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286 11 Analyzing “Lasagna Processes”

The output of Stage 2 may be used to answer questions, take actions, or to move
to Stage 3. As Fig. 11.6 shows, the output (control-flow model connected to an event
log) needs to be interpreted before it can be used to answer questions or trigger a
redesign, an adjustment, or an intervention.

11.3.4 Stage 3: Create Integrated Process Model

In Stage 3, the model is enhanced by adding additional perspectives to the control-
flow model (e.g., the organizational perspective, the case perspective, and the time
perspective). Chapter 8 shows how these perspectives can be discovered and inte-
grated, e.g., Fig. 8.16 describes the process of merging the different perspectives.
The result is an integrated process model that can be used for various purposes. The
model can be inspected directly to better understand the as-is process or to identify
bottlenecks. Moreover, a complete process model can also be simulated as discussed
in Sect. 8.6.
The output of Stage 3 can also be used to answer selected questions and take
appropriate actions (redesign, adjust, or intervene). Moreover, the integrated process
model is also input for Stage 4.

11.3.5 Stage 4: Operational Support

Stage 4 of the L life-cycle is concerned with the three operational support activities
∗
described in Chap. 9: detect, predict, and recommend. For instance, using short-term
simulation (Sect. 8.6) or annotated transition systems (Sect. 9.4) it is possible to
predict the remaining flow time for running cases. As shown in Fig. 11.6, Stage 4
requires current data (“pre mortem” data on running cases) as input. Moreover, the
output does not need to be interpreted by the process mining analyst and can be
directly offered to end users. For example, a deviation may result in an automatically
generated e-mail sent to the responsible manager. Recommendations and predictions
are presented to the persons working on the corresponding cases.
Note that operational support is the most ambitious form of process mining. This
is only possible for Lasagna processes. Moreover, there needs to be an advanced IT
infrastructure that provides high-quality event logs and allows for the embedding of
an operational support system as described in Chap. 9.

11.4 Applications

In the last decade, we have applied process mining in over 100 organizations. Ex-
amples are municipalities (e.g., Alkmaar, Heusden, and Harderwijk), government