Bookshelf v7.5: Business Process Diagram

A business process diagram maps out the work of a company by depicting who does what over time. A business process involves multiple groups, individuals, or systems within a company, including the customer as well as partners and third-party systems. A business process diagram is often comprised of many steps representing subprocesses, such as in the example shown in Figure 17. Steps that are subprocesses appear as shaded blue rectangles with thick borders.

Symbols Used in Business Process Diagrams

The symbols shown in Table 2 are used in Siebel business process diagrams and subprocess diagrams.

Table 2. Symbols Used in Siebel Business Process Diagrams and Subprocess Diagrams
Symbol	Description
Step	A shaded blue rectangle with a shadow represents a task and is known as a step. If more than one individual, group, or system performs a step, the step box spans across multiple swimlanes.
Subprocess	A shaded blue rectangle with a thick border represents a subprocess. The underlying subprocess is composed of multiple steps, and this symbol directs you to a subprocess diagram that details those steps.
Step Outside of Firm	A rectangle with a standard black border represents a task that is performed by an organization outside of your company (such as a partner or a vendor).
Subprocess Outside of Firm	A rectangle with a bolded border represents a subprocess that is performed by an organization outside of your company (such as a partner or a vendor).
Customer Step	A green parallelogram with a shaded border represents a step performed by the customer.
Decision Step	A diamond is used for decisions and branching logic. A decision step is not a task and does not take any time to perform. The decision step routes options to the various outcomes of the question it poses. All lines that exit a diamond are labeled with text, most commonly stating Yes and No.
Nested Business Process	A nested business process symbol indicates that another business process is performed at this point during the process. The user returns to the original business process after completing the nested business process.
Off-Page Process Connector	An off-page process connector shows the link between a process at the right-hand edge of the current diagram page and another process located in a different diagram on another page. The off-page process connector is also used at the left-hand edge of a diagram to depict the process that precedes the process shown in the diagram.
Start Step	A Start step is used to show the beginning of a business process. If the process has been immediately preceded by a different process, the off-page process connector is used instead.
End Step	An End step is used to show the finish of a business process and appears immediately following the last step.
Siebel View Icon	A Siebel View icon indicates a step that is performed either automatically or by a user within the Siebel application. The View icon indicates a step that contains a link to a Siebel view, and this view can be launched by right-clicking on the view icon for that step. The View icon indicates the version number of the application that supports the step (such as Siebel 7.5). If the step is expected to be supported in future versions, the View icon contains an F. If the View icon contains an A (such as 7.5A or FA), the step is supported by automated functionality (such as a call to a business service within the Siebel application) and does not have a specific view associated with it.
Dashed Line	A dashed line is used to connect steps that are performed outside your company. A dashed line also depicts data or information that enters the process from outside your company. This line connects to the customer, as well as to partner and third-party organizations.
Solid Line	A solid line is used to connect steps performed within your company.