An Introduction to Business Process Modeling

Business Process Modeling (BPM) is the activity of representing the processes of an organization, so that they can be analyzed and improved. Nowadays, with increased globalization, BPM techniques are used, for example, to optimize the way in which organizations react to business events, in order to enhance competitiveness. Starting from the underlying notion of workflow modeling, this paper introduces the basic concepts of modeling and implementing business processes using current information technologies and standards, such as Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN) and Business Process Execution Language (BPEL). We also address the novel, yet growing, topic of Business Process Mining, and point out to open research challenges in the area.