The document discusses embracing complexity in business processes through a rule-driven and goal-oriented approach. Traditionally, processes were designed up front to handle all variants and exceptions, which led to overly complex processes that were difficult to change. The proposed approach is to: 1) Specify business aspects and rules separately and let computers consolidate them into adaptive processes that meet all constraints. 2) Create rule-driven processes where the actual process is derived dynamically based on constraints like customer, time, and rules from various sources. 3) Use flexible, goal-oriented processes that can take different paths depending on context, allowing certain activities to be optional or delayed based on interventions.

1. Trends in BPM - Embrace Complexity
Jeroen van Grondelle

2. Sources of Complexity
Mass Customization Agility
Connected Compliance

3. … resulting in Complex Specifications
• Many rules
• Changing rules
• Contextual rules
• Customer
• Time
• …
• Rules from many sources
• Inc. Conflicts and overlap

4. Traditional Approach: Design a Production Line,
with “Some” Exceptions

5. Traditional Approach: Manually Consolidate Up Front
Products & variants
Retention and
archiving
Time Constraints
Marketing
Competence/roles
Analyst

6. Traditional Approach: Results
• Leads to large numbers of processes
• Or very large processes with “Embedded” variants
• Lost traceability between the actual constraint and how its covered
in process terms
• Too complex to change fast
• And test all over….
• Attempts to reduce complexity often fail as they try to over-
rationalize inherent diversity

7. Embrace Complexity! But How?

8. Analyst specify business aspects,
computers consolidate into processes
“A Citizen applying
for Grant X in 2011”
Grant Eligeability
2011
Grant Eligeability
2012
Risk Profile for SME’s
Risk Profile for Citizens
Height of Grant X
Height of Grant Y

9. Rule-driven processes

10. The actual process is derived from the constraints
… What you can do now …
… What you have done …
so far
… What could be next …

11. Flexible Goal Oriented Processes
• Straight Through where possible
• If not, an “exception flow” is
available to return to STP
• Experts choose their own path
• Certain activities may not be strictly
necessary now, but it is simply handy
to do them. Or vice versa, decide to
delay activities.
• Process adaptive to interventions
• User may have the rights to manually
override process steps, after which
the process continues again.

12. Wrap Up

13. Wrap up
Declarative approach
• Only model what is needed, activities and their conditions, the rest
can be derived
• Semantic modelling is very suitable for creating a stakeholder dialog
• Embrace complexity, all (or no) transactions are exceptions
Let computers do what they do best
• Consolidate multipe aspect models into a process that meets all
constraints
• Instantaneous reaction to new context and exceptions

14. • Eliminate exceptions
• Define and limit all possible
combinations
• Standardize products and
processes
• Engineering driven, inside out
• Process-centric view
• Manufacturing approach
• Catch exceptions in business
rules
• Guide users through
combinations as they appear
• Standardize way of working
• Goal driven, outside in
• Decision-centric view
• Managerial approach
Process: The Next Big Wave
Reduce complexity Embrace Complexity
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15. What is Be Informed?
Be Informed is a general-purpose
business process platform, based on the
principles of dynamic case management, the next wave
after business process management.
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16. Be Informed – Facts and Figures
1997 Be Value established
2002 First toolkit
2003 Thrown away, too
conventional
2004 Be Informed 1.0
2006 - Dutch Government portal
- Be Informed established
- Be Value, 500+ people, acquired
2007 Be Informed 3.0
2009 - First Million+ Euro deal
- Gartner Cool Vendor and NAF Architecture Award
2010 - 150 people, 5 year CAGR 70%
- Again, NAF Architecture Award
2015 World domination!
• Privately owned, ~150 people
• 5 year 70% compound annual growth rate
• Result of a long-running University and
Public Sector R&D project
• Gartner cool vendor in business process
management, strong Forrester recognition
2011 Be Informed 4.0

17. Some customers and partners

18. Visit our stand
• See for yourself how Be
Informed works!
• Build your own case based on a
unique mix of standard
components
• … and talk to us. Be Informed is
currently hiring experienced
enterprise architects