重真 developerWorks Model business processes for flexibility and re-use A component-oriented approach Skill Level: Intermediate JoseADeFreitas(freitas@uk.ibm.com) Advisory Software Engineer 22Apr2009 This article describes a component-oriented approach to business process modeling that allows you to capture process variability and ensure that your model is reusable It describes modeling patterns and practices in Web Spheree Business Modeler that will help you achieve this goal ntroduction Today's business dynamics are mandating that business processes be increasingly responsive to change. This makes it critical that business process models be modular and flexible, not only for increased modeling agility but also for the greater robustness and flexibility of executing processes. A traditional approach to business process modeling frequently results in large models that are difficult to change and maintain. Because of their size these models are not very flexible. They are also not conducive to dynamic process selection - that is, parts of the process model cannot be easily replaced at execution time a good example of a scenario where dynamic process selection is justified is the case where different exception handling processes may be invoked depending on the type of error that is encountered. The traditional way to solve this problem is to use a multiple-choice decision. This is illustrated in the trivial process order example shown in Figure 1. If the order is not valid, one of three paths is chosen depending on the outcome of the decision Figure 1. Hard-wired choices limit flexibility and increase process size Model business processes for flexibility and re-use: A component-oriented approach o Copyright IBM Corporation 2009. All rights reserved Page 1 of 11Model business processes for flexibility and re-use: A component-oriented approach Skill Level: Intermediate Jose A. De Freitas (dfreitas@uk.ibm.com) Advisory Software Engineer IBM 22 Apr 2009 This article describes a component-oriented approach to business process modeling that allows you to capture process variability and ensure that your model is reusable. It describes modeling patterns and practices in WebSphere® Business Modeler that will help you achieve this goal. Introduction Today's business dynamics are mandating that business processes be increasingly responsive to change. This makes it critical that business process models be modular and flexible, not only for increased modeling agility but also for the greater robustness and flexibility of executing processes. A traditional approach to business process modeling frequently results in large models that are difficult to change and maintain. Because of their size, these models are not very flexible. They are also not conducive to dynamic process selection — that is, parts of the process model cannot be easily replaced at execution time. A good example of a scenario where dynamic process selection is justified is the case where different exception handling processes may be invoked depending on the type of error that is encountered. The traditional way to solve this problem is to use a multiple-choice decision. This is illustrated in the trivial process order example shown in Figure 1. If the order is not valid, one of three paths is chosen depending on the outcome of the decision. Figure 1. Hard-wired choices limit flexibility and increase process size Model business processes for flexibility and re-use: A component-oriented approach © Copyright IBM Corporation 2009. All rights reserved. Page 1 of 11