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Oct 7 2008, 3:12 PM EDT (current) romanna 256 words added
Oct 7 2008, 3:02 PM EDT romanna

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The questions that pops up nowadays when defining an enterprise architecture: 'When to use BPEL, UML, ADF Taskflows and/OR BPMN?'

In other words what's the purpose of each methodology and when can it be used?

  • BPM = Business Process Modelling language
    • Specifically tailored to outline business processes and a talk-through process with business and IT.
  • BPEL = Business Process Execution Language
    • Automation of business processes using a standards based language.
  • ADF Taskflows is technology specific
    • An IT implementation of a certain flow without really referring to business process, no distinction made between automated and manual tasks.
  • UML = Unified Modelling Language
    • Serves all goals but without a specific methodology in mind. Not tailored for business processes, service definitions, ... more tailored for high-level designs.
I would say that BPM/BPEL serve other goals, more business process centric goals, then ADF Taskflows does.

TODO: Maybe a feature-list of both tools and why ADF Taskflows was founded would be a good way of starting up the conversation ;o))
Seperation of Concerns :
  • Once UML analysis has been defined, the development lifecycle is kicked off and mostly changes aren't reflected in the chain anymore.The changes made by the business are never reflected in the analysis anymore
  • Oracle BPA Suite uses a central repository to store all artifacts used by analysts and development, so analysis and development will always have the same view on
    data, processes and services.
This is the governance-part that's very important in projects nowadays, which is handled perfectly when using the same enterprise model, the same repository.