Resources in Business Architecture (BA)

Business Archtecture (BA) resources are provided to you courtesy of our sister community BAInstitute.org.

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Displaying 21 - 30 of 329 resources matching your criteria.

The Pace Setting Business Architect: Lessons From the Field

Contributed by:Dean Heltemes, Senior Director, Ameriprise Financial

You don't need me to tell you that the pace of disruption and change in business is already immense and is accelerating. The Wall Street Journal several years ago published an interesting comparison of how long it takes for a new product to reach 50 million users. Updates to this have been popping up all over social media recently that demonstrate the acceleration:

How to Lead When Building a Business Capability Model

Contributed by:Drew Guitarte, Enterprise Business Architect, Wells Fargo & Company

If you are leading your organization’s business capability model (BCM) development, here are some guidelines that you can follow.

Lessons from the Field: The Bold Business Architect

Contributed by:Dean Heltemes, Senior Director, Ameriprise Financial

Picture this: you get this fabulous opportunity to work with a business on bringing its new strategy to life. They share with you the fanciest PowerPoint slides you have ever seen describing their vision, mission, and the tremendous opportunities they see in the marketplace and how uniquely they are positioned to gain market share. You dive right in and open up your business architecture toolbox and get to work. You map out their strategy, document the business model, create a capability map and conduct a maturity assessment. Life is great and the energy level is high. As time goes on, though, you start to get an odd feeling that something isn't right. You find pockets of disengagement across the organization. You are finding a growing number of major capability gaps. There are parts of the organization you really can't figure out what they do. And worst of all: you can't figure out why anyone would really choose to buy from your company versus a competitor.

Disruption, Innovation and the Art of Business Architecture

Contributed by:Simona Lovin, Director of Operations and Strategic Initiatives, Leidos

Over the past decade, the Business Architecture community of practice has built a firm foundation of methods, practices and tools that allow organizations to map their place in the business world, assess the viability of their capabilities, and chart a course towards their future. And yet, Business Architecture still has a long way to go to permeate the public consciousness. In fact, while concepts such as change, disruption, and innovation have fired up the imagination of entire industries, Business Architecture’s public brand as a game-changer has drawn more muted reactions, as the Google Trends diagram below starkly demonstrates.

Figure 1: Google Trends graph (dated 9/16/2017), keywords: disruption, innovation, Business Architecture

The Complex Organization

Career Options for Business Analysts and Project Managers

We live in times where the only constant is change. Efforts to shift to Digital Business and transformations are underway everywhere. It's no wonder that many of our members, especially analysts and project/portfolio managers, are trying to figure out where they'll go next in their careers and what types of skills they'll need to have continued success. This webcast brings together three preeminent subject matter experts to provide you with insight into three disciplines that we believe have staying power and are potentially a good fit for you and your career. For each topic, we discuss:

Walking the Business Architecture Talk

Contributed by:Linda Finley, Faculty Member, BAInstitute.org and Architect and Owner, Leadership Advantage

One of the questions I’m asked frequently is “how do I launch business architecture in my company?” I know it can be challenging--I have a lot of great responses to this question, and I offer classes specifically on this topic and consulting with organizations to do it. At the same time, I believe that benefits from business architecture techniques and models are already attainable for you regardless of your defined role, position or formality in the business. I always say, once you start thinking and acting like a business architect, regardless of where you sit, things will make sense to you in a new way and you will provide value for the business.

I was a few minutes early for a lunch meeting a few weeks ago, so I stopped by a furniture store across the street from the restaurant that had a big sale sign out front. When I stepped into the store, it became clear by the room vignettes (and the prices) that this was an interior design retail showroom.

The Vigilant Business Architect: Lessons from the Field

Contributed by:Dean Heltemes, Senior Director, Ameriprise Financial

2017 may go down as the year of ransomware, rogue software that infects a computer, scrambles the data, demands you pay money to get access back, and eventually destroys your files. In May the WannaCry ransomware cyberattack affected more than 200,000 users in over 150 countries and disrupted operations for numerous corporations. This was followed in June by a new variant of the Petya ransomware, with this cyberattack impacting over 12,000 devices in around 65 countries, along with some high profile corporations. While most ransomware still targets consumers, what is notable for business architects is that according to Kaspersky Lab, ransomware attacks on businesses increased 11x in 2016. So what is the role of a business architect regarding cybersecurity, disaster recovery, and business continuity planning? I honestly have no idea. In the spirit of never letting a serious crisis go to waste, let's see how we can help.

Cybersecurity Framework

Boundary Information Structures

Contributed by:Doug McDavid, Mr., DougMcDavid Enterprises

1.0 Introduction

Let’s take a few minutes to explore a subject that’s at the heart of the challenge of running a business, and by extension, also at the heart of providing expert architectural services on behalf of business leadership. This discussion will focus on approach to analyzing and designing effective communications among disciplines and specialists.

The Business Architect’s Journey: Top-Three Qualities for Success

Contributed by:Simona Lovin, Director of Operations and Strategic Initiatives, Leidos

Picture this scenario: You are brimming with excitement as you start your engagement with a brand-new client - a client who had persuasively spoken to you their company’s capability-driven approach to architecture and its commitment to building a Business Architecture competency. A client who, in preliminary discussions, had emphasized their urgent need for seasoned experts (such as yourself) to guide the more junior Business Architects. The importance of personal leadership and of having the requisite fortitude to stand by your recommendations had been emphasized. (Your certainly don’t lack either of these traits). The existence of some challenges might have been mentioned. (But what reality is that where there are no challenges...?)

Lessons from the Field: The Adaptable Business Architect

Contributed by:Dean Heltemes, Senior Director, Ameriprise Financial

The other day my daughter said, "Dad, I really don't understand what your job is." Many days I am not so sure either. I thought about saying, "I help to align strategic objectives and tactical demands," but knew that wouldn't lead us anywhere. Usually I answer this question by saying I go to meetings and read e-mails for a living, but that joke is getting old. This time I told her that I will explain it to her when she grows up. Part of the reason this has always been a hard question to answer is that my role seems to shift month to month and initiative to initiative. This is also part of the reason I love what I do. I believe that adaptability is a key trait exhibited by good architects, but saying you are adaptable and actually being adaptable are two different things. So what are some of the key ways to demonstrate your adaptability? Don't get into turf wars, bring the right temperament, and think big, or rather act big.

Avoid Turf Wars