Skip to main content

Certified Enterprise Architect Professional (CEAP) - Module 6 - Module 6: Business Architecture

Business Architecture:

The exchange of services and information is defined in terms of business.

In enterprise architecture, "business architecture" refers to a specific component that focuses solely on the organizational structure, strategy, processes, and capabilities of a company, essentially acting as a blueprint for how the business operates and aligns with its strategic goals, while the broader enterprise architecture encompasses the business architecture alongside data, applications, and technology aspects to create a holistic view of the entire organization.

Business Architecture objectives include:

  • Development of the desired Business Architecture
  • Describe what is required to achieve business goals
  • Respond to the defined strategic initiatives
  • Address stakeholder concerns and architecture requests

Business Architecture Structure and Behavior is a topic comprised of the following

elements:

  • Business Functions
  • Business Capability and Capability Based Planning
  • Business Model
  • Business Terms and Concepts
  • Value Chain Diagram
The Value Chain is a strategic diagram that allows the primary and secondary activities in an organization to be modeled.

Value Chain diagram for Business Service:


Business Function Portfolio or Catalog:

A business portfolio is a dynamic document that provides a comprehensive overview of a company's activities, goals, and identity. It can include a variety of information, such as:
  • Products and services
  • Strategic business units (SBUs)
  • Mission statement
  • Organizational goals
  • Investments and amounts
  • Branding elements
  • Company assets and holdings
  • Certifications
  • Strategic alliances
  • Potential future acquisitions 
Business Capability and Capability Based Planning :
A "business capability" refers to what an organization can do, essentially a high-level function or activity that represents a core competency, while "capability-based planning" is a strategic planning method that focuses on aligning organizational initiatives and investments with these core capabilities to achieve business goals, prioritizing "what" the company can do over specific tactics or processes to achieve it; essentially, it's a way to plan by understanding and leveraging an organization's key strengths and abilities rather than just individual tasks or projects.

Example:

Let's say a company wants to implement a new CRM system. Business Architecture can be used to:

  • Define the program vision: "To improve customer satisfaction and increase sales by implementing a new CRM system that enables a 360-degree view of the customer."
  • Identify stakeholders: Sales, Marketing, Customer Service, IT
  • Map business capabilities: Customer Relationship Management, Sales Management, Marketing Automation
  • Define the target operating model: A customer-centric organization with streamlined sales and marketing processes
  • Manage dependencies: Integration with existing systems, data migration
  • Measure progress: Increased customer satisfaction scores, increased sales revenue

By applying Business Architecture in this way, the company can ensure that the CRM implementation program is aligned with its overall business strategy and that it delivers the desired business outcomes.


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Certified Enterprise Architect Professional (CEAP) - Module 5 - Architecture Frameworks

Architecture Frameworks: An Architecture Framework is a theoretical structure that has the purpose of developing, executing, and maintaining an Enterprise Architecture. Advantages of EA framework: Simplify Breaks down areas of the business process Organise business components and create and identify relationships between business Determine the scope Customization in the existing framework Disadvantages of EA framework: Need to follow process Provides only direction and not information It's based on goal and objective Need creativity and proactive thinking Zachman Framework: The Zachman Framework is a widely used model in Enterprise Architecture (EA) that provides a structured way to classify and organize an organization's information infrastructure by defining different perspectives from various stakeholders, allowing for a holistic view of the enterprise and facilitating alignment between business needs and technology solutions; essentially acting as a template to organize arc...
Post a Comment
Read more

Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe)

The Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) is a set of organizational and workflow patterns for implementing agile practices at an enterprise scale. The framework is a body of knowledge that includes structured guidance on roles and responsibilities, how to plan and manage the work, and values to uphold. Scrum is a simple, flexible approach to adopting Agile that's great for small teams. SAFe is an enterprise-wide Agile framework designed to help bring Agile beyond the team and into the company as a whole. Scaled Agile has built a comprehensive level that includes all the four layers called the team, program, large solutions, and portfolio level. 4 Layers: Portfolio - Strategy, Vision, Roadmap, Strategy goal, Decision making, Budget, Portfolio level metrics,  Program - Align multiple teams towards a common mission, Bring together all the Agile teams, transparency, collaboration, and synchronisation, Scrum of Scrums, Product Owners to define the overall vision. Large Solutions - ar...
Post a Comment
Read more

Certified Enterprise Architect Professional (CEAP) - Module 4 - Architecture Precursors

 Architecture Precursors: Precursors to modern Enterprise Architecture (EA) include early frameworks like IBM's Business Systems Planning (BSP), which focused on aligning business strategy with information systems, as well as other Information Systems (IS) architecture methodologies that emerged in the 1970s and 80s, emphasizing the connection between business processes and IT systems, laying the groundwork for the holistic view of an organization that EA represents today; the "Master Plan for Information Systems" by Evans and Hague is also considered a foundational concept in this area. Drivers: internal / external pressure enforce to change the system Aims & Directives: Aims:  Goals Objectives Requirements Directives: Principles (example: Principles can be associated with business, data, applications, infrastructure, or security) Policies (example: Members of the public have minimal access to data) Business Rules (example: A rule directs and restricts a procedure)
Post a Comment
Read more