Challenges To Suppo A PPI Managemen Li ecycle∗
Adela del-Río-O ega Manuel Resinas An onio Ruiz-Co és
ETS Ingenie ía In o má ica ETS Ingenie ía In o má ica ETS Ingenie ía In o má ica
Uni . de Se illa Uni . de Se illa Uni . de Se illa
[email p o ec ed] [email p o ec ed] [email p o ec ed]
Abs ac
An impo an aspec in he business p ocess
li ecycle is he e alua ion o business p ocesses
pe o mance, since i helps o ganisa ions o de-
ine and measu e p og ess owa ds hei goals.
Pe o mance equi emen s on business p o-
cesses can be speci ied by means o P ocess
Pe o mance Indica o s (PPIs), as sugges ed
in many me hodologies and amewo ks like,
o ins ance, COBIT, ITIL o EFQM. As a
consequence, i is con enien o in eg a e he
managemen o PPIs in o he whole business
p ocess li ecycle om i s design o i s e alu-
a ion, enabling hus a mo e effec i e an effi-
cien au oma ed suppo o ex ac in o ma-
ion om such indica o s. In his pape , we
analyse some app oaches ela ed o his issue
and iden i y he challenges ha need o be
aced.
1 In oduc ion
I is inc easingly impo an o e alua e he
pe o mance o business p ocesses. A key
ins umen o ca y ou his e alua ion is
by means o P ocess Pe o mance Indica o s
(PPIs). A PPI is a measu e ha e lec s he
c i ical success ac o s o a business p ocess
de ined wi hin an o ganisa ion, in which i s
a ge alue mus be eached in a ce ain pe-
iod and e lec s he objec i es pu sued by he
o ganisa ion wi h ha business p ocess. No e
ha we use PPI as a kind o Key Pe o mance
∗This wo k has been pa ially suppo ed by
he Eu opean Commission (FEDER), and SETI
(TIN2009-07366); and p ojec P07-TIC-2533 unded
by he Andalusian local Go e nmen .
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Figu e 1: Business P ocess Li ecycle as desc ibed
in [4]
Indica o (KPI) ha ocuses exclusi ely on
he indica o s de ined on he business p o-
cesses. Nowadays, many me hodologies and
amewo ks like, o ins ance, COBIT, ITIL o
he EFQM excellence model [1, 2, 3], con i m
his impo ance by including he de ini ion o
hese PPIs wi hin hei ecommenda ions as
a means o e alua e he pe o mance o he
exis ing business p ocesses. In o de o make
his e alua ion o business p ocesses easie , i
is con enien o in eg a e he managemen o
PPIs in o he whole business p ocess li ecy-
cle. In [4], he ou -phase business p ocess
li ecycle o Figu e 1 is p oposed. This li ecycle
s a s wi h he Design and analysis phase, in
which business p ocesses a e iden i ied, mod-
elled using a pa icula no a ion, alida ed o
check whe he all alid p ocess ins ances a e
e lec ed by i s co esponding business p ocess
model, simula ed o de ec possible undesi ed
Ac as de los Talle es de las Jo nadas de Ingenie ía del So wa e y Bases de Da os, Vol. 4, No. 4, 2010
ISSN 1988-3455 SISTEDES, 2010 8
execu ion sequences, and e i ied. Once he
business p ocess model is designed and e i-
ied, i needs o be implemen ed. This is done
du ing he con igu a ion phase, whe e, in case
a dedica ed so wa e sys em is needed, i mus
be selec ed and con igu ed in o de o ake in o
accoun he in e ac ions o he employees wi h
he sys em and he in eg a ion wi h exis ing
so wa e sys ems. Then, he implemen a ion
o business p ocess needs o be es ed and i-
nally deployed in i s a ge en i onmen . Nex
phase is he enac men , ha encompasses he
un ime o he business p ocess. On he one
hand, a co ec o ches a ion is necessa y o
he business ac i i ies o be pe o med acco d-
ing o he business p ocess’s execu ion con-
s ain s. On he o he hand, p ocess moni-
o ing is a good mechanism o p o iding in-
o ma ion abou he s a us o business p ocess
ins ances. Finally, he e alua ion phase uses
in o ma ion a ailable o e alua e and imp o e
business p ocess models and hei implemen-
a ions. No e ha he e no exis s a s ic
empo al o de ing in which hese phases need
o be execu ed; inc emen al and e olu iona y
app oaches in ol ing concu en ac i i ies in
mul iple phases a e, hus, common. In his pa-
pe , we a e in e es ed in desc ibing wha has
been done in he li e a u e ega ding he in-
eg a ion o PPIs as i s -class ci izens in his
business p ocess li ecycle, and in ou lining he
open challenges his issue p esen s.
The emainde o his pape is o ganised as
ollows. In Sec ion 2 we explain how o in e-
g a e PPIs in o he business p ocess manage-
men li ecycle and analyse how diffe en ap-
p oaches deal wi h his issue. F om his sec-
ion, a numbe o open esea ch ques ions a e
iden i ied and p esen ed in Sec ion 3. Finally,
Sec ion 4 d aws he conclusions om ou wo k,
summa izes he pape and ou lines ou u u e
wo k.
2 In eg a ing PPIs In o The Busi-
ness P ocess Managemen Li ecy-
cle
In o de o make he e alua ion o he pe o -
mance o business p ocesses easie , i is con-
enien o in eg a e he managemen o PPIs
in o he whole business p ocess li ecycle. In
his sec ion, we ake he business p ocess li e-
cycle p esen ed by Weske in [4, 5] as a e e -
ence and we desc ibe how managemen o PPIs
can be in eg a ed in o his li ecycle. Fu he -
mo e, we also epo on se e al p oposals ha
can be used o suppo his in eg a ion.
2.1 Design and Analysis
In he design and analysis phase, PPIs should
be modelled oge he wi h he business p o-
cess. Fu he mo e, his model o PPIs should
also enable hei analysis by de ec ing he de-
pendencies amongs hem a design ime and
also using hem as pa o he business p o-
cess analysis, o ins ance in business p ocess
simula ion echniques.
Wi h espec o his phase, se e al au ho s
ha e p esen ed some app oaches: Ped inaci e
al. p esen in [9] a me ic on ology o al-
low he de ini ion and compu a ion o me -
ics. Popo a e al. [13] p esen a amewo k o
modeling pe o mance indica o s wi hin a gen-
e al o ganisa ion modeling amewo k. They
de ine indica o s by assigning alues o a se
o a ibu es. In [23], hey poin ou he way
hese indica o s a e calcula ed and de ine e-
la ions be ween PPIs and he p ocesses. Rela-
ionships be ween PPIs (causali y, co ela ion
and agg ega ion) a e b ie ly in oduced in [13]
and explained in de ail in [23]. They also
de ine empo al p ope ies o e PPIs (called
PI exp essions) in [24]. We zs ein e al. de-
sc ibe in [20] a KPI on ology using WSML o
speci y KPIs o e seman ic business p ocesses.
In [15] Maye l e al. discuss how o de i e me -
ic dependency de ini ions om unc ional de-
pendencies by applying dependency pa e ns.
Cas ellanos e al. p esen in [18] he IBOM
pla o m, ha allows, among o he hings, o
de ine business measu es. The use can de ine
business measu es ( h ough a GUI) o measu e
cha ac e is ics o p ocess ins ances, p ocesses,
esou ces o o he o e all business ope a ions.
Speci ically, hey cha ac e ize me ics h ough
ou a ibu es: name (unique), a ge en i y
(obje o be measu ed), da a ype (nume ic,
boolean, axonomy o SLA) and desi able me -
Ac as de los Talle es de las Jo nadas de Ingenie ía del So wa e y Bases de Da os, Vol. 4, No. 4, 2010
ISSN 1988-3455 SISTEDES, 2010 9
ic alues. This app oach is no ocused on
business p ocesses bu on he whole o ganisa-
ion.
2.2 Con igu a ion
Du ing he con igu a ion phase, he ins u-
men a ion o he p ocesses ha a e necessa y
o ake he measu es mus be de ined.
Momm e al. p esen in [19] a me a-model
o he speci ica ion o he PPI moni o ing
along wi h an ex ension o he BPMN me a-
model o modeling he equi ed ins umen-
a ion o he moni o ing and an ou line o
me hodology o an au oma ed gene a ion o
his ins umen a ion.This app oach explains
how o de ine a KPI and how o ake he mea-
su es.
2.3 Enac men
Du ing he business p ocess enac men , when
aluable execu ion da a is ga he ed, he PPIs’
alues ha e o be calcula ed and he moni o -
ing o hese PPIs should be ca ied ou . Fo
ins ance, his can be done based on execu ion
logs ha s o e in o ma ion abou he p ocess
such as he s a o he end o ac i i ies.
To o e come his issue, Ped inaci e al.
p esen in [9] a Seman ic Business P ocess
Moni o ing Tool called SENTINEL. This ool
can suppo au oma ed easoning. Popo a e
al. p opose in [23] o mal echniques o anal-
ysis o execu ions o o ganiza ional scena ios.
We zs ein e al. in oduce in [20] a amewo k
o BAM as pa o he seman ic business p o-
cess managemen , whe e PPI models a e au-
oma ically con e ed o IT-le el e en -based
models and used o eal- ime moni o ing us-
ing easoning echnology. In his amewo k,
he e is a moni o model ha speci ies how
e en s a e p ocessed o calcula e KPIs, whose
alues a e hen published in dashboa ds
2.4 E alua ion
Finally, du ing he e alua ion phase, he mon-
i o ing in o ma ion ob ained in he p e ious
phase will help o iden i y co ela ions and p e-
dic u u e beha iou .
Cas ellanos e al. [18] add ess his issue,
since hei IBOM pla o m also allows o pe -
o m in elligen analysis on business measu es
o unde s and causes o undesi ed alues and
p edic u u e alues.
3 Challenges
As can be deduced om Sec ion 2, business
p ocess li ecycle can bene i om he de ini ion
o PPIs o e p ocesses and om a se o anal-
ysis ope a ions o hem, enabling a mo e effec-
i e and efficien au oma ed suppo o ex ac
in o ma ion om such indica o s.
In o de o ob ain such bene i , he e exis s
a numbe o esea ch ques ions ha a e no
answe ed ye . In he ollowing we s a e some
o hem:
•Which in o ma ion is necessa y in
o de o de ine P ocess Pe o mance
Indica o s o e business p ocesses?
How do hese PPIs ela e o he
business p ocesses o which hey
we e de ined?
An app op ia e de ini ion o PPIs is key
o enable he au oma ed suppo o he
a o emen ioned PPIs li ecycle. Mo eo e ,
in o de o be able o ge in o ma ion,
no only om he indica o s, bu also
om he business p ocesses hey we e de-
ined o , i is impo an o de ine an ex-
plici connec ion be ween indica o s and
he p ocess elemen s hey a e measu ing.
The e a e se e al esea ch p oposals o
de ine PPIs, as p esen ed in Sec ion 2, bu
none o hem a e well-sui ed because ei-
he he e a e commonly used PPIs ha
canno be de ined wi h hem o hey a e
no eady o enable a design- ime analysis
o PPIs. In Ped ina i e al.’s app oach [9]
i is no clea whe he he de ined me -
ics a e explici ly connec ed wi h he el-
emen s o a business p ocess. Popo a e
al. [13] do no conside de i ed measu es
when de ining indica o s. We zs ein e
al. [20] do no ake in o accoun indica-
o s ela ed o da a. Maye l e al. [15] do
no del e in o he de ini ion o measu es,
Ac as de los Talle es de las Jo nadas de Ingenie ía del So wa e y Bases de Da os, Vol. 4, No. 4, 2010
ISSN 1988-3455 SISTEDES, 2010 10
hey only se he seman ics o some ele-
men s o conside when de ining measu es
based on concep s o he CIM me ics
model [16] (e.g. Uni O Wo k, which e-
la es me ics wi h unc ional en i ies) and
he QoS UML p o ile desc ibed in [17].
Momm e al.’s me amodel o he speci i-
ca ion o PPIs [19] lacks some p ope ies
iden i ied like, o ins ance, he analysis
pe iod o he PPI). Finally, Cas ellanos e
al. [18], as a as we can deduce om he
pape , do no ake in o accoun du ing he
de ini ion o me ics some aspec s such as
he analysis pe iod, he uni o measu e
o he dimension o be measu ed.
•Which analysis ope a ions can be
applied o PPIs in o de o ge
ele an in o ma ion abou hem?
Which in o ma ion can be ga he ed
om hese PPIs’ de ini ion?
Making que ies and ex ac ing in o ma-
ion om PPIs may be use ul when de in-
ing dashboa ds o moni o p ocesses. Fu -
he mo e, he analysis o hese PPIs a
design- ime can help o assu e he de i-
ni ion o achie able goals o e en iden-
i y con lic ing goals. E.g. I could be
de ec ed i wo PPIs in e sely dependen
a e being ied o be op imised. Ano he
bene i esul ing om his analysis is he
possibili y o ind ou how ce ain ac i i y
in luences PPIs o ice e sa.
Wi h espec o his challenge, he e ex-
is some app oaches [9, 23, 20, 18] ha
add ess he analysis o PPIs, bu hey do
i in un ime, losing he a o emen ioned
bene i s o his design- ime analysis.
•Which a e he issues o conside
when de eloping a sui able ool o
suppo his au oma ic analysis o
p ocess pe o mance indica o s?
Explici business p ocess models ex-
p essed in a g aphical no a ion (such as,
o ins ance, BPMN) ease communica ion
abou hese p ocesses, so ha s akehold-
e s can communica e efficien ly, and e-
ine and imp o e hem. In he same way,
i is con enien o de elop a g aphical no-
a ion o depic hese PPIs oge he wi h
he co esponding business p ocess mod-
els. Thus, i is necessa y o de elop a
ool o suppo such a g aphical no a ion
o PPIs, as well as o enable hei au o-
ma ed analysis. Fu he mo e, i would be
e y use ul o in eg a e such a ool wi h
an edi o o business p ocess diag ams.
To he bes o ou knowledge, he e no
exis s such a g aphical no a ion no he
desc ibed ool.
4 Conclusions and Fu u e Wo k
In his pape , we a gue he impo ance o in-
eg a ing he managemen o PPIs in o he
whole business p ocess li ecycle. Speci ically,
in he design and analysis phase, PPIs mus be
modelled oge he wi h he business p ocess.
This model should enable (a design- ime) an
au oma ed o semi-au oma ed analysis o, o
ins ance, de ec he dependencies and po en-
ial con lic s amongs hem o o use hem
oge he wi h o he business p ocess analysis
echniques such as simula ion echniques. We
ha e analysed how diffe en app oaches ad-
d ess his issue and hei sho comings. We
ha e also iden i ied he challenges ha need
o be aced o his espec .
Ou u u e wo k ocuses on inding answe s
o he open esea ch ques ions p esen ed in
Sec ion 3. In o de o do so we ha e al eady
s a ed by de ining an on ology o he de ini-
ion o PPIs (desc ibed in a pape submi ed
o he 18 h In e na ional Con e ence on Co-
ope a i e In o ma ion Sys ems-CoopIS 2010),
whose main bene i s can be summa ised as ol-
lows:
1. The ela ion be ween PPIs and he busi-
ness p ocess is explici ly es ablished.
2. I suppo s he de ini ion o a wide a-
ie y o PPIs, including hose associa ed
wi h da a objec s. I also suppo s he
de ini ion o an exp essi e analysis pe iod
o a PPI
Ac as de los Talle es de las Jo nadas de Ingenie ía del So wa e y Bases de Da os, Vol. 4, No. 4, 2010
ISSN 1988-3455 SISTEDES, 2010 11
3. Dependencies be ween measu es can be
au oma ically ob ained om he on ology,
which enables he analysis o PPIs a de-
sign ime. Fu he mo e, since he on ol-
ogy has been de ined in OWL DL, au-
oma ed easone s can be used o make
que ies abou he PPI model
Mo eo e , we a e ex ending his on ological
de ini ion wi h a ex ual language as close o
he na u al language as possible, in o de o
ease his de ini ion.
Wi h espec o he second poin , we plan o
de ine a mechanism o make que ies on PPIs
(PPI-Q) simila o he one p esen ed in [21] o
make que ies on BPMN (BPMN-Q). We a e
also wo king on desc ibing mechanisms o de-
i e es ic ions ( aking ad an age om Con-
s ain Sa is ac ion P oblems) be ween PPIs,
in o de o ex ac knowledge in an au oma ic
way om he PPIs de ined o e a pa icula
business p ocess.
Finally, o o e come he hi d challenge, we
a e de eloping a g aphical no a ion in o de
o depic hese on ological concep s o PPIs
o e business p ocesses and we a e also in e-
g a ing his no a ion in o he web-based edi o
ORYX [22] as a esul o a collabo a ion s ay
wi h he BPT g oup a he HPI Po sdam.
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