1. BPM Tutorial How to Quickly Create Robust Business Process Models
David RR Webber
Chair OASIS CAM TC
July 2004
BPM Tutorial How to Quickly Create Robust Business Process Models
Resources:
Copyright OASIS, 2004

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

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

10. 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:
Copyright OASIS, 2004

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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
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14. Build interchange details
Create headers for each of your transaction exchanges
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15. Enter the document formats needed
Create document definitions and select type of identification
Specify location of document rules, and rules type
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16. Add document links to transactions
In Transactions area add initiating and responded documents
Transaction
Initiate
Responses
Provide
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17. Configure Fail / Succeed conditions
BPSS provides set of default conditions that marry to transport layer (ebMS) responses and outcomes
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18. 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
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19. 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
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20. Setup Business Exchange Profiles
Convenient profiles – pre-configured with typical interchange characteristics, and linked to the failure / success outcomes
Copyright OASIS, 2004

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

22. 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

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

24. 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 : 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

25. 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

26. 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

27. External Context Instance generated
Link between messaging layer, business process layer and assembly layer.
<ebContext UIDref='SDIR03400' interchangeID=' ' BPMref='ABC123456:01‘
CPAref='ABC012345‘
xmlns:as="
<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

28. 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

29. 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

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

31. 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

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

33. 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
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34. 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

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

36. Part 3 – Implementation Considerations
Sharing Models
Supporting Versioning and Tool integration
Targetting deployment engines
Download example model from:
Copyright OASIS, 2004

37. 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

38. 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

39. 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

40. 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

41. Resources and Planning
Summary
Resources and Planning
Copyright OASIS, 2004

42. 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

43. 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

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

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

46. Some Available Components / Resources
VisualScript editor for BPSS templates
jBPM JBOSS middleware
Hermes open source ebMS transport
ebXML-dev developers (
ebXMLforum News and Articles
Copyright OASIS, 2004