What is Business Process (BP)

The power of rule-based solutions has been demonstrated over a wide range of domains and a number of industrial-scale solutions and business rules have now proven their usability in complex real world scenarios. But the use of business rules in conjunction with business process management is still a young research field. Business process management (BPM) is a new paradigm for companies to carry out their value-creating activities. Bringing agility and flexibility to business process management is one of the most pressing challenges we are facing today. In this chapter, we make the case for rule-enabled BPM by motivating the need for introducing business rules in BPM and studying the possible advantages of combining business rule management (BRM) and BPM techniques. A discussion of possible uses of business rules (BRs) in business processes (BPs) is made. Furthermore, we also propose a lifecycle for BPM-oriented business rule management, and illustrate this using a business scenario. Hence, the aim of this chapter is to provide readers with insights into issues conceptual BRM applied to BPM in a business context, not from a formal, but from a methodological point of view.