INFO-H-420: Business Process Management

• Toon Calders

• Theory 24 h - Exercises 24h - Project 12h
• 5 ECTS credits

• Master in Computer Science and Engineering [MA-IRIF]
• Master in Computer Sciences [INFO]
• Erasmus Mundus Master in Information Technologies for Business Intelligence (IT4BI)

Some sample exam questions from the BPMS course in eindhoven from previous years. The questions have been edited to better match the slightly different content of the course at the ULB.

The exam is open book. Also the offline use of a computer is allowed. Please find here all slides in pptx format in one zip file.

This course introduces basic concepts for modeling and implementing business processes using contemporary information technologies. The first part of the course consists of modeling business processes, both the control flow and the resource perspective. Different workflow modeling languages are disucssed, such as BPMN, BPeL, EPCs and YAWL. The second part of the course goes into analysis, simulation, and verification of the workflow model. Finally, also process mining will be covered in one lecture. Throughout the course, YAWL will be used as the main tool to model and enact workflows.

Part of the course will be given in the form of a “proof of technology” and a case study by affiliated partner IBM at their premises in Evere (Next to the NATO complex). These two lectures complement the academic coverage of the topic with a more business-oriented perspective and are a nice addition to provide a complete picture of the Business Processing Modeling landscape.

1. Of the following three books, several chapters serve as background reading supporting the lectures. These book chapters are available for download through VLink@ULB
   • Business Process Management (Springer; 2012) by Mathias Weske
   • Modern Business Process Automation (Springer; 2010) by Wil van der Aalst, Michael Adams, Arthur ter Hofstede and Nick Russell
   • Process Mining: Discovery, Conformance and Enhancement of Business Processes (Springer; 2012) by Wil van der Aalst.
2. Lecture slides: will be made available on this site before or right after the lecture; in the detailed schedule below, the entries for the individual lectures will link through to a page specifically about that lecture.

• The workflow tool to be used in the lectures (including documentation): YAWL
• For SAP, the students can access trial versions at the URL: http://scn.sap.com/community/developer-center/
• Here is the link to download SAP Netweaver Composite Release which includes BPM, BRM and the runtime. Its a rar file 5.7 GB. SAP website doesnot support multiple connections for download and the session allows one download per connection so better to disable to the download manager if any. (Thanks Faisal!) http://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/scn/nw-ce-downloads
• IBM promised to provide trial licenses for IBM Bluelive. Once more information becomes available it will be posted here. Recent update from IBM: there is a possibility to use the software in a sandbox environment: IBM BPM in Action. Via this link studnets can make an IBM ID and use the software.
• For drawing BPMN diagrams: Yaoqiang BPMN Editor, which is free and very easy to use, no install required. Here is the link: http://sourceforge.net/projects/bpmn/ (Thanks Milan and Emona)

This schedule is as detailed as possible at this moment; it may be subject to change. Changes will clearly be communicated to the students through this page, and during the lectures.

The lectures will take place on Tuesdays.

• Theory: Tue. 10 till 12 in S.UA4.218
• Exercises: Tue. 14 till 16 in S.AW1.125
• Exercises (from week 8 on) Thu, 13h till 15h in J.1.104.

Many of the slides have been contributed by prof. Wil van der Aalst of the Eindhoven University of Technology, as an additional educational resource for the workflow book. Acknowledgement BPM

• W1: 18/9 T+E: Introduction to the course; Petrinets as a formal basis for describing control flow. INFOH420 - Business Process Management - Week 1
• W2: 25/9 T+E: Modeling the control flow (process perspective) INFOH420 - Business Process Management - Week 2
• W3: 2/10 T+E: Modeling the resource perspective INFOH420 - Business Process Management - Week 3
• W4: 9/10 T+E: The YAWL workflow management system INFOH420 - Business Process Management - Week 4
• W5: 16/10 T+E: Workflow management systems; BPMN and EPCs INFOH420 - Business Process Management - Week 5
• W6: 23/10 T+E: Feedback on assignment. BPeL. INFOH420 - Business Process Management - Week 6
• W7: No lecture - recuperation week
• W8: MONDAY 5/11 9am till 5pm IBM lecture: business tools for BPM + hands-on Replaces BPM lectures on Tuesday and Thursday
• W9: 13/11 T: Analysis and simulation. Workflow verification INFOH420 - Business Process Management - Week 9
• W10: IBM lecture of Monday is postponend
  • No lecture on Tuesday - university closed
  • Theory lecture on Thursday: Process mining I INFOH420 - Business Process Management - Week 10
• W11: BPM lecture on Wednesday 10→12 (Th) 13→15 (Ex) Process mining II INFOH420 - Business Process Management - Week 11
• W12: 4/12 Tue: Concluding session; overview. 6/12 Thu: extra exercises on process mining INFOH420 - Business Process Management - Week 12
• W13: No lecture
• W14: Tuesday 18/12; 10 → 12: Q&A session (Normal lecture room, S.UA 4.218)