Workflow diagramming software
 

Hello :)

I'm studying a complex local government approval process that involves several teams. The first task is to understand and document the process so we can decide how to improve it -- how to speed it up and make it more publically visible.

At this stage we do not know whether we will choose to use workflow management engine software but it is likely; the primary requirement now is workflow diagramming, probably in Business Process Management Notation (BPMN) or maybe an Event Driven Process Chain.

Netsearching has identified Eclipse IDE with BPMN Modeler or YAWL as promising tools.

Given no recent experience of workflow engineering, urgency and a likely adoption of workflow management engine software, what are the pros and cons of the Eclipse and YAWL solutions and are there any other FOSS tools that should be considered?

Best

Charles

What about Dia? I'm not sure if it meets your specification though.

Thanks Fred :)

Might be just the tool to get going quickly but it is a pure drawing tool so would not give us a "leg up" if we do decide to use software to manage the process. AIUI the first two candidates produce a formal process description as well as a diagram.

If you have used both Dia and OpenOffice Draw, how do they compare?

I used YAWL in the end and found it very nice -- intuitive and well documented. We haven't moved to the next stage of using it to define a workflow engine yet.

What about a tool like freemind, made for mind mapping which can be mapping your own personal workflow.

Thanks for the suggestion :) but I've explored freemind (funnily enough for mind mapping!) but like Dia and OpenOffice Draw, it is not designed for workflow and so does not produce a workflow engine definition as YAWL does.