Business Terms

Term

Definition

Activity

BPM map element defining a single step in a process. In the system, an activity is work performed as part of a process. It is linked to a specific role or roles.

BPM

Acronym which stands for Business Process Management.

Business Process Management

Functionality the system uses to manage and track the work SUITS users do.

Checkout

To assign an activity to yourself. This also has the effect of launching the activity. See launch.

Complete

To complete an activity is to indicate to the system that the work defined by that activity is done and was successful, and the system should proceed to the next step in the process.

ECM

Acronym which stands for Electronic Content Management. This is the functionality the system uses to manage scanned documents, emails, and faxes indexed in the system as belonging to a specific Person, Organization, etc.

The receipt of an ECM document or similar usually triggers the system to act on a process instance in some way. See process event.

Event

Term used for BPM maps for an element that starts, pauses, or ends a process.

Initiate

To initiate is for the system to cause to exist, or create an instance of, as in a case, process, or activity.

Cases are usually initiated automatically via the trigger of whatever ECM documents are configured to do so (see process event), but they can also be initiated manually.

Launch

An action with two effects:

•      The system opens the record you need to do the work (depending on the screen associated with the activity in BPM configuration and the parameters the system uses to locate the record).

•      Your My Basket displays the activity first in your list of assigned activities, and any action you perform in your My Basket will affect that activity instance.

My Basket

Container for all activities currently assigned to the user, from which the user can perform processing actions such as suspending, terminating, completing, etc.

Pull

Method for assigning an activity to a user. In pull, the user has to manually indicate to the system that they are assigning the activity to themselves, or checking out the activity, from the work pool.

All the user/role/attributes restrictions for the activity still apply. If the user is not eligible for the activity, they cannot assign it to themselves.

Resume

To reactivate a suspended activity instance and work on it. This can be automatic or manual.

Role

In development, a BPM activity can optionally have role configuration. If an activity has any required roles, then a user likewise has to have those roles as part of their user profile in order to check out or be assigned the activity in the system.

Please note that a user having compatible roles does not guarantee they can access the activity. Activities can also have attribute or specific user requirements which that user doesn’t meet.

Suspend

To pause an activity instance until the earliest of the following occurs:

•      A defined date arrives.

•      One or all associated ECM documents arrive.

•      A user manually resumes the activity.

Terminate

To cancel an activity instance and stop all execution of its process and case.

Work Pool

Collection of unassigned activity instances.

Workflow

Another word for business process management.