Are we there yet? Seamless mapping of BPMN to BPEL4WS AMCIS 2007

1. Are we there yet?Seamless mapping of BPMN to BPEL4WSAMCIS 2007 Marta Indulska, Jan Recker, Peter Green, Michael Rosemann The University of Queensland, Queensland University of Technology 11 August, 2007

2. Agenda • Introduction • Representation Theory in IS research • Findings • Summary & Future Work

3. Introduction • Process Modelling is a cornerstone of many BPM initiatives, and one of the main reasons to do conceptual modelling overall (Davies et al., 2006) • Different process modeling techniques are being used for defining business requirements and defining technical process specification for workflow execution • Need better support for mappings between process models in the design and execution phases of process implementation projects • Business Process Modelling Notation (BPMN) & Business Process Execution Language (BPEL4WS)

4. Introduction: BPEL4WS & BPMN • BPEL4WS • Has now become a de facto standard for specifying executable processes (Leymann and Roller 2006) • Numerous tools support the execution of BPEL4WS processes • No graphical representation • Technical specification • BPMN • Developed with clear intention to provide a standard visual notation for executable BPEL4WS and to define a formal mapping between BPMN and BPEL4WS (BPMI.org and OMG 2006, p. 1)

5. From the BPMN specification „… 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 BPEL4WS (Business Process Execution Language for Web Services), can be visualized with a business-oriented notation.“

6. BPMN - BPEL4WS mapping • BPMN specification (BPMI.org and OMG 2006, pp. 137-204) presents a mapping between BPMN and BPEL4WS • An example of how a mapping could work is given by White (2005) • Ouyang et al. (2006) reveals that translations available in commercial tools fail to meet the following requirements: • completeness, i.e., applicable translations for any BPMN model, • automation, i.e., the capability to produce target code without requiring human intervention, and • readability, i.e., the capability to constitently produce target code that is not only machine-readable but also understandable by human actors. • Mendling et al. (2006) discuss different strategies for translating graph-oriented models (like BPMN) to block-oriented specifications (like BPEL4WS) • Existing transformation strategies tend to collapse when defining mappings for a general case

7. Aims & Approach • Aims: Determine the extent of the representational capabilities of both BPMN and BPEL4WS Highlight areas of representational inconsistency between the two techniques that in turn indicate expected problem areas with regard to an automatic mapping of BPMN to BPEL4WS. • Approach: Use representation theory as a lens Perform an overlap analysis of the results for BPMN and BPEL4WS

8. Representation Theory in IS Research • Originates from philosophical theory of ontology • Describes real-world domains in terms of the properties of, the structure of, and the interactions between real-world things • Wand and Weber adapted a theory developed by Bunge to the IS discipline àBWW representation model • The BWW model identifies constructs, for which modelling grammars need to provide representations, that are necessary and sufficient to provide a conceptual model of IS domains, e.g., of business processes

9. The BWW Meta Model

10. Representational Analysis • The BWW representation model can be used as a reference benchmark in the evaluation of the representational capabilities of a modelling grammar • Assumption: any deviation from a 1:1 mapping between grammar constructs and BWW constructs denotes a situation of representational deficiency and potentially causes problems in the usage of the grammar • Two main evaluation criteria: • Ontological Completeness  Which phenomena can be modeled? • Ontological Clarity How can phenomena be modeled?

11. Representational Analysis BWW Model Modelling Grammar ConstructExcess ConstructRedundancy Construct deficit ConstructOverload Evaluation ofCompleteness and Clarity OntologicalClarity

12. Comparison of analyses

13. Longitudinal Study of PM Ontological Completeness

14. Mapping BPMN to BPEL4WS: indications from theory [1] • What is missing, wrt BWW, in BPMN and BPEL4WS? • Property in particular, hereditary, intrinsic, non-binding mutual • Conceivable state space, lawful state space, state law, stable state, unstable state, history • Conceivable event space, lawful event space • BPMN representations missing in BPEL4WS • Thing, Kind • System environment, Subsystem, System decomposition, Level structure • BPEL4WS representations missing in BPMN • Emergent property, attributes • State • System structure

15. Mapping BPMN to BPEL4WS: indications from theory [2] • BPMN Lane construct versus BPEL4WS Partner construct • BPMN Data Object construct misses corresponding BPEL4WS construct • BPMN event time dimensions are not captured in BPEL4WS event constructs • BPMN general activities versus differentiated BPEL4WS activity types • BPMN Sub-Process and Transaction constructs miss corresponding BPEL4WS constructs • BPMN Pool and Lane constructs do not have mapping to BPEL4WS

16. Summary and future work • Findings: • A number of representational inconsistencies between BPMN and BPEL4WS that potentially impact translation • A number of BWW constructs, e.g. history and lawful event space, that BPMN and BPEL4WS are not able to model • BPMN provides modeling capability not provided by BPEL4WS, implying that users would encounter difficulties in the mapping of such BPMN models to BPEL4WS processes • Future directions: • Extend analysis to cover each BPMN and BPEL4WS construct in more detail • Empirically validate the proposed mapping shortcomings with practitioners who have had experience with mapping BPMN models to BPEL4WS processes • Investigate rigorous transformation algorithms

17. Thank you • Marta Indulska: m.indulska@business.uq.edu.au • Jan Recker: j.recker@qut.edu.au • Peter Green: p.green@business.uq.edu.au • Michael Rosemann: m.rosemann@qut.edu.au