The Building a Business Architecture Using Value Chains and Value Streams class describes an approach and method for building an architecture of the business. It explains how to build and integrate your customer centric cross-functional business processes, which are sometimes called value streams. It formally captures the intellectual capital from your BPM initiatives in an “architectural type” blueprint or model of the business that is available for strategic planning and IT architecture integration. Consequently, the business and IT teams can work in harmony with the insight gleaned from the Business Architecture to create higher profits, superior customer service and a competitive advantage for their enterprise.

This class is supported with a high level case study, illustrating all of the BA models needed to derive and engineer the other enterprise architectures. These very same BA models are also used in value chain analysis for purposes of achieving a competitive advantage for the enterprise. Additional analysis of the BA models illustrates how and where to capture “feedback” information that is used in business intelligence initiatives. Lastly, examples of capability mapping are presented with the value streams and business processes in the BA models. The dominant theme of the BA is a customer centric focus coupled with a holistic view of the enterprise, to deliver a value creating system.

The Business Architecture is the parent logical architecture and nexus from which one can unite, derive and integrate all of the architectures of the enterprise in a formal and disciplined manner. These include the IT, Security and Organization Architectures. One can also use the very same BA to direct and guide process design/improvement, software development, and package configuration initiatives, resulting in higher levels of efficiency and lower levels of rework in any software or systems life cycle. Guided by the strategy, this new and expanded view of the enterprise provides keen insight into innovative thinking, thereby improving enterprise performance.

The IT community is certainly no stranger to architecture development and engineering disciplines. Perhaps it will seem strange to the business community that they too have a formal architecture that can be engineered as well; the Business Architecture. Therefore, a brief introduction to basic architectural concepts is presented. Strategic Planners, C-level executives, Business/IT consultants, Operational managers and Technology managers will find the Business Architecture a practical alternative to a “seat of the pants” approach for engineering their business and implementing its enabling technologies.