Business process modeling

Business process modeling includes techniques and activities used as part of the larger business process management discipline. Both have the same acronym BPM.

Business process modeling is an activity performed by business analysts within a company. Analysts use BPM modeling tools to depict both the current state of an enterprise and the desired future state. This transformation may or may not require IT developments, although that is common. Change management programmes are also required to put the new processes into practice. With advances in technology, the vision of BPM models becoming fully executable (and capable of round-trip engineering) is coming closer to reality. Supporting technologies include Unified Modeling Language (UML), model-driven architecture, and service-oriented architecture.

In the past, BPM has been a key tool for corporate initiatives of business process reengineering (BPR), based on Hammer and Champy's methodology.