Today, business process modeling is an integral part of the software process. However, we still experience difficulties as we try to bring business process modeling and object-oriented analysis and design together. In general, business process models are semantically poor, making it difficult to derive use cases. Apart from that, we use different tools from different vendors. Tool integration also remains a problem.

However, business process modeling is an area where significant productivity advances are possible. A new generation of business process modeling tools has the potential to eliminate existing technical gaps. The iterative and incremental design and development approach requires business process modeling and CASE tools to provide integration.

Business process modeling tools can generate analysis and design information that can be further refined using a CASE tool. Later on, as object-oriented design progresses, it might turn out that design decisions affect business processes and require process adjustments. Impact analysis indicates which processes and process steps are affected.

There is no general-purpose business process modeling syntax that has the backing of an international standards body. UML is a contender, of course, but only if extended. Business process modeling tools usually use proprietary syntax. As a consequence, it is not easy to do away with a business process modeling product and replace it with some other tool set after it is in use. Therefore, a business process modeling tool should be selected with great care.

E-Business operations in the Internet require semantic interoperability. Several organizations are currently working on meta-models, which describe business semantics, defined as roles, rules, interactions, messages, and data. The metamodel is used to enforce the syntax and semantics of business process models so that tools can be built to construct compliant models. The dream would be that some day there is a unified metamodel. Chances are that this dream becomes reality.

For an overview of current solutions, see our list of Business Process Modeling tools