Process Mining key terms

  • Release version: Yokohama
  • Updated January 30, 2025
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Process Mining key terms

    This content defines essential terms used in ServiceNow Process Mining (Yokohama release) to help customers understand how to visualize, analyze, and optimize their business processes based on event data extracted from operational systems.

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    Key Terms and Their Practical Use

    • Activity: Represents individual tasks or actions recorded in audit logs, forming steps within a process flow. Activities are the fundamental units visualized on process maps.
    • Attribute of interest: Specific activities not shown on the process graph but usable in analysis rules to uncover deeper insights.
    • Audit log: The source data capturing system events such as dates, times, and activities—essential for process mining extraction.
    • Connection: Visual links between sequential activities on a process map, illustrating the flow from one step to the next.
    • Finding: Key performance insights identified from the process data that highlight areas needing attention or improvement.
    • Generate: The operation of extracting data from event logs and applying algorithms to reveal process trends and workflows.
    • Linked process: Subprocesses connected to a main process, useful for analyzing complex workflows with multiple related components.
    • Process map: A visual representation of actual process flows derived from audit logs, showing routes from start to finish and comparing them against target or ideal routes.
    • Project: The configured process mining model or analysis setup for a specific business process.
    • Record: An individual instance of a process cycle running through a route; multiple records can exist and be filtered for analysis.
    • Repetitions: Instances of repeated activities or connections, important for identifying inefficiencies or loops in processes.
    • Route: A unique sequence of activities in a process instance, including optimal, variant, or exception paths, all of which can be displayed concurrently on the process map.
    • Sliders: User interface tools on the process map that adjust the level of detail shown between activities and connections, aiding in focused analysis.
    • Transition: Represents a change in activity state, marking movement through the process steps.

    Key Outcomes

    Understanding these terms enables ServiceNow customers to effectively interpret process mining data, identify performance issues, and optimize business workflows by visualizing actual versus target processes, analyzing variants, and focusing on critical findings. This foundational vocabulary supports informed decision-making and continuous process improvement.

    Key terms used in Process Mining.

    Table 1. Process Mining Key Terms
    Term Description
    Activity A selection of captured tasks or actions from the audit log that are used for visualizing the project, including tracked fields. An activity consists of one step within a process, or which occurred within a route. A connection runs between activities.
    Attribute of interest Activities that are not visible in the process graph, breakdowns, or in variance stats. These definitions are still available to use in rule findings logic.
    Audit log The record of operational system events or activities that occur when a task is performed, such as date, time, and activity.
    Connection Line joining two activities, or process steps, in a map. A connection reflects a part of a process with two sequential, connected steps.
    Finding Key performance insights discovered for a business process. Findings help you review areas that need further attention.
    Generate The process of extracting or mining data from an operational system's event logs and applying algorithms that reveal trends and a detailed picture of how a business process flows.
    Linked process A connected, or subprocess linked to a main process.
    Process map A project generated after a data extraction has been performed that visually represents events gathered from a system's audit log which are part of a defined business process. The map represents actual events, or routes, consisting of a series of steps taken from a defined start to finish. A process map also compares the actual routes to a defined target route to provide a view of business process performance.
    Project Process Mining term for a configured process model.
    Record A business record of a process cycle (project) that runs through a route. Many records can run through a route. In Process Mining, the number of records can change when filters are applied.
    Repetitions Repeated steps (activities) or step sets (connections).
    Route An occurrence of a process where at least one activity within the sequence of steps differs from all other occurrences of the process. Routes can include an optimally defined successful route, as well as variant or possible routes that may be alternate success paths or faulty exception paths. Several routes can be simultaneously represented on a process map.
    Sliders Activity and connection slider tools on the process map screen for showing process steps. Using the sliders can show sequential connections between them in a more or less detailed view.
    Transition A change of activity state.