BPMN

BPMN, or Business Process Model and Notation, is a graphical language for specifying business processes in a workflow. It provides a standardized notation intended to be readable by business analysts and technical developers alike, enabling the documentation, analysis, and communication of process behavior. The standard is maintained by the Object Management Group (OMG).

BPMN defines a core set of diagram elements organized into four categories: flow objects (events, activities, gateways), connecting objects (sequence flows, message flows, associations), swimlanes (pools and lanes) for organizational responsibilities, and artifacts (data objects, groups, annotations) that provide additional information.

BPMN 2.0 introduced executable semantics and multiple diagram types, including process diagrams for internal workflows, collaboration diagrams that show interactions between participants, and choreography diagrams that describe the expected sequence of messages across partners. The notation is designed to support both descriptive models and executable processes that can be run by BPMN-compliant engines, often via transformation to other execution languages or via runtime interpretation.

Interoperability: BPMN models can be integrated with other standards, such as DMN for decisions and, to a lesser extent, BPEL or XPDL for interchange with older workflow platforms.

Adoption and usage: BPMN is widely supported by modeling tools and enterprise suites, used to document processes, analyze bottlenecks, and drive automation. Tools include Camunda, Signavio, Visio, and others; it is commonly employed across industries.

Limitations and considerations: BPMN diagrams can become complex; governance and modeling conventions are important to maintain clarity. Not all features are equally implemented by all tools, and executable semantics may require additional runtime configuration.

History: Originated from BPMI.org in the early 2000s, BPMN was standardized and later transferred to OMG; BPMN 2.0 published in 2011, with subsequent revisions to refine semantics and tool support.