On the de-facto standard of event-driven process chains: how EPC is defined in literature

Abstract

The Business Process Modelling Notation (BPMN) and the Event-driven Process Chain (EPC) are both frequently used modelling languages to create business process models. While there is a well-defined standard for BPMN, such a standard is missing for EPC. As a standard would be beneficial to improve interoperability among different vendors, this paper aims at providing the means for future EPC standardization. Therefore, we have conducted a structured literature review of the most common EPC variants in IS research. We provide a structured overview of the evolution of different EPC variants, describe means and capabilities and elaborate different criteria for decision-making in regard to including EPC variants in a standardization process.