Glossary

The key terms from Bpanda and BPMN, briefly explained.

Activity

An activity describes a simple or complex task in a business process. Activities include process step (task), call activity (global task, sub-process), (embedded) subprocess and transaction. The specific behavior of an activity is described by the activity type and can be indicated by a symbol. Activity types are, for example, loop task, multiple instance, ad hoc subprocess, transaction and compensation.

Architecture Element

An architecture element is a standardized model building block in ArchiMate for representing a business, application-related or technological component of an enterprise architecture.

Boundary Event

A boundary event processes a triggering event type. If the boundary event is interrupting, the activity to whose boundary the event is attached is cancelled (in the case of a multiple instance, all instances are cancelled). If the boundary event is non-interrupting, the activity continues its execution (only possible for message, signal, timer and conditional events, not for error, cancel and compensation events). Execution follows the sequence flow connected to the boundary event. For message boundary events, the behavior is the same as for receive tasks.

BPM Manager

The BPM Manager organizes the company’s process landscape. They perform the initial import of the processes, build up the process hierarchy and link it with processes. BPM Managers have access to all versions of all processes. They keep an overview of important topics such as quality assurance and compliance.

see Breadcrumb Navigation

Breadcrumb navigation shows the path to the current element relative to the root element as a line of text. It improves orientation within branched element trees by offering links to the respective parent elements.

Business Process

A business process is a business workflow considered in isolation. It consists of a set of related activities that jointly pursue a goal and are typically carried out in the context of organizational units with defined roles and relationships.

Collaboration

A collaboration represents the interaction between its participants, who each carry out separate processes but exchange messages with one another.

Condition

see Gateway and Flow

Decision

see Gateway

Diagram

A diagram is a graphical representation of the relationship between data, facts or information. In a process diagram, the representation takes the form of a graph consisting of nodes (objects, usually process steps) and edges (relationships, usually sequence flows).

Edge

A graph describes relationships between the elements of a set of objects. The relationships between the object nodes are referred to as edges. In process diagrams, edges mainly occur as sequence flows, message flows or associations.

Evaluations

Evaluations give you the option of evaluating various architecture elements in your Process Space. Various evaluation types are available for this. You will find the evaluations in the “Main menu” under “Architecture” in the “Architecture dashboard”. Under “Manage Process Space”, you can activate and deactivate evaluation types for your Process Space as a BPM Manager.

Event

An event represents an occurrence within a process. Processes have at least one start event and one end event. In addition, a distinction is made between intermediate events and boundary events. Events usually have a specific type, for example message, condition or error, but they can also be multiple events.

Flow

The flow of a process sequence or of messages or data within a process is represented by what are known as edges. A distinction is made between sequence flows, message flows and associations (mainly for data flows). Conditional flows allow conditions to be defined without using gateways.

Gateway

A gateway represents the flow logic within a process. The flow in the process is branched or merged by gateways depending on conditions. Gateways determine whether one, several or all subsequent paths are followed, so they can be exclusive, inclusive, parallel or complex.

Guide

The Guide in Bpanda enables controllable, step-by-step navigation through a process diagram.

Job

A job translates a published process into a series of activities that are to be carried out step by step by the respectively assigned employees. Comments and analyses on the job form the basis for process improvements.

Lane

A lane represents responsibilities within a process, that is, specific areas of responsibility, roles or systems.

Merge

see Gateway

Modeler

The Modeler is a web-based editor for BPMN diagrams. With the Modeler, Bpanda offers a lightweight alternative to modeling tools so that users with the Designer role can capture and edit processes directly.

Node

A graph describes relationships between the elements of a set of objects. The objects are referred to as the nodes of the graph. Process diagrams feature a wide variety of node types, for example collaborations, processes, lanes, sub-processes, process steps (tasks), events or gateways.

Opportunity

An opportunity is an event that may occur and that can have a positive effect on the process and/or its results.

Process

A process is a set of logically linked individual activities that are carried out in order to achieve a specific business or operational objective. It is triggered by a defined event and transforms inputs into a process result through the use of tangible and intangible goods and in compliance with specific rules and conditions.

Process Contributor

A Process Contributor is explicitly assigned to at least one process in order to provide the Process Owner with professional support. In addition to the options available to a Process Participant, a Process Contributor has access to all process versions.

Process Data

Within the process, data represents process-relevant information. Data is entered, stored temporarily or permanently and output. Data objects store process-specific data and are only available within the process. Data stores store information both across processes and beyond the end of the process in terms of time.

Process Map

A process map serves to clearly present the relationships between business processes, organizational units and IT elements of a process landscape. The top level of a process map gives an overview of the processes recorded in the company. Further process maps represent part of the corresponding hierarchy level in the process landscape.

Process Owner

As an expert, the Process Owner is responsible for the content of a process. They are the contact person for all Process Users and have all permissions for the process they are responsible for. They can set the visibility of the process, manage the roles and the attachments for the process and organize the release of a new process version by means of a review. You become a Process Owner by being added to the Process Owners for a process by the manager of the Process Space.

Process Participant

A Process Participant is explicitly assigned to at least one process. These processes appear under “Relevant processes”. The Process Participant is notified automatically when changes are made.

Process Release

Processes are subject to a release process before they are published. The basic elements are the review (with commenting on the process as well as the final assessment), the actual release by approving the revision and the publication of the process. Discarding an obsolete revision is also possible. For the Process Space, a release process is to be imported as a special BPMN process in order to ensure a uniform approach.

Process Revision

A process revision is the preliminary stage of a process version. It serves to subject a further developed version of a process version to a critical review. When the revision is released, a new process version is created.

Process Space

In Bpanda, the Process Space describes the entirety of the managed processes. Access to the processes is organized by means of a process map, which may have several levels.

Process Step

A process step represents a single, self-contained task or work unit within a process that is not subdivided any further. In the process diagram, a process step is represented as a task, which can be typed according to the manner of execution.

Process Steps List

The process steps list in Bpanda presents the nodes of a process diagram (process steps, events, gateways) as text. The list can be restricted to specific node types and roles.

Process User

Essentially, a Process User has the option of using process data visible to them, asking questions and making suggestions for process improvement. In principle, all currently valid process versions are visible to the Process User.

Process Version

A process version is a specific stage of a process with all associated components. Different versions represent the change and further development of a process over time. This makes it possible, for example, to browse through the history of a process diagram.

Q&A

Q&A is the abbreviation for Questions & Answers, primarily relating to a process. They are an important basis for the exchange of information.

Relationship

A relationship is a standardized connection type in ArchiMate that describes the semantic relationship between a process and an architecture element or between two architecture elements.

Responsibility

A responsibility is always process-related and specifies a Bpanda role on the basis of certain competencies. Process Owners can thus be differentiated, for example, into Process Owner and Process Manager or into business and technical owners.

Review

A review serves to assess a process version (revision). Individual details can be commented on and suggestions for improvement can be made. Review Owners initiate the review of a process version and can access up-to-date information on the progress of the review process at any time.

Review Owner

The Review Owner is responsible for a review. They are the contact person for all Review Participants and have all permissions for the review they are responsible for. The Process Owner assigns the Review Owners to a review.

Review Participant

A Review Participant is assigned to at least one review. The assignment is made by the Review Owner. A Review Participant has access to the process version in the review that has not yet been released.

Risk

A risk is an event that may occur and that can have a negative effect on the process and/or its results.

Role

A role provides the user with specific functions, either directly or through membership of a group. Several roles can be assigned to a user. The intersection of the roles results in the functions available in a specific process.

Search Engine

A search engine is a program for researching data stored in an IT system. Search engines create an index for the data base in order to answer search queries via keywords with a results list sorted by relevance. After a search term has been entered, a search engine returns a list of references to potentially relevant data, usually presented with a title and a short excerpt of the respective source.