=Paper=
{{Paper
|id=Vol-1985/BPM17industry07
|storemode=property
|title=An Applied Method for Selecting a Business Process Management Tool in Enterprise Software Project
|pdfUrl=https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-1985/BPM17industry07.pdf
|volume=Vol-1985
|authors=Mehmet Mustafa Gursul
|dblpUrl=https://dblp.org/rec/conf/bpm/Gursul17
}}
==An Applied Method for Selecting a Business Process Management Tool in Enterprise Software Project==
https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-1985/BPM17industry07.pdf
*
An Applied Method for Selecting a Business Process
Management Tool in Enterprise Software Project
Mehmet Mustafa Gürsul1
1 PhD Candidate, Department of Management Information System, Gazi University
Ankara, Turkey
STM Defence Technologies Engineering and Trade Inc., Ankara, Turkey
mehmetgursul@gmail.com
Abstract. Business Process Management (BPM) tool, which will be used in
the management, improvement and maintenance of business processes, continues
to increase its importance in the enterprise software projects where business pro-
cesses are involved. In enterprise software projects, many criteria are in the fore-
ground in the selection of BPM tool. These criteria are shaped by the require-
ments and the technical architecture of the enterprise software project. In this
study, BPM selection criteria were determined for the enterprise software project
and a method was proposed considering these criteria. In order to make BPM
selection correctly, the scoring method was used for criteria. Among the criteria,
the criteria related to usability also played an important role. At the end of the
study, the lessons learned while selecting the BPM tool were included.
Keywords: Business Process Management, Business Process Management
Tool, Usability, Enterprise Software Project
1 Introduction
Enterprise software projects often involve processes. One of the existing BPM tools
can be selected and used to manage, develop and maintain these processes. Many BPM
tools can be found in the market. Some criteria that should be considered for BPM tool
selection to meet the needs of the institutions can be proposed as availability, features
meeting the requirements of enterprises, performance, cost, etc. Moreover, usability is
substantial criterion for the institutions. It is therefore often a challenging task to find
the right business process tool that meets the specific needs of a company.
* "M. Brambilla, T. Hildebrandt (Eds.): BPMN 2017 Industrial Track Proceedings, CEUR-
WS.org, 2017. Copyright © 2017 for the individual papers by the papers' authors. Copying
permitted for private and academic purposes. This volume is published and copyrighted by its
editors."
Mehmet Mustafa Gürsul
2 Definition of Used Terms
2.1 Business Process Management
In this section, firstly, the "process" definition will be explained and then “business
process management” (BPM) and BPM tool definitions will be stated.
“In the systems engineering arena, a process is a sequence of events that uses inputs
to produce outputs. From a business perspective, a process is a coordinated and stand-
ardized flow of activities performed by people or machines, which can traverse func-
tional or departmental boundaries to achieve a business objective that creates a value
for internal or external customer” says Chang [1].
Aalst remarks that “Business Process Management (BPM) is the discipline that com-
bines knowledge from information technology and knowledge from management sci-
ences and applies this to operational business processes” [2].
Maria implies that: “BPM tool is a piece of software, which provides the user with a
possibility to create, store, share and analyses business process models” [3] Effinger,
Seiz and Jogsch suggest that “Companies today use business process management
(BPM) to define, design, document and improve business processes.”
2.2 Enterprise Software
"Enterprise applications are about the display, manipulation, and storage of large
amounts of often complex data and the support or automation of business pro-
cesses with that data" explains Martin Fowler [4]
Wikipedia defines that: “Enterprise software, also known as enterprise application
software (EAS), is computer software used to satisfy the needs of
an organization rather than individual users. Such organizations would include busi-
nesses, schools, interest-based user groups, clubs, charities, or governments” [5]
Microsoft says that “An enterprise application is a business application, obviously.
As most people use the term, it is a big business application. In today’s corporate envi-
ronment, enterprise applications are complex, scalable, distributed, component-based,
and mission-critical” [6]
2.3 Proof of Concept (POC)
“Proof of Concept (PoC) is a realization of a certain method or idea in order to demon-
strate its feasibility” [7]. In this POC study; firstly simple scenarios implemented and
then selecting a scenario similar to the actual scenario applied.
An Applied Method for Selecting a Business Process Management Tool in Enterprise Software
Project
2.4 Usability
According to the ISO/IEC standard usability is: “The capability of the software product
to be understood, learned, used and attractive to the user, when used under specified
conditions.” (ISO/IEC 9126- 1, 2000).
The criteria related to usability are realized as important for selecting BPM tool.
3 Requirement and Problem Definition
The requirement is needing a BPM tool to manage processes in enterprise software
project. And the problem is how to choose the appropriate BPM tool in the enterprise
software project. Choosing the most suitable business process management tool is a
challenging task.
Which ways can be followed to make a selection? Is there a method that is experi-
enced in a real enterprise software project? Can some scenarios in the enterprise soft-
ware project be implemented? What is the importance of usability for the criteria? The
answers of these questions can help the solution of the problem.
4 Deciding on Mandatory and Expected Criteria
First of all; Mandatory criteria should be decided for selecting a BPM tool.
Mandatory criteria are your necessary criteria. For instance; “A BPM tool’s licence cost
should be at most 20.000€.” Candidate BPM tools should meet these mandatory crite-
ria. That’s why; if BPM tool does not meet the necessary criteria, it will be eliminated
automatically.
Next, expected criteria about the BPM tool should be decided for selecting BPM tool
Features that expected from a BPM tool, vendor maturity, community support etc. can
be your expected criteria. These expected criteria will be used for evaluation of BPM
tool.
Mehmet Mustafa Gürsul
5 The Method Used for Selecting BPM Tool
Many methods can be found for selecting BPM tool. But following method is applied
to real enterprise software project with successfully. The applied method is depicted at
Fig. 1. And each step explained at the below.
Fig. 1. BPM Selection Method
5.1 Selecting Two BPM Tools According to Technical Architecture of
Enterprise Software Project and Your Company’s Architecture
Considering time and cost, it is impossible to examine all BPM tools. Therefore, two
BPM tools which are suitable for technical architecture of enterprise software project
and your company’s experienced in BPM tool can be selected. Of course, it is better to
select more than two tools for comparison. However, it depends on your time and cost.
These two tools should be chosen to meet the mandatory criteria of the enterprise soft-
ware project.
The negative aspect of selecting two BPM tools for comparing is the possibility of
overlooking more appropriate one out of these tools. After selecting two BPM tools as
a candidate; following steps should be applied for both BPM tools.
An Applied Method for Selecting a Business Process Management Tool in Enterprise Software
Project
5.2 Learning the General Features of BPM Tool
It can be started by setting up selected BPM tool, learning its architecture, and general
capabilities it provides. The following methods can be applied for this:
Quick overview on the official site of BPM tool can be made.
Beginner level videos related to BPM tool can be watched.
It might be a good idea to look if any review related to BPM tool is found on a search
engine or not.
It might be a good idea to read a review related to BPM tool found on a search
engine.
5.3 Implement a Few Scenarios
To use the BPM tool more effectively, simple scenarios can be implemented. This sim-
ple scenario may be a process involving several roles, or it may be a simple scenario in
the enterprise software project.
5.4 Implement According to a Scenario that Can be Used in an
Enterprise Software Project
A complex process to takes place in the enterprise software project can be implemented.
In this scenario, different features such as using different activities, user management,
and notification settings can also be tested.
5.5 Preparing Documentation about Problems and the Works Done
Works using the BPM tool should be documented after each work is done, without
waiting for all works to be completed. This documentation will facilitate communica-
tion within the team. And it helps using the selected BPM tool at a certain level, while
real scenarios is going to be made in the future.
5.6 Identifying the Documentation Provided by the BPM Tools
In general, you can look at BPM tool documentation provided by the vendor. Moreover,
it might be good idea to look at the extent to which the advanced topics supported by
BPM are provided.
5.7 Communicating with the Pre-Sales Team of BPM Tools
Various scenarios and problems encountered can be discussed with the pre-sales tech-
nical team of BPM tool. Furthermore, additional information about BPM tool can be
taken from the pre-sales team. In this way, it is possible to get an idea of the support
given by BPM tool team for both fast and after sale.
Mehmet Mustafa Gürsul
5.8 Observing community support on the Internet
When working with the BPM tool, especially following emerging problems, solutions
of a problem can be searched on the internet (forums, blogs etc.). In this way, commu-
nity support on the internet is tested and controlled.
5.9 BPM Selection Criteria
All of above items will help to score BPM Selection Criteria more efficiently. For ex-
ample; if one of expected criterion of BPM is “Supporting various technologies (data-
base, LDAP, Active Directory, RESTful Service, etc).”, it can be easy to give more
accurate score after applied all of above items.
6 Formula for Selecting BPM Tool
After the method is applied, the selection score of the two BPM tools are made by
following formula.
𝑋 𝑌
𝑓𝑠𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑒 = ∏ 𝑚𝑖 ∗ ∑(𝑐𝑗 ∗ 𝑤𝑗 )
𝑖=1 𝑗=1
─ f(x): is the score of the BPM tool. BPM tool with high score is selected.
─ X: is a number of mandatory criteria.
─ Y: is a number of bpm tool’s expected criteria.
─ m: is a value of mandatory criterion. It can be 0 or 1.
─ c: is a value of bpm tool’s expected criterion. It can be between 0 to 10.
─ w: is a weight in enterprise software project, importance level. It can be between 0
to 10.
7 Results Achieved
The suitable BPM tool was selected successfully for the enterprise software project
with the method that I followed. On the other hand, the enterprise software project,
which uses selected BPM tool, is ongoing. Related to enterprise software project, both
simple and complex scenarios were tested in BPM tool selection process.
4 mandatory and 10 expected criteria used in the selection of BPM tool. BPM Tool
A and BPM Tool B, which fulfil mandatory criteria, were evaluated according to the
method given. BPM Tool C and BPM Tool D, were eliminated initially because of not
satisfying mandatory criteria.
Criteria in relation with usability were found important in this choice as well and
explained with details at the next section.
The recommended method lasted approximately 3 months.
An Applied Method for Selecting a Business Process Management Tool in Enterprise Software
Project
8 Criteria in Related with Usability and BPM Tool
Usability Studies in the Literature
The following criteria can be viewed as criteria for usability among ten criteria which
are selected as BPM tool selection criteria for the enterprise software project.
Supporting various technologies. (database, LDAP, Active Directory, REST-
ful Service, etc.)
o Compatibility with database to be used in enterprise software pro-
ject
o Support systems for user management.
o SOAP and RESTful service support by BPM tool
Obtaining support from the vendor (before and after sale)
Solution and support for problems from community support on the internet
Usage of the business rule engine.
Ease of application development in BPM tool.
Having enough documentation about the BPM tool.
The comparison of BPM tool usability studies in the literature and usability in this
study is given in the following table.
Literature BPM Tool Usability Usability In this Study
“The technical support of the process of process Technical support was found to be
modelling is important for the quality and the ap- important as vendor support, sup-
plicability of the resulting models. The quality of port for many technologies, and
that technical support plays an important role in ease of use of software are taken
the selection of corresponding software products into consideration.
and is a crucial characteristic of differentiation.”
[8].
“Considering that the target user group of BPM The software's web-based criterion
tools is shifting from modelling experts to domain takes into account the ease of use of
experts from the departments without specific IT business users with the availability
knowledge” [9]. of the BPM tool without the need
for an IDE installation.
Mehmet Mustafa Gürsul
The study was carried out in a scenario consisting Simple and complex scenarios were
of five different tasks in BPM. After this scenario, tested and the criteria for selecting
information has been obtained from the user in the BPM tool were evaluated.
terms of usability [10]
One of the BPM tool selection criteria is “user in- The criteria related to usability are
terface and usability of the BPM tool” [11] found to be important in selecting
BPM tool with the applied method.
9 Conclusion
Finding the BPM solution that fits your needs best in the enterprise software project is
a challenging task. In this study, you can see an applied and proven method for selecting
BPM tool in the enterprise software project.
Since it is impossible to investigate all the BPM tools in terms of time and cost, sev-
eral tools can be selected bearing in mind which tool is the most appropriate for the
technical architecture of the enterprise software project and company’s experiences. In
this study two BPM tools are investigated at final. In addition, two BPM tools were
initially eliminated they did not meet the required criteria.
When making the selection of BPM tool, the POC (proof of concept) work is very
useful. In this POC, firstly implementing simple scenarios and then selecting a scenario
similar to the actual scenario can be applied.
Finally; it is very useful to communicate with the technical pre-sales team of BPM
tool vendor to discuss the POC works and some problems and solutions.
An Applied Method for Selecting a Business Process Management Tool in Enterprise Software
Project
References
1. Chang, James F. (2016), Business Process Management Systems, Strategy and Implemen-
tation, Aurbach Publications.
2. W. M. P. van der Aalst (2013), Business Process Management: A Comprehensive Survey,
ISRN Software Engineering Volume 2013, Article ID 507984
3. Shitkova Maria (2014), On the Usability of Business Process Modelling Tools – a Review
and Future Research Directions, University of Münster- Ercis Leonardo Campus 3 48149
Münster
4. Fowler Martin (2011), Patterns of Enterprise Application Architecture, 2012, Addison-Wes-
ley, p.xvii.
5. Enterprise Software, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enterprise_software, last accessed:
28.05.2017
6. Microsoft 2017, What is an Enterprise Application? https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/li-
brary/aa267045(v=vs.60).aspx, last accessed: 28.05.2017
7. Proof of Concept, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proof_of_concept, last accessed:
28.05.2017
8. Tom Thaler, Dirk Maurer, Vittorio De Angelis, Peter Fettke, Peter Loos (2015), Mining the
Usability of Business Process Modeling Tools: Concept and Case Study, Proceedings of the
Industry Track at the 13th International Conference on Business Process Management 2015
9. Shitkova Maria (2014), The Usability of Business Process Modelling Tools – a Review and
Future Research Directions, University of Münster- Ercis Leonardo Campus 3 48149 Mün-
ster
10. Philip Effinger, Sandra Seiz, Nicole Jogsch (2011), Evaluating single features in usability
tests for business process modeling tools, Eberhard Karls Universitat Tübingen, Informatik
schafft Communities 41. Jahrestagung der Gesellschaft für Informatik, 4.-7.10.2011, Berlin,
Germany
11. Mojca Indihar Štemberger, Vesna Bosilj-Vukšić, Jurij Jaklič (2009), Business process man-
agement Software selection – Two case studies UDK 65.012.4:004.4'2,
Preliminary paper, Prethodno priopćenje , December 2009