Processes Category
Overview
The Processes category represents your business workflows and orchestrations. It shows how activities flow across different contexts and systems to achieve business outcomes.
Hierarchy
graph TD
PL[Process Landscape
Process portfolio] --> Process[Process
Business workflow]
Process --> Activity1[Activities]
Process --> Activity2[Swimlanes]
Process --> Activity3[Gateways]
style PL fill:#e1f5ff
style Process fill:#fff4e1
style Activity1 fill:#e1ffe1
style Activity2 fill:#e1ffe1
style Activity3 fill:#e1ffe1
Element Types
1. Process Landscape
- Purpose: Groups related processes into a portfolio or domain
- Children: Processes
- Examples: "Order-to-Cash", "Customer Onboarding", "Supply Chain"
- 📖 Detailed Documentation →
2. Process
- Purpose: Represents a complete business workflow from start to finish
- Parent: Process Landscape
- Children: Activities (managed via process editor, not in hierarchy view)
- Attributes: Name, description, trigger conditions, outcomes
- 📖 Detailed Documentation →
Internal Process Elements
(Managed within the process editor, not in this hierarchical view)
- Activities: Individual steps or tasks in the process
- Gateways: Decision points and flow control
- Swimlanes: Organizational boundaries and responsibilities
- Events: Start, intermediate, and end events
Connections to Other Categories
→ Components (Contexts)
Processes orchestrate activities across multiple Contexts. Each activity in a process typically executes within a specific context.
graph LR
Process[Business Process] --> Act1[Activity 1]
Process --> Act2[Activity 2]
Process --> Act3[Activity 3]
Act1 -.executes in.-> Context1[Context A]
Act2 -.executes in.-> Context2[Context B]
Act3 -.executes in.-> Context1
style Process fill:#e1f5ff
📖 Learn more: Components Category →
→ Systems
Process activities are executed by System Features. Systems automate or support process steps.
📖 Learn more: Systems Category →
→ Actors
Actors perform activities in processes or are notified of process events.
📖 Learn more: Actors Category →
Process Types
- Core Processes: Directly create customer value (e.g., Order Fulfillment)
- Supporting Processes: Enable core processes (e.g., Inventory Management)
- Management Processes: Govern and optimize (e.g., Performance Review)
Usage Guidelines
- Create process landscapes to organize related workflows
- Define end-to-end processes that deliver business outcomes
- Use the process editor to model detailed flows with activities and gateways
- Link to contexts to show organizational boundaries
- Connect to systems to document automation
Process Modeling Best Practices
- Focus on end-to-end value delivery
- Keep high-level processes simple (5-10 major steps)
- Use subprocesses for detailed breakdowns
- Clearly define handoffs between contexts
- Document decision criteria at gateways