Currently, the use of technologies in organizations is a key feature in automating business processes. On the other hand, the conceptual modeling of information systems is about describing the semantics of software applications at a high level of abstraction. However, at present, the modeling of business technologies has not been given at a conceptual modeling level. Therefore, in this paper an approach to represent technology at a conceptual modeling level in order to know the impact that current business processes make is presented. We validate the approach through a real example in the domain of inventory management. In order to model business technologies, the i* modeling language was enriched with business technology modules that have been used to model technology that enables business process execution. This approach allows system analysts to model the technology that is implemented in business processes in early phases of software development.
Technology is a key factor in organizations for the implementation of e cient
business processes, and it is seen as a tool to organize things in a di erent way,
coordinate processes and carry out tasks more easily [
The technology and the information system play important roles in
business process management due to some tasks realized by organization which are
supported by technologies and software systems. The business processes are
important elements to facilitate this work [
Currently, the use of technology is a signi cant aspect of the implementation of e cient business. The design and analysis of technology in modeling of business processes at the conceptual level is a current problem due to the high dependence between business processes and technology. This problem generates implementation errors because no one knows if the implemented technology meets the needs of the business process. However, if technology is modeled in early phases of software development we can have more e ective implementation, therefore good decisions about selecting and implementing technologies in business processes can be made.
In this paper, an approach for modeling the technology involved in
business processes of organizations is proposed. Our proposal uses i* as a base of
modeling [
As the rst objective of this research, a new business technology modeling approach that considers the technology as a modeling concept is presented. We enrich i* models with the de nition of a technology model that contains information about speci c technology elements and their relationships. The enrichment consists on the de nition of technology at the conceptual modeling level considering ve aspects (i): description of physical elements of the technology and their relationships; (ii): identi cation of functionalities that the technology o ers to the business process; (iii): de nition of quality attributes that functionalities o er; (iv): identi cation of technology resources needed for technology proper operation; and (v): identi cation of relationships between elements. As the second objective of this research, a formalization of business technology models is presented. Thus, the modeling of business technology allows software analysts to clarify the advantages of technology to business processes at the conceptual modeling level. 3
Our scienti c contributions are linked to the achievement of the rst and the second objective of our research work. Therefore, in this section we present our proposed approach based on i* language, which describes the process to model business technologies at conceptual modeling level. Moreover, the formalization of this process is presented.
The business technology models allow us to represent the functions, quality
aspects and resources that technology o ers to business processes, as well as
quality aspects and resources that technology requires for its own operation.
The technology models are created using the i* framework [
The objective of modeling business technology at the conceptual modeling level is to know the bene ts that o er speci c technology to improve a business process in early phases of software development. With the modeling of technology it is possible to determine the advantages that technology has on the realization of business processes, in order to select the best technological alternative to implement into business processes. The approach is divided into six phases, which are de ned below. The approach is illustrated with an example in the domain of inventory management.
The general formal de nition of the business technology model (Fig.1) is described as follows: Given a set of components C = fci1; ci2; :::; cimg, a set of functionalities F = ffi1; fi2; :::; fing, a set of quality attributes Q = fqi1; qi2; :::; qiog and AC = faci1; aci2; :::; aciog, and a set of technology resources R = fri1; ri2; :::; ripg, a technology model is de ned as a n-tuple(Equation 1): Mtech(ti) = (C; F; Q; R; AC; Comptech(ti); F uncttech(ti);
QAf unct(ti); Din; Dout; ACcomp; Rescom(ti)) (1)
Where: C= Set of technology components, F= Set of technology functionalities, Q= Set of quality attributes of functions, AC= Set of quality attributes of technology, R= Set of technology resources, Din= Set of Din dependences, Dout= Set of Dout dependences, Comptech= Technology components function, F uncttech= Technology functions function, QAfunct= Quality attributes of functions function, ACcomp= Quality attributes of technology function, and Rescomp= Technology resources function.
In this phase the components of technology that are part of a software system are identi ed. The components are represented as i* actors in the business technology model, and they are related directly with the software system actor using the is-part-of relationship. The formal de nition of the components of technology is described as follows: Given a set of technologies T S = fti1; ti2; :::; ting, components are identi ed and associated with speci c technology as shown in equation 2.
(2)
Where: Comptech(ti) = ti is a speci c technology, TS = Set of technologies, P(C )= C is a power set of components, T(c) = c is a component that belongs to technology, and C = fci1; ci2; :::; cimg. As a result of this phase, the set of components obtained for the example is: C = fRF IDReader; RF IDtagg, which are part of RFID system.
In this phase the functionalities of technology should be de ned as i* tasks. The functionalities represent functions that o er a speci c technology through a software system and they can used to improve some tasks of business processes. The formal de nition of the functionalities of technology is described as follows: Given a set of technologies T S = fti1; ti2; :::; ting, functionalities are de ned and associated with speci c technology as shown in equation 3.
Where: F uncttech(ti) = ti is an speci c technology, TS = Set of technologies, P(F)= Power set of functionalities, f = Functionalities of technology, and F = ffi1; fi2; :::; fing. As a result of this phase, the set of functionalities of RFID technology obtained is: F = fF 1; F 2; F 3; F 4g. F1=Identify objects, F2=Obtain object information, F3=Register object information, F4=Edit object information. The functionalities are associated to RFID technology.
In this phase the quality attributes for each of the functionalities de ned are created. The quality attributes represent the non-functional requirements of functionalities and they are represented using an i* softgoal. The formal de nition of quality attributes of functions is described as follows: Given a set of technologies T S = fti1; ti2; :::; ting, and a set of functionalities F = ffi1; fi2; :::; fing, the quality attributes are de ned and they are associated with functions, as shown in equation 4.
QAfunct(fin) : Fij ! P (Q)
Where: QAfunct(fi) = fi is a function of technology, Fij = Set of functionalities of speci c technology, P(Q) = Power set of quality attributes, Q = Quality attribute of functions, and Q = fqi1; qi2; :::; qiog. As a result of this phase, the set of quality attributes of functionalities is: Q = fF 1:1; F 1:2; F 2:1; F 2:2; F 2:3; F 3:1; F 3:2; F 4:1g. F1.1= Object identi ed unobtrusively, F1.2=Object identied easily, F2.1= Information obtained accurately, F2.2= Information obtained easily, F2.3= Information obtained quickly, F3.1= Information registered accurately, F3.2= Information registered quickly, F4.1= Edit object information accurately. The quality attributes are associated with functionalities.
In this phase the resources needed for proper operation of technology are dened. The resources represent a physical object required by technology and are represented as an i* resources. The formal de nition of resources needed for proper operation of technology is described as follows: Given a set of components C = fci1; ci2; :::; cimg, the resources for proper operation of technology are de ned and they are associated with technology components, as shown in equation 5.
Rescomp(cim) : Cij ! P (R)
Where: Rescomp(cim) = cim is a speci c component of technology, C=Set of components, P(R)= Power set of resources, r= Resource of component of technology, and R = fri1; ri2; :::; ripg. As a result of this phase, the set of resources of (3) (4) (5) technology is: R=fRFID tagged objectg, the resources are associated to RFID components. The technology needs the business process to provide the needed resources for its own operation.
In this phase the quality attributes needed for proper operation of technology are de ned. The quality attributes represent a non-functional requirement required by technology and are represented as an i* softgoal. The formal de nition of quality attributes needed for proper operation of technology is described as follows: Given a set of components C = fci1; ci2; :::; cimg, the quality attributes for proper operation of technology are de ned and they are associated to technology components, as shown in equation 6.
ACcomp(cim) : Cij ! P (AC) (6)
Where: ACcomp(cim) = cim is a speci c component of technology, C= Set of components, P(AC) = Power set of quality attributes of technology, ac= Quality attribute of technology, and AC = faci1; aci2; :::; aciog. As a result of this phase, the set of resources of technology is: AC=fRFID tag handled adequately, RFID tag located adequately g.
In this last phase, the relationships between elements of technology model are de ned. Two kinds of relationships are de ned, Din and Dout. In Din relationship the business process depends on technology to provide functionality and in Dout the technology depends on the business process of its own operation. The formal de nition of relationship between elements is described as follows: Given a set of components C = fci1; ci2; :::; cimg, and a set of elements x, y 2 F = ffi1; fi2; :::; fing or Q = fqi1; qi2; :::; qiog or AC = faci1; aci2; :::; aciog or R = fri1; ri2; :::; ripg, the dependence relationships are de ned.
It is important to explain how the technology module is related to i* business processes. The business process realizes a lot of tasks, and technology o ers functionalities, then the tasks of business process and the functionalities of technology are compared showing that the tasks of business process can be realized by a speci c function of technology. So, a relation is established between business process and technology indicating that technology will realize some tasks of business processes. This relationship is according to the kind of dependence (IN or OUT). If the relationship is IN it is indicated that it is a function or quality attribute that technology o ers to business process, and if it is OUT this indicates that it is a function, quality attribute or resource that technology needs for its own operation. The technology model can be reused. 4
In this paper an approach for conceptual modeling of business process technology has been shown. Our approach is based on the i* modeling language and on the concept of module which allows us to create technology modules in early phases of software development. Our approach is based on well de ned phases to create business technology models. This business technology models represent the bene ts or advantages that speci c technology can o er for the business process at the conceptual modeling level. An example is shown in the domain of inventory management in order to explain the proposed approach, as a nal result a business technology model for speci c technology was obtained.
Other relevant aspects of our current work are: to create a process to integrate business processes and business technology; and to de ne a process analysis in order to know the impact that has speci c technology on realization of business processes.