Business Profile
A business profile is an overview of a company’s mission, functions, organization,
products, services, customers, suppliers, competitors, constraints, and future direction.
Although much of this information is readily available, a systems analyst usually needs
to do additional research and fact-finding. A business profile is the starting point for the
modeling process.
Business Process
A business process is a specific set of transactions, events, and results that can be
described and documented. A business process model (BPM) graphically displays one
or more business processes, such as handling an airline reservation, filling a product
order, or updating a customer account. The example
in Figure 1-11 shows a simple model that includes
an event, three processes, and a result.
A rough sketch might be sufficient to document a
simple business process. For complex operations, however, analysts apply computer-based modeling tools that
use a standard language called business process modeling
notation (BPMN). BPMN includes various shapes and
symbols to represent events, processes, and workflows,
as shown in the example in Figure 1-12. Modeling tools
include multi-purpose graphical applications, such as
Microsoft Visio, and computer-aided software engineering programs such as Visible Analyst. Business process
modeling is described in more detail in Part