Scope
Compared
- Activity and flow versus objects and state
- Behaviour versus governance
- What each is fundamentally for
Not compared
- Specific notations (BPMN, flowcharts, UML activity)
- Execution and orchestration engines
- Workflow tooling and vendors
Terminology mapping
| OCOM | Process Model | Equivalent |
|---|---|---|
| Object | Data object / Artifact | Partial |
| Lifecycle | Object state through the flow | Partial |
| Relationship | Data association | Partial |
| Ownership | Lane / Role | Partial |
| Policy | Gateway condition / Business rule | Partial |
| Constraint | Gateway / Guard | Partial |
| Evidence | Audit trail / Process log | Partial |
| Identity | Process instance identifier | Partial |
Conceptual differences
| Aspect | OCOM | Process Model |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Governs the objects work acts upon | Describes how work flows |
| Nature | An object-centric operating model | An activity-centric flow model |
| Focus | The governed nouns | The verbs and their sequence |
| Governance | First-class: ownership, policy, contract | Expressed indirectly through lanes, rules and gateways |
| Time | Object states over the whole life | Progress of a process instance |
Concept coverage
| Concept | OCOM | Process Model |
|---|---|---|
| Object identity | Covered | Partial |
| Object lifecycle | Covered | Partial |
| Activity flow / sequencing | Covered | Covered |
| Rules / policy | Covered | Partial |
| Ownership | Covered | Partial |
| Governance | Partial | Partial |
| Provenance / Evidence | Partial | Partial |
| AI retrieval | Partial | Partial |
Three OCOM cells read Partial rather than Covered (Governance, Provenance / Evidence, AI retrieval), and the reason for each is recorded in the specification's own register: Governance is a Core Characteristic of every Object that no document defines as one (AO-023); Evidence has no Meta, Models or Language definition, its Definition being reserved for a future version (AO-021); AI retrieval is disclaimed by AI/Context/Context Assembly.md, which prescribes no retrieval algorithms (AO-048). Workflow and Event are defined normatively at the Models tier and carry no Core Vocabulary term record.
Covered: the model defines the concept explicitly. Partial: the concept appears indirectly or by convention. Out of scope: the model does not set out to describe it; a boundary, not a deficiency.
Interoperability
- A process step may read or change OCOM objects; OCOM defines and governs the objects a process acts upon.
- A process model may reference OCOM objects as its data objects, but does not itself provide identity, governance or lifecycle for them.
- The recommended composition is to model the flow in a process model and the governed objects in OCOM: they compose. For the specific BPMN notation, see the OCOM vs BPMN comparison.
References
- OCOM Object
- OCOM Ownership
- OCOM vs BPMN
- Business process models