Iteration: Business Perspective Iteration [n]
The Business Perspective is developed in an iterative fashion. At the end of each iteration and assessment is done to decide if another iteration is required. If not, then the milestone (peer) review is done, completing the development of the Perspective.
Work Breakdown Structure
Purpose

Definition of the various Business level architectural views supports the analysis of the business processes and other aspects, permitting optimizations to be discovered, along with a better understanding of the business. It also supports the linkage of Logical and Technical level structures and decisions directly back to the business drivers. The Architectural Decision taken at the Business level will typically involve structural decisions regarding processes.

Description

Multiple iterations are done to create the required Business level models, with enough detail defined to support the objectives of the IT architecture. Many activities can be done in parallel, but good communications is needed in order to keep the models consistent, but good tool support makes this a non-issue. The following items are produced:

  • Business Entity Model for the system;
  • Business Process Model for the system;
  • Business Locations Model for the system;
  • Business Roles Model for the system;
  • Update the Architecture Glossary and define Architectural Decisions as required.

Once a complete perspective is defined a peer review is done to decide if the IT architecture is complete, or if additional iterations are required.

Illustrations
Roadmap
Staffing

These activities are best carried out by a small team staffed by cross-functional team members, lead by an IT architect. Issues that are typically architecturally significant include data, process, locations, and roles. The team should include members with business domain experience and also modelers. The team should also have experience with model organization and layering. From the provided inputs, the team will need to be able to synthesize the architecture views.

Usage
Usage Guidance

The Business level is defined in an iterative manner. Note that IT architectures are typically focused on and driven by:

  • The Business - the organization and its products and services. Fundamental changes to them and their impact on the architecture are captured at the Business level.
  • Technology - technology typically has a large impact on the IT architecture, and may require the business to fundamentally change.

Business level architectures are typically centered upon business processes, but they may also involve the creation of totally new products or services and a set of new processes to support them. Technology may have a large impact on the definition at the business level. Therefore, some knowledge of the proposed technologies and their capabilities may be important when defining the Business level.

More Information
Checklists
Guidelines
Supporting Materials
Workflow

Activity diagram: Business Perspective Iteration [n] Scan Architectural Decisions Capture Business Vocabulary Define Business Entity Model Define Business Process Model Define Business Locations Model Define Business Roles Model Assess the Architecture Define Architectural Decision

Activity detail diagram: Business Perspective Iteration [n] Enterprise Architect Scan Architectural Decisions Capture Business Vocabulary Define Architectural Decision Define Business Entity Model Define Business Process Model Define Business Locations Model Define Business Roles Model Assess the Architecture Enterprise Architect Architectural Decision Repository Scan Architectural Decisions Architectural Decisions Summary Scan Architectural Decisions Architecture Glossary Capture Business Vocabulary Architecture Glossary Capture Business Vocabulary Architectural Decision Repository Define Architectural Decision Architectural Decision Define Architectural Decision Context and Objectives Model Repository Define Business Entity Model Business Entity Model Define Business Entity Model Context and Objectives Model Repository Define Business Process Model Business Process Model Define Business Process Model Context and Objectives Model Repository Define Business Locations Model Business Locations Model Define Business Locations Model Context and Objectives Model Repository Define Business Roles Model Business Roles Model Define Business Roles Model Architectural Decisions Summary Business Entity Model Business Locations Model Business Process Model Business Roles Model Context and Objectives Architecture Glossary Assess the Architecture Architecture Review Record Assess the Architecture
Work Breakdown
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