Deriving Normalized Systems Elements from Business Process Models

Normalized Systems theory has recently been established to engineer evolvable information systems. In order to build information systems according to this theory, a method to identify the normalized systems' primitives has to be constructed. Because business processes are currently receiving more attention as process-centric representations of an enterprise, this method should be able to translate business process models into the normalized systems primitives. In this paper, a preliminary mapping method based on proven software engineering principles, is discussed. The proposed method adheres to the normalized systems' viewpoint of business processes being normalized production lines. In this sense, business process production lines are identified as workflow elements operating on a single type of data element. These process lines are operated as state machines, triggering action elements on the specified data element. The snapping method is illustrated using an example of a realistic business process flow. Some initial conclusions on the method construction are presented.