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.

Add business processes to the repository

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 Portfolio > 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.

Specify the applications that support the business process

Applications should already be in the repository in order to define the application that supports the business process. Some business questions in Alfabet can only be answered if the relationships between applications and business processes are defined.

application

An application is a complete installation of a software offering a functionality to an end user. The application might consist of or require other technical components to run.

Applications support the company's business processes. For each business process, you should specify the applications that support the business process in order to understand how the business may be at risk due to IT failure.

1. In the Business Processes data workbench, click the Navigate   button to open the business process's content area.
2. Go to the Application Context page.
3. In the Supporting Applications field, enter the names of the applications that support the business process, or click in the field to open the selector. Select each application that you want to assign to the business process.
4. Click outside of the selector to close it and update the Supporting Applications field.

Define the stakeholders and business owners for a business process

A role represents a functional responsibility that a user or organization has for the business process. Assigning roles to users and organizations is critical to understanding responsibility for assets in the IT and is required to answer the business question Who is responsible for our assets?.

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. 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.

To specify responsibilities for the business process:

1. Click in the relevant role field to open the selector.
2. Expand the ORGANIZATION or USER sections in the selector and select the person or organization fulfilling the role.
3. Click OK to save the role definition and close the selector.

Specify the business process's basic data

Once a business process is in the repository, you can define more details about it in the Business Processes data workbench . 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. All mandatory fields must be defined to create the business process and save it.

data workbench

A data workbench is a data table that allows you to capture, edit, and understand large amounts of data.

content area

A content area is a view with a collection of tabbed pages. Each page may have multiple content items such as cards and views. Every asset has a content area where the asset's attributes can be defined as well as other relevant views to capture information.

• Level ID: 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: 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.
• Supporting Business Capabilities: Select the business capabilities that support the business process.

  business capability

  A business capability is a high-level description of what is done in a company to meet its business objectives. Market development, product development, and support and services are examples of business capabilities.

• Description: Provide an explanation about the business process.

Specify the projects that impact the business process

Assigning a project to a business process indicates that the business process is part of the project's architectural scope and that it is impacted in some way by the project.

project

A project is a set of tasks that must be completed within a defined timeline to accomplish a specific set of goals. A project is broken down into work packages which consists of tasks.

In the data table, click the navigate  button of the business process you want to understand. Go to the business process's content area > Investment Context > Impacting Projects.

Create a new project for the business process. Click the   plus sign button > Create Project. Specify the project's attributes as well as the relationships that the project has to other assets in the repository. All mandatory fields must be defined to create the project and save it.

Assign an existing project to the business process. Click the   plus sign button > Add Project to select the project to assign to the business process.

Edit a project. Select a project and click the   edit button to specify the project's attributes. You can also navigate to the project's content area to understand more about the project.

Remove a project from the business process. Select a project and   3-dots button > Detach to remove the project from the business process.

Design or review a business process' application landscape diagram

1. In the data table, click the navigate  button of the business process you want to define. Go to its content area > Diagrams > Application Landscape Diagram. The diagram displays either a default view or a landscape diagram that has been designed by an authorized user. The landscape diagram may include applications, local components, and information flows.
2. You can edit the basic attributes of any asset displayed in the diagram that you have access permissions for.
   • Click the asset to open the inspection pane, where you can edit the displayed attributes.
   • Double-click the asset to navigate to the content area, where you can edit the assets attributes and relationships.
3. The Open Diagram button is visible for users who have been granted to the Diagram Designer access via an administrative user . To design or edit the application landscape diagram , click the   edit button > Open Diagram.

Design or review a BPMN diagram

Depending on the design of the BPMN Diagram, you may see business process activities, events, gateways, and process flows, providing a visual representation of how a process is executed from start to finish. In addition, the diagram may show supporting business applications, application associations, and data objects (business objects), offering insight into which applications support specific process activities. The diagram may also illustrate how business data is used and exchanged throughout the process, enabling viewers to understand the relationship between process steps and the information they consume or produce.

1. Go to the business process' content area > Diagrams > BPMN Diagram. The diagram displays either a default view or a BPMN diagram that has been designed by an authorized user.
2. You can edit the basic attributes of any asset displayed in the diagram that you have access permissions for.
   • Click the asset to open the inspection pane, where you can edit the displayed attributes.
   • Double-click the asset to navigate to the content area, where you can edit the assets attributes and relationships.
3. To design a BPMN diagram: The Open Diagram button is visible for users who have been granted to the Diagram Designer access via an administrative user . To design or edit the BPM diagram , click the   edit button > Open Diagram.

Which business questions focus on business processes?

The following business questions are relevant for the analysis of business processes:

• Which business areas require the most IT support?