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Title: Workflow Modeling: Tools for Process Improvement and Application Development by Alec Sharp, Patrick McDermott ISBN: 1-58053-021-4 Publisher: Artech House Pub. Date: 15 February, 2001 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $79.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.67 (3 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: Swimlane Diagramming For Analysts Doing Requirements
Comment: This book nicely sets forth a detailed methodology for doing swimlane diagramming for workflow business processing. This book is for analysts; the discussion is about the nature of business processes that have workflow as a key characteristic. It is not about the architecture of computer solutions for such processes. If you follow the methodology in this book and flesh out the diagrams with use cases (just briefly touched on here), you will have captured most of the requirements for a business workflow process.
The book is nicely bound and well written. The authors have been around a while and the vocabulary and approach fit nicely with older concepts like business process reengineering. The authors are not unaware of the latest developments and "UML" crops up here and there but not in the index. The diagramming is very simple compared to UML activity diagrams.
This is good reading for the domain experts on a team working on the requirements document and a nice primer for geeks who are forced for the first time to talk to the business side of an enterprise.
Rating: 5
Summary: Comprehensive, fresh and, yes, exciting
Comment: Rarely do I get excited about books on workflow modeling. I have a few good books on the subject, all of which provide solid approaches and most of which are well written. This book stands out because it goes beyond merely "solid" or "well written" by giving one of the most comprehensive approaches to workflow modeling I've had the pleasure of reading.
First, like most books on the topic, none of the components of the approach are new. What makes the approach refreshing is the way the authors take standard techniques and tie them together into a coherent process. Second, this book can be used as a workbook during a workflow modeling project, and is well suited to this because of the numerous checklists and diagrams that will prove invaluable every step of the way. Finally, this is the first book of its kind that incorporates use cases, making it invaluable to project teams that have standardized on UML (Unified Modeling Language)or wish to integrate an object-oriented approach into a workflow modeling project. If you're not familiar with use cases I strongly recommend Writing Effective Use Cases by Alistar Cockburn (the best book on the subject in my opinion); UML Distilled by Fowler and Scott is an excellent introduction to that subject if it's new to you.
The approach is straightforward: frame the process and define its scope, understand the existing process (if there is one), design the "to-be" process and develop use case scenarios. I wish to offer one caveat at this point: if you are reengineering a process that is seriously broken you might consider skipping the "as-is" process. Understanding the existing process is useful if your goal is incremental improvement. Reengineering efforts usually radically transform existing processes, making efforts to understand them both moot and wasted.
Some of the highlights of this book include the authors' clear definitions and way of decomposing complex systems into discrete steps and components. For example, they use a five tier view of processes that ensures you have a complete view of all issues and factors. The views are: (1) mission, strategy and goals (I personally extend goals further into Goal-Question-Metric), (2)business processes, (3) presentation, (4) application logic and (5) data. Note that the last three align nicely to a 3-tier client/server architecture. This observation clearly shows how coherent the authors' approach is and how it can foster alignment of technology to business requirements.
I also like how the authors clarify the key issues in process design by pointing out six enablers that you need to account for during the analysis and design phase: (1)workflow, (2) technology, (3) human resources, (4) motivations and measurements, (5) policies and rules and (6) environmental constraints (facilities, external process capabilities, etc.). There is one minor point of disagreement I have between their workflow modeling technique and the one I use. The authors use swimlane diagrams (also called Rummler-Brache diagrams), while I use deployment diagrams. The difference? Swimlane diagrams do not capture phases or cycles. I always place workflows into the context of Entry Criteria-Task-Validation-Exit Criteria (ETVX), which is nearly identical to the TQM Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle. I insist on ETVX because it allows me to spot missing validation points in an existing workflow, and ensures that I clearly define entry and exit criteria, as well as validation points in a "to-be" workflow. Of course I am stating personal preferences - following the authors' approach verbatim will definitely result in a workflow design that is not only "bulletproof", but will align information systems and business process almost perfectly.
This book is a gem. It's readable, full of ideas and, with the incorporation of use cases into the approach, completely up-to-date with respect to IS/IT methodologies. If you want a fresh, modern approach to workflow design this book is the only one that will provide it.
Rating: 3
Summary: The best book on applicacation development modeling to date.
Comment: If you've ever asked the question: Is there a great book that teaches an excellent methodology for analyzing real world workflow, and then designing the application that will implement that workflow into an application? I've found the book that answers that question.
Workflow Modeling is the book. It is the best book on the subject that I have read to date, and I've read dozens. It teaches you how to build visual models that illustrate the workflow process, and shows how to implement the model into an application. Superb! But it before it goes out of print.
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Title: Business Process Management (BPM): The Third Wave by Howard Smith, Peter Fingar ISBN: 0929652339 Publisher: Meghan-Kiffer Press Pub. Date: January, 2003 List Price(USD): $39.95 |
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Title: Business Process Management: Profiting From Process by Roger Burlton ISBN: 0672320630 Publisher: SAMS Pub. Date: 17 May, 2001 List Price(USD): $45.00 |
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Title: Business Process Change: A Manager's Guide to Improving, Redesigning, and Automating Processes by Paul Harmon ISBN: 1558607587 Publisher: Morgan Kaufmann Pub. Date: 18 December, 2002 List Price(USD): $44.95 |
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Title: Workflow Management: Models, Methods, and Systems (Cooperative Information Systems) by Wil van der Aalst, Kees van Hee ISBN: 0262011891 Publisher: MIT Press Pub. Date: 01 January, 2002 List Price(USD): $42.00 |
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Title: Business Process Mapping: Improving Customer Satisfaction by J. Mike Jacka, Paulette J. Keller ISBN: 0471079774 Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Pub. Date: 21 December, 2001 List Price(USD): $49.95 |
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