BPEL to BPMN: The Myth of a Straight-Forward Mapping

Matthias Weidlich, Gero Decker, Alexander Großkopf, Mathias Weske

Abstract: An alignment of the Business Process Execution Language (BPEL) and the Business Process Modelling Notation (BPMN) promises seamless integration of process documentation and executable process definitions. Thus, a lot of research has been conducted on a mapping from BPMN to BPEL. The other perspective of this alignment, i.e. a BPEL-to-BPMN mapping, was largely neglected. This paper presents a condensed discussion of such a mapping and its pitfalls. We illustrate why such a mapping is not as straight-forward as commonly assumed and discuss the gaps to be bridged towards a better alignment of both languages.