---

University of California, Davis

Application Development Methodology

---

Development Technique Concepts

Process

A defined business activity, executions of which may be identified in terms of the input and output of entities of specific types, or in terms of data about entities of specific types.

Processes are the specific activities of the enterprise. The process is described in terms of the entity types involved, such as CUSTOMER, ORDER or PRODUCT. The definition draws attention to the distinction between a process and an execution of it.

Execution of a Process

An execution of a process is concerned with the specific entity occurrences involved (e.g., Acme Company, Order 106359, 2-cm Screw) and the values of associated attributes (e.g., Quantity Ordered and Unit Price). Each execution of a process is uniquely identified by the states of the entities involved, the values of their attributes and the time of execution. Furthermore, the outcome of an execution of a process or its completion criteria are well known (e.g., an ORDER is either accepted or rejected).

The same cannot be said for a broader business activity, such as SELLING, where the idea of an execution is meaningless. An execution of SELLING might involve taking an ORDER, setting a salesperson's revenue objectives, or analyzing last year's sales. In other words, an execution could mean different things at different times. It is therefore not useful to speak of an execution of SELLING. SELLING can instead be defined as a function.

Examples of Processes

* SCHEDULE DELIVERY

* PAY AUTHOR

* INVOICE CUSTOMER

* PAY EMPLOYEE

* CHECK CUSTOMER CREDIT

* COMMISSION BOOK

Processes Describe WHAT, Not HOW

Because processes describe what the business does and not how it is done, it is not necessary to consider:

* What techniques are used

* When it is done

* Where it is done

In practice, many techniques may be employable for implementing a process. A set of steps for implementing a process with a chosen technique is called a procedure. Procedures are not described during Business Area Analysis; instead, they are designed during the Business System Design phase of the Analysis Stage, because they are system activities rather than business activities.

Scope of Process Analysis During BAA

The identification of processes is a principal goal for a Business Area Analysis project. Functions in the project scope are analyzed to reveal every process.