Page 9 -

viii Preface

different notions of learnability in 1967 [45]. When data mining started to flour-
ish in the nineties, little attention was given to processes. Moreover, only recently
event logs have become omnipresent thus enabling end-to-end process discovery.
Since the first survey on process mining in 2003 [102], progress has been spectacu-
lar. Process mining techniques have become mature and supported by various tools.
Moreover, whereas initially the primary focus was on process discovery, the pro-
cess mining spectrum has broadened markedly. For instance, conformance check-
ing, multi-perspective process mining, and operational support have become integral
parts of ProM, one of the leading process mining tools.
This is the first book on process mining. Therefore, the intended audience is
quite broad. The book provides a comprehensive overview of the state-of-the-art
in process mining. It is intended as an introduction to the topic for practitioners,
students, and academics. On the one hand, the book is accessible for people that are
new to the topic. On the other hand, the book does not avoid explaining important
concepts on a rigorous manner. The book aims to be self-contained while covering
the entire process mining spectrum from process discovery to operational support.
Therefore, it also serves as a reference handbook for people dealing with BPM or
BI on a day-to-day basis.
The reader can immediately put process mining into practice due to the applica-
bility of the techniques, the availability of (open-source) process mining software,
and the abundance of event data in today’s information systems. I sincerely hope
that you enjoy reading this book and start using some of the amazing process min-
ing techniques available today.

Schleiden, Germany Wil M.P. van der Aalst
December 2010