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1 October 2002

UML PRODUCTS ARE MOST WIDELY USED FOR DIAGRAMMING BUSINESS PROCESSES

The field of business process is getting a lot of attention these days. Companies are seeking to streamline their processes and make them more efficient. At the same time, organizations are redesigning key processes to incorporate Internet and Web technologies. Commerce Web sites, supply chain systems, and Web service-based processes are all popular.

Table 1 -- Graphical modeling techniques used to describe business processes.

Casewise Corporate Modeler: 1%
Oracle Designer Process diagrams: 1%
Generic Flow diagrams: 1%
IDEF: 2%
Multiple diagrams: 3%
Rummler-Brache/Proforma diagrams: 3%
UML various diagrams: 6%
IDS Scheer/ARIS (SAP) diagrams: 9%
UML activity diagrams: 13%
Other type of workflow diagrams: 16%
UML use case diagrams: 21%
Rational Unified Process diagrams: 24%

Cutter Consortium recently conducted a study about the role of business process redesign in organizations worldwide. The expert analysis, conclusions, and insight about business process redesign is based on exclusive survey results from more than 120 companies worldwide.

Paul Harmon, Cutter Consortium Senior Consultant and author of the report, Who's Profiting from Business Process Redesign, remarks, "In our survey, we found that in spite of the general enthusiasm for business process redesign, there was considerable variation in what companies meant when they used the term 'business process redesign.' "

"We approached the topic from several different perspectives to develop a better idea of what was happening in the marketplace," says Harmon. Table 1, above, provides one way of looking at the problem. Harmon continues, "In this case we are focusing on the graphical notation that companies doing business process redesign claim they use. Some notations, like OMG's UML and Rational's UP UML diagrams, are normally used by software developers. Others, like IDS Scheer's popular ARIS diagrams, are normally used in SAP development. Still others, like the Rummler-Brache diagrams, are used by business managers when they try to understand high-level processes. In other words, this chart does not suggest a market for diagramming techniques, but rather suggests that several different communities are all pursuing business process redesign, each with their own techniques."

-- Cutter Consortium

UML Products Are Most Widely Used for Diagramming Business Processes