Question #1 of BPMN-based process analysis: what are we going to do - Command or Respond?

• Command means using orchestration only, i.e. model within a single BPMN pool.
• Respond means providing handlers for events raised by external entities (clients, partners, government agencies), internal services and/or enterprise software systems.

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A process A sends BPMN message to a process B. What if A sent the message before B has become ready to receive it, i.e. before a token arrived to B2?

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My grandfather Ivan Orlenko was a military pilot during WW II. He flied on torpedo bombers over the Baltic Sea in 1944-1945 and ended the war at the rank of regiment commander. (On this occasion I recommend to those interested in military history the site of my brother Oleg Belaychuk.)

Grandfather is at the center of the photo. The writing on the plane says it’s an American Boston A-20G, which were supplied to the USSR under Lend-Lease.

Among many stories that grandfather has left here is the one about planes that are best for war and for peace. Retelling in my own words:

When we got Bostons we were surprised with unprecedented level of comfort - they were warm! We could fly without fur shoes and fur coats which we all used to. But when we got involved into actions we’ve found that Bostons are too ready to burn. Technicians investigated why and found that heating was provided by a gasoline stove fed by a pipe running through the entire machine. A bullet or a shell fragment and the machine is down. So we dismounted the whole heating system and got our fur boots with sheepskin coats back.

It should be noted that when the bomber steers the target at the final approach it’s under the fire of all ship weaponry from the main battery to the officer on the bridge with a handgun. And being shot down over the Baltic… Grandfather’s engine has caught fire after attack once but he was able to knock down the flames and get back on one engine. Meanwhile he was “buried” at the base because the fuel calculation didn’t give a chance to stay in the air at the time. » read the rest

It’s common to see BPMN diagrams using send tasks to illustrate that we send documents to external entity and receive tasks to model obtaining an answer. Or (which is practically the same) using send message and receive message events for these purposes. » read the rest

Basic BPMN Assumptions:

1. All information is stored
2. Organization has a mechanism of tasks assignation and transfer
3. Every task is accompanied by appropriate instruction
4. Every task has standard duration and there is a way to control it

4. Every task has standard duration and there is a way to control it

Question: how do we show at the diagram that task should be accomplished in 2 hours?

Answer: normally we don’t need to model it. Just let’s agree once and forever that:

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Basic BPMN Assumptions:

1. All information is stored
2. Organization has a mechanism of tasks assignation and transfer
3. Every task is accompanied by appropriate instruction
4. Every task has standard duration and there is a way to control it

3. Every task is accompanied by appropriate instruction

Another way to simplify the diagram: keep in mind that a text description and/or instruction can be attached to a task. » read the rest

Basic BPMN Assumptions:

1. All information is stored
2. Organization has a mechanism of tasks assignation and transfer
3. Every task is accompanied by appropriate instruction
4. Every task has standard duration and there is a way to control it

2. Organization Has a Mechanism of Tasks Assignation And Transfer

Time after time students bring diagrams like this to my BPMN training:

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You’d simplify BPMN work and at the same time make resulting diagrams simpler and clearer by accepting the following assumptions:

1. All information is stored
2. Organization has a mechanism of tasks assignation and transfer
3. Every task is accompanied by appropriate instruction
4. Every task has standard duration and there is a way to control it

1. All information is stored

Don’t ask how and where process data (attributes) are stored. Just take for granted that there is some dedicated storage and you are able to handle it. » read the rest

Sorry, this entry is only available in Русский.

Sorry, this entry is only available in Русский.