In recent years, organizations have refocused on their business processes in a way we haven't seen since the heyday of Business Process Reengineering in the early 1990s. In 2006, enterprise software is increasingly process-oriented, Business Process Management suites are gaining in popularity, Business Process Outsourcing is becoming commonplace, and, of course, everyone knows that business processes are crucial to organizational performance. Business analysts and software developers alike need skills in working with business processes in order to participate in and support these exciting initiatives. On a more day-to-day level, a clear and understandable workflow model provides a great framework and is a great way to encourage business involvement in discovering application requirements.

After a quick review of "process orientation," and how we got to where we are now, we'll turn our attention to modeling the workflow of a business process. The essential techniques will be illustrated by looking at some of the problems that arise again and again in process modeling and analysis efforts:

• Missing the point about what a "business process" really is
• Getting lost following threads in all directions
• Choosing the wrong process modeling technique
• Choosing the wrong technique again!
• Inaccuracy and inconsistency in workflow models

Other topics we'll touch on along the way will include the six critical factors in a business process, Six Sigma vs. BPM vs. BPR, and how use cases and service specifications fit in.

Throughout, key points will be illustrated with real-life examples and short tutorials on the techniques.