BPM Model with two possible start points

[#1]

Hi guys !

I´m working in a model where I need to map two possible start points in the model, lets say that a process can be initiated with a human activity OR can be initiated with a message of a running process, I guess this can be achieved with this solution, any help will be appreciated.

Thanks for your time !

[Former Member]

Hi Josely, my name is isaac ,  im new in bpmm modeling so I know I may have noob errors, the model I want to have is when a user from a department "X" enters data of a new customer in a previous process and when this subprocess is reached some data of the new customer must be transfered to the subprocess, this can be named "start type 1" when the process is called from a main process.

In other way a user of a department "B" will be able to start this process by searching a customer with a human activity (UI) this can be named "start type 2" so, I want to reuse a process in a way where the process can be started from a main process or can be started with a human activity as main process.

Please tell me if I explained in detail or im confused with bpm basics, maybe this scenario cant be done in bpm and is recommended to have two same processes that starts in different way.

Thanks!!

[Former Member]

Hi Isaac,

as Jocelyn has already mentioned, you can only have one start event. The start event is always triggered by a call to a web service. As your process is not designed, yet, I'd suggest to design a web service interface that can be used in both situations. If you want to know from where the process was started, include the department (A or B) in the interface definition and fill it when calling the interface. In this way you can also handle differences in the process by checking the department in an exclusive choice gateway.

If the interfaces have to be different, e.g. because application A and B call different interfaces already, you could investigate the usage of iFlows with a mapping step to map the interface from application A and application B to the interface used in the BPM process.

I'd definetly not recommend to implement two very similar processes because they will have to be changed both if you discover a bug in one of them.

Best regards,

Frank

[Jocelyn_Dart]

Hi <your name missing???>

In the above example you have an event prior to your human activity and incoming messages which is the actual start event and would still need to be triggered somehow.

More usually your human activity would be something like a form that sends the start event itself external to the process.

Similarly your incoming messages may trigger the start event.

A few questions to consider:

How different are the two messages?

Is it really just two external mechanisms that can both raise the start event of the same process?

Or are these two very separate events that start individual processes and then share a sub-process?

Would you really have another process already started just to catch the possibility of an incoming start event? If so, then perhaps look at the Conditional Start Pattern blogs

Is this a Process Orchestration instance where perhaps process orchestration could handle the incoming messages, convert and trigger the appropriate process?

The start is handled a little differently in BPM to say workflow (where multiple start events are permitted) so you need to think a little harder about what is really happening for your two different start mechanisms.

Hope that helps

Jocelyn