Can business process modeling bridge the gap between business and information systems?

Abstract

Early efforts on bridging the communication gap between a business and its IT systems have resulted in several business analysis and modeling techniques. Most recently, BPMN is rapidly consolidating its position as the established standard for modeling business processes. Yet, research shows that BPMN still lacks comprehensive constructs for representing some core business concepts, including business goals, non-functional requirements and resources. The purpose of this paper is to use Zachman Framework to assess BPMN's modeling capabilities and to identify its modeling gaps. The motivation of the paper is to provide a better understanding of the suitability of BPMN as a business process modeling language for bridging the gap between business and its information systems.