BPM is not Software Engineering

A lot of the confusion and difficulty in the BPM community is because some people think that BPM is a kind of Software Engineering.

Indeed, superficially it looks like Software Engineering: you start with requirements, you determine the pieces of information that need to be stored and retrieved from variables, you might have a drawing of the relationships, and in the end you have something that can be installed and executed on networked computers. But there is a difference, and that difference is the entire reason that BPM exists.

BPMN is still useful for small businesses

I received by email a couple questions today, repeated below with my answers.

I am an independent software developer turned architect / business analyst. Over the last year or so I have found quite a bit of work by going into businesses and explaining them how their own internal processes work (through made up flowcharts and long winded explanations).

Question 1: Do you think the BPMN is overkill for documenting a small businesses BP?