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In adapting to the faster changing environment, the role of business architecture becomes that of a planner, facilitator, integrator, arbiter, and conductor.

We no longer live in the world that runs in years, but one that runs in minutes. Business Architecture is a critical framework that should support the requirements of the business and will need to be adjusted periodically. 

It helps the management build the roadmap on how an organization executes their strategy by taking into account varying business factors such as the maturity of the company, its business goals, its technology landscape, etc, to facilitate transformative changes, integrate different pieces into a holistic organization and design a strong governance model to improve business agility and maturity.

A planning tool to evolve transformative change: As we live in times where the businesses are under pressure to re-evaluate their strategy constantly. In traditional methods and practices, strategy/planning & architecture decisions are made "upfront" considering the number of uncertainties was minimal or under control. However, this approach may not work anymore due to rapid change and constant disruptions. One of the real values of business architecture is about supporting the changing needs of the business, highlighting changes with standardization, coherence, and visualization of business improvement initiatives.

Business architecture is an effective tool to help the management keep the priorities in balance dynamic and facilitate strategic communications contextually by explaining what should be done and why it should be done. It's about business strategy and marketplace alignment, enabling business to go where they plan to go. It is the change agent to enable and make the most of organizational change because it comprehends process change as well as emerging technologies.

A glue and an integrator to bridge silos and create business synergy: Lots of organizations that get stuck at the low level of maturity often operate in the silo setting with relationship friction and change inertia. Each function is a piece of the puzzle, many cross-functional teams also fall far short of delivering effective and efficient solutions. The challenge that organizations are facing is that most business management portfolios are managed in a "silo." Each silo has its own tools, own methodologies, own knowledge, own people, etc. Effective business architecture recommends how processes should be optimized to reduce time to market, realize better ROI etc. It’s about breaking silos, enforcing business alignment, integration, information and process automation.

Business architecture contains contextual enterprise knowledge; it presents how individual areas of expertise produce knowledge that's specific to their area, but when they're combined, graphically has an even greater impact, one gets synthetic knowledge that did not exist in any of the individual components. Broadly speaking, it ensures that business as a whole is superior to the sum of pieces. From a problem-solving perspective, if every complex problem is like a puzzle which needs to put many pieces fitting together for coming up with a premium solution. Business architect is the super glue to complete the picture and solve the puzzle by recognizing and prioritizing business problem, uncovering the clue underneath the symptoms, diagnosing root causes and fixing real issues holistically.

Business Architecture works on an update upon governance model: The value of functions is undeniable; no company could do without them. But the most important business practices and collaborations no longer fall neatly into groupings designed many decades ago. Enterprise becomes more complex than ever; the time has come to rethink traditional approaches to either management or governance. So the organizational models that govern functions need updating.

In a complex world, in a complex system, in a complex domain, it's impossible to change rightly or have a good governance model without having a holistic view. Process, ontology, and governance are plausible ways to understand enterprise complexity. Governance is the process to manage business processes via practicing auditing, enforcing legal & compliance. Governance should include process or methodology to manage the business process, also involve ontology (taxonomy, meta-model, etc) to clarify and manage knowledge, increasing risk intelligence.

In adapting to the faster changing environment, the role of business architecture becomes that of a planner, facilitator, integrator, arbiter, and conductor. Business Architecture is the visualization of the organization strategy, competences and how the components of the business fit together. It is about having people focused on the future via planning, governance, and innovation that enables the organization to progress toward its vision of future states. The business architect team doesn't just believe in framework and technology but also has the capabilities to carry the business with them, sail through politics and policies to drive transformative changes consistently and persistently.

Posted in: Change Management,EA