As stated by Penn State University Professor David Hollar, business architecture is the most important of the four Enterprise Architecture domains, but it is perhaps the most underdeveloped domain [1]. Saul Brand’s fourth step in developing a Business-Outcome-Driven Enterprise Architecture (BODEA) says to “start with business architecture first” [2], which reinforces Hollar’s statement. However, Betsey Burton et al.’s article “’Business Context’ and ‘Business Architecture’ Are Not the Same” exclaims that defining and agreeing on Business Context is perhaps the most crucial first step in creating a BODEA. Burton et al., says “Organizations that do not define the business context before deploying any EA or viewpoint-specific work will be greatly hindered in their ability to deliver or recognize real business value” [3].

My previous blog post, “An Introduction to Business-Outcome-Driven Enterprise Architecture,” provides an illustration depicting the importance of the Business Architecture domain by showing how the domain drives the Data, Application, and Technology domains of EA and how the three EA domains enable the Business Architecture domain. Today, I aim to address how to increase the maturity of Business Architecture within Enterprise Architecture by developing the organization’s Business Context.

Gartner, Inc. defines Business Context as the process of articulating the business strategy and requirements and ensuring that the enterprise architecture effort is business-driven. The business context of the EA is the articulation of the business strategy and its implications, of external “environment” trends, and of a high-level future-state vision [3].

An organization’s business context should overlay all EA work and viewpoints, including Enterprise Technical Architecture (ETA), Enterprise Information Architecture (EIA), Enterprise Solution Architecture (ESA), and Enterprise Business Architecture (EBA) [3].

To help start your business context definition journey, Burton et al. recommend creating a business context artifact known as a Common Requirements Vision (CRV). While a CRV should be customized for every organization, common attributes include (1) an analysis of the business strategy, (2) an analysis of the environmental trends (regulatory requirements, market trends, or technology trends), (3) change requirements of the EA domains, and (4) an anchor model defining a high-level view of the future state, illustrating what the enterprise could look like in support of the business strategy [3].

Defining an organization’s business context should be a collaborative “fusion team” effort of team members from various business units, IT, subject matter experts, and end users. Without the involvement of a diverse fusion team, the business strategy, environmental trends, change requirements, and anchor models may miss the mark, potentially misguiding the development of the entire business and enterprise architecture disciplines. According to Gartner, the alignment of business and IT is the second top benefit of BODEA, refer to Figure 1 [4].

Clearly defining an organization’s business context to the point of all fusion team stakeholders having an agreed upon common understanding provides unparalleled advantages regarding the creation of the organization’s EA program and its ability to deliver value by executing business strategy. The ability to execute business strategy is the top benefit of BODEA, according to Gartner; See Figure 1 [4].

Figure 1: The Benefits of Business-Outcome-Driven EA [4].

In summary, Business Architecture is the most underdeveloped domain of Enterprise Architecture [1]; yet, Gartner says to start developing a BODEA practice by starting with the Business Architecture domain. In an effort to mature the development of the Business Architecture domain, organizations should create a fusion team to focus on developing a Common Requirements Vision (CRV) to define the business context, so all stakeholders have a common understanding of business strategy and goals prior to creating the organization’s Business Architecture.

Works Cited

[1] D. Hollar, L06: Online Class Session: Business Architecture, 2022.

[2] S. Brand, 8 steps to start or restart a high-impact, Business-Outcome-Driven EA Program, Gartner, Inc., 2019.

[3] B. Burton, P. Allega and A. Lapkin, ‘Business Context’ and ‘Business Architecture’ are not the same, Gartner, Inc., 2009.

[4] S. Brand and M. Blosch, The future direction and evolution of Business- Outcome-Driven Enterprise Architecture, Gartner, Inc., 2020.

[5] Gartner, Inc., “Gartner Glossary – enterprise context,” Gartner, Inc., [Online]. Available: https://www.gartner.com/en/information-technology/glossary/enterprise-context#:~:text=The%20enterprise%20context%20is%20the,anchor%20models%20of%20the%20business.. [Accessed 6 November 2022].

Enterprise Architecture (EA) has evolved since the 1960s when the concept emerged [1]. Throughout the last two semesters, I have surmised that EA has undergone three evolutions since its emergence: Traditional EA, Holistic EA, and Business-Outcome-Driven EA (BODEA). When studying EA, you will likely encounter organizations using any of the three evolutions or perhaps find that organizations are striving to mature their EA program to achieve an organization-wide (holistic) EA program or even a BODEA program.

Definitions of EA vary depending on the source. For this blog post, I define the three evolutions as follows:

Traditional EA: In speaking with many experienced IT practitioners, the most common form of EA is IT-Driven. Meaning the IT department is focused on designing and building technology solutions that support the enterprise (solutions and technical only), primarily focused on “how” to implement solutions [2]. This may range from cross-cutting services such as networks and email to individual applications that support a specific need. In my conversations, I have found that many organizations are performing traditional EA without knowing it or without classifying their efforts as Enterprise Architecture.

Holistic EA: Holistic EA extends Traditional EA beyond an IT-only focus to an organization-wide focus. A holistic EA program is often viewed as an authoritative reference/body, source of standards for standards/resources, and a provider of designs for future operating states [3]. With Holistic EA, the EA program is recognized as the architecture of the enterprise (not just IT) covering all elements and aspects of the enterprise [3].

Business-Outcome-Driven EA: Is based on the concept of Holistic EA; however, the focus shifts toward delivering business value by enabling and driving business change [4]. BODEA shifts its mindset from focusing on “how” technology is implemented first to focusing on “why” and “what” delivers business value first, then “how” the business value-delivering solutions are implemented [2].

To review, the four EA domains are (1) Business Architecture, (2) Data Architecture, (3) Information Architecture, and (4) Technology Architecture.

Of the four EA domains, Business Architecture (BA) is the most important domain. Still, it may be the most underdeveloped because most EA practitioners stem from the technology side of the organization [5]. Most models depicting the EA domains show the BA domain on top, signifying its importance. BA is a discipline that represents the business views of an organization: e.g., business capabilities (Figure 1), business model canvas (Figure 2), end-to-end value delivery, information, organizational structure, and the relationships among these business views and strategies, products, policies, initiatives, and stakeholders [6].

Business Architecture Model Artifact Examples
Disclaimer: ABC Bank is a fictitious bank. The example artifacts do not represent any actual business entity.

Figure 1: Example Business Capability model.

Figure 2: Example Business Model Canvas

Figure 3: Illustration of the EA/BA relationship.

Regarding the four EA domains from a top-down perspective, the strategies and value chains from the BA domain drive the Data, Application, and Technology domains. From a bottom-up perspective, the Technology, Application, and Data domains enable the strategies and value chains within the BA domain. The EA/BA relationship is depicted in Figure 3. From this illustration, we can easily tell that BA should be the focal point of the EA program. Being able to implement a BODEA program is key to the success of a holistic business architecture.

If you or your organization is interested in establishing BODEA, Saul Brand (2019) from Gartner, Inc. provides eight steps to start or restart a BODEA program [7]:

1. Adopt Business-Outcome-Driven EA
2. Construct a Value Proposition
3. Start with Business Architecture First
4. Determine Organizational Design
5. Determine Skill Sets and Staffing
6. Determine Governance and Assurance
7. Determine Business Value Metrics
8. Construct a Charter

Figure 4: Illustration of the Eight Steps to Stand Up a BODEA Program [7].

More information on Brand’s Eight Steps can be found by viewing Brand’s article “8 Steps to Start or Restart a High-Impact, Business-Outcome-Driven EA Program” (G00377195), published by Gartner, Inc.

In summary, Business Architecture is the most important domain of Enterprise Architecture. Business Architecture provides multidimensional views of an organization, its strategies, and value chains. Organizations that strive to implement a Business-Outcome-Driven Enterprise Architecture program are bound to realize more business value from the EA program. However, many EA programs today are focused on IT-driven initiatives. Consider following Brand’s eight steps to start or restart a BODEA program.

Works Cited

[1] S. K. White, “What is enterprise architecture? A framework for transformation,” 16 October 2018. [Online]. Available: https://www.cio.com/article/222421/what-is-enterprise-architecture-a-framework-for-transformation.html#:~:text=EA%20began%20in%20the%201960s,Book%20of%20Knowledge%20(EABOK).. [Accessed 4 November 2022].

[2] S. Brand and M. Blosch, The future direction and evolution of Business- Outcome-Driven Enterprise Architecture, Gartner, Inc., 2020.

[3] S. A. Bernard, An introduction to holistic enterprise architecture, 4th ed., AuthorHouse, 2020.

[4] B. Burke and S. Brand, Stage planning a Business-Outcome-Driven Enterprise Architecture, Gartner, Inc., 2020.

[5] D. Hollar, L06: Online Class Session: Business Architecture, 2022.

[6] “Business Architecture,” Wikipedia, [Online]. Available: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_architecture. [Accessed 6 November 2022].

[7] S. Brand, 8 steps to start or restart a high-impact, Business-Outcome-Driven EA Program, Gartner, Inc., 2019.

[8] B. Betsey, P. Allega and A. Lapkin, ‘Business Context’ and ‘Business Architecture’ are not the same, Gartner, Inc., 2009.