A business process is a set of tasks completed in order to achieve a specific objective. While a business process can be technology-agnostic, meaning it does not have to be Dynamics 365 specific, there have been around 800 business processes identified and cataloged.
What is a Business Process For?
The purpose of business processes can be outlined in three key elements:
- Target Audience:
- New consultants/business analysts learning about business applications.
- Existing consultants/business analysts seeking best practices.
- Level of Detail:
- This article contains:
- Specific sets of tasks in a sequence for achieving objectives.
- Definitions of when each step is done in the implementation.
- Clarifications on how many steps are needed.
- This article contains:
- Purpose:
- Provide considerations and best practices for implementation.
- Offer technical information for implementation.
- Link to product documentation to achieve tasks efficiently.
It’s important to note that while these business process articles do not serve as product documentation themselves, they serve as bridges to the relevant product documentation. This helps users and implementers understand how to accomplish specific tasks within a particular product.
Business Process VS Steps or Patterns Examples
When distinguishing between business processes, steps, and patterns, consider the following examples:
Business Processes:
– Creating a sales order
– Hiring employees
– Creating a purchase order
– Creating a customer
– Creating a vendor
Steps or Patterns:
– Adding lines to a sales order (step)
– Creating a sales order with miscellaneous charges (pattern or a decision followed by a step)
– Creating a purchase order line (step)
These are simplified examples to illustrate the disparity between a business process and its constituent steps, patterns, or use cases.
Getting Started
The process of creating these articles is straightforward and can be broken down into five basic steps:
- Download the Catalog: Review the catalog to decide which article you would like to author.
- Check GitHub: Ensure that no one else is already authoring the article you’re interested in.
- Create an Issue Request: If there are no conflicts, proceed to create an issue request.
- Wait for Approval: Once submitted, a member of the MS team will review your request. They will ensure there are no duplicate requests and that the article is not already in the GitHub repository. After review, they will provide approval.
Proceed with Writing: Upon receiving approval, you can begin writing the article.