Re: BPM Requirements

["Paul R. Levine" <plevine@telcordia.com>]

BPM Team,

This forwards comments from Mike Rawlins on our set of requirements.  (Marcia,
responding to this should be another item for the BPM agenda in Orlando.)
Fundamentally, Mike questions the role of our project team in ebXML.   Our
project team was not on the original list, but was added in San Jose in
recognition that cross-industry standardization of XML should be built on the
foundation of a business process modeling methodology that could be used to
specify and model any business domain in any industry.  We don't intend that
ebXML will advocate "business as usual," except with an XML wrapper on the
information exchange conventions already in place.  I suspect this could become
a point of discussion in the ebXML plenary meeting.  I don't think many ebXML
people outside of the BPM team share our view.

Regards,

Paul
---------------------- Forwarded by Paul R. Levine/Telcordia on 01/18/2000 11:29
PM ---------------------------


Mike Rawlins <rawlins@metronet.com> on 01/18/2000 12:28:16 PM

Please respond to rawlins@metronet.com

To:   "Paul R. Levine" <plevine@telcordia.com>, "ebXML Requirements, List,"
      <ebXML-Requirements@lists.oasis-open.org>
cc:   DUBOIS Eric <Eric.Dubois@Swift.com> (bcc: Paul R. Levine/Telcordia)
Subject:  Re: BPM Requirements




Here are my comments on the BPM team requirements submitted by Paul Levine.
Mine are
marked MCR.

Most of my comments relate to trying to distinguish between base requirements,
deliverables, and strategies.  The requirements team is concerned with the first
two, and
not the third.  In many cases I seek clarification regarding how to restate your
submissions in the form of base requirements or deliverables.  Where we have a
deliverable, it must track back to a requirement.

One basic question I have here that is unanswered is:  Why include BPM in the
ebXML
guidelines and work effort?  I don't doubt there is a need, but we currently
lack a
concise statement requiring business process modeling.  Perhaps this will fall
out of the
architecture work, but if the BPM team can offer one that would help.

The current list of business process methodology requirements follows:
1. An XML-based business process integration shall be accomplished by means of a
cross-industry global standard;

MCR:  Please clarify or restate.  I'm not quite sure how to express this in
terms of "an
ebXML compliant application shall..." or "the ebXML guidelines shall...".

2. XML shall be cross-industry usable;

MCR:  XML by itself already is.  Do you mean to say that the scope of the ebXML
guidelines
should be cross-industry?

3. Normalized components shall be identified (Supply-chain management possible
source);

MCR:  Again, I'm not sure how to state this.  Do you mean to say that the ebXML
guidelines
shall include a set of normalized components?

4. Common resources currently engaged in short-term solutions shall be marshaled
to reach
a common long-term solution goal;

MCR:  This seems more of a strategy than a requirement.

5. A high-level business process methodology shall be provided in terms of XML,
i.e., DTD.

MCR:  Are you saying that the guidelines will include XML schemas or DTDs
correlating to
high level business processes?  If so, which processes?

6. A methodology with which to specify "vertical" business processes according
to a
uniform "template" shall be selected (i.e., ebXML "superset") so they can be
compared.

MCR:  This sounds like a deliverable, i.e., the ebXML guidelines shall include a
methodology for specifying and comparing vertical business processes.  If so,
what is the
requirement that this addresses?

7. The ebXML "superset" business process meta-model shall be explicitly
specified, not
implied by instantiations or derivations.

MCR:  This sounds like it would be appropriate for a detailed requirement
relating to the
BPM deliverables.

8. Every effort shall be made to incorporate cross-industry methodologies for
specifying
business processes, e.g., OAG, RosettaNet, HL7, into the ebXML "superset."

MCR:  Is this a requirement or a strategy?

9. A glossary of terms related to business process methodology: vocabulary,
e.g.,
functional, non-functional, vertical,  message, segment, data type shall be
created and
maintained (TMWG Unified Modeling Methodology document Annex 1 is a start)

MCR:  A deliverable.

10. A glossary of terms specific to each business process to be modeled shall be
created
and maintained.

MCR:  A deliverable.

11. A glossary of XML tags shall be created and maintained.

MCR:  A deliverable (of the core components team).

12. A web site for ready access to glossaries shall be created and maintained.

MCR:  A deliverable (of the core components team).

Mike Rawlins
ebXML Requirements Team Project Leader
--
Michael C. Rawlins, Rawlins EDI Consulting
http://www.metronet.com/~rawlins/