Hello,
Is there a way of associating a process model with an application through a matrix or adding the process model name as the third dimension to an existing "function to application" matrix?
Essentially I want to be able to tell which processes will be impacted when an application is replaced.
Thanks
In principle, the information about which application is used in which process model is already in the repository, you just need to expose it. There is no need to do this manually. You could e.g. create a report or a query which does the work for you. The latter is easier. In the query you'd define a structure like this: Application System Type - supports - Function - occurs in - {EPC, EPC (Column Display), EPC (Row Display), ...}. Here is how this could look like, including a table output:
Note that the fact sheet for applications in ARIS Connect also has a section about process models the application is used in:
The logic here is a bit simpler, though. The list only shows Application System Type objects that occur in a process model. It won't show objects that are connected to a Function object in a Function Allocation Diagram that is assigned to the function.
That's very useful. Are you saying that this information can only be surfaced if the objects are used in EPC diagrams?
In order to do this in BPMN do I need to embed the application object in the diagram or as a swimlane?
If you are doing this in BPMN there is no way you can add the application system type to the BPMN diagram (unless you use Enterprise BPMN model type with Application System Type lanes, hardly anyone likes that). You would have to modify the fact sheet of the AST to display the list of functions instead of process models. It's not quite the same, but it allows you to navigate.
Yes, usually applications are associated directly with the activities they are supporting within a process. In EPCs you can do this directly in the diagram or by assigning so-called Function Allocation Diagrams to the respective functions. Those are separate diagrams in which the Function object occurs again and in which the application can be connected to the function. These diagrams can also be used in conjunction with BPMN diagrams.
In principle, you could also connect applications to Function objects higher up in your process hierarchy. On higher levels Function objects represent whole processes. But making the connections on these levels is less common than using the applications in process flows. Most of the analysis functionality in ARIS assumes that they are used within processes.