What Is Business Architecture ?

Why is business architecture needed? When change is being considered, the business architecture provides details on the elements that are most relevant for the purposes of the change, allowing for prioritisation and resource allocation. Because a business architectural also shows how the parts are related, it can be used to provide impact analysis to tell what other elements of the business might be affected by the change.

The business architecture itself can be used as a tool to help identify needed changes. The performance metrics for each element of the architecture can be monitored and assessed to identify when an element is under-performing. The importance of each element can be compared with the performance of the organisation. This assists decision makers when considering where investment is needed and how to prioritise those decisions.

The function of business architecture is to facilitate coordinated and synchronised action across the organisation by aligning action with the organisation’s vision, goals, and strategy. The architectural models created in this process are the tools used to clarify, unify, and provide understanding of the intent of the vision, goals, and strategy, and to ensure that resources are focused and applied to the elements of the organisation that align with and support this direction.

Business architecture also helps to align the organisation with its business units; details how an organisation is structured and demonstrate how elements (such as information, capabilities) of the business fit together.

Business architecture is typically used alongside other business and operating models (which is focussed on process, people, and technology) to enable businesses to drive investments based on a shared view of the business. A well-defined business architecture allows an organisation to align its operating model to a holistic business strategy.

In organisations, the role who develops the business architecture is typically given the title as a business architect. A business architect working as a change agent with senior stakeholders, the business architect has an important role to play in shaping business initiatives including, transformation and improvements.

Building and implementing a business architecture is very demanding. It requires exemplary corporate leadership, collaboration between all enterprise organisations, and visionary designers. It is not a project type initiative with an estimated start/stop date and fixed budget, but a new corporate behaviour and way of life.

It is important to elevate business architecture from more than boxes and arrows and embed the discipline as an integral part of an enterprise business and technology transformation to enable business architecture to succeed.