KB - What is Business Architecture?

Business Architecture is a well-known term around Enterprise Architecture but there is no specific definition of what it exactly is. Within the world of Architecture, there is no common definition of what the term encompasses within Enterprise architecture. The term is used in different ways and often comes up around IT Architecture.

Standard understanding

It is often described as a part of Enterprise architecture related to the business side of the organization. The formal definition according to the Object Management Group’s Business Architecture Working Group is as follows:

“a blueprint of the enterprise that provides a common understanding of the organization and is used to align strategic objectives and tactical demands.”

Business Architecture: one of the four components within Enterprise architecture

Enterprise Architecture is often approached from four angles: Business, Application, Information and Technological. Capture, update, use and improve information about these four perspectives is called working with Enterprise Architecture.

In this perspective, the business part contains the formal description of the business services and associated information flows of an organization that are necessary to give substance to the Information Management. The most important aspect of the business part is that it represents the aspects of a company, together with the way they interact with each other. It is developed so that it can define and analyze what the company does, how it does it, how it is organized and how it creates value. It is used to design competitive structures and processes, take advantage of existing strengths and identify potential investment opportunities that will drive and eventually help achieve the company’s goals.

In the video by Raj Ramesh below, Raj Ramesh summarizes in a clear and visual way what the subject is all about.