1. An
very little coverage of products and services
offered, channels through which we reach our
markets and financial issues, constraints and
opportunities.
Our definition of business architecture is
Approach to much broader. We see it as:
Business The design of a desirable future state of the
enterprise, including the components,
Architecture
relationships and arrangement of these to
achieve business goals
Looked at in this way, business architecture is
Graham McLeod not about providing IT with inputs to the
“Enterprise Architecture” method or process -
Chief Architect/Chairman Promis Ltd
it really is about designing the future of the
Founder Inspired organization. It is thus overlapping with
April 2012 strategy. Traditional strategy practices,
though, are often blinkered - e.g. most
Scope of Business Architecture business planning approaches focus primarily
on financial aspects, products and marketing.
The term business architecture has been much
abused in popular use and recent literature. We believe that all important dimensions need
Within IT-oriented Enterprise Architecture to be considered in an holistic and integrated
methods, such as TOGAF, IAF and others, it way, with Business Architecture informing all
has come to mean “the business stuff that IT other architectures and driving the primary
needs to know about in order to do Enterprise change within the organization. It is a two
IT Architecture”. This normally includes, for way street, though, and business architecture
example, organization structure, business also needs to be influenced by context,
processes, business goals and
business infor mation
requirements. It may include
stakeholders, roles, respon-
sibilities and capabilities.
There is usually extremely
little coverage of anything
of a soft nature e.g. culture,
ethos... or of issues in the
context of the enterprise,
s u c h a s c o m p e t i t o r s,
industry trends, technology
trends, legislation, external
threats, customer s and Figure 1 - Role of Business Architecture in the Organization
markets etc. There is usually
© Inspired 2012 Inspired Approach to Business Architecture page 1 of 10

2. available technologies, product and service • Channels: How do we reach our Clients and
possibilities and exciting new organizational Markets?
forms and business models. • Collaboration: Who do we work with to
achieve our results?
Difficulties with a “method” for business • Legal: What are the legal constraints and
architecture requirements under which we operate?
Industry is beloved of “best practice” or cook • Risk and Governance: What Risks do we
book approaches that try to endow practi- face? What Governance models are we
tioners (often without the requisite personal required to implement? What reporting do
experience) with competence in carrying out we have to do? What are the requirements
architecture development or planning. This around security, privacy, transparency?
can work to a degree where the goal is to • Social: What is our role in society? How do
enhance communication between disparate we contribute? What are the trends that
stakeholders and to provide a lingua franca and affect our future? Who are the communities
a safety net, ensuring that at least the basics we serve?
are considered. It is a fraught approach when
• Resources: What is available? What are the
dealing with something of the scale of future scenarios for Resource types and
business architecture - there are so many availability?
dimensions that form part of a comprehensive
• Business Model: How should we be
future business design and so many different
structured to best achieve our objectives in
starting points / compe-tencies / maturity
the longer term? What has become possible
levels as well as a plethora of goals in
socially, technologically and legally?
undertaking business architecture work, that
it is almost impossible to have “a” business • Technology: What do we use and what will
architecture method. be available? How can we exploit technology
to our advantage?
Techniques and Deliverables • Ethical: What are our beliefs and principles
about how we should operate? What will be
Our view is that we need a variety of sustainable for us, society and the
techniques and deliverables to assist us in environment in the long term?
doing business architecture work. From the
• Organization Model: What is the best
available techniques and deliverables, we will
structure for the Organization, its
then select those that are useful and achievable
components and its relationships to partners
in the given situation.
and other stakeholders? What skills do we
There are many perspectives that we need to need for our planned future and how will we
consider, including: retain, create or acquire them?
• Motivation: Drivers, Goals, Objectives, • Timing and Events: What are the key
Threats, Opportunities cycles we need to be aware of ? What are the
• Products and Services: What do we events that require us to respond and who
deliver / produce / provide to our clients? are the relevant Stakeholders concerned?
What role do they play? What do they
• Brand: What is our Brand? How valuable
contribute and expect?
and trusted is it? How can it be enhanced?
Do we need to create new Brand(s)?
© Inspired 2012 Inspired Approach to Business Architecture page 2 of 10

3. • Information: What information do we need
Telephone Small Business
for operations; for performance monitoring System Owner
and improvement; for strategic decision
making?
• Scenarios: How are things likely to pan out?
What will an appropriate strategy be in each
scenario? Are there things that we can do
Western Europe
that play well in all scenarios?
• Planning Horizon: What time period are
we planning for? What interim capability
delivery points will we target? In fast Figure 2 - A model
moving, low capital industries, this might be A meta model abstracts a model up a level so
measured in months, while in mature capital that we identify the concepts involved and
industries (e.g. resources and energy) it may their relationships, rather than the specific
be decades. objects or items in the model. For the above
Any particular business architecture / model, the meta model would include the
strategic planning exercise or project may concepts: Product, Client Segment and
involve any combination of subsets of the Geographic Market and the relationships:
above. There are also competing approaches to Product is sold to Client Segment; Product is
business strateg y, including the more sold in Geographic Market. We might include
conventional views (e.g. Porter) and more the concept Sale related to Product, Client
recent and different views (e.g. Blue Ocean Segment and Geographic Market.
Strategy). A key challenge is to perform the
required analysis in each area of concern, but
Product Client Segment
also to integrate the analyses and results into
a coherent whole. The analysis may take place
at different points in time and under different Sale
projects. A powerful way to achieve this
integration is to have a common underlying
conceptual model and associated agreed Geographic
Market
terminology.
Role of a Unifying Meta Model Figure 3 - A meta model
A model is a representation (usually simplified The meta model thus captures the kinds of
i n s o m e w ay ) t h at s h o w s e s s e n t i a l things that we are interested in, the legal
characteristics of something in the real world relationships between them, and the properties
(or which we want to create in the real world). we want to record or know about for each. E.g.
Thus a model might show that we sell product for Client Segment, we might want to know
“Telephone System” to the client segment the population and average age; for the Product,
“Small Business Owners” in the geographical we might want to know the average price in
market “Western Europe”. Euros and the months since product introduction.
An agreed meta model is a great way to
achieve integration between various perspec-
© Inspired 2012 Inspired Approach to Business Architecture page 3 of 10

4. tives. Product managers could populate the figures, spreadsheets and graphs. This might
Product details and relate products to be the best representation to use for models
Geographic Markets where they are sold. The he/she will deal with. A Business Intelligence
Regional Manager s could define the officer might relate best to graphical
Geographic Markets and provide their conceptual data models and rich data
characteristics. The Marketing people could visualizations. A Process Owner might want
populate the Client Segments and relate them to see process flow diagrams. A CEO might
to Products they buy, etc. want to see a report of how the complement
of different staff types will change over time.
The key here is to agree the meta model. We
A Programme Manager might want to see a
can then populate the contents of models
milestone chart of key delivery points in
conforming to the meta model at any time,
several streams of activity.
starting anywhere, as and when we have the
information or it is useful to perform the The key thing is to consider the content (what
analysis. With an agreed meta model, we also the role requires the person to see, know or
have a shared vocabulary, so that when we visualize); the orientation or most comfortable
refer to things within the different specialis- representation (e.g. list, report, spreadsheet,
ations, we are talking about the same things matrix, diagram, visualization) that is best for
with a shared understanding. This is the stakeholder and the mode of obtaining the
sometimes called a business ontology. information: e.g. regular report; ad hoc query;
diagram editing; dynamic visualization etc.
Ideally, the meta model and the models should
be held in a repository, where they can be To support the above, we need mappings
captured, validated, maintained, analysed, between the meta model, the model, the
shared and reused in further analysis work. logical model type and the representation. The
Reuse is facilitated by having the common latter may also be adapted for the medium of
meta model and trying to relate existing delivery (e.g. Paper, Web Interface, iPad/
things before creating new ones. E.g. If I tablet).
define a new Product, I can simply relate it to
all the existing Client Segments Form Matrix Diagram/Plot List Composite
a
to which it should appeal. If Item ID
Property: Value
a
1
c aa
ab
Property: Value b
there are new Client Segments Property: Value
b
c
bb
being targeted, I could add these
too. Representation Representation Representation Representation Representation
Models, Model Types and Model Model Model Model Model
Representations
We have seen how a shared meta
model supports coordi-nation,
reuse and sharing. We also have Objects in
Repository
to consider the best represen-
Colour coding indicates classification into types according to the meta model
tation or form of presentation for
different stakeholders and target
Figure 4 - Mapping of objects, models, model types &
audiences. A Chief Financial representations
Officer is used to dealing with
© Inspired 2012 Inspired Approach to Business Architecture page 4 of 10

5. • Tasks are related to skills and applicable
techniques
Dynamic Methods Using the Method
The method model is implemented at two
Model
levels:
Many years ago, we developed a method • The first level is concerned with kinds of
management model (M3) which supports the Projects, kinds of Deliverables, kinds of Tasks,
modeling, management and evolution of kinds of Resources etc. (so it is effectively a
methods and techniques within organizations. meta model)
This has dimensions of Products/Deliverables • The second level is concerned with actual
(what should be produced); Projects/Tasks Projects, Deliverables, Tasks, Resources etc.
(what work is needed to produce the required as they will be applied in an actual project.
outputs) and Resources (roles/people, skills, (so it is effectively a model)
tools, other resources) required to produce the
results. Each of these facets has a decom- In the Product and Task facets there are also
position: dependencies. For Products this relates
Products to those which are required as inputs
• Projects break down to tasks (as you would
have for a project work breakdown for their production. For Tasks, it relates them
structure) to those required as prerequisites before the
given task can be performed. This is often
• Products break down to deliverables from
derived from the Product dependencies.
which they are compiled
• Resources break down to categories and So why bother with all of this? Well, earlier
finally actual resources to be allocated we said it is almost impossible to have “a”
Business Architecture method, and that the
• The three facets are also inter-related:
approach would have to be tailored for each
• Products are related to the Tasks
situation. The above models provide support
required to produce them
(even automated!) for such tailoring. By
• Tasks are related to the Resources selecting the Products that we need from a
required to perform them given initiative, we can automatically
includes determine:
• What sub and input products are required
Product
• What tasks, subtasks and prerequisite tasks
prerequisite
produced includes are required to produce the above
by
• What resources are required to perform the
Task
tasks above
includes
prerequisite requires • What techniques and skills are useful or
requires required in performing the tasks
Resource
requires Thus, we can effectively generate a tailored
project plan for each situation. Doing this
Skill Technique
against a consistent method model and meta
model will ensure that any time we do the
Figure 5 - One level of the M3 Model same thing we achieve consistency. Also, by
having the shared meta model underpinning
© Inspired 2012 Inspired Approach to Business Architecture page 5 of 10

6. the analysis work and deliverables we ensure Support for Implementation
that we get maximum reuse and that we can
Ideally, the meta model, the models and the
integrate all the results across whatever
methods information should be managed in a
dimensions.
shared and secure repository supporting
collaboration by all concerned parties.
Use of Industry Models
Inspired has provided such an environment,
A great deal of work has been invested in known as Enterprise Value Architect Net-
various industries/domains to develop models modeler (EVA) for many years. It is a server
germane to their specific domain. These based, meta model driven repository providing
include: web browser, graphical modeling and pro-
grammatic interfaces to support all of the
• FrameworkX in the Telecommunications
industry, which provides process, data, above concepts.
service and functional models Similar results could be achieved with other
• ARTS process models in the Retail industry toolsets, provided that a shared comprehensive
• Insurance Application Architecture (IAA) meta model is implementable in the tool(s) and
from IBM which addresses the assurance / that the method adaptation can be supported
insurance industry by suitable customisation and tool APIs.
• HL7 process and data models in the Health We provide our integrated meta model and
Care industry methods management model as part of our
• etc. toolset. It is also available in an industry
standard form (XML and XML schemas) as a
The use of these models as a starting point, or
separate product to assist implementation in
as a safety checklist or to spur conceptual
other toolsets and environments.
thinking in development of business
architectures can result in higher quality Meta Model
models and great resource and time savings.
The models can be preloaded into the unifying Since Business Architecture is typically
meta model and serve as a straw man for the pursued by fairly mature and advanced
organization’s own models. Alternately, organizations which are also likely to have
c o n f o r m i n g t o t h e s e m o d e l s at a l l some Enterprise Architecture activity, often
organizational interface points can greatly driven out of Information Technology, we
facilitate agility and flexibility in how we have tried to accommodate the industry
collaborate with partners. leading standards into our models, so that we
have maximum congruence with industry
Using recognised models where suitable can understanding of the concepts, use consistent
ease the adoption of industry solutions (e.g. terminology and can leverage existing
ERP or Telecommunications Billing) based training and skills to best effect.
upon these models, thereby enhancing
integration in business systems and opera- The dominant EA method in use today is
tions. TOGAF, from the Open Group, currently at
release 9.1. The leading standard for
architectural model representation in graph-
ical form is Archimate, also from the Open
Group, now at Release 2. These are not
© Inspired 2012 Inspired Approach to Business Architecture page 6 of 10

7. comprehensive for our purposes, but there is a • Enterprise Architecture (including Process,
large overlap in concepts. Applications, Information, Technology)
To leverage industry knowledge and common • Requirements Management
understanding, we took Archimate as a core, • Programme Management
since it had the better defined meta model • Methods Management
compared to TOGAF. We cleaned up a few • Risk Management
confusing concepts there, then analysed what
was missing to fully support TOGAF. We See next page Figure 7 for a graphic...
added the concepts that would be required. Techniques and Deliverables
Next we looked at our own comprehensive Over the past decade, we have adopted, defined
EA, Business Architecture, Methods Manage- and evolved powerful techniques and deliv-
ment and Capability Management models erables to support the various analyses
which we have built over the past two decades. required in support of Business Architecture.
We added the concepts necessary to fully These have been mapped to our meta model
support our concept of Business Architecture described above and defined in model types
as defined above and those necessary to and representations supported in our tooling.
manage methods, integrate with programme
management and manage architecture The techniques and deliverables are taught in
capability. a comprehensive four day intensive course
developed over the last two years and which
has been introduced to the market to general
acclaim. The techniques and deliverables
include:
• Business Operating Models
• Stakeholder Value Contribution
• Maturity Analysis
• SWOT
• Drivers, Goals, Objectives
• Vision Development
• PEST(LE)
• Growth Vectors
• Business Events
• Value Chains and Networks
Figure 6 - Development of the comprehensive • Process Architectures and Models
meta model • Functional Analysis
• Service Oriented Architecture
Thus, what we now have is a fully integrated, • Principles and Business Rules
consistent, comprehensive meta model • Channel Architectures
covering all the necessary concepts and
• Design Thinking and Innovation
relationships to address:
• Business Architecture
© Inspired 2012 Inspired Approach to Business Architecture page 7 of 10

8. Type to enter text
• Figure 7 - The concepts included in the meta model related to Business Architecture
(the oval represents the organization boundary)
• Market, Product, Brand, Competitor • Modeling ability (especially abstraction)
Analysis General ability to model and abstract using
• Identifying “Blue Ocean” opportunities and various techniques including decomposition,
planning to exploit them abstraction, synthesis, analysis, gap analysis
etc.
• Organization Design
• Soft skills (communication, facilitation,
• Information and Communication
empathy)
Architecture
These are required to engage with senior
• Gap Analysis executives and other stakeholders, to lead
• Capability Modeling and Achievement facilitated planning sessions and reach
• Initiative and Portfolio Management consensus, to communicate ideas and to
• Roadmap and Migration Definition understand competing perspectives
• Risk identification and mitigation • Domain knowledge
of the industry in which the organization
Skills operates is essential. This is both to
Real business architecture requires a broad understand the real issues, industry trends
range of skills and abilities. These include: and to have credibility with senior business
executives
• Strong conceptual abilities
to understand the wide range of concepts • Experience
involved, their relationship and the impacts There is no substitute for experience. It is
of change across the business very doubtful that newly trained
practitioners, on their own, prepared only
© Inspired 2012 Inspired Approach to Business Architecture page 8 of 10

9. with theoretical knowledge would perform Training is offered in the UK, Europe, USA,
well at the subtle and complex task of Scandinavia, South Africa, Malaysia and
business architecture. Of course, as part of a Australia. Other locations can be accom-
team with a few grey-beards they bring new modated on a negotiated basis.
perspectives, innovation, enthusiasm and
Consulting Services
energy, which are also invaluable
Inspired and Promis offer a range of
Training
consultancy services relevant to Business
We have a number of training courses which Architecture and Enterprise Architecture.
support the approach we have described and
These include:
the development of the necessary skills.
Courses typically include principle based • Architecture Capability Development -
training (which delegates can adapt to specific where we work with organizations to
methods, tools and techniques) as well as rich establish the organization structures,
case studies and practical assignments governance processes, methods and
performed in teams. These include: techniques that an organization will employ
and the skills and resources that they will
• Techniques and Deliverables of Business
need to create or sustain a credible and
Architecture
valuable architecture capability
Our comprehensive and intensive four day
course for business architects, described • Architecture Method Adaptation and
previously Implementation - putting in place and
tuning the methods and techniques to suit
• Practical TOGAF Certification Courses
the organizational goals, requirements,
A three day Foundation level certification
culture, maturity and capability
course and a five day TOGAF full
certification course. Both are accredited by • Architecture Development - defining
the Open Group. We have trained hundreds goals, collecting data, performing analysis,
of students successfully since 2007 defining scenarios, defining future
architectures, building business cases,
• Executive Introduction to Enterprise
creating change programmes
Architecture
A one day introduction for senior managers, • Architecture Review/Quality Assurance -
CxO and board level executives reviewing work of internal architects or
that done by major suppliers. Ensuring that
• Practical Archimate
all relevant aspects have been properly
A one and a half day practical course
considered and that the quality of analysis
covering the Archimate notation. Can be
and results is good
used in preparation for Archimate
certification • Architecture Due Diligence - When
organizations are considering take overs,
• Facilitators Kiln
mergers or major outsourcing, looking at all
A three day intensive course in facilitation
relevant aspects to identify road blocks and
skills, Joint Application Planning and Joint
risks and to advise on whether to proceed. If
Application Development techniques
the decision is to proceed, identifying risks
We can also tailor training to specific and coming up with strategies to minimize
organizational needs, given that there are these and facilitate rapid solid progress
sufficient students to justify the effort.
© Inspired 2012 Inspired Approach to Business Architecture page 9 of 10

10. • Major Business Initiative Support - selecting suitable tools where required. This is
defining goals and scope, establishing and facilitated by available meta models and our
designing project, enhancing skills, knowledge of tooling in general. We are
performing requirements analysis, creating familiar with domain specific modeling
RFIs and RFPs, analysing vendor responses, concepts and have used advanced tools, such as
establishing change programmes MetaEdit+ to create visual languages for
specific modeling purposes.
These are representative examples, but
assignments are defined to match the Tooling integration
situation, the client and the other parameters We work with clients, using the APIs in our
of each unique situation. toolset or other offerings, to create a produc-
tive and integrated tool environment which
Tools
supports the workflow of architects and
EVA Netmodeler is our comprehensive, related disciplines. Contact us for more
collaborative meta model driven knowledge information.
management and modeling environment.
Available as a SaaS solution or for in house References and Further Information
installation if required. EVA allows manage- You can contact the writer at: mcleod@iafrica.com
ment and secure sharing of all information
mentioned in this paper. It is fully meta model You can find Graham’s blog at:
driven and the meta model and visual http://grahammcleod.typepad.com/
representations are user customisable at
runtime without programming. This makes it Inspired can be found at: http://www.inspired.org
a highly flexible tool to meet the needs of Promis can be found at: http://www.pro-mis.com
business and other architects. It has the ability
A presentation on “Business Architecture
to define an infinite number of model types
Transforms Business” to the Open Group
and corresponding graphical notations to suit conference at Cannes, France in April 2012
your needs or to conform to industry
standards. In addition, it supports instant A presentation including the M3 Method Model
distributed working, report generation,
More information on Porter strategy models here:
sharing data via portals and even website
generation for distribution of knowledge http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Porter
without access to the tool. See a detailed More information on Blue Ocean Strategy here:
brochure here. EVA comes preconfigured with
our comprehensive meta models and methods http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Blue_Ocean_Strategy
management capabilities as discussed in this
paper. An earlier paper on the Inspired EA Frameworks
Other toolset enrichment More information on Domain Specific Modeling
and MetaEdit+
We also work with clients to implement these
ideas in other toolsets and to assist you in
© Inspired 2012 Inspired Approach to Business Architecture page 10 of 10