The history of BPMN
BPMN, or Business Process Model and Notation, is a graphical notation used to model and design business processes. It was first introduced in 2004 by the Object Management Group (OMG) and has since become the dominant standard for business process modeling.
The history of BPMN can be traced back to the late 1990s when the Business Process Management Initiative (BPMI) was formed. BPMI was a group of software vendors and users that came together to create a new standard for business process modeling.
The first version of BPML, or Business Process Modeling Language, was created by BPMI in 2000. BPML was based on XML and allowed developers to create complex business process models that could be easily shared between different applications and organizations.
In 2003, BPMI merged with OMG, a group that had previously developed other standards for modeling and designing software systems. Together, they created BPMN as a new standard for business process modeling.
BPMN was designed to be a more user-friendly notation for business process modeling than BPML. It used a graphical representation of business processes that was easy to read and understand, even for non-technical users.
The first version of BPMN, BPMN 1.0, was released in 2004. It included basic elements for modeling business processes such as tasks, events, and gateways. BPMN 1.0 was widely adopted by the business process modeling community, and it quickly became the standard notation for modeling and designing business processes.
Over the years, BPMN has gone through several revisions and updates. In 2006, BPMN 1.1 was released, which included additional elements for modeling business processes such as data objects and message flows.
In 2011, BPMN 2.0 was released, which was a major update to the standard. It included additional elements such as sub-processes, loops, and compensation events, making it even more powerful and flexible for modeling complex business processes.
One of the key benefits of BPMN is its ability to model both the high-level and detailed aspects of business processes. It allows users to model business processes at different levels of abstraction, making it easy to understand the overall structure of a process while still capturing the details.
Another benefit of BPMN is its ability to integrate with other modeling notations and languages. For example, BPMN can be used in conjunction with the Unified Modeling Language (UML) to model software systems.
BPMN has also been adopted by many software vendors and is supported by a wide range of software tools. This makes it easy for users to create, share, and modify business process models using BPMN.
In conclusion, the history of BPMN is closely linked with the evolution of business process modeling. It was created as a more user-friendly and powerful notation for modeling business processes than its predecessor, BPML. Over the years, it has gone through several revisions and updates, becoming the dominant standard for business process modeling. Its ability to model both the high-level and detailed aspects of business processes, as well as its integration with other modeling notations and languages, make it a valuable tool for businesses and organizations of all sizes.
