A Technical Focus on Business Process Management – Past, Present, and Emerging Topics

A Technical Focus on Business Process Management –
Past, Present, and Emerging Topics, May 2023
Prof. Dr. Ingo Weber
ingo.weber@tum.de
http://imweber.de/
Full professor at TUM and
Director IT infrastructure & digital transformation
at Fraunhofer
Previously: TU Berlin, CSIRO / Data61, NICTA,
UNSW, KIT & SAP
Approx. 10% of content created using ChatGPT

Agenda:
1. Business Process Management (BPM):
History and Basics
2. Process enactment and its relation to
Low & No-Code Development and Model-
Driven Engineering
3. Process Mining
4. Augmenting BPM with Artificial
Intelligence (AI)

Agenda:
History and Basics
Credit for some of the content:
Jan Mendling, Business Process Modeling
in the 1920s and 1930s as reflected in
Fritz Nordsieck's PhD Thesis. Enterprise
Modelling and Information Systems
Architectures (EMISAJ), 2021, 16. Jg., S.
6: 1-51.

“To take an example, the trade of a pin-maker: But in the way in which this business is now carried on, it is
divided into a number of branches:
• One man draws out the wire; another straights it;
• a third cuts it; a fourth points it; a fifth grinds it at the
top for receiving the head;
• to make the head requires three operations;
• to put it on is a peculiar business;
• to whiten the pins is another; to put them into the paper;
and the important business of making a pin is, in this
manner, divided into about eighteen distinct operations.”
What is a Business Process?
Smith 1776
ICSSP 2023 Keynote | Prof. Dr. Ingo Weber 4

Division of Labour
ICSSP 2023 Keynote | Prof. Dr. Ingo Weber
Icons designed by Freepik
5

IT Support

• Meticulously studying labor activities
• Work instructions for workers
• Managers oversee the productivity of groups of workers
• Units and their managers were structured hierarchically
• Functional organization remains dominant until the end
of 1980s.
Frederick W. Taylor: Scientific Management
Source: Wikimedia Commons

Process Chart by Gilbreth/Gilbreth 1921
Gilbreth 1921, Laue et al 2022

• Fritz Nordsieck (1906–1984) studied how business analysts make
use of diagrams.
• PhD thesis (1931) “Die Schaubildliche Erfassung und
Untersuchung der Betriebsorganisation”
(The diagrammatic description and analysis of the business
organization)
• Collection of 117 diagrams from 105 publications, organized in
three categories
• See Mendling (2021): Business Process Modeling in the 1920s
and 1930s as reflected in Fritz Nordsieck’s PhD Thesis. EMISA
Journal, open access, https://doi.org/10.18417/emisa.16.6
Business Process Modeling in the 1920s

Workflow and work cycle
Nordsieck 1931, Mendling 2021

Workflow and work cycle

Task distribution and task relationships

What is a business process? According to [Weske]* :
A business process consists of a set of activities that are performed in
coordination in an organizational and technical environment. These activities
jointly realize a business goal.
Paraphrased: a business process is what actors in an organization do
Examples: travel booking, tax return, procurement, expense reimbursement, hiring
an employee, applying for a job, ...
In a business process, there is often a sense of "state" and changing state.
*M. Weske, Business Process Management: Concepts, Languages, Architectures,
Springer, 2007.
Business Process Modelling and Management

Business Process Management (BPM) [Weske]:
Business process management includes concepts, methods, and techniques
to support the design, administration, configuration, enactment, and analysis of
business processes.
Value-adding management of a business process requires streamlining the
collection of activities within the process.
The activities in a single process are often performed by various business units in
an organisation.
Business Process Management

The Business Process Life Cycle
Source: J. Mendling, Detection and
Prediction of Errors in EPC Business Process
Models, 2007
15

Business Process (BP) Modelling [Weske]:
A business process model consists of a set of activity models and
execution constraints between them. A business process instance represents
a concrete case in the operational business of a company, consisting of activity
instances. Each business process model acts as a blueprint for a set of
business process instances, and each activity model acts as a blueprint for a set
of activity instances.
(model vs. instances is basically like class vs. objects)
Purposes of process modeling include: Training and communication, simulation
and analysis, costing and budgeting, documentation, knowledge management, and
quality, system development, organizational design, management information, and
enactment, i.e., execution of the models.
Business Process Modelling

Classification of business processes
Organizational business processes
Represent coarse-grained entities that comprise the main
activities of organizations
Operational business processes
Include process activities and their logical sequence
Implemented business processes
Add execution information to the process, including
organizational and technical aspects
17 |

BPMN example: insurance application processing
Tasks: an activity that is not subdivided (unit of work)
Sequence: some tasks need to be performed in a strict order
Choice: certain tasks do not always need to be carried out
Parallel: some tasks can be performed in parallel
Synchronisation: some tasks need to wait for the result of previous tasks
Iteration: some tasks need to be repeated
Business Processing Modelling: basic terminology

Source: BPMN 2.0 by Example, OMG Document Number dtc/2010-06-02
BPMN example: shipment process of a hardware
retailer

BPMN Notation Categories and their Elements

Process enactment refers to the execution and monitoring of business processes.
It involves the actual implementation of designed process models to carry out activities, tasks,
and decisions.
Models and instances
• A process model serves as a blueprint for a set of similar process instances
• An entire class of instances is represented by the process model
Business Process Management System (BPMS)
• Enables enactment of implemented process models
• When running an instance, BPMS interprets the model
• Hence, each instance follows the model (which typically includes variability)
Process Enactment

Architecture overview
Business Process Management Systems
Business Process Environment
Process Engine
Service Provider 1 Service Provider n
Business Process Model
Repository
Business Process
Modeling
. . .
Source: M. Weske: Business Process Management, © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2007

Low-code and no-code development platforms enable
the creation of software applications with minimal
coding or programming skills. These platforms
provide visual interfaces and pre-built components to
rapidly develop and deploy applications.
Low-code development can facilitate the implementation
and enactment of business processes, providing a user-
friendly environment for process automation.
Low & no-code platforms and BPMSs are merging, to a
degree, with the former adopting BPMN etc., and the
latter repositioning themselves in the low & no-code
market
Model-driven engineering (MDE) intersects heavily with
process enactment / low & no-code
Low & No-Code, MDE, and process enactment

Slide credit: Bernd Rücker, https://berndruecker.io/ CamundaCon 2022 Keynote

Example: financial data analysis process:
1. Find news data: e.g., news data on the company ‘BHP’
2. Find performance data: e.g., on company code ‘BHP.AX’
3. Aggregate the performance data, e.g., avg. hourly stock prices
4. Merge datasets: e.g., merge the result data sets from the first and third steps
5. Visualize dataset: e.g., to see influence of news on prices
Older no-code process automation example:
Formsys – Forms-based Service Composition (2010)

Formsys: data mapping based on forms

MDE for Business Processes on Blockchain – Motivation
Issues:
- Knowing the
status, tracking
correct
execution
- Handling
payments
- Resolving
conflicts

Goal: execute collaborative business processes as smart
contracts on blockchain
− Translate (enriched) BPMN process models to smart contract
code
→ Model-driven engineering (MDE)
− Triggers act as bridge between Enterprise world and blockchain
− Smart contract provides:
− Independent, global process monitoring
− Process enforcement: messages are only accepted if they are
expected, given the state of the process, and only if sent from the
participant playing the respective role
− Automatic payments & escrow
− Data transformation
Original Approach (BPM 2016) in a Nutshell

Tooling: Lorikeet at Design Time

Understanding how processes are really running (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oat7MatU_U)
Process Mining
Some content in this section based on Wil v.d.Aalst, “Process Mining: Discovery, Conformance and Enhancement of
Business Processes”, Springer, 2011.

Three types of process mining:
• Discovery – creating process models from logs
• Conformance Checking – check if logs and models fit together
• Enhancement – add dimensions like performance, time, etc; also: where logs
deviate from models, how to extend the model?
Process Mining Overview

From logs to models
Example:
• Log:
• (a,b,c,d)
• (a,c,b,d)
• (a,e,d)
Process Discovery
Model:
34

Compare: log vs. model
Standard criterion: fitness
“Does the log fit the model and vice versa?”
Conformance Checking
?
35

Process mining for blockchain apps

Ethereum Logging Framework (ELF) Overview
For data analytics
Standard log files
For process mining

Augur is a prediction and betting marketplace on public Ethereum BC
• Example market: “Will Donald Trump win the presidential election 2020?”
We looked at ~2700 markets (~22k events) created on Augur v1.0
One discovered process model (unfiltered):
Process Mining analyses we performed:
• Exploration
• Process Discovery
• Conformance Checking
Augur case study [9]
Dispute
handling
Creation
Trading
Initial
report
Settlement

Timing patterns

Conformance checking means comparing a normative model against event logs
To obtain the normative model, we relied on the Augur white paper, their UI and further explanations, but
filtered activities such that the model only used events present in the log
We also verified and contextualized our findings by interviewing Augur’s lead architect
One conformance checking result:
Augur case study [9] continued
This is a bug in the smart contracts!

Forsage: a “matrix-based” investment scheme

Second case: Forsage

What is Forsage?

Forsage marketing promises:
1. Rules are transparent and processes documented
2. Investing right after registration leads to increased revenue
3. Same chances to earn, irrespective of registration time
4. Active users have higher profits
Assessment: does process mining allow us to check if the promises hold up?
How to assess added value on a Ponzi scheme?

Data: 13.4 M events in 1.06 M traces
Marketing claim: regardless of when you enter, you can always profit
→ Not true, and about 90% of users* made a loss (*simplifying assumption: 1:1 match of users to accounts)
With additional analyses: 3 of 4 claims debunked through our case study
Second case study: Forsage

Shed light on application dynamics and money flow
• Forsage is a Ponzi scheme
The Forsage documentation does not reflect code execution in detail, Augur contained a bug
• We unveiled this through conformance checking and drill-downs
• Forsage: not transparent
Compare behaviour of users, e.g. successful and unsuccessful users
• Recommended strategy for users → how to benefit from a Ponzi scheme ;-)
• 4 data sets available, in XES: https://ingo-weber.github.io/dapp-data/
Summary: process mining for blockchain apps
Is it useful to do process mining on blockchain data?
→ In two cases (Augur and Forsage) we found: yes

Agenda:
History and Basics
2. Process enactment and its relation to
Low & No-Code Development and Model-
Driven Engineering
3. Process Mining
4. Augmenting BPM with Artificial
Intelligence (AI)
http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/3576047

Definition: an ABPMS is a process-aware information system that utilizes AI technology to
adapt and improve business processes.
Key Capabilities:
Trust and trust-worthiness are crucial for the acceptance of AI-augmented systems
Overview: AI-Augmented BPM Systems (ABPMSs)
Tracks process
execution within
defined restrictions
(process frame)
Orchestrates
process activities
autonomously within
the process frame
Uses AI technology
to achieve business
process goals
Supports multiple
business processes
(not just a single
process)

Operational lifecycle of an ABPMS:
• Basic Steps: Frame (the autonomy), Enact, Perceive, Reason (similar to traditional BPMS).
• Advanced Steps: Explain, Adapt, Improve (specific to ABPMS with AI integration).
Involves the ABPMS and one or more agents interacting with the system.
Framing: Equipping the ABPMS with initial constraints and goals, defining process boundaries.
Process-Aware Execution: Perceiving, Reasoning, and Enacting to ensure compliance and adaptability.
The ABPMS Lifecycle

Process-Aware Execution: Central stage of the ABPMS lifecycle
Perceive: Acquiring data about the process and current state
Reason: Applying AI technologies to analyze data and make informed decisions
Enact: Autonomously executing the process within the defined frame
Sense-Think-Act Cycle: Structured approach to process-aware execution
Process-Aware Execution

Framed Autonomy
• Framing: Defining the boundaries within
which the ABPMS operates autonomously
• Constraints and goals are specified to
guide the ABPMS
• Different modeling languages can be used
for framing, including BPMN, declarative
approaches, and hybrid combinations.
• Frame can range from a rigid process
model to a general intelligence AI with
process awareness
Characteristics:
• (framed) autonomous to act
independently and proactively
• conversationally actionable to
seamlessly interact with agents whenever
necessary
• adaptive to react to changes in its
environment
• (self-)improving to ensure the optimal
achievement of its goals
• explainable to ensure the trust and hence
the cooperation of the human agents.
Framed Autonomy and Characteristics of ABPMSs

“Process” is a lens – when is it the right one?
Example: mountains
• View through lens of geological process?
• Maybe not ideal for planning a hike
George Box: “All models are wrong, but
some models are useful
© 2019 Engelberg-Titlis Tourismus AG
© The Geological Society of London

1. Business Process Management (BPM): History and Basics
2. Process enactment and its relation to Low & No-Code Development and MDE
Summary (1)
Business Process Environment
Process Engine
Service Provider 1 Service Provider n
Business Process Model
Repository
Business Process
Modeling
. . .
54

3. Process Mining: discovery, conformance checking, enhancement
4. Augmenting BPM with Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Summary (2)
?
55

A Technical Focus on Business Process Management – Past, Present, and Emerging Topics

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