Towards a process-oriented ADL for specifying communication flows in BPMS application landscapes

Abstract

Business Process Management (BPM) can be supported by a BPMS. Especially, to foster the automation of end-to-end processes. Nowadays, a BPMS is often a low-code development platform. By means of the configuration of executable business process models, a process-driven application can be created. As part of this configuration, a BPMS is situated within an application landscape where it is integrated with other systems in order to collect and use the information that is required for the execution of the business processes. In this research, regarding the low-code development capabilities of a BPMS, we focus on the communication flows (data/information flows, message flows) through APIs and (web) services within the BPMS application landscape. This landscape can get quite complex when there are a lot of communication flows both within the BPMS and between the BPMS and the integrated systems. Therefore, we tend to answer the following main research question: “What are the constituents of a process-oriented ADL for specifying communication flows in BPMS application landscapes?” For this, we have designed an Architecture Description Language (ADL) which is tailored to the process-oriented functionality of a BPMS. Previous related research does not particularly focus on this topic. During the design process of the intended ADL, relevant literature has been combined with the perspectives of practitioners. We have acquired the practitioners’ perspectives by means of both semi-structured interviews and focus groups. The design process has resulted in a process-oriented ADL that is in fact a coherent set of several models of BPMN, Architecture, and UML. The models are all related to each other in certain ways within the scope of the ADL. We have validated the practical applicability and added value of the ADL by means of a case study, including semi-structured interviews with practitioners. The case study validation results show that, regarding the specification of communication flows within a BPMS application landscape, the intended ADL is perceived as a useful and valuable means that will be easy to apply and understand within BPMS development projects.