Process Mining key terms

  • Release version: Zurich
  • Updated July 31, 2025
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Process Mining key terms

    This content defines essential terminology used in Process Mining within ServiceNow's Zurich release, updated July 31, 2025. Understanding these terms helps customers effectively interpret, analyze, and optimize business processes by leveraging audit logs and process maps.

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    Key Terms and Their Practical Use

    • Activity: Represents individual tasks or steps recorded in an audit log, forming the building blocks of a process visualization.
    • Attribute of interest: Specific activities not displayed visually but usable in rule logic to identify patterns or exceptions.
    • Audit log: The foundational data source capturing operational events with details like date, time, and activity, used for mining process insights.
    • Connection: Visual links between sequential activities on a process map, illustrating the flow of a process.
    • Finding: Key insights or performance issues discovered through Process Mining that highlight areas needing attention.
    • Generate: The procedure of extracting and analyzing event log data to reveal detailed process flows and trends.
    • Linked process: Subprocesses connected to a main process, allowing users to analyze complex workflows involving multiple related processes.
    • Process map: A visual representation of actual business process events derived from audit logs, showing routes from start to finish and comparing them against target routes for performance evaluation.
    • Project: A configured Process Mining model that defines the scope and parameters of analysis.
    • Record: An instance of a process cycle running through a defined route; filter application can change the count of records analyzed.
    • Repetitions: Steps or connections repeated within a process, important for identifying inefficiencies or bottlenecks.
    • Route: A unique occurrence or path through a process with at least one differing step, encompassing both optimal and variant or exception paths shown on process maps.
    • Sliders: Interactive tools on the process map to adjust the level of detail shown for activities and connections, aiding in focused analysis.
    • Transition: A change in the state of an activity, marking progress within a process step.

    Practical Implications for Customers

    Familiarity with these terms enables ServiceNow customers to accurately interpret Process Mining outputs, configure projects effectively, and identify improvement opportunities in their business processes. Utilizing process maps and findings, customers can monitor actual versus target flows, detect variants, and uncover performance issues for informed decision-making and process optimization.

    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.