Business Capability Map
posted by Anna Mar, June 27, 2016It is the most important diagram in all of business architecture — the Business Capability Map.
The Business Capability Map is the what of business architecture — defining your business' ability to execute.
Level 1The Level 1 Business Capability Map defines the high level capabilities of your business. This is often sliced and diced by department, location, product etc...
The following example illustrates the level 1 capabilities of a software sales department:
Level 2The Level 2 Business Capability Map goes another level down in detail. It still answers the what without getting into the how or the why.
Level 3The level 3 Business Capability Map is a high level process diagram that begins to answer the how.
The Power of Business Capabilities
Business, PMO and Enterprise Architecture documentation is often mapped to business capabilities. For example:
business strategy → business capabilities
products → business capabilities
projects → business capabilities
applications → business capabilities
data → business capabilities
Everything a business does can be tied back to a capability. Business capabilities are the keys that tie business architecture to application, data and technology architecture.
With your projects and architecture tied to business capabilities you can answer questions such as:
What does the business use this application for?
What does the business use this data for?
What does the business use this infrastructure for?
How does this project tie to business strategy?
How does this application tie to business processes?
How does this data tie to business strategy?
etc...
This is the power of Business Capability Maps — they are your vocabulary for business execution.
Audience
Business Capability Maps can be used by the entire organization. Examples of uses include:
- business strategy
- business cases
- business development
- competitive analysis
- project planning
- enterprise architecture
- solution architecture
- application support
- training and onboarding
Target Operating Model
Business architects typically maintain current and target versions of Business Capability Maps. Target versions are based on business strategy and are often referred to as Target Operating Models.
Drill Down
It is common to provide level 1 to 3 drill down views of Business Capability Maps.
Tools
Ideally, Business Capability Maps are maintained in a Enterprise Architecture Tool or a Business Process Management Suite (BPMS).
Level 3The level 3 Business Capability Map is a high level process diagram that begins to answer the how.
The Power of Business Capabilities
Business, PMO and Enterprise Architecture documentation is often mapped to business capabilities. For example:
business strategy → business capabilities
products → business capabilities
projects → business capabilities
applications → business capabilities
data → business capabilities
Everything a business does can be tied back to a capability. Business capabilities are the keys that tie business architecture to application, data and technology architecture.
With your projects and architecture tied to business capabilities you can answer questions such as:
What does the business use this application for?
What does the business use this data for?
What does the business use this infrastructure for?
How does this project tie to business strategy?
How does this application tie to business processes?
How does this data tie to business strategy?
etc...
This is the power of Business Capability Maps — they are your vocabulary for business execution.
Audience
Business Capability Maps can be used by the entire organization. Examples of uses include:
- business strategy
- business cases
- business development
- competitive analysis
- project planning
- enterprise architecture
- solution architecture
- application support
- training and onboarding
Target Operating Model
Business architects typically maintain current and target versions of Business Capability Maps. Target versions are based on business strategy and are often referred to as Target Operating Models.
Drill Down
It is common to provide level 1 to 3 drill down views of Business Capability Maps.
Tools
Ideally, Business Capability Maps are maintained in a Enterprise Architecture Tool or a Business Process Management Suite (BPMS).
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