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Modeling Business Processes
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process sequence of events: payments and deliveries reference PO numbers, they
must occur after the event that creates them.
Modeling Process Sequences as Evolving Events
Identifying a process sequence highlights an opportunity to model an evolving
event that will bring together all the individual milestone events of a process,
allowing them to be easily compared at a detail level. For example, PURCHASE
ORDERS to SUPPLIER PAYMENTS could be modeled as an evolving event
containing order date, order quantity, order value, plus actual delivery time and
quantity from COMPONENT DELIVERIES, and payment date and amount. This
single evolving event would give stakeholders easy access to supplier performance
measures such as: late deliveries, average delivery time, and outstanding order
quantities.
Using Process Sequences to Enrich Events
Process sequences also help to add missing details to milestone events. The matrix
will often reveal dimensions on an initial triggering event that can be added to the
subsequent milestone events. For example, in Figure 4-6 the CONTRACT dimen-
sion of the PURCHASE ORDERS event could be added to the COMPONENT
DELIVERIES and SUPPLIER PAYMENTS milestone events. It is possible to add
this dimension because of the strict chronology of the process sequence: everything
about the originating purchase order is known at the time of a delivery or payment.
The milestone
events of a process
can be modeled as
details of a single
evolving event that
provides additional
duration measures
Process sequences
help you to find
additional details
for milestone events
Modelstorming with an Event Matrix
In their book “Gamestorming” (O’Reilly 2010), Dave Gray, Sunni Brown and
James Macanufo describe the “shape” of every useful brainstorming game as a
stubby pencil sharpened at both ends representing the acts of opening discussions,
exploring alternative ideas and closing with decisions. Modelstorming, with
BEAM ✲ tables, hierarchy charts and an event matrix, maps to this shape as in
Figure 4-7.
Modelstorming is a
three act play:
opening, exploring
and closing
Figure 4-7
The “shape” of
modelstorming
from A to B