{
  "id": "COMP-PROC-001",
  "slug": "process-model",
  "status": "Informative Comparison",
  "subject": "OCOM",
  "target": "Process Model",
  "targetShort": "PROC",
  "summary": "A process model describes how work flows: the sequence of activities, decisions and events that move a business forward. OCOM describes the governed objects that work acts upon, together with their identity, ownership, lifecycle, policy and evidence. A process model specifies how work is drawn and sequenced; OCOM specifies the governed objects that work acts upon, and defines the flow itself only as a Workflow at the Models tier, with no notation and no execution semantics. A process step typically reads or changes objects that OCOM can define and govern, so the two are complementary, not competing. BPMN is one process-modelling notation; see the OCOM vs BPMN comparison.",
  "scope": {
    "compared": [
      "Activity and flow versus objects and state",
      "Behaviour versus governance",
      "What each is fundamentally for"
    ],
    "notCompared": [
      "Specific notations (BPMN, flowcharts, UML activity)",
      "Execution and orchestration engines",
      "Workflow tooling and vendors"
    ]
  },
  "mappings": [
    {
      "ocom": "Object",
      "target": "Data object / Artifact",
      "equivalent": "Partial"
    },
    {
      "ocom": "Lifecycle",
      "target": "Object state through the flow",
      "equivalent": "Partial"
    },
    {
      "ocom": "Relationship",
      "target": "Data association",
      "equivalent": "Partial"
    },
    {
      "ocom": "Ownership",
      "target": "Lane / Role",
      "equivalent": "Partial"
    },
    {
      "ocom": "Policy",
      "target": "Gateway condition / Business rule",
      "equivalent": "Partial"
    },
    {
      "ocom": "Constraint",
      "target": "Gateway / Guard",
      "equivalent": "Partial"
    },
    {
      "ocom": "Evidence",
      "target": "Audit trail / Process log",
      "equivalent": "Partial"
    },
    {
      "ocom": "Identity",
      "target": "Process instance identifier",
      "equivalent": "Partial"
    }
  ],
  "differences": [
    {
      "aspect": "Purpose",
      "ocom": "Governs the objects work acts upon",
      "target": "Describes how work flows"
    },
    {
      "aspect": "Nature",
      "ocom": "An object-centric operating model",
      "target": "An activity-centric flow model"
    },
    {
      "aspect": "Focus",
      "ocom": "The governed nouns",
      "target": "The verbs and their sequence"
    },
    {
      "aspect": "Governance",
      "ocom": "First-class: ownership, policy, contract",
      "target": "Expressed indirectly through lanes, rules and gateways"
    },
    {
      "aspect": "Time",
      "ocom": "Object states over the whole life",
      "target": "Progress of a process instance"
    }
  ],
  "capabilities": [
    {
      "capability": "Object identity",
      "ocom": "Covered",
      "target": "Partial"
    },
    {
      "capability": "Object lifecycle",
      "ocom": "Covered",
      "target": "Partial"
    },
    {
      "capability": "Activity flow / sequencing",
      "ocom": "Covered",
      "target": "Covered"
    },
    {
      "capability": "Rules / policy",
      "ocom": "Covered",
      "target": "Partial"
    },
    {
      "capability": "Ownership",
      "ocom": "Covered",
      "target": "Partial"
    },
    {
      "capability": "Governance",
      "ocom": "Partial",
      "target": "Partial"
    },
    {
      "capability": "Provenance / Evidence",
      "ocom": "Partial",
      "target": "Partial"
    },
    {
      "capability": "AI retrieval",
      "ocom": "Partial",
      "target": "Partial"
    }
  ],
  "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": [
    {
      "label": "OCOM Object",
      "url": "/vocabulary/object"
    },
    {
      "label": "OCOM Ownership",
      "url": "/vocabulary/ownership"
    },
    {
      "label": "OCOM vs BPMN",
      "url": "/comparisons/bpmn"
    },
    {
      "label": "Business process models",
      "url": null
    }
  ],
  "canonical": "https://ocom.uno/comparisons/process-model",
  "url": "https://ocom.uno/comparisons/process-model",
  "coverageScale": [
    "Covered",
    "Partial",
    "Out of scope"
  ],
  "coverageNote": "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. Three OCOM cells read Partial rather than Covered because the specification's own register records the gap: Evidence (AO-021), Governance (AO-023) and AI retrieval (AO-048). Workflow and Event are defined normatively at the Models tier without a Core Vocabulary term record."
}