Hi All, we are starting an exercise where we have to "transform" masses of EPC models into BPMN models.
I saw there are some reports coming with ARIS, but there is nothing transforming EPCs specifically into "Enterprise BPMN process model". We tried to use the report transforming into collaboration model, but that's not what I want.
Anyone able to share a report which does the job?
Cheers
Peter
Hello Peter,
I think in case of EPCs the difference between process model and collaboration model is not relevant, because EPC does not support the BPMN concept of different participants. That you are disappointed by the generated quality I can understand. Therefore I decided for a longer time not to use the automated transfer but to model from scratch. I remember that I read that the quality has been improved in newer service releases ( I forgot the source) and I just tested one EPC model. I saw now differences in SR 27 from earliers versions. For example: If you use the pure EPC model with organization objects as attributes of functions without combining it in columns you also get separate lanes in BPMN even if it is the same organization object. This is simply spoken unusual.
So I understand that it is a huge effort to remodel all EPC models but on the positive side it is a chance to evaluate the correctness of the old models, and you can benefit from enhanced BPMN notation constructs and semantics like pools, object types, markers, event driven gateways, intermediate events attached to boundaries, call activities compensation and so on.
Regards
Klemens
Hello Peter,
I agree with Klemens. BPMN is just too different in concepts. Any automatic transformation could at best be a starting point. E. g. in BPMN you do not need many of the events. A decision at an exclusive gateway is simply noted on the Condition expression of the outgoing flow instead of needing intermediate events. And the process interfaces do not exist in BPMN. You would use message flows between Pools, which in turn do not exist in EPC. Good luck with your transformation program.
Klemens Hauk on
Hello Peter,
I think in case of EPCs the difference between process model and collaboration model is not relevant, because EPC does not support the BPMN concept of different participants. That you are disappointed by the generated quality I can understand. Therefore I decided for a longer time not to use the automated transfer but to model from scratch. I remember that I read that the quality has been improved in newer service releases ( I forgot the source) and I just tested one EPC model. I saw now differences in SR 27 from earliers versions. For example: If you use the pure EPC model with organization objects as attributes of functions without combining it in columns you also get separate lanes in BPMN even if it is the same organization object. This is simply spoken unusual.
So I understand that it is a huge effort to remodel all EPC models but on the positive side it is a chance to evaluate the correctness of the old models, and you can benefit from enhanced BPMN notation constructs and semantics like pools, object types, markers, event driven gateways, intermediate events attached to boundaries, call activities compensation and so on.
Regards
Klemens