To help companies better understand, optimize and automate their business processes, the Hasso Plattner Institute (HPI) is offering a free online course on its openHPI IT learning platform starting May 15. The course, entitled "Business Processes: Modeling, Simulation, Execution," is led by Prof. Mathias Weske. The target group includes experts from very different fields, such as business administration, quality management, organizational development, system architecture and software development. Registration is now open at https://open.hpi.de/courses/bpm2019. The course language is English.

"This year the markets and rules of the economic system are experiencing particularly dynamic changes," says Weske, who is head of the Business Process Technology department at HPI. This strengthens the willingness in companies to deal more intensively with their own business processes. The computer science professor has therefore designed his six-week Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) in such a way as to offer participants high practical benefits.

In two of the four course weeks, companies from Signavio (Decision Modeling and Simulation of Business Processes) and Camunda (Concepts and Methods for Developing Executable Business Processes) will provide hands-on knowledge on how to manage business processes. During the MOOC, these providers grant free access to their respective software.

"We introduce participants to the essential concepts for describing and analyzing business processes and decisions," Weske says. He also wants to focus on the simulation and execution of business processes with modern business process management tools. Based on the learning objectives set forth by Weske, participants should acquire "a deep understanding of business process and decision-modeling concepts, but also of the languages ​​to express them". In addition, it is about the use of such process models in practice.

According to the instructor, participants should schedule around three hours per week to watch the video lectures and work on the assignments. The course concludes with a final exam. Besides the regular certificate, a certificate of qualification can also be obtained for the free online course from the Hasso Plattner Institute. Universities decide on their own regarding the allocation of ECTS credits for students. Previous courses by Prof. Weske on similar business process aspects were offered on openHPI in 2013 and 2016. They are still available for self-study in the archive mode.

Some facts about openHPI

Started on September 5, 2012
Individual users: good 195,000*
Course enrollment: over 591,000*
Issued certificates: more than 63,000*
Archived courses: almost 60*
Course languages: German, English, Chinese
Website: https://open.hpi.de
* all information applies to April 2019

The Hasso Plattner Institute (HPI) in Potsdam is Germany's university center of excellence for digital engineering, advancing research and education in IT systems engineering, data engineering, cyber security, entrepreneurship, and digital health. With its bachelor‘s and master’s degree programs, the Faculty of Digital Engineering, established jointly by HPI and the University of Potsdam, offers innovative engineering- and application-oriented study programs. HPI consistently earns a top-notch place in the CHE University Ranking, and conducts research noted for its high standard of excellence in digital engineering, and concentrates on the research and development of user-oriented innovations for all areas of life. PhD candidates carry out research at the HPI Research School in Potsdam and its branches in Cape Town, Haifa, Nanjing and at the recently opened office in New York. The HPI School of Design Thinking is Europe’s first innovation school for university students. With the groundbreaking, interdisciplinary HPI-Mount Sinai Digital Health Project, the Mount Sinai Health System and the HPI bring together leaders from healthcare, biomedical research, data sciences, artificial intelligence, and society, working together towards a shared goal to improve health and wellbeing.