A unique and central aspect of any Metastorm BPM
process is that of a ‘Folder’. This folder can be
likened to a simple manila folder that made exist in any office.
Any such folder may contain any number of forms. It may also
contain any number of additional items which may be termed
'attachments' this Folder will typically move around an office,
moving from desk to desk, based on rules that have been defined by
your business. There may be certain deadlines associated with this
folder. There will certainly be people responsible for
particular tasks, and people with overall authority and
responsibility for the processing of this
folder.
As the folder moves through the designated
process more data will be added to the folder, either by adding to
forms, introducing new forms, or by adding attachments. Ultimately
this folder will be stored in an archive for potential later
reference. There may well be a record of each person who has access
this folder or made amendments to this folder. This would be
essential for auditing purposes if required.
There may well be linked processes which need to
be performed during the life of this folder. There may also be
common processes or sub processes that are followed, for example
authorisation, during its life-cycle. The data included in this
folder may be extracted from other systems, may be entered into
still out further systems, and may be used for reporting
purposes.
In most situations this folder will be referenced
by unique reference number, and also by a title for easy reference.
You would expect that different folders would also be treated with
different priorities depending on their
contents.
This, in essence, describes Metastorm BPM process
in full. What we shall do here is described the various elements of
the Metastorm BPM system that describe this overall
process.
The folder concept is employed with each process.
Each folder has a unique ID, which includes a prefix defined in the
process properties, and an incrementing suffix. You are also able
to add your own unique reference, for example a case number. It
will also have a subject, which could be regarded as its title.
This normally comes from data within the folder itself, for example
a customer name. There are two more attributes common to all
folders. These are the priority from number 1 to 9, and the
deadline which is a date & time. Typically both are used to
categorise and sort folders.
What is Metastorm BPM?
