ebXML BPSS in a nutshell BPSS schema defines components used to define the process models Original foundation derived from UML techniques and theoretical base Support for workflow as well as activity diagramming Foundation around business transaction definitions and interchanges Layered approach using a Business Service Interface (BSI) to link to deployment environments Binary-collaboration and Multi-party exchanges Copyright OASIS, 2004

Agenda Part 1 – How BPSS fits into a Service Oriented Architecture Components and Needs Overview Part 2 – Building a BPSS – (binary collaboration) Documents / Transactions; Transport layer coupling Applying Context; Modelling the process flow Part 3 – Implementation Considerations Supporting versioning and tool integration Targetting deployment engines; Sharing Models Summary Copyright OASIS, 2004

components and needs overview Part 1 – How BPSS fits into a Service Oriented Architecture components and needs overview Copyright OASIS, 2004

Overall Needs for Business Process Business Agreement Participant Profiles Collaboration Roles and Interaction Management Industry Domain and Business Semantics Managing Participant Context Information Exchange Process Flow and business service linkage Exception handling, signals, and state conditions Application Integration / Information Purposing Copyright OASIS, 2004

Typical Business Process Environment (external exchange steps interacting with internal services) Start external internal Sales Force Automation Sales person Buyer Supplier ERP Mapping Routing Accounts Account RFQ Quote RFQ User Activity RFQ CreditCheck.com Quote SalesTax.com Shipping Orders Billing Invoice Sales Order Order Order Used here with permission from Jean-Jacques Dubray, Attachmate Inc, Seattle, WA, USA. Shipment Invoice < BPSS related > <Application related> Copyright Attachmate Inc. Used here with permission from Jean-Jacques Dubray, Attachmate Inc, Seattle, WA, USA Copyright OASIS, 2004

BPSS key to eBusiness SOA provides technology foundation and open interchange model and specifications BPSS formalizes this with business process control captures the business exchange details provides business agreement model for participants provides facilitation for components in the SOA XML template script sharable across an industry domain context driven enables localization of standard models Copyright OASIS, 2004

Some ebXML SOA component options Business agreement Participant Profiles Drives document exchanges Domain Semantics Information Purposing Information Exchange Copyright OASIS, 2004

Part 2 – Building a BPSS Download example model from: Binary Collaboration Documents / Transactions Transport layer coupling Applying Context Modelling the process flow Download example model from: http://drrw.net/visualscripts/#ebxml Copyright OASIS, 2004

What do I need to do? Application – define the business purpose Business interchanges + documents – itemize Collaborations, Content, Context – collect Document exchanges – paint activity picture Exceptions – succeed / fail / signal conditions Flow control – branching and choices Go! – agree with your partners and distribute Copyright OASIS, 2004

Application – define business purpose Business analysis – scope, goals, participants Domain experts and users provide use cases Information flows Security needs Application integration needs Success criteria Deployment community – eGov, Industry, Financial.. Technology needs Copyright OASIS, 2004

Business Transactions and Documents Determine the exchanges involved in your business process Label those transactions accordingly Link to a specification for the detail of the actual document formats involved Determine success and failure criteria and how these get notified Note any context parameters that might apply from those business interchange details Select the transport profile model to use for each exchange Copyright OASIS, 2004

Build interchange details Create headers for each of your transaction exchanges Copyright OASIS, 2004

Enter the document formats needed Create document definitions and select type of identification Specify location of document rules, and rules type Copyright OASIS, 2004

Add document links to transactions In Transactions area add initiating and responded documents Transaction Initiate Responses Provide Copyright OASIS, 2004

Configure Fail / Succeed conditions BPSS provides set of default conditions that marry to transport layer (ebMS) responses and outcomes Copyright OASIS, 2004

Choose / Configure Signal conditions You can add a set of signals to your BPSS, these can be used to indicated pending process steps and intermediate events Copyright OASIS, 2004

Adding signals to transaction exchange A signal uses the default messaging layer to indicate a status to a requestor A signal is an rapid response to a corresponding Initiating document Copyright OASIS, 2004

Setup Business Exchange Profiles Convenient profiles – pre-configured with typical interchange characteristics, and linked to the failure / success outcomes Copyright OASIS, 2004

Summary – configuring Transactions Select behaviours from profiles, conditions and transport needs Configure Exchange Details Copyright OASIS, 2004

Summary – covered so far Application – define the business purpose Business interchanges + documents – itemize Collaborations, Content, Context – collect Document exchanges – paint activity picture Exceptions – succeed / fail / signal conditions Flow control – branching and choices Go! – agree with your partners and distribute Copyright OASIS, 2004

Collaborations, Content, Context How do we provide standard industry domain processes, but then be able to apply local criteria to those? Copyright OASIS, 2004

Understanding about Context Context is the pervasive driver to effective engineering Drives dynamic process configuring and control Ensures accurate information capture, packaging and delivery Key to correct relationships between partners in a collaboration Lack of context control mechanisms is the most prominent reason why legacy e-Business systems are difficult and complex to extend and support Date: circa 1568 1 : the parts of a discourse that surround a word or passage and can throw light on its meaning 2 : the interrelated conditions in which something exists or occurs Copyright OASIS, 2004

process gets passed context instance that matches business use How Context is applied ebContext Template Base BPSS instance 1 load from 4 3 + 2 Apply with actual BPSS Instance, resulting configuration Values to be used Context Statements process gets passed context instance that matches business use 5 Context values available downstream Results for given context and business process Copyright OASIS, 2004

Generating a Context Instance Add parameter value rules and document value rules Configure Context Instance header Create a rule and set a value Check a document and change a BPSS Parameter value Copyright OASIS, 2004

External Context Instance generated Link between messaging layer, business process layer and assembly layer. <ebContext UIDref='SDIR03400' interchangeID='123456789' BPMref='ABC123456:01‘ CPAref='ABC012345‘ xmlns:as="http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/cam"> <header> <description>An example context instance</description> <version>1.0</version> <language refcode='eng' codelist='ISO639-2' name='English'/> <usage>CAM</usage> <usage>BPM</usage> </header> <conditions> <condition name="Country" value="USA" as:member="USA,CA,MX"/> <condition name="Catalogue" value="A2003-Q1" as:setLength="8" as:setMask="XNNNN-QN" as:UIDreference="SGIR:030451"/> <condition name="itemType" value="nonperishable" label="Item type:“ as:member="nonperishable,perishable,refridgerated,fragile"/> </conditions> </ebContext> Context Variables Definition This is the same as the CAM context header mechanism – but just externalized into a separate XML instance – so that context values can be passed separately from the CAM template as needed. The example here shows such as instance that has been agreed on for a business process with a CPA. Copyright OASIS, 2004

Linking Context Instance Signal your use of Context - enter URL path to context instance (optional) Signal the use of CONTEXT and indicate Instance XML file Toggle in use profile when context applies Copyright OASIS, 2004

Context Summary Context variables and values defined as needed Business Partners review External Instance and Agree to its terms and outcomes Signal to the BPSS the external XML context instance document location - downstream processing can then have access to this as needed Registry can provide storage for the artifacts involved – business process script, XML context instance, CPA instance, CAM template – in a catalogue entry that therefore defines a reusable complete industry process package that can be context driven. Copyright OASIS, 2004

Worked example – completing the BPSS template Modelling the Process Flow Worked example – completing the BPSS template Copyright OASIS, 2004

Summary of steps required So far we have defined the: Transactions Documents Success / Fail criteria Transport exchange profiles Context parameters Now we have to complete the picture by building the actual activity flow Application – define the business purpose Business interchanges + documents – itemize Collaborations, Content, Context – collect Document exchanges – paint activity picture Exceptions – success / fail conditions Flow control – branching and choices Go! – agree with your partners and distribute Copyright OASIS, 2004

Start the Action Processes Configure BPSS header Add Start block and beginning Transaction action Assign Roles to participants Assign Transaction Copyright OASIS, 2004

Next add responding action details Group Possible Responses Responding block consists of success / fail actions Transport layer return settings Configure outcomes and flow control Select associated responding document Copyright OASIS, 2004

Decide next action details Request continues based on what responder does Next action Process Completes Fork on outcome and pick next action (conditions gated by external “beginsWhen” events within Transaction definition) Copyright OASIS, 2004

The Complete Business Process from the model – VisualScript generates actual XML instructions XML JPG Copyright OASIS, 2004

Part 3 – Implementation Considerations Sharing Models Supporting Versioning and Tool integration Targetting deployment engines Download example model from: http://drrw.net/visualscripts/#ebxml Copyright OASIS, 2004

Sharing Models The BPSS models can be shared in a variety of ways – Save As : JPG, GIF, BMP, PNG, etc graphic Generated to XML Published to web via a web folder system Saved in Registry Can create library of pre-built components for a community or industry Copyright OASIS, 2004

Supporting Versioning and Tools The XML syntax used to generate the BPSS model should be stored externally from the model itself “include” instructions then retrieve the syntax when the model is generated Then replacing the XML syntax files and regenerating the model automatically creates latest syntax, or a modified tool specific syntax Copyright OASIS, 2004

Targetting Deployment Engines Whenever BPSS functional behaviour can be simulated by equivalent syntax used by a deployment engine – that syntax can potentially be output from the BPSS model The BPSS model and approach is neutral to the middleware layer If the middleware layer is using ebMS transport this emulation is likely to be especially straightforward Some limited integration to WSDL based steps also is available in BPSS V2 Copyright OASIS, 2004

Summary – covered so far Application – define the business purpose Business interchanges + documents – itemize Collaborations, Content, Context – collect Document exchanges – paint activity picture Exceptions – success / fail conditions Flow control – branching and choices Go! – agree with your partners and distribute Copyright OASIS, 2004

Resources and Planning Summary Resources and Planning Copyright OASIS, 2004

Providing Agile Information Systems Ability to automatically configure business processing using neutral XML based scripting. Lesson learned - three needs are paramount: the ability to design transactions and processes consistently, the ability to document their usage in a clear way and then the ability to instruct software that can apply rules and test information context to dynamically manage those business processing exchanges Copyright OASIS, 2004

Next Steps Work in progress: Development of Multi-Party BPSS models Formal Publication of OASIS Specification V2 Library of BPSS templates by industry Integration with OASIS Registry semantics Integration with execution engines and ebMS Development of BPSS models involving WSDL based exchanges and services Coming Soon! Copyright OASIS, 2004

Get involved in OASIS ebXML-BP Download the specs from www.oasis-open.org Encourage your industry group to adopt BPSS templates for their standards Specify BPSS-compliance from providers Copyright OASIS, 2004

May 2004 http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/ebXML-BP OASIS – ebBP - BPSS Thank You May 2004 http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/ebXML-BP www.oasis-open.org xml.coverpages.org www.xml.org Copyright OASIS, 2004

Some Available Components / Resources VisualScript editor for BPSS templates http://www.visualscript.com jBPM JBOSS middleware http://www.jBPM.org Hermes open source ebMS transport http://www.freebXML.org ebXML-dev developers (http://ebxml.org) ebXMLforum News and Articles http://www.ebxmlforum.org Copyright OASIS, 2004