ProcessM

ProcessM (often stylized as processm) is a conceptual framework for describing, coordinating, and executing processes across organizational and software domains. It focuses on providing a lightweight, technology-agnostic meta-model that can be used to describe workflows, tasks, resources, events, and their interrelations. The term is used in theory and in experimental tooling, and it is not an official standard.

At its core, ProcessM defines key entities such as Process, Task, Resource, Event, State, and Transition. A Process encapsulates a lifecycle, which can be decomposed into Tasks arranged in sequences, parallels, or conditional branches. Tasks specify preconditions, input and output data, required Resources, and estimated duration. States describe the current status of a unit of work, and Transitions describe how a unit moves between states in response to Events or condition checks.

ProcessM supports both declarative and procedural modeling. It can be expressed through a compact domain-specific language or as diagrams aligned with common diagramming practices. The framework emphasizes composability: sub-processes can be embedded within larger processes, and Task templates enable reuse across projects. Execution engines can implement ProcessM models by interpreting the meta-model and mapping to concrete automation steps.

Relation to other standards is a consideration in ProcessM design. It draws inspiration from BPMN, UML activity diagrams, and Petri nets, while aiming to stay neutral regarding execution environments. Profiles or adapters may be used to export models to varied runtimes or to import data from external systems.

ProcessM emerged in academic and prototype contexts during the 2010s and 2020s as a lightweight alternative to more heavyweight process-management standards. Adoption remains limited, with most use cases reported in research, tooling experiments, and niche industries. Critics point to a lack of mature tooling and standardized syntax as barriers to broader uptake.