- 6 minutes to read

What is the BPM Designer?

The visual process modeling tool that replaces Visio, draw.io, and static diagrams

The BPM Designer is Nodinite's powerful visual editor for creating swimlane-based business process models. Unlike traditional diagramming tools (Visio, draw.io, Lucidchart), the BPM Designer creates living documentation that automatically updates with real execution data and connects directly to monitoring and [logging systems][End-to-End Process Tracking

].

Why Choose BPM Designer Over Traditional Tools?

Traditional process diagramming tools create static, disconnected documentation that drifts from reality:

❌ Visio/draw.io diagrams - Beautiful but obsolete within weeks, no connection to live systems
❌ Manual updates required - Process changes require tedious diagram redrawing
❌ No operational insight - Can't see which steps are failing or where transactions are stuck
❌ Collaboration friction - Version control chaos, conflicting edits, lost work

BPM Designer eliminates these problems with living, actionable process models:

✅ Automatically reflects reality - Process health updates in real-time as events are logged
✅ No manual diagram updates - Connect services once, never redraw when implementations change
✅ Instant operational insight - Color-coded steps show success/warning/error status at a glance
✅ Single source of truth - Repository-based, version-controlled, accessible to all stakeholders
✅ Click-through troubleshooting - Click any step to view log events and drill into details

How the BPM Designer Works

The BPM Designer provides an intuitive table-like interface with swimlanes:

Structure

  • Rows (Swimlanes): Represent Domains, grouping related services and responsibilities horizontally (e.g., "Sales", "Finance", "IT", "Warehouse")
  • Columns: Represent steps or milestones in the business process (e.g., "Order Entry", "Payment Processing", "Fulfillment")
  • Cells: Add one or more Services to each cell, tie them to Resources for monitoring, and display their current state and available Remote Actions—directly in the designer

BPM Designer Example
BPM Designer with swimlanes (Domains), each containing steps with Services.

Key Features

1. Drag-and-Drop Process Steps

Create process columns by:

  • Adding new columns for process milestones
  • Naming columns with business-friendly labels (e.g., "Credit Check", "Inventory Allocation")
  • Reordering columns by dragging left/right
  • Deleting columns when process flows change

2. Domain-Based Swimlanes

Organize services by ownership using Domains:

  • Add domain rows (e.g., "Sales", "Finance", "IT")
  • Assign domains to rows to show accountability
  • Reuse domains across multiple BPMs for consistency
  • Color-code domains for visual clarity (optional)

3. Service Assignment

Populate cells with Services:

  • Drag services from the repository into cells
  • Add multiple services per cell when steps execute in parallel
  • Rename service display names for clarity without changing repository names (artifact renaming)
  • Remove services when no longer part of the process

4. New 7.3 Sub-Process Nesting

Starting with Nodinite 7.3.0:

  • Add sub-processes (other BPMs) to cells alongside services
  • Create unlimited hierarchy depth - sub-processes can have sub-processes
  • Enable progressive drill-down in Log Views for troubleshooting
  • Reuse common sub-processes across multiple master processes

Learn more about Hierarchical BPMs →

5. Real-Time Visual Process Health

Each cell automatically displays color based on the most recent Log Status Code:

  • 🟢 Success (Green) - Step completed successfully
  • 🟡 Warning (Yellow) - Step completed with warnings
  • 🔴 Error (Red) - Step failed, requires attention
  • 🔵 Information (Blue) - Informational events
  • ⚪ None (Gray) - No events logged yet

No configuration required - colors update automatically as events are logged.

6. Integrated Monitoring

View service health directly in the designer:

  • See current operational status of each Resource
  • Trigger Remote Actions (Start, Stop, Enable, Disable) without leaving the designer
  • Monitor resource availability in real-time
  • Identify bottlenecks and failing services at a glance

Learn more about Integrated Monitoring →

Creating a BPM in the Designer

Step-by-step workflow:

  1. Open the BPM Designer

    • Navigate to Repository > BPMs > Overview
    • Click "Add BPM" or edit an existing BPM
    • Click "Open Designer"

  2. Define your domains (if not already created)

    • Add rows for organizational units (Sales, Finance, IT, Warehouse)
    • Assign Domains to rows for ownership tracking

  3. Create process steps

    • Add columns for business milestones (Order Entry, Payment, Fulfillment)
    • Name columns clearly for business stakeholders

  4. Populate cells

    • Drag Services from the repository into appropriate cells
    • Add sub-processes for complex steps (7.3.0+)
    • Assign multiple services per cell when operations run in parallel

  5. Configure monitoring

  6. Save and activate

Complete step-by-step guide →

Artifact Renaming

Tailor service names for clarity without changing the repository

In enterprise environments, technical service names may not be business-friendly:

  • Repository: SAP.Finance.AP.InvoiceValidation.v2.PROD
  • BPM Display: Invoice Validation

The BPM Designer supports artifact renaming:

  • Right-click a service in a cell
  • Select "Rename Display"
  • Enter a business-friendly name
  • Original repository name remains unchanged
  • Display name appears only in this BPM

This enables you to create business-stakeholder-friendly diagrams without breaking technical naming conventions.

BPM Designer vs. Traditional Tools

Capability Visio / draw.io BPM Designer
Visual process diagrams ✅ Yes ✅ Yes
Swimlane support ✅ Yes ✅ Yes
Connected to live systems ❌ No ✅ Yes - real-time data
Auto-update with execution ❌ No ✅ Yes - automatic colors
Troubleshoot from diagram ❌ No ✅ Yes - click to view logs
Monitor service health ❌ No ✅ Yes - integrated monitoring
Trigger remote actions ❌ No ✅ Yes - Start/Stop services
Version control ⚠️ Manual ✅ Repository-based
Business data correlation ❌ No ✅ Yes - Search Field Links
Multi-user collaboration ⚠️ Difficult ✅ Repository model
Compliance audit trails ❌ No ✅ Yes - full event history
Hierarchical sub-processes ⚠️ Manual nesting ✅ Yes - unlimited depth (7.3.0+)

Best Practices

Design for Your Audience

Business Stakeholders

  • Use business-friendly column names ("Customer Onboarding" not "CRM.CreateAccount")
  • Leverage artifact renaming to hide technical service names
  • Limit BPMs to 5-7 columns for simplicity
  • Use hierarchical BPMs to hide complexity

Technical Teams

  • Include all technical services for complete troubleshooting visibility
  • Use descriptive domain names matching organizational structure
  • Link services to Resources for integrated monitoring
  • Configure Search Field Expressions for correlation

Organize Services Logically

✅ Group parallel operations in same cell - Multiple payment gateway calls
✅ Separate sequential steps into columns - Validate → Process → Confirm
✅ Assign services to correct domains - Finance owns payment processing, not IT

Leverage Living Documentation

🔄 Process changes automatically reflected - Update Services in repository, BPM updates
🎨 Visual health assessment - Glance at BPM to see which steps are failing
📊 Operational dashboards - Share BPM views with business stakeholders for status updates

Next Steps

Add or manage BPM – Step-by-step guide to creating your first BPM
Domains – Define organizational swimlanes for process ownership
End-to-End Process Tracking – Connect BPMs to milestone-based logging
Integrated Monitoring – Monitor service health directly from BPM Designer

Business Process Model (BPM) – Complete BPM overview
Services – Integration services that execute process steps
Resources – Monitor service health and availability
Hierarchical BPMs – Nest sub-processes for complex enterprise workflows