Properties of Business Processes

Properties of business process models are investigated in this chapter. Correct data dependencies within a process are a simple type of correctness property of a business process. With object lifecycle conformance, a property of business processes with respect to the data objects they operate on, is introduced. Other correctness criteria have been proposed as different types of soundness criteria. If a business process is sound, then each process instance enjoys certain execution guarantees, for instance, freedom from deadlocks. There are different types of soundness properties, each of which takes into account some specific aspect of the business process executed. With the development of business decision management, the traditional soundness criteria have to be extended to decision soundness, which is motivated, defined, and illustrated by examples.