visually modelling business processes

Copyright OASIS, 2004

[email protected] OASIS CAM TC

Presentation November 17th

XML 2004 Washington DC

Visually Modelling Visually Modelling Business ProcessesBusiness Processes

mailto:[email protected]


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


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

Support for context and variables linkage


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


components and needs overview

Part 1 – How BPSS fits into a Part 1 – How BPSS fits into a

Service Oriented ArchitectureService Oriented Architecture


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

Overall Needs for Business Process


BPSS key to eBusiness SOA 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


ebXML Solution Architecture

Capture Process Details withParticipant Roles / Contextand Message ExchangingDefinitions

Reference – Domain Ontology and

Semantic Information

Reference - Domain Transactions +

Business Process Models

References

Business AgreementTemplates

1111

Messaging System

Drives

Messaging System

Partner A Partner B

Exchanges 2222

Enveloping + RoutingTransactions + Validation

Handles

Queue Integration Agent

Controlled by3333

Processes – state management,

linking and switching

Integration – application system interactions

Manages4444BPSS + Workflow – Models of Interaction

Service / Actions

CAM XML templates – Business Exchange Formats and Rules

CPA – Exchange Agreements

Produces


ebXML SOA component options

Business agreement

Drives documentexchanges

Participant Profiles

Do

main

Sem

antics

Information Purposing

Info

rmatio

n

Exch

ang

e


ebXML CPA / BPSS functions

ebXML BP identifies Business processes

including multi-party, multi-step exchanges

Roles an organization must play

Business transactions Messages being exchanged Context variables Business rules of edge

conditions Transaction handling

services Error handling

ebXML CPA provides: Service name and parameters Endpoint for invocation Role of an organization in the context

of a service Organization demographic information Failure scenarios Business process scenario and

business transaction activity step Link to partner responsibilities Transaction Messages being

exchanged Transport level QOS parameters Certificate and Encryption

configuration Business status of agreement


Binary Collaboration Documents / Transactions Transport layer coupling Applying Context Modelling the process flow

Download example model from:http://visualscripts.net/#ebxml

Part 2 – Building a BPSSPart 2 – Building a BPSS

http://visualscripts.net/#ebxml


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


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


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


Building the BPSS model

SupplySupplyChainChain

SupplySupplyChainChain

GrantsGrantsApplicationApplication

GrantsGrantsApplicationApplication


Action ch e ckBu ye rsC re d it

To Role b u ye r

Bu

yin

g A

ge

nt

Cre

dit

B

ure

au

S ucce ss R e sp o n d C re d itS ta tu s

condition

O K

Fa ilure cre d itS ta tu sUn kn o wn

condition in va lid

Pro

du

ce

r

Action R e q u e stPr ice Q u o te

To Role tra d in g se rv ice

Action R e q u e stPr ice Q u o te

To Role b u ye rM

ark

etp

lace

S ucce ss re sp o n d Price Q u o te s

condition

O K

Fa ilure n o Se lle rsR e sp o n d e d

condition in va lid

S ucce ss re sp o n d Price Q u o te

condition

O K

Action D ra wD o wn C re d it


Se

lle

r C

re

dit

S

erv

ice

Action Acce p tPr ice Q u o te


Action ig n o re Pr ice Q u o te


Action R e p le n ish C re d it


Se

lle

r C

re

dit

S

erv

ice

Win

nin

g P

ro

du

ce

rL

osin

g

Pro

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rs

Multiparty Model with BPSS V2

AutomotiveAutomotiveSupplychainSupplychainAutomotiveAutomotiveSupplychainSupplychain

FinancialFinancialMarketplaceMarketplace

FinancialFinancialMarketplaceMarketplace


Step by Step Tutorial

This summarizes the actions in the live demonstration


Build interchange details Create headers for each of your transaction exchanges


Enter the document formats needed Create document definitions and select type of

identification Specify location of document rules, and rules type


Add document links to transactions In Transactions area add initiating and responded documents

Initiate

Tran

saction

Pro

vide

Resp

on

ses


Configure Fail / Succeed conditions BPSS provides set of default conditions that marry to

transport layer (ebMS) responses and outcomes


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


Setup Business Exchange Profiles Convenient profiles – pre-configured with typical interchange

characteristics, and linked to the failure / success outcomes


Summary – configuring Transactions Select behaviours from profiles, conditions and transport

needs

Co

nfig

ure E

xchan

ge D

etails


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


How do we provide standard industry domain processes, but then be able to apply local criteria to those?

Collaborations, Content, ContextCollaborations, Content, 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 15681 : the parts of a discourse that surround a word or passage and can throw light on its meaning2 : the interrelated conditions in which something exists or occurs

Date: circa 15681 : the parts of a discourse that surround a word or passage and can throw light on its meaning2 : the interrelated conditions in which something exists or occurs

Understanding about Context


Generating a Context Instance Add parameter value rules and document value rules

Check a document and change a BPSS Parameter value

Create a rule and set a value

Configure ContextInstance header


Context Summary Context variables and values defined as needed Business Partners review and Agree to its terms

and outcomes 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.


Worked example – completing the BPSS template

Modelling the Process FlowModelling the Process Flow


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


Start the Action Processes Add Start block and beginning Transaction action

Assign Transaction

Assign Roles to participants

Configure BPSS header


Next add responding action details Responding block consists of success / fail actions

Select associated responding document

GroupPossible Responses

Configure outcomes and flow control

Transport layer returnsettings


Decide next action details Request continues based on what responder does

Next action

Fork on outcome and pick next action (conditions gated by external “beginsWhen” events within Transaction definition)

ProcessCompletes


The Complete Business Process from the model – VisualScript generates actual XML instructions


Sharing ModelsSupporting Versioning and Tool integrationTargetting deployment engines

Download example model from:http://visualscripts.net/#ebxml

Part 3 – Part 3 –

Implementation ConsiderationsImplementation Considerations

http://visualscripts.net/#ebxml


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


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


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


Summary – covered so far

Business interchanges + documents – itemize

Collaborations, Content, Context – collect

Document exchanges – paint activity picture

Application – define the business purpose

Exceptions – success / fail conditions

Flow control – branching and choices

Go! – agree with your partners and distribute


Resources and Planning

SummarySummary


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


Next Steps Work in progress:

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


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

http://www.oasis-open.org/


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

http://www.visualscript.com/

http://www.jbpm.org/

http://www.freebxml.org/

http://ebxml.org/

http://www.ebxmlforum.org/


www.freebXML.org

www.ebxml.org

www.oasis-open.org

www.ebxmlbook.com/interop

www.ebxmlbook.com/benefits

Resources:

visually modelling business processes

Documents

business process models

business semantics

business process control

business agreement model

business transactions

business exchange details

business agreement templates

business interchange