What is BPMN?

BPMN Explained

BPMN stands for Business Process Model and Notation. It is documented in a 500+ page large ISO specification whose primary goal is to provide a notation that is readily understandable by all business users. This means that BPMN creates a standardized bridge for communication between different process stakeholders (e.g. process owners, process performers, and process analytics).

The latest BPMN 2.0 notation consists of more than 100 visual elements and corresponding rules, which are used for representing business processes in different types of business process diagrams process diagrams. These process diagrams serve different purposes in the business process management lifecycle, including process analysis and process improvement, process-based communication and requirement specifications for business IT solutions.

Besides its visual use, BPMN specifies a meta-model which defines the semantics of BPMN visual and non-visual elements and their interrelationships. The resulting semantic BPMN elements are used to specify business process models, which are capable of being executed on business process engines.

A major advantage of BPMN when compared to competitive notations is that business process diagrams, which consist of visual BPMN elements, can be easily transformed into executable business process models through XML based BPMN format.

Learn how BPMN can help you refine your business process analysis activities.