BPMN in a Nutshell — with Free Online BPMN Tool & Examples

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2 Benefits of Business Process Management Notation (BPMN)

Business Process Model and Notation has become the de-facto standard for business processes diagrams. It is intended to be used directly by the stakeholders who design, manage and realize business processes, but at the same time be precise enough to allow BPMN diagrams to be translated into software process components.

The Goal of BPMN

Organizations are always pursuing improvements in how they work in order to increase efficiency and reduce errors. This requires analysis and continuous improvement of their working methods, which may include very structured workflows in predictable situations, as well as protocols to respond to dynamic situations where it is impossible to prescribe a fixed process.

The primary goal of BPMN is to provide a notation that is readily understandable by all business users, from the business analysts that create the initial drafts of the processes, to the technical developers responsible for implementing the technology that will perform those processes, and finally, to the business people who will manage and monitor those processes. Thus,

BPMN creates a standardized bridge for the gap between the business process design and process implementation. Another goal, but no less important, is to ensure that XML® languages designed for the execution of business processes, such as WSBPEL (Web Services Business Process Execution Language), can be visualized with a business-oriented notation.

Benefits of Business Process Management Notation (BPMN)

Standard — BPMN is not owned by a certain enterprise but by an institution (OMG), which is already established through other world-wide standards, e.g., UML. The standard is supported by many software products; you are less dependent on any particular vendor’s products.

Simplicity — BPMN has an easy-to-use flowchart-like notation that is independent of any particular implementation environment. The principle behind BPMN is rather simple which is why you can start working with this notation very quickly.

Power of expression — If necessary, you can describe precisely how a process functions with BPMN. However, this is more difficult than only roughly describing the process. This way of precise modeling is possible, but not mandatory.

Implementation in IT — BPMN has been primarily developed to support technical implementation of processes (“Process Automation”). The more important the IT is in a company, the more helpful the use of BPMN becomes.

Other Benefits:

Reach faster agreement on the as is and to be processes through unambiguous models;
Encourage stakeholder participation though graphically expressive notations;
Facilitate the analysis and improvement of operations; and
Create a library of processes, case definitions and business rules to train new employees

Free BPMN Online Software

There are many BPMN online tools in the market. Visual Paradigm one of the best free software available together with a lot of examples. You can try the following examples to learn more about the tool. It is free and I think is the best for personal use and you can use it for commercial purposes for just $4 / per month. (Click the link below for instantly online editing!)