Get the Basics of BPM

A Gateway is used to control the flow of a process. Gateways handle the forking, merging and joining of paths within a process. Gateways are represented by a diamond shape in a Business Process Model.

An activity is any work that is being performed in a process. An Activity is represented by a rounded-corner rectangle in a Business Process Model. There are two types of activities tasks and sub-processes.

Events are anything that “happens” during the course of a business process. Events can have a cause, referred to as a Trigger, and/or an impact, referred to as a Result. Events are based on where they occur in the flow process (start, middle, or end)

Flow Objects are shapes that represent the core elements of the Business Process Diagram (BPD), including events, activities, & gateways.

A Business Process Diagram is a simple diagram made up of a set of graphical elements that depicts a business process. There are four primary elements of BPD: flow objects, connecting objects, swimlanes, and artifacts.

BPMN defines a Business Process Model as a network of graphical objects, which are activities, and the flow controls that define their order of performance.