Overview of Business Process Modeling Languages Supporting Enterprise Collaboration

Enterprises endeavor to provide innovative services and competitive advantages, by constituting Collaborative Networks (CNs). Each enterprise performs a set of Business Processes (BPs), and through developing integrated BPs in CNs, enterprises can jointly produce stronger capabilities. However, selecting appropriate BP Modeling Languages (BPMLs) for the purpose of formalizing BPs in the CNs are challenging. In surveys published so far, mostly some general features of the main BPMLs are contrasted. But these comparisons analyze neither the features and peculiarities identifying different categories of BPMLs, nor the requirements to be fulfilled in CNs. This article introduces a systematic evaluation method, which first proposes a new categorization for BPMLs. Then, focusing on enterprise collaboration requirements, a specific set of Key Requirement Indicators (KRIs) is identified for CNs, related to what they require from BPMLs. Finally, the introduced BPML categories are discussed against the KRIs, in order to assess their suitability in supporting CNs.