An approach for selecting a business process modeling language that best meets the requirements of a modeler

Abstract

The work presented in this paper consists in an approach for selecting a business process modeling language using multi-criteria decision, more precisely the AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process) method. The selected business process modeling language should best meet the requirements and objectives of the modeler according to the process to be modeled. The comparative framework established for our approach consists in constructing a decision problem solved using the AHP multi-criteria analysis method. The prioritized criterion describes the modeler requirements and the alternatives represent the set of business process modeling languages under study. The comparative framework is based on seven criteria: Expressiveness, Flexibility, Formality, Readability, Support Tools, Usability and Ease of Learning. Our approach is, essentially, justified by the fact that none of the existing languages fully supports all the criteria. Multi-criteria decision support analysis is therefore the most appropriate approach for their comparison.