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Resources in Business Architecture (BA)

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Displaying 81 - 90 of 344 resources matching your criteria.

Requirements at the Speed of Business

Contributed by:Frank Fabian,  Owner,  Frank Fabian Group

How many of you have heard the statement “The project failed because we didn’t have good requirements”? I’ve heard it dozens of times. It doesn’t matter whether it’s from seasoned project teams or ad hoc teams. The single biggest reason for project failure is a problem with the requirements. Even with agile processes in place, I see the same things repeated over and over. In doing post-mortems on projects that failed and projects that succeeded I have found some common traits.

Wanted: A New Business Architecture Framework

Contributed by:Drew Guitarte,  Enterprise Business Architect,  Wells Fargo & Company

We’re familiar with the enterprise architecture (EA) frameworks such as those of Zachman, TOGAF, and Federal EA Framework (FEAF).  These frameworks provide a conceptual structure of ideas (Merriam-Webster, 2014) that helps us understand the process, value, and function behind EA. Is there one among these more popular frameworks that adequately expands on the business architecture value proposition of aligning strategy with tactical demands? Probably not.

What we need is a new business-oriented and customer-centric business architecture framework.  Allow me to introduce a set of concepts and principles for this new framework that’s closer to the essence of business architecture.  Let’s call this new framework, for lack of a better term the Enterprise Business Architecture Framework (or EBAF).

Business Architecture & the Role of the CIO

Contributed by:William Ulrich,  President,  TSG, Inc.

I get a chance to work with CIOs in various capacities that usually involve major business challenges their organizations are facing and how IT can collaborate with business to address those challenges. These discussions are generally a precursor or follow-up to a strategic assessment, which tends to surface the expected technological challenges along with a few surprises. The surprise is not that IT has layer upon layer of fragmented, heavily redundant application and data architectures built on aging technology. This is unfortunately the norm. The surprise lies in why these problems keep multiplying and attempts to address them often turn into the next failed project. The fact is that issue analysis, problem definition, planning and funding all begin with the business and more often than not, these concerns lie behind a shroud of organizational siloes, fragmented customer perspectives and myriad business dialects.

Pivoting Through Capability Maps

Contributed by:Frank Fabian,  Owner,  Frank Fabian Group

Most entrepreneurs understand the meaning of a “Pivot”. A Pivot is a change of direction for the entire organization in order to take advantage (or find) an opportunity that expands the company’s business. A pivot can create an atmosphere of what appears to be total chaos and without proper management, can leave a business slogging along instead of soaring higher. However, by understanding the capabilities of your company, capability maps can make pivots more manageable. A pivot is one of the few times where capabilities may become fluid in order to adapt to the new direction. Business architecture usually assumes that capabilities are relatively stable – not so with a pivot.

Business Architect, Enterprise Architect and Business Transformation

Contributed by:Ganesh Balasubramaniam,  Director - Business Architecture,  OptumHealth

Businesses are under constant challenge to deliver growth and profitability.  Business process improvements and other enterprise quality initiatives are vital for the enterprise to do more with less, but they are not sufficient.  When businesses feel there is opportunity for transformation, they may engage a business architect. Many organizations do not have the benefit of established architecture processes and architecture governance for the enterprise, which makes the task of the business architect even more difficult.  It becomes incumbent on the business architect to educate and navigate stakeholders through architectural aspects of business transformation.

Understanding Business Vocabulary: A Business Architect’s Perspective

Contributed by:Frank Fabian,  Owner,  Frank Fabian Group

During the recent assessment of an organization, the topic of CM popped up as a reoccurring theme when it came to problems being experienced throughout the organization.  The one thing that became exceedingly clear was that everyone’s definition for CM was very different.  One of the prime roles for any business architect is to make sure they are looking holistically across the organization and that everyone is working from the same vocabulary.  This is not the first time I am running into the topic of “CM” as a source of chaos.

Business Architecture: The Real Tie that Binds

Contributed by:William Ulrich,  President,  TSG, Inc.
By William Ulrich & Jim Rhyne

By William Ulrich & Jim Rhyne

A recently published article entitled “Business Capability Architecture Is the Tie that Binds All” discussed how to use business capabilities to tie business strategy, enterprise change, and project portfolio prioritization.[i] We concur that strategy, enterprise change, and portfolio management are managed more effectively using business architecture, and agree that capabilities are a component of business architecture However we view the article’s notion of “business capability architecture” as being incomplete. We will discuss why this concept is incomplete and how it can be extended through value mapping.

The Illusive Bridge between Business Architecture and IT

Contributed by:Frank Fabian,  Owner,  Frank Fabian Group

In this world of “It’s not my job!” thinking, I look at the practice of business architecture and noticed that nowhere does anyone discuss business requirements as part of business architecture.  “We are not IT, we are aligned to the business.” Yet, one of the values of business architecture is to create the bridge between business and IT which means at some point we need to be involved in translating business requirements or business needs. 

Five Core Principles of Successful Business Architecture

Despite the massive efforts undertaken in many organizations, the promises of the latest business trends have often failed to come to fruition. This is not the result of lack of effort, smart people, software tools, new ideas, or new approaches. It is due to the absence of a holistic, business-centric approach to solving the complex challenges within a company. This approach is business architecture. This whitepaper explores five core principles of business architecture and provides important facts that are valuable to know before beginning, or when evaluating an existing internal business architecture program.

Business Architects Architect your Success

Contributed by:Drew Guitarte,  Enterprise Business Architect,  Wells Fargo & Company

I am not an enterprise architect.  I’m a business architect.  The difference lies in the customers we primarily serve.  Historically, the business architecture perspective has been part of every enterprise architecture framework.  Only recently has there been a clamor to treat business architecture as a separate profession and discipline with its own set of culture, adherents, and customers.

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