OGBA-101 TOGAF Business Architecture Foundation Exam Questions and Answers

In business capability mapping, once all business capabilities have been documented, the next step is to organize these capabilities logically. This organization helps in understanding how different capabilities interact and align with the business strategy. Here’s a detailed explanation based on TOGAF principles:

Business Capability Mapping:

Business capability mapping involves identifying and documenting the capabilities required to execute the business strategy. Capabilities are the building blocks of the business, representing what the business does.

Logical Organization:

Grouping and Categorization: Capabilities should be grouped and categorized logically to reflect their relationships and dependencies. This can be done by aligning capabilities with business functions, processes, or strategic objectives.

Hierarchical Structure: Organizing capabilities into a hierarchical structure helps in visualizing how high-level capabilities decompose into more specific, detailed capabilities. This hierarchical view aids in understanding the complexity and scope of capabilities.

Alignment with Strategy: Logical organization ensures that capabilities are aligned with the business strategy and objectives. It helps in identifying which capabilities are critical for achieving strategic goals and which ones need development or improvement.

TOGAF ADM References:

Phase B: Business Architecture: This phase involves developing the business architecture, including capability mapping. Organizing capabilities logically is a key step in this process, as it helps in creating a coherent and comprehensive business architecture.

Capability Models: TOGAF recommends using capability models to represent the organization’s capabilities. These models should be logically organized to facilitate analysis and planning.

Practical Steps:

Analyze Relationships: Examine the relationships between capabilities to identify dependencies and interactions. This analysis helps in grouping related capabilities together.

Create a Capability Map: Develop a visual representation of the capabilities, organized logically. This map serves as a reference for understanding the business architecture and planning initiatives.

In summary, after documenting all business capabilities, organizing them in a logical manner is essential for creating a coherent and effective business architecture. This logical organization facilitates better analysis, planning, and alignment with business strategy.

Value networks are an approach to model, measure, and analyze business value that is primarily concerned with identifying the participants involved in creating and delivering value3. Value networks focus on the relationships and interactions among the participants, such as customers, suppliers, partners, employees, and other stakeholders3. Value networks can help to understand how value flows through the network and how it can be improved or optimized.

Value networks emphasize the interconnectedness of various entities involved in creating and delivering value. This approach goes beyond the linear view of a value chain and recognizes the complex relationships and interactions between:  

Internal participants: Different departments, teams, and individuals within the organization.

External participants: Suppliers, partners, customers, and other stakeholders outside the organization.  

By identifying and analyzing these participants, value networks help to:

Understand the ecosystem: Gain a holistic view of how value is created and delivered within a broader network of relationships.

Identify key dependencies: Recognize how different participants rely on each other and how their actions affect the overall value creation process.

Optimize collaboration: Improve coordination and collaboration between participants to enhance efficiency and value delivery.

Identify potential risks and opportunities: Assess the impact of changes or disruptions within the network on value creation

The example value stream shown, labeled "Acquire Retail Product," represents a decomposition into a sequence of stages that collectively create value. Each stage, such as "Advertise Channels," "Display Products," "Enable Selection," "Process Payment," and "Deliver Product(s)," is a step in the overall process that contributes to the final outcome, which in this case is the acquisition of a retail product by the customer. Value streams are utilized in business architecture to model the flow of value through an organization from the initial customer demand to the final delivery of the product or service.

Risk management in TOGAF involves balancing positive and negative outcomes resulting from the realization of either opportunities or threats. Here’s a detailed explanation:

Definition of Risk Management:

Risk Management: The process of identifying, assessing, and controlling risks arising from operational factors and making decisions that balance risk costs with benefits.

Balancing Outcomes:

Opportunities and Threats: Risk management aims to strike a balance between the positive outcomes (opportunities) and negative outcomes (threats) of different scenarios. This involves assessing the potential benefits and drawbacks of various actions and decisions.

Decision-Making: Effective risk management supports informed decision-making by considering the potential impacts of risks and opportunities on the organization’s objectives.

TOGAF References:

Architecture Risk Management: TOGAF includes guidelines for managing risks associated with architecture development. This involves identifying risks early in the ADM phases and continuously monitoring and mitigating them throughout the architecture lifecycle.

Phase F: Migration Planning: During this phase, risk management is crucial for planning the transition from the current state to the target architecture. It ensures that risks are identified, assessed, and mitigated to ensure a smooth transition.

Benefits:

Minimizing Negative Impacts: By effectively managing risks, organizations can minimize the negative impacts of threats and enhance the positive outcomes of opportunities.

Enhancing Resilience: Risk management helps in building organizational resilience by preparing for potential disruptions and ensuring continuity of operations.

In summary, risk management is about striking a balance between positive and negative outcomes resulting from the realization of either opportunities or threats, supporting informed decision-making and enhancing organizational resilience.

Developing a TOGAF business scenario provides several benefits, particularly in aiding vendors to deliver appropriate solutions. Here’s a detailed explanation:

TOGAF Business Scenarios:

Business scenarios are used to capture and describe business requirements, helping to identify and understand business needs and challenges.

Role in Vendor Engagement:

Clarity of Requirements: Business scenarios provide clear and detailed descriptions of the business context, needs, and requirements. This helps vendors understand what solutions are necessary to address specific business challenges.

Alignment of Solutions: By providing a comprehensive view of the business environment and requirements, business scenarios ensure that the solutions proposed by vendors are aligned with the actual business needs and strategic goals.

TOGAF ADM References:

Phase A: Architecture Vision: In this phase, business scenarios are developed to capture stakeholder concerns and requirements, providing a basis for the architecture vision.

Vendor Communication: Business scenarios are communicated to vendors to ensure that their solutions fit within the overall architecture and meet the specific requirements of the business.

Benefits:

Effective Solution Design: Vendors can design solutions that are tailored to the specific needs of the business, reducing the risk of misalignment and ensuring better outcomes.

Improved Collaboration: Business scenarios facilitate better collaboration between the enterprise and vendors by providing a common understanding of the requirements and expected outcomes.

In summary, developing a TOGAF business scenario aids vendors in delivering appropriate solutions by providing clear and detailed descriptions of business requirements, ensuring alignment with business needs and strategic goals.

According to the TOGAF Series Guide: Organization Mapping, one of the derived relationships in an organization map is value flow1. A value flow is a relationship that shows how value is exchanged between business units or other entities in an organization map1. A value flow can be expressed as a verb phrase that indicates what type of value is transferred or shared between entities1. For example, in an organization map for an online retailer, a possible value flow could be “Delivers products” between the Warehouse business unit and the Customer entity.

https://pubs.opengroup.org/togaf-standard/business-architecture/organization-mapping.html

A business capability map is a comprehensive representation that showcases an organization's abilities in a structured manner. It identifies and illustrates the various business capabilities that allow the enterprise to function and deliver value. These capabilities are often defined independently of the organizational structure, processes, or technology, focusing instead on what the business does and can do. This map encompasses the end-to-end value delivery and how different capabilities interrelate and support one another, thus providing a holistic view of the business's functional abilities.

In TOGAF and other enterprise architecture practices, analyzing a value stream often involves understanding the various stages of the value stream and assessing how each stage contributes to business value. Heat mapping is a commonly used technique to visualize and analyze these stages, making it the most appropriate choice in this context.

Understanding Value Streams in TOGAFA value stream represents a high-level view of how value is delivered to customers or stakeholders. It encompasses all the activities necessary to achieve a specific outcome, often broken down into stages. In TOGAF’s Business Architecture, value stream mapping is a key activity for analyzing and understanding these value stages, enabling architects to identify areas for improvement.

Heat Mapping as an Analysis TechniqueHeat mapping by value stream stages is a visualization technique that highlights the effectiveness or performance of each stage in the value stream. By applying a heat map, architects can easily see which stages are performing well (often marked in “cool” colors) and which stages may need improvement (often marked in “hot” colors). This is particularly useful for identifying bottlenecks, redundancies, or inefficiencies within the value stream, which is essential for project analysis.

Why Other Options are Incorrect:

Option A (Converting value stream stages to entities and building a logical data model):Building a logical data model involves defining data entities and their relationships, which is more relevant for data architecture. It does not directly contribute to analyzing a value stream’s stages or performance within a project scope.

Option C (An organization chart showing business units and their value):An organization chart shows hierarchical relationships and roles within the enterprise, which does not specifically address value stream stages. While it may help understand which units are responsible for different parts of the value stream, it doesn’t provide insight into the performance or effectiveness of each stage.

Option D (Combining information mapping with a business process model):Information mapping with a business process model is more suited for detailed process analysis. It involves mapping information flows within processes but doesn’t directly address analyzing value stream stages. Value streams are typically at a higher level than detailed business processes, focusing more on outcomes than specific activities.

Conclusion: Heat mapping by value stream stages (Option B) is the most effective tool for analyzing a new value stream within the project scope, as it provides a visual assessment of each stage’s performance and identifies areas for improvement.

References:

TOGAF® Standard, Version 9.2, Value Stream Mapping Techniques

In TOGAF, a business capability represents a high-level abstraction of what a business does, independent of how, why, or where the capability is used. Here’s a detailed explanation:

Definition of Business Capability:

Business Capability: A business capability describes the capacity or ability of a business to act or achieve a specific outcome. It is an abstraction of the business functions, representing what the business does.

Key Characteristics:

What, Not How: A business capability focuses on what the business does, without delving into the specifics of how, why, or where it is implemented or utilized. This abstraction helps in maintaining a clear and consistent understanding across the organization.

Independence: Business capabilities are designed to be independent of the organizational structure, processes, or systems that support them. This ensures that they remain stable even as the organization evolves.

TOGAF References:

Phase B: Business Architecture: In this phase, business capabilities are identified and mapped to understand the core functions of the business. This helps in aligning the architecture with business strategy and objectives.

Capability-Based Planning: TOGAF emphasizes capability-based planning, where business capabilities are used as the foundation for planning and decision-making.

Importance:

Strategic Alignment: Business capabilities provide a stable and consistent view of what the business does, which is crucial for aligning the architecture with strategic goals.

Foundation for Analysis: By focusing on what the business does, capabilities serve as a foundation for various analyses, including gap analysis, impact analysis, and capability maturity assessments.

In summary, a business capability delineates what a business does without an explanation of how, why, or where the capability is used, providing a stable and consistent foundation for strategic planning and architecture development.

Heat mapping is an analysis technique used to provide a visual representation of data, often to show performance against a set of criteria. In the context of business capabilities, heat maps can be used to represent various dimensions such as maturity levels, investment priorities, risk levels, etc., on the same set of business capabilities. This allows different stakeholders to quickly grasp where attention is needed or how capabilities align with strategic priorities.

Business models are essential tools within TOGAF for providing different perspectives on the business operations, strategies, and value propositions. Here’s a detailed explanation:

Purpose of Business Models:

Business models are designed to represent various aspects of the business, such as value creation, delivery, and capture mechanisms. They provide a structured way to analyze and understand the business.

Different Viewpoint:

Cross-Check Assumptions: Business models offer a different viewpoint that helps in validating and cross-checking assumptions made about the business. By presenting a visual and structured representation of the business, these models enable stakeholders to identify gaps, inconsistencies, and areas that need further analysis.

Holistic Understanding: They help in gaining a holistic understanding of how different components of the business interact, which is crucial for ensuring that the enterprise architecture aligns with the business strategy and goals.

TOGAF References:

Phase A: Architecture Vision: During this phase, business models are used to articulate the vision and scope of the architecture effort. They help in ensuring that all assumptions are validated and that the architecture aligns with business objectives.

Phase B: Business Architecture: Business models are also utilized in this phase to analyze business capabilities, processes, and value streams. They provide a different viewpoint that aids in identifying areas for improvement and ensuring alignment with the strategic intent.

In summary, business models provide a different viewpoint that helps cross-check assumptions, ensuring that the enterprise architecture is aligned with the business strategy and objectives.

In TOGAF ADM, Phase B is the Business Architecture phase where the architect should locate existing architecture descriptions to create an information map. This phase involves developing a detailed understanding of the business environment, including business processes, roles, and information flows. Existing architecture descriptions provide a baseline for identifying how information is currently managed and how it can be optimized to support business objectives.

One of the benefits of organization mapping is that it improves strategic planning2. Organization mapping is a technique that can be used to document and visualize the organizational structure and relationships of an enterprise or a part of it2. Organization mapping can help to align the organizational design with the business strategy, goals, and objectives2. Organization mapping can also help to identify the roles, responsibilities, authorities, accountabilities, and dependencies of different organizational entities2. By providing a clear and consistent view of the organizational landscape, organization mapping can enable better informed and more effective decisions for strategic planning.

The Architecture Development Method (ADM) is the core process of TOGAF which outlines a method for developing and managing the lifecycle of enterprise architecture. Considering the phases of the ADM, the item labeled as '2' in the provided architecture development cycle diagram likely corresponds to the 'Architecture Change Management' phase, which is responsible for providing ongoing architectural oversight and guidance to ensure that the implementation remains aligned with the architecture defined in the previous phases. This includes managing changes to the architecture in a controlled manner as the implementation progresses and ensuring that the architecture continues to meet the business needs.

The segments labeled A, D and I in the Business Model Canvas are Key Partners, Customer Relationships, and Revenue Streams respectively1. The Business Model Canvas is a tool that can be used to describe how an organization creates, delivers, and captures value for its stakeholders1. The Business Model Canvas consists of nine segments that cover four main areas: customers (segments B,C,D), offer (segment E), infrastructure (segments A,F,G), and financial viability (segments H,I)1. The segments are defined as follows:

Key Partners (segment A): The network of suppliers and partners that make the business model work1. Key partners can provide resources, activities, or support that enable the organization to offer its value proposition1.

Customer Relationships (segment D): The type of relationship that the organization establishes with its customer segments1. Customer relationships can be driven by customer acquisition, retention, or loyalty objectives1. Customer relationships can also influence the customer experience and satisfaction1.

Revenue Streams (segment I): The sources of income that the organization generates from each customer segment1. Revenue streams can be derived from different pricing mechanisms, such as asset sale, subscription, fee, commission, or advertising1. Revenue streams can also reflect the value that customers are willing to pay for the organization’s offer1.

https://pubs.opengroup.org/togaf-standard/business-architecture/business-models.html Figure 8: The Business Model Canvas[6]

The diagram presented is best described as a Business Capability Map. Here's a detailed explanation:

Business Capability Map:

Definition: A Business Capability Map represents the various capabilities an organization requires to deliver its products and services and achieve its strategic objectives. It typically categorizes capabilities into different levels or tiers, such as strategic, core, and supporting capabilities.

Diagram Analysis:

Layers and Groupings: The diagram shows capabilities grouped into three categories: Strategic, Core, and Supporting. Each group lists specific business capabilities necessary for the organization’s functioning.

Color Coding: The use of different colors (green, red, yellow, purple) may indicate various aspects such as priority, status, or different business units. However, the primary purpose is to visually represent and categorize capabilities.

TOGAF References:

Phase B: Business Architecture: In this phase, creating a Business Capability Map is a crucial activity. It helps in understanding the business functions and aligning them with strategic goals.

Capability-Based Planning: TOGAF promotes capability-based planning, which involves identifying, mapping, and analyzing business capabilities to ensure they support the overall strategy and objectives.

Purpose and Benefits:

Strategic Alignment: The Business Capability Map helps in aligning business capabilities with the strategic objectives of the organization. It provides a clear view of what the organization needs to do to achieve its goals.

Gap Analysis: It is useful for conducting gap analysis by comparing current capabilities with the desired state, helping to identify areas for improvement.

Resource Allocation: By understanding the different capabilities, organizations can allocate resources more effectively to areas that need development or enhancement.

In summary, the diagram is best described as a Business Capability Map because it visually represents and categorizes the various capabilities needed by the organization into strategic, core, and supporting layers, aligning them with the business strategy and objectives.

The graphic illustrates a method for developing alternative target architectures in Phase E of the TOGAF ADM1. The method involves identifying and evaluating candidate architectures based on criteria such as business value, cost, risk, and feasibility1. The method helps to identify the most suitable architecture solution for the enterprise.

https://pubs.opengroup.org/togaf-standard/adm-techniques/chap10.html

The graphic illustrates a method that supports the TOGAF ADM by identifying and evaluating alternative target architectures. The process begins with a vision, influenced by principles and requirements, leading to the consideration of alternatives. Each alternative is assessed based on different criteria, leading to the selection of the most suitable target architecture. This is consistent with the TOGAF approach of developing a set of potential architectures and then selecting the one that best meets the enterprise's needs.

In the TOGAF framework, the architecture domains considered as subsets of an overall enterprise architecture are Business, Technology, Application, and Data. Here’s a detailed explanation:

TOGAF Architecture Domains:

Business Architecture: Describes the business strategy, governance, organization, and key business processes.

Data Architecture: Defines the structure of an organization’s logical and physical data assets and data management resources.

Application Architecture: Provides a blueprint for the individual applications to be deployed, their interactions, and their relationships to the core business processes of the organization.

Technology Architecture: Describes the logical software and hardware capabilities that are required to support the deployment of business, data, and application services.

Importance of Each Domain:

Business Architecture: Aligns the architecture with the business strategy and goals.

Data Architecture: Ensures that data is structured and managed to support business processes and decisions.

Application Architecture: Ensures that applications are designed and integrated to support business processes.

Technology Architecture: Provides the technology infrastructure needed to support applications and data management.

TOGAF References:

Phase B: Business Architecture: Focuses on developing the Business Architecture.

Phase C: Information Systems Architectures: This phase includes both Data Architecture and Application Architecture.

Phase D: Technology Architecture: Focuses on developing the Technology Architecture.

In summary, the TOGAF standard considers Business, Technology, Application, and Data as the architecture domains that are subsets of an overall enterprise architecture.

The Enterprise Continuum is a tool within the TOGAF framework that provides methods for classifying architecture and solution assets. The continuum is a view of the Architecture Repository that provides methods for classifying, storing, and managing the various architecture assets. These assets include architectures, architectural patterns, architecture descriptions, and other related artifacts. The Enterprise Continuum enables architects to organize the repository in a way that is consistent and understandable, facilitating the reuse of these assets across various architecture development initiatives.

TOGAF defines an “Enterprise” as any collection of organizations or alliances working toward shared goals, such as in consortiums or partnerships. This scope allows the architecture to address cross-organization processes and infrastructures for collaborative endeavors.

References: TOGAF Standard, Definition of an Enterprise.

TOGAF defines an Enterprise as any collection of organizations that has a common set of goals. This definition is intentionally broad and can encompass various types of entities, including:

Single organizations: A traditional company or corporation with a unified structure and goals.

Groups of organizations: This could include:

Public sector: Government agencies, military branches, or international collaborations like the United Nations.

Private sector: Consortiums, industry alliances, supply chains, or joint ventures where multiple businesses work together towards shared objectives.

The key characteristic of an enterprise is the shared set of goals that drives its activities and architecture.

In the context of the TOGAF ADM (Architecture Development Method), the phase labeled as item 1, which conducts implementation planning for the architecture defined in previous phases, corresponds to Phase E: Opportunities and Solutions. Here’s a detailed explanation:

Phase E: Opportunities and Solutions:

Objective: This phase focuses on identifying delivery vehicles (projects, programs, or portfolios) that can deliver the target architecture identified in previous phases. It bridges the gap between the architecture vision and the detailed implementation.

Implementation Planning: In this phase, the architect develops the detailed Implementation and Migration Plan. This includes identifying work packages, sequencing activities, and preparing for the transition to the target architecture.

Key Activities:

Identify Opportunities and Solutions: This involves identifying potential solutions that address the gaps identified during the architecture definition phases (Phases B, C, and D).

Work Package Definition: Work packages are defined, which include specific projects or initiatives required to implement the architecture.

Transition Planning: Detailed plans for transitioning from the baseline to the target architecture are developed, ensuring that all necessary steps and resources are accounted for.

TOGAF References:

Phase E Deliverables: Key deliverables of this phase include the Implementation and Migration Plan, project charters, and work package descriptions.

Alignment with Business Strategy: This phase ensures that the implementation plans are aligned with the business strategy and objectives, providing a clear path for executing the architecture vision.

Benefits:

Structured Implementation: Conducting implementation planning ensures that the architecture is implemented in a structured and controlled manner, reducing risks and enhancing the likelihood of success.

Resource Allocation: It helps in efficient allocation of resources by identifying the specific projects and initiatives needed to achieve the target architecture.

In summary, Phase E of the TOGAF ADM focuses on conducting implementation planning for the architecture defined in previous phases, ensuring a structured and controlled approach to executing the architecture vision and achieving the desired business outcomes.

TOGAF defines four core architecture domains: Business, Data, Application, and Technology. These domains collectively represent the key areas covered in enterprise architecture, where the Business Architecture defines business strategy and organizational goals; Data Architecture addresses data management and structure; Application Architecture focuses on system and software applications; and Technology Architecture outlines the IT infrastructure.

References: TOGAF Standard, Architecture Domains (Chapter 3).

TOGAF, as a comprehensive Enterprise Architecture framework, divides the architecture landscape into four interrelated domains:

Business Architecture: This domain focuses on the organization's strategic goals, business processes, and organizational structure. It defines how the business operates and creates value.

Data Architecture: This domain deals with the structure, organization, and management of data assets within the enterprise. It includes logical and physical data models, data storage, and data security.

Application Architecture: This domain describes the applications used to support the business, their interactions, and their alignment with business processes. It provides a blueprint for the application portfolio.

Technology Architecture: This domain covers the technology infrastructure that supports the applications and data. It includes hardware, software, networks, and IT services.

These four domains provide a holistic view of the enterprise and how its different components work together.

According to the TOGAF Series Guide: Business Capabilities, after documenting all of the business capabilities, the next step is to organize them in a logical manner1. This can be done by using techniques such as layering, sorting, mapping, and leveling1. These techniques can help to classify, group, and align capabilities into categories for a deeper understanding of how they support the business goals and objectives1. Organizing the business capabilities can also help to identify dependencies, gaps, overlaps, or redundancies among them1.

Phase A (Architecture Vision) of the TOGAF ADM builds out initial organizational maps to understand high-level organizational needs and link them to architecture goals. This step provides foundational insight that informs subsequent phases, particularly for stakeholder alignment.

References: TOGAF ADM Phase A.

In TOGAF, Phase A (Architecture Vision) is where the organization map is developed in detail and linked to overviews to understand the organizational needs. This phase focuses on:

Defining the scope of the architecture: This includes identifying the parts of the organization that will be affected by the architecture and the timeframe for the architecture development.

Identifying stakeholders and their concerns: Understanding the needs and expectations of different stakeholders is crucial for developing an architecture that meets their requirements.

Creating a high-level architecture vision: This vision outlines the desired future state of the architecture and how it will support the organization's strategic goals.

A TOGAF business scenario is a technique that can be used to fully understand the requirements of information technology and align it with business needs1. It is not a business case, which is a document that provides justification for a proposed project or initiative6. It is not a method to develop a business model, which is a description of how an organization creates, delivers, and captures value for its stakeholders7. It is not a use-case, which is a description of how a system interacts with external actors to achieve a specific goal.

A TOGAF business scenario is a technique that helps to derive architecture requirements by describing a business process, application, or set of activities. It includes detailing the actors, roles, goals, business policies, business processes, and the environment in which the scenario takes place. Business scenarios are used within TOGAF to ensure that the architecture has a clear link to the business requirements.

The relationship between business models and business architecture in TOGAF can be described as follows:

Business Models:

Definition: Business models describe how an organization creates, delivers, and captures value. They provide a high-level overview of the business, including elements such as value propositions, customer segments, channels, and revenue streams.

Purpose: Business models are used to understand and analyze the core elements of the business and how they interact to create value.

Business Architecture:

Definition: Business architecture provides a detailed view of the business, including its structure, capabilities, processes, and information. It articulates how the business operates and supports the business model.

Purpose: Business architecture translates the high-level view of the business model into detailed architectural views and artifacts. It ensures that the architecture aligns with the business strategy and supports the execution of the business model.

Relationship:

Articulation of Perspectives: Business architecture articulates the different perspectives and impacts of the business model by providing detailed views of the business components that support the model. This includes defining the necessary capabilities, processes, and organizational structures.

Alignment and Execution: Business architecture ensures that the architecture aligns with the business model and supports its execution. It translates the strategic intent of the business model into actionable and implementable architectural components.

TOGAF References:

Phase B: Business Architecture: This phase involves developing a detailed business architecture that aligns with and supports the business model. It includes identifying and defining business capabilities, processes, and organizational structures.

Strategic Planning: TOGAF emphasizes the importance of aligning business architecture with business strategy and models to ensure that the architecture supports the overall business goals.

Benefits:

Comprehensive Understanding: By articulating the different perspectives and impacts of the business model, business architecture provides a comprehensive understanding of how the business operates and delivers value.

Strategic Alignment: Ensures that the architecture is aligned with the business strategy and supports the execution of the business model, leading to better business outcomes.

In summary, business architecture articulates the different perspectives and impacts of the business model by providing detailed views of the business components that support the model, ensuring alignment and effective execution of the business strategy.

The purpose of this activity is to identify which business capabilities (out of the total set of capabilities) are critical to delivering stakeholder value, and therefore which ones need to be performed to a sufficient standard of quality to meet stakeholder expectations. It also helps to identify those business capabilities that do not contribute toward any of the core value streams, and which may be eliminated from the business.

The primary purpose of mapping capabilities to value stream stages within the TOGAF framework is to analyze how each capability contributes to delivering value to the customer. This process helps to identify:

Capabilities essential for value creation: These are the capabilities that directly contribute to the activities within the value stream and are critical for delivering customer value.

Capabilities with indirect or unclear contributions: These may require further investigation to determine their role in the value stream.

Non-contributing capabilities: These capabilities do not play a role in the value stream and may be candidates for elimination or optimization to improve efficiency and reduce costs.

A business model describes how an organization creates, delivers, and captures value for its stakeholders3. A business architecture breaks a business model down into the core functional elements that describe how the business works, such as the value proposition, the customer segments, the channels, the revenue streams, the cost structure, the key resources, the key activities, and the key partnerships3.

The relationship between business models and business architecture is that while business models provide a high-level description of business elements such as customers, markets, and the economic rationale of the business, the business architecture takes this model and breaks it down into more detailed descriptions. It identifies the core functional components and their relationships, which describe how the business operates, the roles involved, the information flowing through the business, and the technology supporting business activities.

In the TOGAF ADM (Architecture Development Method), Phase B is the Business Architecture phase. During this phase, the information map, which represents the relationships and flow of information within the business, is linked to other business blueprints. This linkage is crucial to ensure that the business architecture is aligned with the data and information needs of the organization, providing a foundation for the development of subsequent architecture domains (Data, Application, and Technology Architectures).