What are the best modeling languages to know. What are the most important things to know about the modeling languages. Espically BPMN as it seems like an interesting topic.
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149answers:
2
A:
I think BPMN may have some use in companies that have very formal approach to writing specifications, the same kind that would use UML for describing every aspect of simple cancel button. Majority of developers heard only of UML and even that is not really well understood, nor employed extensively in practice.
As usual, the really important questions you want to ask are:
- What do you want to model?
- Who are you writing this for?
If you are doing this for yourself, you may just as well use your own notation made up ad hoc. It will be faster than going through pages of spec written by experts from OMG (Object Management Group, though Oh My God is not a bad explanation either ;-)).
If you need to share the doc with others, UML seems like a good choice. It is sort of understood by the community and all ambiguity you can always rewrite in plain English.
If your client requires BPMN, then well -- read on it and learn it well. Maybe hire consultants to verify if you are doing it right. If you are not required by contract to use it, then -- for Gods sake -- go write code and document it well and not spend too much time pondering which modeling thingy is most hip now. None isn't and none will be any time soon.
Marcin
2009-06-23 17:13:54
Well the only thing is that I'm a developer myself but I work for a consultancy. A company I used to work for has hired my current company to build an implementation of SAP and as I have a good lot of knowledge of how that company (the one I used to work in) works I have been asked to get involved in the Business Process type stuff for a while. Not forever. The dont require BPMN but ive just heard them talking about it.Thought it might be a good place to start.
2009-06-24 10:16:32
I'd say see how eager they are to use it. Seeing word "SAP" I guess it's official business situation, so you may want to use it just "because it looks professional". But other than that, I don't think it's a particularily good idea.
Marcin
2009-06-24 12:35:30
A:
IF you are involved in a ERP implementation, getting the business processes right upfront can save you a lot of trouble down the road. Organisations know surprisingly little about their inner workings and it's the ERP developers that get the beating when their software doesn't fit to the company. If you can soften that clash of cultures by doing a bit of proper analysis before the development phase, then you are doing the right thing.
BPMN is really one of the easiest and most simple methods there is for the job. Making up your own way of describing Business processes is just reinventing the wheel. Check out some of the free tools on the market; BizAgi for instance. Good luck.