Business Analysts | QualiWare Center of Excellence

CPM Diagram

Purpose: The Purpose of the Critical Path Method Diagram (CPM Diagram) is to reveal the critical path through a project, i.e. the list of activities that needs special attention since a delay in these activities will delay the whole project.

Core concerns: The CPM Diagram enables you to model Project Activities and connect them with Activity Paths. The Project Activities are then enriched with information about latest and earliest dates for start and finish as well as information about duration and slack for each Project Activity.

This makes it possible to calculate the probability of finishing the project within the planned timeframe, and to successively improve and detail the plan.

Below, you can see an example of a CPM Diagram about how to develop an organization to support a strategic change. It concerns the incoming and outgoing flow of employees as well as their training across several locations:

As you can see, the critical path is marked with red.

The following example is of a technology roadmap, where the critical path shows the three most critical project activities for on-time completion:

Other functionalities: A Calendar can be linked to the Property Dialog of the diagram showing holidays for the project.

Relation to other templates: The CPM Diagram template should be used after a project has been broken down into Project Activities. As such, it can be a decomposition of a Project Activity from a Business Canvas, Value Proposition, Work Model, Strategy Model or Innovation Canvas.

Properties and metadata: The CPM Diagram can for example retain the following information:

A description of the diagram
Link to owner
Link to responsible
Link to calendar
Audits (auto generated information regarding its current state and access rights)
Associated documents, diagrams and other objects
Inherent Risk detailing risk considerations
Governance information detailing information about the published diagram and who has been involved in the approval of the diagram

The above picture shows the properties dialogue window for the CPM diagram where you can view and edit the diagram’s properties in QualiWare Lifecycle Manager.

Conceptual Data Model

Purpose: The Conceptual Data Model template is used to describe a high-level business oriented structure of the information concept used in a specific business area. Below yo can se an example of a Conceptual Data Model where the data is divided into data for internal and external use:

Core concerns: The conceptual data model template enables you to model a preliminary high level data model. It may be abstract in content and sparse in attributes. Its preliminary structure allows for many-to-many relationships. When using the Conceptual Data Model, you can model Information Concepts, Subject Areas, and their interrelationships. Below, you can see a car rental service’s Conceptual Data Model for a customer’s data.

Relation to other templates: The conceptual data model is a means of communicating information structures between participants in a project or documenting the overall Information Concept of a specific organization. For a more detailed model you should use a Data Model Diagram.

Properties and metadata: The Conceptual Data Model can for example retain the following metadata:

A description of the diagram
Link to the owner of the diagram
Link to the one responsible for the accuracy of the diagram
Audits (auto generated information regarding its current state and access rights)
Associated documents, diagrams and other objects
Inherent Risk detailing risk considerations
Governance information detailing information about the published diagram and who has been involved in the approval of the diagram
Project status: information about budgeted and actual man-hours spent, percentage completed and the latest milestone, result and quality control of a change process.

In the picture below you can see the Conceptual Data Model’s properties dialogue window, where the information can be viewed and edited:

Concept Model

Purpose: The purpose of a Concept Model is to organize an enterprise’s vocabulary to support cPonsistent and unambiguous communication about specific problem domains across business units.

Core concerns: The Concept Model template enables you to model Concepts, Specialization Aspects and Subject Areas. They can be linked by Concept Associations, Concept Aggregations, Concept Generalizations, Type Relationships, and Relationship Constraints.

You are also able to link the diagram to its area of usage through the model’s property dialogue. This area of usage can by default be set to be either an Organization Unit, Role, Actor or External Entity.

Below you can see some examples of Concept Models from a healthcare domain:

The model above shows the concepts related to the healthcare activity ‘knee arthroplasty’. The model below shows the concepts related to a signature in the healthcare domain:

The model above shows the concepts related to the healthcare activity ‘knee arthroplasty’.

The model below shows the concepts related to a signature in the healthcare domain:

Relation to other templates: A Concept Model should enable the identification of the right terms to use in communications where high precision is needed. This is useful when creating large sets of business rules or processes that need to fit together without ambiguity and when creating complex Data Models. As such, it could be advantageous to link to a concept model from the affected Business Process Networks, Workflow Diagrams, Requirements Models and Regulation Diagrams.

Properties and metadata: The Concept Model can for example retain the following information:

A description of the diagram
Link to the owner of the model
Link to the one responsible for the model
Link to view of area of usage
Audits (auto generated information regarding its current state and access rights)
Associated documents, diagrams and other objects
Inherent Risk detailing risk considerations
Governance information detailing information about the published diagram and who has been involved in the approval of the diagram

The above picture shows the properties dialogue window for the Concept Model, where you can view and edit the diagram’s properties in QualiWare Lifecycle Manager.

For more information: to learn more about Concept Models, you can read the following article:

Ronald G. Ross , “What Is a Concept Model?” Business Rules Journal Vol. 15, No. 10, (Oct. 2014). URL: http://www.brcommunity.com/a2014/b779.html

Class Diagram

Purpose: The primary objective of the Class Diagram template is to visually represent and document the structural components of a system utilizing the Unified Modeling Language (UML). Displayed below is an example of a straightforward Class Diagram:

Core concerns: The Class Diagram effectively captures the various classes within a system, their attributes, operations, and the relationships between classes and other objects, such as packages. This comprehensive representation enables a clear understanding of the system’s structure, promoting efficient communication among stakeholders and facilitating system design and maintenance.

Example: In the Class Diagram below, the relationships between the classes “Customer” and “Internet User” and the packages “WEB-API”, “Reservation Control”, “GUI” (Graphical User Interface), and “Database” are illustrated. This example highlights the connections among different components and provides a visual overview of how they interact within the system:

Relation to other templates: The Class Diagram presents a detailed structural view of information. It can for example be a decomposition of an Information System which typically is presented in an Application Architecture Diagram. If a Class Diagram becomes too complex or large, a Package Diagram, where the classes are grouped into Packages, could be modelled instead.

Properties and metadata: The Class Diagram can for example retain the following information:

A description of the diagram
Link to the owner of the diagram
Link to the one responsible for the diagram
Audits (auto generated information regarding its current state and access rights)
Extensions regarding constraints and tagged values
Associated documents, diagrams and other objects
Inherent Risk detailing risk considerations
Governance information detailing information about the published diagram and who has been involved in the approval of the diagram

In the picture below you can see the Class Diagrams properties dialogue window, where the information can be viewed and edited:

Business Process Network

Purpose: The purpose of the Business Process Network is to at document a mid- to high-level view of Business Processes and their interrelationships.

Core concerns: The Business Process Network template enables the documentation of top to mid-level processes. The core objects available to model with are Business Processes, Business Events, Business Objects, Business Scope, Information Systems, and different types of connections. Below you can see two examples of a Business Process Network modelled in different styles.

High level process view without business events or connections between processes:

High-level process view where business events and connections indicate a flow between processes, stakeholders and customers:

Relation to other templates: The top-level processes would typically be broken down to one or more levels of mid-level processes. The last level of Business Process Networks can then be broken down to several Workflow Diagrams or Business Process Diagrams detailing the activities contained within the business process

Properties and metadata: The Business Process Network can for example retain the following information:

Description of the diagram
Link to the owner of the diagram
Link to the one responsible for executing the processes in the diagram
Audits (auto generated information regarding its current state and access rights)
Associated documents, diagrams and other objects
Inherent Risk detailing risk considerations
Governance information detailing information about the published diagram and who has been involved in the approval of the diagram

In the picture below you can see the Business Process Network’s properties dialogue window, where the diagrams properties can be viewed and edited:

Business Process Diagram

Purpose: The purpose of the Business Process Diagram template is to enable workflow modelling using the industry standard BPMN (Business Process Modeling Notation).

Core concerns: The Business Process Diagram template supply you with the BPMN icons that enable you to draw a workflow diagram. These icons include different types of events, activities, gateways, connectors, as well as pools, lanes and artifacts such as data objects and messages. The Business Process Diagram is typically used to illustrate business processes and software processes used in requirement documentation. Below is an example of a classic BPMN diagram with swimlanes:

To ensure the right BPMN syntax, the Business Process Diagram template will continuously perform Graphic Syntax Checks while you model. When a graphic syntax error occurs, you will be met with an error message like the one shown below:

Other functionalities: The Business Process Diagram can enable the execution and automation of a process when the diagram is converted into XML type files.

If you don’t wish to have a visible pool in your diagram, you can choose to have a ‘default pool’ that doesn’t have to be graphically represented. You can see an example of a diagram without pool and lanes below:

Relation to other templates: The Business Process Diagram template is exclusively aimed at modeling using the BPMN standard. If the BPMN is not chosen as a mandatory standard, the WorkFlow Diagram template, which has fewer syntax limitations, can be used instead.

The Business Process Diagram is typically linked as a decomposition of a Business Process contained in a Business Process Network template.

Properties and metadata: The Business Process Diagram can for example retain the following information:

Description of the diagram
Expression and query language
Link to the owner of the process
Link to the one responsible for executing the process
Audits (auto generated information regarding its current state and access rights)
Associated documents, diagrams and other objects
Inherent Risk detailing risk considerations
Governance information detailing information about the published diagram and who has been involved in the approval of the diagram

In the picture above you can see the Business Process Diagram’s properties dialogue window, where the diagram’s properties can be viewed and edited:

For more information: about the BPMN standard please visit OMG’s dedicated website.

Business Ecosystem

Purpose: The purpose of the Business Ecosystem template is to enable an organization to understand itself from an outside-out perspective by modelling the environment in which the organization is embedded.

Core concerns: The Business Ecosystem supplies five elements to model with: Business, People, Things, Business Interaction and Business Moment. The Business Ecosystem template should primarily be used for modeling entities outside the enterprise to identify new business opportunities in the form of Business Moments.

Above you can see a model of a Business Ecosystem. The blue areas are Business Moments, where the interactions between People, Businesses and Things create business opportunities for your enterprise.

Relation to other templates: The Business Ecosystem model is based on the Enterprise Design theories and is as such in the same family as the Customer journey map.

The Business Ecosystem is a strategic model and can be used to document a strategic possibility or track along with for example Business Capability Models, Strategy Models, and Work Models.

Properties and metadata: The Business Ecosystem can for example retain the following information:

A description of the diagram
Link to the owner of the application architecture
Link to the one responsible for the application architecture
Audits (auto generated information regarding its current state and access rights)
Associated documents, diagrams and other objects
Inherent Risk detailing risk considerations
Governance information detailing information about the published diagram and who has been involved in the approval of the diagram
Project status: information about budgeted and actual man-hours spent, percentage completed and the latest milestone, result and quality control of a change process.

For more information: If you want to learn more about Enterprise Design, we have a four-part webinar by Milan Guenther available for viewing. You can also visit Milan’s website, where you can learn more about the Enterprise Design framework.

Business Diagram

Purpose: The purpose of a Business Diagram is to show the functional structure and relationships of the whole or part of an organization.

Core concerns: The Business Diagram template enables you to model Business Functions, Information Systems, Inventory, Business Scope, Lines of Business, Information Flow and Logistical Flow. The diagram’s syntax can be extended to also include strategic elements such as Goals, Objectives, Stakeholders and Performance Indicators.

The Business Diagram should be broken down into several levels of recurring Business Diagram templates. In the model below, you can see an example of a high-level Business Diagram showing Business Functions and their Information Flows and Logistical Flows – describing the flow of products and services – in this case for a car rental service.

The Business Functions are placed with the operational functions in the bottom together with the Logistical Flow and with management control at the top of the Business Diagram.

On lower levels (decompositions) of Business Diagrams, Information Systems are placed close to the Business Functions that are responsible for or own the Information Systems.

Relation to other templates: The Business Diagram can be used as an addition to a Business Process Network and Strategy Models, giving a practical view of how the organizations functions fit together, illuminating interdependencies.

Properties and metadata: The Business Diagram can for example retain the following information:

A description of the diagram
Link to the owner of the Diagram
Link to the one responsible for the Diagram
Indication of the diagram portrays an as-is situation or a to-be situation
The Perspective can be defined as either: Holistic, Sub-functional, Process, or IT Focused.
Audits (auto generated information regarding its current state and access rights)
Associated documents, diagrams and other objects
Inherent Risk detailing risk considerations
Governance information detailing information about the published diagram and who has been involved in the approval of the diagram

The above picture shows the properties dialogue window for the Business Diagram where you can view and edit the diagram’s properties in QualiWare Lifecycle Manager.

Business Chart

For a quick introduction to BusinessCharts please see the video below as it explains how to create a BusinessChart based on Pie charts.
The video contains:

How to use the QML to create charts
How to customize the charts
An introduction to the versatility of using charts in QualiWare

Purpose: The purpose of the Business Chart template is to create different graphs and charts using information from other diagrams and templates. The Business charts can then either be published on a Dashboard and/or stored.

Core concerns: The Business Chart template is concerned with analyzing other templates and models. Therefore, it is not modelled like a typical template, but created using the Chart Wizard found in the template’s property window:

Below, you can see the Chart Wizard that helps you create your Business Chart:

The Business Chart template can for example be used to generate a chart over how the capabilities or Key Performance Indicators of an enterprise are performing over time or compared to desired values. Additionally, Business Charts can be used to analyze static data entered in a Matrix model. You choose the input to your Business Chart as a ‘Data Source’ in the templates metadata (see figure under Metadata).

Below, you can see two very different examples of business charts:

BusinessChart_2

BusinessChart_1

Relation to other templates: The Business Charts are published using the Dashboard template.

Properties and metadata: The Business Chart template can for example retain the following information:

A description of the diagram
Link to the owner of the business chart
Link to the one responsible for the business chart
Link to data source
Audits (auto generated information regarding its current state and access rights)
Associated documents, diagrams and other objects
Inherent Risk detailing risk considerations
Governance information detailing information about the published diagram and who has been involved in the approval of the diagram

The above picture shows the properties dialogue window for the Business Chart Template where you can view and edit the diagram’s properties in QualiWare Lifecycle Manager.

Business Canvas

Purpose: The Business Canvas, is a strategic management and entrepreneurial template. It allows you to describe, design, challenge, invent, and pivot your business model.

Core Concerns: The core elements of the business canvas are framework cells that define a strategic or organizational entities and, if needed, connections between them. The Business Model can be structured any way you wish. The most well know structure of a business model is Alexander Osterwalder’s Business Model Canvas.

The above picture shows a blank Business Model Canvas where each area is represented by a framework cell.

The strategic or organizational entities can then be enriched with an extended portfolio of strategic symbols such as vision, mission, goals, stakeholders, information systems and business processes.

Full content list of the extended portfolio:

Vision
Mission
Business Object
Market
Competitive Advantage
Technology
Competence
Capability
Performance Indicator

Business Function
Business Process
Organization Unit
Stakeholder
Information System
External Entity
Location
Channel
Goal

Opportunity
Threat
Trend
Material Asset
Intellectual Capital Asset
Business Rule
Key Performance Indicator

The picture below shows a Business Model Canvas that is filled out with symbols from the extended portfolio.

Relation to other templates: The Business Canvas can link to multiple related templates detailing the businesses capabilities, business processes, strategy and more.

Properties and metadata: The Business Canvas Diagram can for example retain the following information:

A description of the diagram
Link to the owner of the application architecture
Link to the one responsible for the application architecture
Audits (auto generated information regarding its current state and access rights)
Associated documents, diagrams and other objects
Inherent Risk detailing risk considerations
Governance information detailing information about the published diagram and who has been involved in the approval of the diagram