Are you describing your business processes, or trying to improve your organisation? Then you have probably already heard of BPMN, which is used to model business processes. But what is BPMN exactly? In this article you will learn more about BPMN and its possibilities.

Business processes

Business processes, or simply ‘processes’, are at the core of any organisation, whether it is commercial or non-profit. What is a business process? Business processes are the set of activities and decisions designed to produce a certain result. Business processes make sure organisational goals are reached. We can create processes on various levels: from high level business processes used for management to operational business processes, which may include detailed process steps and procedures.

Modelling processes

By modelling processes we visualise them to gain insight into our organisation and to improve it so that we work as efficiently as possible and increase the value delivered to our clients.
Various parties are involved in business process modelling. Think of those who perform the actual work: process owners, managers, external consultants, business analysts and system developers. It’s important that all these people understand each other and read the process models in the same way. This is exactly why BPMN was developed.

What is BPMN?

BPMN stands for Business Process Model and Notation, the standard designed specifically for modelling business processes. BPMN is the universal modelling language. It helps companies effectively model, optimise and execute their business processes (perform successful process management). BPMN is simple enough to support business users and at the same time is sufficiently powerful to represent the complex process semantics needed by IT professionals.
BPMN visualises process flow, its actors, steps and actions. Visualisations can be done from the very high level to the very detailed level and includes the flow of information.

BPMN is not a ‘system’: it is a standard. You can’t buy BPMN; you can only buy software that will help you model a BPMN diagram.
The BPMN standard is managed by the Object Management Group (OMG), an international, not-for-profit technology standards consortium.

For whom is BPMN relevant?

The BPMN standard makes communication and alignment between business and IT easier. Thus, it is relevant for both business professionals and IT professionals.
Specifically, BPMN is relevant for business analysts, product owners, business and enterprise architects, managers, entrepreneurs, information professionals and any other users responsible for modelling, improving and optimizing business processes. If you are building a system to support your business and to automate some of your processes, the developers will also read your BPMN process models.

Learn how to use BPMN

BPMN is easy to understand. You can learn the basics of BPMN in one day, so you can start modelling your business processes very quickly.

Available courses:

• Introduction to Business Process Modelling in BPMN
• Privacy and Security in modelling with BPMN 2
• Advanced BPMN modelling (including use of Patterns)

We also offer customised training solutions: from adjusting learning objectives to full integration of company-specific cases. Please contact us to discuss the possibilities.