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In complex information systems, it is often crucial to evaluate whether a sequence of activities obtained from a system log complies with behavioural rules. This process of evaluation is called conformance checking, and the most classical approach to specifying the behavioural rules is in the form of flow chartlike process diagrams, e.g., in the Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) language. Traditionally, control flow constraints are extracted using Petri net replay-based approaches. Though, with the use of industrial process query languages such as Signavio Analytics Language (SIGNAL) that allows for temporal row matching, the possibility of performing conformance checking using temporal constraints opens up. To this end, this thesis presents a parser for extracting control-flow objects from BPMN-based business process models and a compiler for generating both linear temporal logic-like rules as well as SIGNAL queries. The parser succeeds at parsing all industry models and most academic models; the exceptions in the latter case can presumably be traced back to edge cases and unidiomatic modelling. The constraints generated by the compiler are in some, but not in all cases, identical to constraints extracted via Petri net replay as an intermediate step, indicating some differences in the formal interpretation of BPMN control flow. In conclusion, the implementation and evaluation of the parser and compiler indicate that it is feasible to move directly from business user-oriented process models to declarative, query language-based constraints, cutting out the Petri net-replay middleman and hence facilitating elegant and more efficient process data querying.

In spite of recent advances in process mining, making this new technology accessible to non-technical users remains a challenge. Process maps and dashboards still seem to frighten many line of business professionals. In order to democratize this technology, we propose a natural language querying interface that allows non-technical users to retrieve relevant information and insights about their processes by simply asking questions in plain English. In this work we propose a reference architecture to support questions in natural language and provide the right answers by integrating to existing process mining tools. We combine classic natural language processing techniques (such as entity recognition and semantic parsing) with an abstract logical representation for process mining queries. We also provide a compilation of real natural language questions and an implementation of the architecture that interfaces to an existing commercial tool: Everflow. We also introduce a taxonomy for process mining related questions, and use that as a background grid to analyze the performance of this experiment. Finally, we point to potential future work opportunities in this field.

International audience; Process mining techniques allow organizations to discover, monitor and improve their as-is processes by analyzing the process execution data, aka event data, recorded by their information systems. A recurrent task in process mining is querying. Querying allows users to get insights into specific executions of their processes and to retrieve relevant data. Existing process querying techniques require end users to be knowledgeable of the query language and the database schema. However, a key success factor for process analysis is to make querying accessible to business experts who may be inexperienced in database querying. This paper addresses this challenge by proposing a natural language interface (NLI) for querying event data. The interface allows users to formulate their questions in natural language and to automatically translate the questions into a structured query that can be executed over a database. We use graph based storage techniques, namely labeled property graphs, which allow to explicitly model event data relationships. As an executable query language, we use the Cypher language which is widely used for querying property graphs. The approach has been implemented and evaluated using a publicly available event log.

Highlights - A framework for designing process querying methods is proposed - The framework is positioned for broader Process Analytics and Business Intelligence - The framework is grounded in use cases from the Business Process Management field - The framework is informed by and validated via a systematic literature review - The framework structures the state of the art and points to gaps in existing research Abstract The volume of process-related data is growing rapidly: more and more business operations are being supported and monitored by information systems. Industry 4.0 and the corresponding industrial Internet of Things are about to generate new waves of process-related data, next to the abundance of event data already present in enterprise systems. However, organizations often fail to convert such data into strategic and tactical intelligence. This is due to the lack of dedicated technologies that are tailored to effectively manage the information on processes encoded in process models and process execution records. Process-related information is a core organizational asset which requires dedicated analytics to unlock its full potential. This paper proposes a framework for devising process querying methods, i.e., techniques for the (automated) management of repositories of designed and executed processes, as well as models that describe relationships between processes. The framework is composed of generic components that can be configured to create a range of process querying methods. The motivation for the framework stems from use cases in the field of Business Process Management. The design of the framework is informed by and validated via a systematic literature review. The framework structures the state of the art and points to gaps in existing research. Process querying methods need to address these gaps to better support strategic decision-making and provide the next generation of Business Intelligence platforms.