Visio-To-BPMN Conversion

Convert Visio Process Flows Into BPMN 2.0 models

Many companies have invested a tremendous effort in documenting their process flows using Microsoft Visio.

While Visio is a great platform for visually representing these flows, what it does not provide is a back-end repository in which the process steps can be formally  related to either upstream metadata (business goals, rules, requirements, capabilities, etc.) or to downstream artifacts such as SOA services, applications, systems, and databases.

Consider the benefits of importing these process models into Enterprise Architect using our service offering:

  • Mapping of all processes to the standard Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN 2.0), even if the Visio BPMN stencil was not used to create the flows.
  • Full traceability of the processes, sub-processes and activities to other model artifacts in the repository, enabling impact analysis.
  • Availability of all the tool's capabilities for managing the flows, such as version control, documentation generation, simulation and, optionally, process execution via BPEL.
Take advantage of our expertise in BPMN along with our thorough understanding of the Visio meta-model to finally obtain the return-on-investment of documenting your process flows in Visio.
 
Interested in a demonstration of this service? Please contact us!

 

How Does the Service Work?

You provide us with:

  • A representative sample of the Visio files to be converted (sanitized as needed).
  • The total number of Visio pages to be converted.
  • Any special mapping rules.
Based on this input, and using our Visio conversion engine, we provide you with:
 
  • The sample process flows converted into BPMN (as an XMI export or in an EA repository).
  • A document listing any issues encountered during the conversion, including the Visio shapes which could not be mapped.
  • A price quote for the complete conversion of your files.
Traditionally we encounter many inconsistencies in the way Users document their process flows in Visio, so we always anticipate the need to tweak the code to accommodate special cases. Therefore we do not sell or otherwise make available the code executing the conversion. Instead we run the imports in house and provide you with the resulting BPMN models (we have no problem in signing a Non-Disclosure Agreement to protect the confidentiality of your files).
 
How successful are these conversions? Depending on the quality and consistency of the Visio diagrams we typically see a 80-to-95 % successful mapping to BPMN, with additional minor manual updates to complete the conversion (generally these consist of improving the routing of some connectors and moving some floating labels or annotations). Be aware that Enterprise Architect does not support some Visio coloring features such as patterns and transparency!
 
There is no charge for analyzing your sample Visio files so please contact us if interested!