Analysis and improvement of business process models using spreadsheets

•Maps the test of business process performance to the test of data in spreadsheets.•Generates analysis spreadsheets from an extended editor of BPMN process models.•Enables the BP analyst to define own metrics, assertions and analysis reports.•Automates the simulation of BP executions and generates process execution logs.

Software in general is thoroughly analyzed before it is released to its users. Business processes often are not – at least not as thoroughly as it could be – before they are released to their users, e.g., employees or software agents. This paper ascribes this practice to the lack of suitable instruments for business process analysts, who design the processes, and aims to provide them with the necessary instruments to allow them to also analyze their processes. We use the spreadsheet paradigm to represent business process analysis tasks, such as writing metrics and assertions, running performance analysis and verification tasks, and reporting on the outcomes, and implement a spreadsheet-based tool for business process analysis. The results of two independent user studies demonstrate the viability of the approach.