UML Business Process Modeling For Improved Efficiency

Jan 23
09:42

2008

Dean Forster

Dean Forster

  • Share this article on Facebook
  • Share this article on Twitter
  • Share this article on Linkedin

Improving business process by understanding existing relationships between departments in the company

mediaimage

Business process modeling is one of the most important aspects regarding the understanding and restructures of activities and information a company uses to achieve its goals. If you can understand and improve processes before you start any major project,UML Business Process Modeling For Improved  Efficiency Articles the outcome will be achieved in a more efficient and effective manner.

An efficient UML business process modeling allows businesses to understand better their internal mechanisms through a graphical way of transmitting the information. These graphical notations will allow a better understanding the existing relationships between departments. By having a clearer view of their internal functioning, large companies will be able to improve their operating techniques and methods, thus increasing their efficiency. Several available technologies can bring the advantages of business process modeling closer to organizations. Among such technologies, the most relevant and used are UML (Unified Modeling Language), the service-orientated architecture and the model-driven architecture.

Only by understanding better the company's current and future goals and strategies, by understanding, the business processes required supporting these strategies and by presenting serious improvement plans, can large businesses evolve and modernize themselves. A large company will always be harder to change than a small, compact firm will and here business process modeling shows its advantages. When setting to develop such a business process model you will need to go through several steps. First, you will need to identify the overall company's strategy so you know your main goals you want to reach. After you create a model of the existing business process, then you must set up workshops and interviews to develop it. When this step is done, the current company's business processes are analyzed and split into several, smaller threads using UML activity diagrams. Because each thread is presented in a detailed manner and you can observe all the dependencies between threads in a graphic manner, you can see easier what and where changes and improvements must be done. All the required changes and their interactions with the current situation will be put together in a so-called target model. Based on the model you will know what changes you must do and in what key segments. Read more at http://www.diagramssoftware.com

In business process modeling the emphasis is put on how exactly, the work is done in a certain company rather than what work is done. By knowing all the flow and information routes within the organization, you can optimize all the major processes. Business process modeling uses UML technologies (to me more precise, the UML's ability to easily create and edit all sorts of visual elements: flowcharts, Gantt charts, structure, behavior and interaction diagrams, such as communication, activity and deployment charts) to create the modeling notations, the graphical representations of the major processes, flows and stores. If you require more detailed process models, you can resort to the included UML profiles. Utilizing business process modeling together with UML technologies to graphically present the information and data is a major advantage for any company that requires to a better understanding the ways it internally works to improve itself.