Capture business process data

Some companies define their business in terms of a business process model made up of business processes. A business process is a repeatable set of activities that represent work required to achieve a business objective. Typical business processes include marketing services, selling products, delivering services, distributing products, invoicing for services, and accounting for money received.

In contrast, some companies use business capabilities as a governance structure. Business capabilities describe the main functions and competencies about what is necessary to run the business. A business capability is captured as an abstract description of what is done in a company to meet its business objectives independent of the organization's structure, business processes, and people. For example, Support and Services is a high-level abstract description of a business capability whereas Deliver Services is a description of a repeatable activity (business process) that takes place.

A business process rarely operates in isolation. Other business processes will depend on it and it will depend on other business processes. A business process may have as many levels of subordinate business processes as needed, although three levels should be sufficient in the business process hierarchy to describe the value chain. Business processes at the top level are primarily abstract and present an overview of the process hierarchy. The business process hierarchy becomes more detailed on the level of the subordinate business processes.

You company's main business processes should be defined as the highest level business processes. Each business process may have multiple subordinate business processes, whereby it is recommended that the business process model not have more than 3 or 4 levels to provide manageability.

Users with the user profiles Portfolio Manager and Portfolio Admin can add and edit business processes in Alfabet. Click for an overview of permission concepts.

Business processes are structured in a business process model. Before you begin, you should consider which business processes are your main business processes and which are their subordinate business processes. It is recommended that you conceptualize your business processes in a hierarchy with at least two levels. The top two levels of business processes are analyzed in the context of various business questions in Alfabet.

Start with the main business processes in your company and assign each of these business processes a number such as 1, 2, and so on. Next consider the subordinate business processes below each top-level business process and assign a logical numerical system: 1.1, 1.2., 1.3, etc. For example, Product and Client Support and Sales and Relationship Management would be a typical high level business process with Level ID attributes set to 1 and 2 respectively. The business process Product and Client Support ( Level ID = 1) might have the subordinate business processes Research ( Level ID =1.1) and Product Marketing ( Level ID = 1.2). And Product Marketing might have the sub-processes Branding ( Level ID = 1.2.1) and Market Communications ( Level ID = 1.2.2).

You can add a new business process from anywhere in the product via the orange New button in the header. Or go to Business Architecture > Business Processes data workbench and click New > Business Process.

• Add a new root-level business process. Click the root node of the explorer and click the New button to open the edit panel to specify a name. Click OK to create the business process.
• Add a new subordinate business process. Click the parent business process in the explorer, go to the Overview tab and open the Subordinate Business Processes view. Click   > Create Business Process to open the edit panel.
• Define the details of the business process.. Click the Navigate   button next to a business process to open its content area. Specify the business process's attributes as well as the relationships that it has to other assets in the repository.
• Change the parent of a business process. In the Subordinate Business Processes view, click   > Move Existing Business Process Here to open a selector where you can chose the business process to move to the new parent business process.

Or specify and analyze the business process in detail in its content area . In the data workbench, click the Navigate button for a business process to open its content area > Overview page.

Define the business process's basic data. All mandatory fields must be defined to create the business process and save it.

• Level ID: (Recommended) Enter a level ID for the business process in the business process model. Each business process should be assigned a number in the Level ID attribute. The business processes will be displayed in alphabetical and numerical order. You can leave this attribute empty at first and assign the level ID to your business processes after they have been created.
• Name: (Mandatory) The name of the business process. The name should capture the activity that must be carried out.
• Business Relevance: (Recommended) Indicates how relevant the business process is for the business.
  • Mission Critical: The business process is crucial to the organization's business and therefore essential to the accomplishment of the vision, goals and objectives.
  • Business Evolving: The business process responds to internal and external change and helps to support the necessary steps to transition the organization's business.
  • Business Enabling: The business process is currently core to the business of the organization and describes what currently exists in the business.
  • Business Operating: The business process is not unique to the business but does provide the support required to operate the business.
• Business Process Model: This field is only relevant if you have an integration to ARIS. In this case, select the business process model that the business process belongs to. If your company is interested in an integration to ARIS, please contact Alfabet Service and Support.
• Description: Provide an explanation about the business process.

Responsibilities are based on preconfigured role types. Your company may also configure custom role types via the Portfolio Admin user profile. Depending on the role type, a specified user and/or a specified organization may fulfill the responsibility for the business process. A user assigned responsibility via a role has read-only permissions to the business process. To change data about the business process, they must also be specified as an authorized user or member of a n authorized user group.

Roles can be assigned to a business process in the Business Processes data workbench or the business process content area via Overview > Responsibilities.

Each role column represents the responsibility that a user or organization has for the business process. A person or organization can have one of the following roles or a custom role added by your company:

• Business Owner: A person or organization that owns the business process and understands its purpose for the business.
• Stakeholder: A person or organization that has an interest in the business process and therefore requires read-only access permissions.

1. Click a column cell to open a selector to define the role for the business process. Depending on the role column, the selector may have a section for both Person and Organization.
2. Expand the relevant section and select the person or organization to assign their role to the business process.

• Which business areas require the most IT support?