Little did I know nor even suspect, when I started organizing OMG’s project to certify practitioners of BPMN modeling, how ambitious a project we would end up with. But as I and OMG’s group of BPM experts started to define a set of certifications and levels, the scope of the project expanded, seemingly of its own accord, on two fronts: First, it grew to embrace a host of roles involved in running the business side of an enterprise, including interacting in real-time with other enterprises, and Second, as our group of BPM experts delighted in reminding me, the field of BPM itself divides into two groups – Business and Technical – each with its own set of objectives and skills, needing its own set of certifications. We ended up calling the program OCEB – OMG-Certified Expert in BPM. But does BPM in this case refer to Business Process Management, or Business Process Modeling? Well, in this case, Yes, it does, since the program covers both and, with five examinations and levels, has enough space to do the job properly.

To see what I’m talking about, take a look at this diagram of the OCEB examination structure. Most noticeable is the division into Business and Technical tracks for the upper two levels, but we’re going to focus on the Fundamental level at the bottom. It’s the subject of this book, of course, but let’s consider its importance as a foundation for the upper levels of the program.

You can see the seven major examination topics in the Table of Contents of this book, or on the OCEB website. They fall into three major categories:

·        The Business itself

·        Business Process Modeling using BPMN

·        Frameworks for Process Quality, Business Governance, and Metrics

OMG’s team of BPM experts included business-oriented topics at this level to ensure that everyone (since this certification is a prerequisite for every other OCEB level) who displays an OCEB certification logo is familiar with the basic concepts of business–goals and objectives, ways and means, and so on –that will be represented in business process diagrams and bring in the money to pay everyone’s salary. These topics are already familiar to most of the folks who work on the business side, but will be new to many of the technical people.

Business Process Modeling using BPMN is well-covered – OMG’s team of question-writing experts included many of the principal authors of the BPMN specification itself. Divided into two major topics – BP Modeling Concepts and BP Modeling Skills – this part of the certification tests both knowledge of BPMN language elements and, using brief scenarios, familiarity with model-building and model-reading. This level includes only basic parts of BPMN – we’ve left plenty for the more advanced levels to cover!

The final section, on Frameworks for Process Quality, Business Governance, and Metrics, surveys a range of frameworks that BPM practitioners need to be familiar with. OCEB-Certified individuals should be aware of all of these frameworks, since one or another may be helpful or even necessary in BPM work, depending on one’s area of practice. However, this examination does not test the ability to work with any of them – after all, each is (or could be) the subject of its own dedicated certification! At this level, we thought that an awareness of the names, scopes, and goals of a wide range of frameworks would provide our certified candidates with the knowledge they need in their practices.

This coverage, and the examination questions themselves, were all written by a team of more than 25 BPM experts listed on the OCEB Authors Page at http://www.omg.org/oceb/authors.htm. On this page you’ll find the name of Tim Weilkiens, the author of this book. Tim was an active contributor throughout the project, earning the right to display the “OCEB Content Developer” logo on this book. As project leader, I appreciated Tim’s timely and high-quality contributions. As a candidate for the OCEB Fundamental certification, you’ll appreciate his familiarity with the coverage and material, and ability to collect and digest the many references into a single volume.

As you study your way through this book, and through a course if you’ve decided to take one, concentrate on developing your BPMN (and BMM!) modeling skills and absorbing the material so you can build your BPM career. Of course you’re concerned with “Will this be on the test?”, but the question that our team of experts asked before we put anything on the test was “Is this important to the work of a BPM practitioner?” so you can be sure that all of your study will enhance your career as it prepares you for the OCEB Fundamental examination.

Let me personally wish you the best as you prepare to take the OCEB Fundamental examination. I know you’ll be proud to display the OCEB-Certified logo on your business card and resume, and hope that you’ll come back to our program and certify at one or both higher levels in your career track, or perhaps even both tracks if your role is BPM Guru.

December, 2009