RE: [ebxml-dev] Process Mapping and Business Specifications in thee-Business Age

["Brian S. Hayes" <brian.hayes@UCLAlumni.net>]

I was very hopeful about this article given that it contained diagrams that
I help create and referenced documents that I contributed to.
Unfortunately, the article is half-baked (note, Paul makes no claims
otherwise).

Some points:
1.  The point of this paper "Importance of Process Mapping" is not well
substantiated by the contents of the document.  I would further argue that
the UMM and the Metamodel already covers this.  So what's the point. Note,
I'm no expert on the definition of Process Mapping beyond what is
illustrated in the article. 

2.  The first paragraph would indicate that the point of the paper is
Process Mapping is better than "procedures."  What are procedures? 

3.  Figure 1 sure looks like a UML activity diagram.  Activity diagrams of
business collaborations and busienss transactions are part of the UMM (which
is referenced later in the article).  Is the point that QA uses Figure 1
like diagrams and the UMM has a formal semantics around similar diagrams? 

4. The relationship of the following paragraph to "Process Mapping" is
missing. 
	"Although the EDI technology of that decade may remain as the 
	... Over the last five years XML has been developed out of the 
	foundation languages of the Internet as the answer to that problem."
5.  You write: 
	"UMM is derived from the Unified Modelling Language MetaModel, 
	extended specifically for business, that was developed by Rational 
	Rose for the UN."  
This statement is incorrect and has a number of things wrong with it. UMM
was not derived from UML.  Rational Rose is not a company.  The UMM was not
developed by Rational Rose.  These are the aspects that you need to
understand in a methodology: modeling/analysis process, meta-model, and
notation.  Remember that UML is not a process. Further note that UML
includes both meta-model and notation, seperate but related.  The UMM has
its own associated Meta-model.

5. You write:
	"These reference models are provided on an open-licence basis by the

	Technical Committees of OASIS so that anyone can use them as a 
	template business model that they can customize to their needs..."

Be sure not to confuse the development of document vocabularies with
business process reference models. At best, only the Emergency Management TC
might be concerned with the development of business process models. The
others appear to be primarily focused on information schema.  Information
models without process models are very limiting and only lead to usage
problems and confusing. You should reference organizations like UN/CEFACT,
RosettaNet, SCOR, etc

Respectfully,
Brian S. Hayes

-----Original Message-----
From: Paul Hayes [mailto:paul.hayes@basilicon.com] 
Sent: Friday, February 21, 2003 6:34 AM
To: ebxml-dev@lists.ebxml.org
Subject: [ebxml-dev] Process Mapping and Business Specifications in the
e-Business Age


Dear ebXML List Colleagues

Anybody willing to run an eye over this draft article before I do any very
final improvements and send off a draft to the magazine publisher. It is for
the UK Quality World monthly magazine of the Institute of Quality Assurance.
A lot of these people have become very expert at defining businesses'
management systeme, procedures and processes but aren't at all aware of the
likely impact of ebXML or even it's existence.

My brief is:-
"I envisage an article which looks at: 
* why process mapping is important - and why it is increasingly so in
today's business environment.
* a brief overview on where process mapping has been and what it is now
becoming
* explains what business process specifications are
* outlines the emerging global e-business standards
* how these will effect business? Should organizations get to grips with
their processes now? Any advice or anecdotal experience you have to offer
would also help illustrate the article. The article can be between
1,500-2,000 words long. The deadline is the 7 March (though we can give a
few days grace if this is too tight for you) and we would like a photograph
of yourself and a short biography. 
You can e-mail the article directly to me. You will get final sign off of
the article before we go to press." Any comments very gratefully received.
Any permissions that you think I need I would be grateful to have flagged
up. Yours, Paul Hayes Paul Hayes 127 Deanburn Penicuik Midlothian EH26 0JA
UK
Tel: 01968 673968