This article explores the differences and relationships between business processes and software development processes. It examines how business process modeling helps business operations achieve their goals, and how software development processes help design applications that support and enhance those operations. It also explores various modeling tools and methodologies used to define, illustrate, and improve both types of processes, including BPMN, UML diagrams, and Agile frameworks.
Alexander S. Ricciardi
January 6, 2025
Business processes are part of business analysis, and software development processes are part of software development. While similar and related, the business processes define how a business achieves its goals, software development processes’ goal is to build applications that support those business processes. This post also examines the difference between the two by defining their scopes, goals, and methodologies. Additionally, the post explores the various modeling tools used to define and illustrate these processes, including BPM methodologies, BPMN, UML diagrams (Use Case, Activity, and Interaction Overview), and SDLC frameworks like Agile.
Definition of Business Processes and Software Development Process
Business processes are sets of sequential activities performed by stakeholders (e.g., people, departments, systems) to achieve an organizational goal (Kissflow, 2024). They represent "how" a business achieves its objectives. In other words, they represent a business’s operations, workflow, and interactions among stakeholders.
On the other hand, software development processes are usually associated with the software development life cycle (SDLC) and the Agile methodology (Unhelkar, 2028). They can be defined as a series of steps for designing, creating, testing, and maintaining software applications (Browser Stack, 2024).
As shown by the definitions above, business processes and software development processes are related and interconnected but are distinct in their purpose. They have different scopes, focuses, and goals (business operations versus business software creation).
Business Processes vs Software Development Processes
The primary goal of business processes is to achieve a business objective, such as delivering a product or providing a service. On the other hand, the primary goal of software development processes is to design, develop, deploy, and maintain a software application that meets a business’ needs by meeting the business software requirements.
Additionally, the scope of business processes includes the steps, activities, or tasks involved in achieving the business goal. On the other hand, the scope of software development processes includes capturing the functional and non-functional requirements of the business (user needs and business requirements) and the technical aspects of creating software, including coding, testing, deployment, and maintenance of the software.
Furthermore, software development usually uses well-defined mythology such as Agile, Waterfall, and Scrum to capture and define processes. On the other hand, business modeling does not adhere to a single accepted "methodology" to define processes, instead various frameworks, approaches, and improvement techniques are used to define and describe a business’s processes.
Modeling Tools
Business processes are often modeled and defined using Business Process Management (BPM) which describes various methodologies that are used to manage business processes (Nehra, 2020). Methodologies such as Lean, Six Sigma, and Total Quality Management (TQM) each having different approaches to business process improvement. To model and illustrate business processes, these methodologies often use Flowcharts, UML Use case diagrams, UML activity diagrams, and Business Process Management Notation (BPMN) diagrams. BPMN is a rich set of notations that are used to create business process models that can be embedded in standardized case tools, shared, and optimized (Unhelkar, 2018). See Figure 1 for the BPMN diagram’s main components.
Figure 1
BPMN Diagram Main Components
Note: from “Chapter 7 – Activity diagrams, interaction overview diagrams, and business process models. Software engineering with UML. CRC Press” by Unhelkar (2018). Modified.
The BPMN diagram below illustrates a scenario of a customer calling, ordering, and eating at a Chinese restaurant
Figure 2
BPMN Diagram Customer Calling, Ordering, and Eating at a Chinese Restaurant
Note: from “Diagramming basics: A BPMN tutorial” by Lucidchart (n.d. a).
Software development processes usually use SDLC methodologies such as Agile Scum to design, develop, deploy, and maintain a software application. These mythologies often use diagrams such as UML Use Case Diagrams, UML activity diagrams, and UML Interaction Overview Diagrams (IOD). Note that the UML use case and activity diagrams are also used by BMP methodologies. See Figure 3 for the activity diagram’s main components and Figure 5 for the IOD diagram’s main components.
Figure 3
Activity Diagram Main Component
Note: from “Chapter 7 – Activity diagrams, interaction overview diagrams, and business process models. Software engineering with UML. CRC Press” by Unhelkar (2018).
The UML activity diagram below illustrates a scenario of a customer using a bank ATM machine.
Figure 4
Activity Diagram of a Customer Using an ATM Machine
Note: from “Activity diagram with swimlanes example” by Lucichart (n.d. b)
Figure 5
Interaction Overview Diagrams Main Components
Note: from “Chapter 7 – Activity diagrams, interaction overview diagrams, and business process models. Software engineering with UML. CRC Press” by Unhelkar (2018).
The UML Interaction overview diagram below illustrates a scenario of a student using a college admission system.
Figure 6
UML Interaction Overview Diagram of a Student Using a College Admission System
Note: from “Interaction Overview Diagrams | Unified Modeling Language (UML)” by Gurdee (2024). Modified.
Finally, the table below summarizes the differences between business processes and software development processes.
Table 1
Business Processes vs Software Development Processes
In conclusion, business processes and software development processes are distinct but related. Business processes define how a business achieves its goals, while software development processes design applications to support those operations. Modeling and aligning these processes through methodologies like BPM and Agile, and utilizing tools such as BPMN and UML diagrams, is essential for improving efficiency.
References:
Browser Stack (2024, September 18). Understanding the software development process. BrowserStack. https://www.browserstack.com/guide/learn-software-development-process
Gurdee (2024, March 4). Interaction overview diagrams | Unified Modeling Language (UML).
GeeksForGeeks. https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/interaction-overview-diagrams-unified-modeling-language-uml/
Kissflow. (2024, December 24). Business Process 101 : Definition, Steps and Example [Guide for 2025]. https://kissflow.com/workflow/bpm/business-process/#:~:text=A%20business%20process%20is%20defined,attain%20a%20pre%2Ddefined%20objective.
Lucidchart (n.d. a). Diagramming basics: A BPMN tutorial. Lucidchart. https://www.lucidchart.com/blog/diagrams-for-dummies-a-BPMN-tutorial
Lucidchart (n.d. b). Activity diagram with swimlanes example [App]. Lucidchart App. https://lucid.app/lucidchart/1172f431-8bbd-4c8c-929f-b1f805cad037/view?anonId=0.268624821943df44f0a&sessionDate=2025-01-06T23%3A46%3A56.942Z&sessionId=0.d0e34dd81943df44f0c&fromMarketing=true&_gl=1*190v7rn*_gcl_aw*R0NMLjE3MzQ3OTM2NzAuQ2p3S0NBaUE2NW03QmhBd0Vpd0FBZ3U0SkdacVFra0lKcDFWLUt1c1pNeTNfU2dlUklMbmh2NGFrUDNya0Uzd0l3YVM4ZTlCZ3ZOaG5Sb0NuYWNRQXZEX0J3RQ..*_gcl_au*MTk2MTYzNDY4Ny4xNzM0MjA0OTQ3*_ga*MjYyMDU1OTQ3LjE3MzQyMDQ5NDk.*_ga_MPV5H3XMB5*MTczNjIwNjIwOS41LjEuMTczNjIwNzIxMC4wLjAuMA..&usecase=uml&page=0_0#
Nehra, M. (2020, September 16). Business process management in software companies.
ITChronicles. https://itchronicles.com/business-process-management/business-process-management-in-software-companies/
Unhelkar, B. (2018). Chapter 7 – Activity diagrams, interaction overview diagrams, and business process models. Software engineering with UML. CRC Press. ISBN 9781138297432