Processes have distinct difference from data. Data represent a static view of an IT system, while processes express system dynamics. Dynamics is substantially more complex than the data, on which it relies. Quality data does not necessary mean quality processes built upon them and efficient system integration. Integration of data is necessary but not sufficient condition for integration of processes. Efficiency of processes is necessary but not sufficient condition for effectiveness of a business.
Given present level of aggregation of data and procedures in DBMS systems, it is not so easy to distinguish both. I understand data as an information and procedures (processes) as operations over this information. In this sense, e.g. SQL table content represents data, while stored procedure residing in the same database is a process executed over these data and triggered by some condition. It doesn’t matter, if data are stored or not, if it is real-time or resident, distinction between data and procedures in this sense is, as a rule, quite evident.
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