Are We There Yet-Seamless Mapping of BPMN to BPEL4WS

Current process management practice strives for better support for mappings between process models in the design and execution phases of process implementation projects. In this context, BPMN was developed as a graphical representation for the process execution language BPEL4WS, with the intention that BPMN can be automatically mapped to executable BPEL4WS specifications. However, there is doubt over whether this translation is actually possible. We use the Bunge-Wand-Weber representation model to analyze the representational capabilities of BPMN and BPEL4WS, and, on this basis, argue that the translation between BPMN and BPEL4WS is prone to difficulties due to inconsistent representational capabilities. Our analysis uncovers representational inconsistencies between the specifications, and thus identifies parts of BPMN that are not readily translatable to BPEL4WS. Our work serves as a theoretical cornerstone on which the development of better mapping support for BPMN and BPEL4WS in particular, and any combination of process modeling techniques in general, can be based.