Pool

Intro

In BPMN, a Pool represents a participant in a Collaboration and partitions a process from other pools. A pool may be a “black box” with no internal process shown.

Key points:

• Defines organizational or system boundaries.
• Separates internal flow from external interactions.
• Common use cases across EA/BPM/Data/App/Tech include modeling company vs. customer, supplier, or system participants.
• Pitfall: placing message flows inside a single pool instead of between pools.

Examples:

• Company pool interacting with a Logistics provider pool.
• Retailer pool exchanging messages with Customer pool.
• SaaS system pool integrated with internal process.

In practice:

Use pools for participants and connect them via message flows to show cross-boundary communication.

Related terms: Participant; Collaboration; Message Flow

FAQs:

Q: Can a pool be empty?
A: Yes; it can be a black box participant.

Q: Do lanes belong inside pools?
A: Yes; lanes partition roles or systems within a pool.

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