Bridge IT and the Business with Business Architecture Use business architecture to gain a clear understanding of your business strategy and better align IT with the business. Info-Tech's products and services combine actionable insight and relevant advice with ready-to-use tools and templates that cover the full spectrum of IT concerns.© 1997 - 2016 Info-Tech Research Group

Our understanding of the problem CIO Business VPs Chief Architect Business Architect Enterprise Architect Leverage business architecture to connect business strategy and IT strategy to project execution. Develop an understanding of business architecture and its techniques such as strategy mapping, value stream mapping, and business capability mapping. Understand how to scope your business architecture initiative. Effectively engage stakeholders and subject-matter experts. Business Relationship Managers Business Analysts Understand and manage your stakeholders from planning to execution. Apply architectural blueprints to drive real, tangible change at your organization.

Executive summary You have established the capabilities for business architecture at your organization; you have the right people, processes, and technology in place. Business architecture is not just a tool to create a common language between the business and IT. Business architecture is a set of strategic planning techniques that connect strategy to execution in a manner that is accurate, traceable, and promotes the efficient use of organizational resources. You don’t know where or how to begin, or how to engage the right people, model the business, and drive the value of business architecture. There is confusion around how to create effective blueprints that accurately model the right parts of the business. Alternatively, you have drawn up great models, but are unable to put them into use. Engage your stakeholders. Recognize the opportunity for architecture work, analyze the current and target states of your business strategy, and identify and engage the right stakeholders. Model the business in the form of architectural blueprints. Apply business architecture techniques such as strategy maps, value streams, and business capability maps to design usable and accurate blueprints of the business. Drive business architecture forward to promote real value to the organization. Assess your current projects to determine if you are investing in the right capabilities. Conduct business capability assessments to identify opportunities (such as application rationalization) and prioritize projects.

You will need business architecture when faced with the following three scenarios Scenario 1 – Supporting Business Transformation Business architecture can ease a large-scale business transformation by giving a holistic view of how different parts of the business interact and by providing a long-term roadmap of the changes. Transformations include: Mergers and acquisitions Major product launch Mass reorganizations Scenario 2 – Re-aligning IT and the Business IT strategy does not seem to line up with the overall business strategy. The organization does not see IT as a business enabler. IT is considered more of a cost center than a strategic partner. You want to bridge the gap between IT and the business. Scenario 3 – Enabling IT-Led Business Innovation The business knows where it wants to be down the road and has asked IT to help it find the solutions to get there. IT wants to contribute to the strategic planning of the organization and contribute innovative solutions, such as automated processes, to get there.

What is business architecture? As an organization moves from strategy towards execution, it is often unclear as to exactly how decisions pertaining to execution are being made, why priority is given to certain areas, and how the planning function operates. The business architect’s primary role is to model this process and document it. In doing so, the business architect creates a unified view as to how strategy connects to execution so that it is clearly understood by all levels of the organization. Planning Strategy Execution Info-Tech Insight Business architecture must be branded as a front-end planning function to be appropriately embedded in the organization’s planning process. Brand business architecture as an early planning pre-requisite on the basis of maintaining clarity of communication and spreading an accurate awareness of how strategic decisions are being made.

Business Architecture Business architecture is a planning function that connects strategy to execution Business architecture provides a framework that connects business strategy and IT strategy to project execution through a set of models that provide clarity and actionable insights. A business architecture practice typically makes use of the following techniques: Business Strategy IT Strategy Business Architecture Project Execution Strategy Mapping Connects business goals to value generation activities which are further supported by business capabilities. Value Stream Mapping Groups, segments, and creates coherent narratives for the organization’s value generation activities. Business Capability Mapping Breaks down an organization into its component parts and helps connect them to specific value realization activities. 1 2 3

Business Architecture techniques at a glance Example Value Stream Identify Options Evaluate Options Negotiate Price and Delivery Date Place Order Get Invoice Make Payment Product Purchase Capabilities Value Streams Goals Revenue Growth Sales Enablement Sales Transaction Mgmt. Marketing Strategy Example Strategy Map Example Capability Map Marketing Strategy Customer Need Analysis Competitive Intelligence Customer Segmentation Customer Experience Mgmt. Planning Market Assessment New Product Development & Packaging New Product Introduction

How does business architecture fit within enterprise architecture (EA)? The scope of enterprise architecture includes all the four architectural domains: business, data, application, and technology architectures. Business architecture is the cornerstone that sets the foundation for all other architectural domains: data, application, and technology. Application Architecture Data Architecture Business Architecture Technology Architecture Infrastructure Security Enterprise Architecture

What should business leaders expect from business architecture? Business architecture is defined as “a blueprint of the enterprise that provides a common understanding of the organization and is used to align strategic objectives and tactical demands.” Business leaders should expect a business architecture practice to: 1 2 3 Deliver a common understanding of the business and its component parts. Facilitate a coherent and consistent implementation of strategy across all the business enablement layers. Create a clear line of sight on the organization’s investments, including their impact and progress towards the desired organizational goals. Source: OMG Business Architecture Special Interest Group

What is the role of the business architect? The business owns the strategy and operating model, the business architect connects all the pieces together. Business Architect (Responsible) Business Unit Leads (Accountable) Subject-Matter Experts (Consulted) – Business Lines, Operations, Data, Technology Systems & Infrastructure Leads Business Operators (Informed) – Process, Data, Technology Systems & Infrastructure R A C I

Info-Tech’s three components for practicing business architecture: Engage – Model – Drive Organizations easily fall into the trap of not managing the end-to-end process of business architecture, dramatically reducing the benefits. Info-Tech created the EMD Framework to help avoid this. Info-Tech’s research findings indicate that for an enterprise to realize the value of business architecture, the team needs to succeed at the three key components of the job, regardless of business architecture methodology in use. Engage stakeholders. This involves identifying opportunities for business architecture work, and identifying and effectively engaging business architecture project stakeholders. Model and standardize. This includes analyzing business objectives and designing the target/transitionary state business architecture blueprints by applying techniques such as strategy mapping, value stream mapping, and business capability mapping. Drive adoption and compliance. This includes determining the gaps between the baseline and target state descriptions by conducting business capability assessments, identifying options for resolution, and defining roadmap components. Model Drive Engage

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