The OCEB™ (OMG Certified Expert in BPM)  Fundamental Examination covers basic elements of Business Essentials and Business Modeling, Business Process, Business Process Management, Business Process Modeling, and essential and widely-used industry frameworks. Holders of the OCEB Fundamental Certification have demonstrated the knowledge and modeling skills to be productive members of a BPM project team on either the Business or Technical side of the aisle. The OCEB Fundamental

Certification is a prerequisite for every other OCEB certification. 

Examination Number:  OMG-OCEB-F100
Status:                             Available for Testing

This page starts with the Coverage Map for the OCEB Fundamental Examination - a list of the topics and subtopics covered, and the percentage of the exam that is occupies. Following the Coverage Map is the list of references, along with suggestions for study. 

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OCEB FUNDAMENTAL EXAMINATION - COVERAGE MAP

1. Business Goals, Objectives  -  8%

Business Basics from the purely Business Point of View: Business fundamentals, strategy, planning and goal-setting, project management, marketing, staffing, finance. 

2. Business Process Concepts and Fundamentals  -  11%

Fundamental aspects of Business Processes:  Identifying (Discovering) business processes, characteristics of processes, As-Is process vs. To-Be process, Levels of business process modeling, Tying Business Processes to Goals and Objectives

3. Business Process Management Concepts and Fundamentals  -  10%

Fundamentals of Business Process Management: Functional vs. Process-Centric Enterprise Organization; Styles of Process Management; Advancements in Process Management;  Stakeholders' Roles and Responsibilities; Enabling Tools of Process Management

4. Business Modeling  -  16%

Business Modeling Fundamentals - Elements of the Business Motivational Model: Business Vision, Goals, Objectives; Means and Ends; Mission, Strategies, Tactics; Aspects of Business Modeling. 

5. Business Process Modeling Concepts  -  24%

This section is based on OMG's Business Process Modeling Notation Specification™ (BPMN™).

Business Process Modeling Fundamentals: BPMN Basics; BPMN Diagram Elements; Control Flow and Message Flow; Activities and Decomposition; Events; Gateways; Data objects, Artifacts, and Associations; Grouping Elements of a Model; Difference between Sequential and Parallel flow. 

6. Business Process Modeling Skills  -  16%

This section is based on OMG's Business Process Modeling Notation Specification.

Business Process Modeling Skills: Most questions in this section ask something about a brief scenario presented either as a BPMN diagram or in a few sentences. BPMN elements and modeling topics covered include Pools and Lanes; Activities and Subprocesses; Gateway logic; OR vs AND vs XOR; Start and End Events; and Timers (e.g. simple Intermediate Event types). 

7. Process Quality, Governance, and Metrics Frameworks  -  15%

Awareness of Industry Reference Models, and Quality, Metrics, and Governance Frameworks: This section covers its topics at an high level, allowing the candidate to demonstrate awareness of a range of industry frameworks that may prove either beneficial or, for regulatory frameworks, required by law in a project. Covered frameworks include the APQC Process Classification Framework, SCOR, Value Chain Reference Model, Business Process Maturity Model (BPMM), Six Sigma, Balanced Scorecard, COBIT, Basel 2, and Sarbanes-Oxley.

OCEB FUNDAMENTAL EXAMINATION - REFERENCES

References - Books: 

Which books should I buy? The BPM experts who mapped the coverage and wrote the questions for the OCEB examinations found that no single book covered the range of material that a well-rounded BPM practitioner needs to know. In this list, you'll find the books that we used to write the questions, but we don't think it's necessary to study this exact set in order to do well on the exam. In the entry  for each book, we've listed the topics we covered from it; if you have another book that covers the same topics, we suggest you use it instead of investing in another that nearly duplicates it. On the other hand, if you don't have a book on one of these topics, we think that one or the other from this list on a topic would benefit any BPM practitioner's library. 

Steven Stralser, MBA in a Day, Wiley, 2004. ISBN-10: 0471680540. Chapters 1 (Human Resources), 8 (Marketing, Strategy, Competitive Analysis), 11 (Project Management).
Tim Gorman, The Complete Idiot's Guide to MBA Basics, 2nd Edition, Alpha, 2003. ISBN-10: 0028644492. Chapters 1 & 2 (Management functions and skills),  3 (Parts of a Business), 8 (Operations Management), 9 (Business Decisions), 13 (Financial Analysis), 23 (Strategic Planning)
James F. Chang, Business Process Management Systems, Auerbach, 2006.  ISBN-10: 084932310X. Chapters 1 (Theories of Process Management), 2 (Business Process Management). 
Howard Smith & Peter Fingar, Business Process Management: The Third Wave, Fourth Anniversary Edition, Meghan-Kiffer, 2007. ISBN-10: 0929652347. Ch 1 (discusses the rise of BPM), Ch 3 (Enterprise Business Processes), Appendix A, (section A Foundation for Collaborative Commerce). 
Martyn Ould, Business Process Management: A Rigorous Approach, Meghan-Kiffer, 2005.  ISBN-10: 0929652274. Ch 1 (Basic process concepts). 

References - Papers (All downloadable free): 

OCEB Definition of Business Process: http://www.omg.org/oceb/oceb-defbusinessprocess.htm  
Bruce Silver, Three Levels of Process Modeling with BPMN, BPMS Watch, April 2008. Note: Does not require registration, in spite of the wording of the link:  Downloadable here. 
Daniel J. Madison, Becoming A Process-Focused Organization, BPM Institute, 2007.  Downloadable here.  
Peter Fingar, Systems Thinking: The "Core" Core Competency for BPM, , BP Trends September 2005 Downloadable here 
Laury Verner, The Challenge of Process Discovery. BPTrends website. May, 2004. (Free download)
Downloadable here 
Ed Walters, What are CSFs and KPIs? Viewable here. (NOTE: viewable but not downloadable free) or another tutorial reference on Critical Success Factors and Key Performance Indicators. 

References: OMG Specifications (All Downloadable free): 

Business Process Maturity Model Specification, V1.0 http://www.omg.org/cgi-bin/doc?formal/08-06-01.pdf (Free download). Chapter 1, all; Chapter 2, Section 2.1. 
Business Motivation Model Specification, V 1.0 http://www.omg.org/cgi-bin/doc?formal/08-08-02 (Free download)  Chapters 1, 7, 8. 
Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN), V1.1 http://www.omg.org/spec/BPMN/1.1/  (Free download), covering these chapters and sections. Note that BPMN Attributes are not covered in this examination.
Chapter 1, all
Chapter 7, all
Chapter 8, Sections 8.1, 8.2, 8.3, 8.4, 8.6 but not 8.6.1.
Chapter 9, Sections  9.3, 9.4, 9.5, 9.6, 9.7, excluding sections defining Attributes.
Chapter 10, all except 10.1.1 

References: Industry Frameworks:

Because there are simply too many relevant industry frameworks to cover in any detail, for this part of the  examination we have chosen breadth over depth:  Every BPM Practitioner needs to be aware of these widely used frameworks - the topic each covers, and highlights of the way each one organizes its domain - so the OCEB Fundamental examination covers these key characteristics, but does not go deeper. Many practitioners will specialize in one of these frameworks, learning its details and seeking the specialized additional certification offered by these frameworks' sponsoring organization. Many of the frameworks are covered by definition or description documents, referenced here,  which may be downloaded free directly from their sponsoring organization's website. For Six Sigma and Balanced Scorecard, you will probably do equivalently well studying from the books listed here or from tutorial material that you locate yourself by Internet search. Regulatory Compliance and Governance is a serious topic, and we think every BPM practitioner should be aware of both general aspects and a number of specific standard and regulatory frameworks including those covered here. The book we list  would be an asset in any BPM practitioner's library, but is not the only source of reliable information on the topics covered.  

Craig Gygi et al, Six Sigma for Dummies, Wiley, 2005. ISBN-10: 0764567985. Chapter 1, Defining Six Sigma, Introductory section; Chapter 3, Pinpointing the Essentials of Six Sigma,  Introductory section and first section, The Project Strategy: DMAIC; Chapter 10, Locking in the Gains, covering basics of process control and control charts. NOTE: Any good introductory book or reference on Six Sigma will prepare well for the awareness-level coverage in the OCEB Fundamental examination. 
APQC Process Classification Framework, V 5.0.3, downloadable here. Pages 1-3. 
Supply Chain Council's Supply-Chain Operations Reference model (SCOR), v9.0, Overview Booklet downloadable here. Pages 1-3. 
Introduction to the Value Reference Model (VRM), http://www.value-chain.org/en/cms/?1960 , first two sections. 
Robert S. Kaplan, David P. Norton, The Balanced Scorecard: Translating Strategy into Action. Harvard Business School Press, 1996. ISBN-10: 0875846513.  Chapter 1. NOTE: Any good basic book or introductory article on Balanced Scorecard will  cover the foundation material tested in the OCEB Fundamental Examination. 
Dorian, J Cougias et al, Say What You Do: Building a Framework of IT Controls, Policies, Standards, and Procedures. Shaser-Vartan, 2007. ISBN-10: 0972903968.  Chapter 1; Chapter 2, pp 11-52, covering general aspects of regulatory compliance and governance, plus COBIT, Basel 2, and Sarbanes-Oxley. 

Training Courses and Study Guides

There's no required training associated with the OCEB examinations  - you're welcome to study on your own, and take the test when you feel you're ready. However, for those candidates who prefer to take a dedicated course that prepares them for the exam, or study from a book structured with the exam in mind, some of the same experts who are writing the exams are also preparing study materials. We've listed them on this web page.