Grupo Alarcos · Journal article · 2026
Process maps as boundary objects for the integration of enterprise architecture and business processes
Geert Poels, Francisco Ruiz González, Félix Óscar García Rubio, Mario Piattini Velthuis
This paper advocates process maps as boundary objects to facilitate communication, coordination and collaboration between enterprise architects and process analysts. Since process maps model business process architecture, they cannot be expressed using BPMN. Although ArchiMate is a potential language, it lacks the expressiveness needed to represent structures such as process chains, groups and families. To address this, the Business Process Architecture Language (BPAL) is presented. A controlled experiment evaluates its usability, and an illustrative scenario demonstrates its boundary-spanning capabilities to support strategically aligned business process architecture.