What This Book Covers

Chapter 1 looks at the relation between SOA and business processes. SOA provides the technology platform for the implementation of business processes, and the development of applications that provide end-to-end support for business processes. This chapter also covers the long-term association of SOA with business processes and BPM.

Chapter 2 gives an overview of the role of business process modeling for SOA. It outlines the importance of BPM and its life-cycle, which consists of business process design, process implementation, process execution and control, and process optimization. It discusses each of these stages in brief. It also briefly discusses ARIS the methodology, BPMN notations, and process simulation.

Chapter 3 covers the concepts of business process modeling, and the use of BPMN as a standard in providing a consistent, process vocabulary to any business. It discusses the essential components of BPMN using some examples, which will enable you to start creating BPDs. It also introduces the Oracle Business Process Analysis Suite.

Chapter 4 addresses some general guidelines for process modeling before taking a deep dive into some complex constructs of BPMN, especially the length and breadth of Events, and the role they play in creating and visualizing BPDs. It also covers support for workflow patterns in BPMN and their use during process execution using BPEL.

Chapter 5 covers two important aspects in the BPM process: process analysis using simulation and process transformation for implementation. It emphasizes the importance of tools to extend support for some of the gaps in the current standards and transformation to reduce the issues of synchronization and process round-trips.

Chapter 6 covers business process modeling using BPMN and process analysis using simulation techniques. It covers process transition from BPMN to BPEL, followed by process orchestration and execution using process engines such as Oracle's BPEL Process Manager. It also evaluates some of the best practices for implementing various technology components to make the end-to-end process of BPM and SOA seamless.