ArisArchitecture of Integrated Information Systems

Business

Process

Modelling

Matteo FiorilloJyväskylä - Spring 2000

Key Issues

Introduction of modelling methods

Development of respective meta models

Compilation of the models into an ARIS information model

Concept

• An architecture for describing business processes

• Provides modelling methods• It is foundation for the ARIS software

system• The house represents a concept for

comprehensive computer-aided business process management

Strategic Business Process Analysis

• Carried out before the house is described

• Scrutinizes synergistics effects aiming for the highest standard of employee qualification possible

• Indentifies key goals, business areas, preliminary new business processes and weakspots

Modelling Strategic BP’s

• Efficiency demands:– Resource (utilization of enterprise resources)– Process (focus on corporate goals)– Market (fully realize the potential of the

market)

In conflict with each other

Core Processes

• Impact corporate competitiveness

• Are cross-functional

• Interface with customers and suppliers alike

Core Processes

• Key groups– Order logistics– Product development

• Distinguished according to– Degrees of complexity– Customer groups

Critical Success Factors

• High quality standards

• High standards of delivery

• Competitive superiority in R&D

• High flexibility

Functions

• Primary activities– Create or utilize corporate output

• Secondary activities– Support primaries by infrastructure or control

measures

Interaction with value added processes

Modelling the Function View

Functions

• Described relative to other components

• Closely linked with data

• Described in the context with organizational objects (job positions)

Requirements Definition of the Function View

• BP strategy creates functions that enterprise must carry out efficiently

• Used synonymously with the term process, activity or task

• Describing its behaviour• Different simbols• Operation applied to objects for the purpose of

supporting one or more goals• They can support multiple goals

Function Structure

• Various aggregation levels– Complex function bundles

• Complex function comprised of multiple activities

– Function • Complex activity that can be broken down

further, directly blending in with a function bundle

Function Structure

• Sub-function – Activity which can be broken down into sub-

functions or elementary functions, blending in with overriding functions

• Elementary function – Activity which cannot be broken down further

Activities that are completed at a job site or internal procedure structures without any processing alternatives

Grouping Elementary FunctionsInto Larger Units

”Identical procedures, identical information objects and identical allocation should be applied to identical business processes”

Nüttgens, Koordiniert-dezentrales Informationsmanagement 1995, p. 97

Procedure Sequences

• Logical function sequences are defined

• Recommended when triggering events or messages do not provide any additional information or they are added at a later point in time

Methods for the Description(Sequences)

• Network diagram– Predecessors and successors relations– Distance measurements– Overlaps and minimum distance between

events– Logical links between the incoming and

outgoing elements

Processing Types

• System functions– Create customer– Mantain customer data– Create customer statistic

• Manual functions

Decision Models

• Information systems are also used for decision support– more efficient, effective and fast decisions

based on database contained and derived by the ITs

(optimization of the production planning)

Function Configurations

• Process control

• Workflow control

• Application system configurations

Modeling Requirements

Application System Allocation

Application system classes

project control systems word processing

business applications

allocatedto the functions

activity based costing(times, amounts, cost rates)

focus the project planning systemsThe contents ofthe functions are configured according to the function models

Requirements Definition of The Function View

Software designSoftware design

InputData

OutputData

IT restrictions

Abstraction Principle

Data View

Designing Modules

• Autonomous function– For incoming and outcoming data

• Data declaration

• Control logic

• Instruction components

– What a module does– How it perform its task

Mini-specification

Pseudocode and structograms

describing controlstructures

(controlling algorithmprocesses)

executinginstructions

1. sequences2. selections3. repetitions

Implementing the Function ViewOuput: screens that can be interpreted as

views on data model

programs are developed in one or

several programming languages sourcecode

stored in aprogram library

compiled and trasformedinto object code

describes

Modeling theOrganization View

Business orientedOrganization view

Hierarchical organization(organizational units with the communication

and reporting relationships among them)Role concept

Requirements profile of anorganizational unit necessary

for workflow applications

defines

Organizational Structures(Hierarchical Organizations)

• Streamline the description of the enterprise, consolidating similar task groups

• Designations from type description are generally used

• Instances can be modeled as well

• Organizational units (= functions) can be created in accordance with activity, object or process parameters

Role Concept

• In addition to organizational units– Employee types are described at the business

level of process chain modeling– Role = a certain type of employee with clearly

defined qualifications and skills– Distinguishing user classes for designing or

utilizing IT systems

Configuring Organizations

• Organizational models – provide cost center definitions within the parameters of

cost based accounting– define important parameters (customers, company codes,

plants)– lay the groundwork for the allocation of functions and

data to organizational units

• Organizational terms are documented in a precise manner according to their relation with the application and their impact on software procedures

Design Specifications

• Business organizational model is implemented into the information and communication topology

• In particular, we determine– Network topologies (star, ring or bus)

– Capacity requirements

– Types of users access to the nodes

– Available types of components

• We define also the new hardware systems (component types)

Implementingthe Organization View

• It starts with the network topology of the design specification

• Networks and nodes can be implemented in different ways– Logical networks– Physical networks

• Relationships are not necessary for the information model

Modeling The Data View

• Description of the data objects, manipulated by functions

• The data objects designed in the requirements can be an effective basis on which to define the class of an object-oriented design method

Requirements Definition

• Business modeling mainly focuses on describing types– Macro p.o.v. (voice, carrier system)– Micro p.o.v. (type, attribute, relation type)

• What is an object? (referring to data)– Wide range of document types– Objects can interface with O.-O. Database systems

• They can have various roles– They describe the control flow– They illustrate the environment status of the BP

Macro Description

• Data that can be broken into more detailed elements is macro data

• Macro data objects can be linked with one another (customer file)

• Enterprise data models contain multiple area models, comprised of multiple data clusters

• Data objects– Electronic-alphanumeric– Sound, bitmaps or paper

Micro Description

Macro data objects are split up into smaller units

in the macro view

The detailed data structurecan be modeled using

O.-O. classdiagrams

Simple ERMmethods

Enhanced ERMmethods

Data Configuration

Data modelAllocates cost types and cost ratesnecessary to calculate process cost

Allocates data objectsto capacity planning

Data Configuration

• Data groups

non-traditional data data stored in theinformation objects

transported byworkflow

access by means ofworkflow

information object

Design Specifications of theData View

Database specific interface languagesare generated from the semantic data

model

2 - relations are optimized

3 - integrity conditionsare defined 4 - relational schema is

transformed into the datadescription language

1 - information objects aretransformed to relations

Implementing the Data View

• Conceptual schemes are modeled in internal schemes

• Database administrators have to structure the internal schema, creating efficient database structures

• Integrity and consistency are specified by procedural objects

• Definitions at the physical data structure level are due to the design goal of data independence

Modeling the Output View

• Output is the result of processes with the demand for input driving its execution

• Describing it is one of the key processes

• The term is heterogeneous and can be used at various levels of detail

Note: not implemented in a specific way

Requirements Definition of the Output View

• Describing product models as data models• Definitions

– Output (or differents) required by areas beyond the business department where they were created

– What product centers deliver to entities outside their own organization meeting the demand of other entities, regardless of whether this demand is voluntary, driven by legal or any other requirements and regardless of whether those entities have to pay for the product or even choose not to do so

Ouput Configuration

• Process ouput is necessary: material output is available as bills of materials

• Output models are used when configuring business applications with the global focus on the respective process

Summary• What have we learned until now?

– What ARIS is– What Strategic Business Process Analysis is– How to

• model• define requirements of• implement

Individual ARIS Views

Summary

• What does come after?– Relationship between the views (control view)– Aris procedural models and applications

• Implementing standard software

• Implementing workflow systems

• Model supported system development

• Object oriented system development