Business Process Model and Notation

Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) is a graphical representation for specifying business processes in a business process model. It was previously known as Business Process Modeling Notation.
Business Process Management Initiative (BPMI) developed BPMN, which has been maintained by the Object Management Group since the two organizations merged in 2005. As of March 2011, the current version of BPMN is 2.0.


Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) is a standard for business process modeling that provides a graphical notation for specifying business processes in a Business Process Diagram (BPD), based on a flowcharting technique very similar to activity diagrams from Unified Modeling Language (UML). The objective of BPMN is to support business process management, for both technical users and business users, by providing a notation that is intuitive to business users, yet able to represent complex process semantics. The BPMN specification also provides a mapping between the graphics of the notation and the underlying constructs of execution languages, particularly Business Process Execution Language (BPEL).

The primary goal of BPMN is to provide a standard notation readily understandable by all business stakeholders. These include the business analysts who create and refine the processes, the technical developers responsible for implementing them, and the business managers who monitor and manage them. Consequently, BPMN serves as a common language, bridging the communication gap that frequently occurs between business process design and implementation.
Currently there are several competing standards for business process modeling languages used by modeling tools and processes. Widespread adoption of the BPMN will help unify the expression of basic business process concepts (e.g., public and private processes, choreographies), as well as advanced process concepts (e.g., exception handling, transaction compensation).