Business Architecture

	Business Architecture A term barely known a few years ago. Rapidly becoming recognized as the place to start defining how a business operates. Encompases everything from business processes all the way through the technology "stacks". Including the operating realationships between partners, vendors and outsourcing. At one time this was a small domain outside of the IT Architecture. Which used to own everything. Business operations were not a focus for IT. This is still true in some pockets.
The Domain of Business Architecture Experts in Business Process and Related Operations

Business Architecture is a discipline clearly defining how the business operates. The purpose is an understanding that leads to optimizing business operations. Knowing what works and what doesn't. Being able to replicate what works. Fixing what doesn't. A view of the business as a whole. Each area defined, detailed and shown where it fits into the organization. Each can be understood on its own or views of how it interacts with other areas of the business.

At Clear Bias we subscribe to a fairly new concept in Business Architecture. The concept that people who know the business should have input and control over the end-to-end delivery of products or services. Such as software or IT infrastructure. No longer should a purely technical person 'guess' at what the business would want and then build and deliver it. With minimal meetings where IT makes most of the decisions.

These are now well supported with tools and vendors. Such things as Business Process Management. Which is dedicated to perfecting business proceses and assuring they are implemented correctly. Correct including flexibility and quickly reconfigured. This includes Modeling & Monitoring of the business processes.

The ultimate goal is for business professionals to work with a Business Architect to define the processes supporting business initiatives. This model will then be used by others, including IT, to provide exact alighment to the needs of the business. Changes can be made by business people with responsibility for their work. All business people will describe the process in business terms, facilitating the accuracy of the process.

In other words, The business creates their world in the image of what is best for the business. Chaning it to take advantage of opportunities as they arise. Not waitng for support managers and IT to begin to understand some of what is needed. The term for this is "Just in Time to Market"

Eventually all of the partnering, vendor, and off shore relationships will be working as one. A true integration of the value chain driven by the business. Making adjustments to meet market conditions as viewed by the business.

There is considerable informatin on Business Architecture on the Web. There are many architectures at the base of this 'pyramid' of which Business Architecture is the capstone.