Let’s all face the reality of it as it stands right now in 2014: As Enterprise Architects, and specifically those in the role of Business Architects, there is no real mature agreed set of Models and Operational Processes yet to follow to describe a fully mature Business Architecture in organisations. Sure there are bits and pieces all over the show that have evolved over time, but only now is it beginning to precipitate out into something more meaningful. Until then many of us are somewhat in the dark and all trying to pull together something meaningful which has some substance, works well and has some form of credibility with larger organisations.

We have input from the following sources (that I am aware of):

• TOGAF
• PEAF
• Various specialized Business Architect companies own methods
• BizBOK
• etc.

So in the mean time I have been trying to derive my own Meta-Model of Models for Business Architecture. This is what I have come up with so far. This will be a work in progress and I’d be keen to have others give me feedback, point me to good places to find more and better information about Business Architecture in general and more specifically in Models and techniques used in order to build up an Enterprise wide Business Architecture.

This is what I started with today. I have used the Archimate notation with three types of element: 1. Meaning (clouds) to describe each model type as I see it. 2. Business Objects (blocks) to describe the Model. 3. The Association (line) to give the type of relationship between the Meanings and the Business Object Models.

Here are some simple instance examples of each type of Model (as I get to each one) click on it to see it:

• Business Model Canvas
• Business Motivational Model
• Business Events Model
• Business Value Network Model
• Business Capability Model
• Customer Journey Model
• Business Organisation Structure Model, Business Actor Model (Archimate)
• Services Model (traced from one capability requirement)
• Services Contracts Model
• Business Process Model (BPMN), Business Process Model (Archimate)
• Location Model
• Business Rules Model
• Business Roles Model
• Business Objects Model (UML Class), Business Object Model (Archimate)
• Transformation Transition Roadmap Model
• Applications Portfolio Model, Application Components Model (Archimate)
• Business Products Model

And of course for each of these one or many model types one needs some sort of Operational Process Describing how to approach it:

• Strategy to Execution process (this one needs to have some elements added into it such has define Business Model Canvas, etc.
• many more….

I’ll evolve this blog and thinking over time to include Governance, Risk, Measurements of things like Enterprise Debt, etc.

Please feel free to put forward comments on this to grow it on one of the linked in forums – either on Business Architecture Community Forum.