Business process management (BPM) standards: a survey

Purpose – In the last two decades, a proliferation of Business Process Management (BPM) modeling languages, standards and software systems have given rise to much confusion and obstacles to adoption. Because new BPM languages and notations terminologies were not well defined, duplicate features are common. This paper makes sense of the myriad BPM standards, organising them in a classification framework and identifies key industry trends. Design/methodology/approach – An extensive literature review was conducted and relevant BPM notations, languages and standards were referenced against our proposed BPM Standards Classification Framework, which lists each standard’s distinct features, strengths and weaknesses. Findings – The authors are unaware of any classification of BPM languages. We attempted to classify BPM languages, standards and notations into four main groups: Execution, Interchange, Graphical and Diagnosis Standards. At the present time, there is a lack of established Diagnosis Standards. It is their hope that such a classification facilitates the meaningful adoption of BPM languages, standards and notations. Practical Implications – The work presented (1) differentiates BPM standards, thereby resolving common misconceptions, (2) establishes the need for Diagnosis Standards, (3) identifies the strengths and limitations of current standards, and (4) highlights current knowledge gaps and future trends. Researchers and practitioners may wish to position their work around this review. Originality/value – Currently, to our best knowledge, such an overview and analysis of BPM standards has not been undertaken. KeywordsBusiness Process Management (BPM), BPM Standards, BPM life cycle, Workflow Management Standards, Business Process Modeling, BPMN, UML, BPEL, XPDL, BPDM. Category of the paper – Literature Review. Business Process Management (BPM) Standards: A Survey R K L Ko, S S G Lee, E W Lee To appear on Business Process Management journal Vol. 15 No. 5, 2009. Emerald Group Publishing Limited. Accepted on 2 Dec 2008 2